Dotty Griffith Recipe

The interior of Elm Street Cask & Kitchen.

By Dotty Griffith dotty.griffith@yahoo.com

This is a reprint of a review that ran April 15, 2019. There’s a downtown spot made for warm spring days. It’s a place with a patio that floats just above the sidewalk on Elm Street. The vibe during happy hour at Elm Street Cask & Kitchen is so “city.”

Outdoor tables were full at the end of happy hour on our recent hosted visit creating an energy that connected to the end of work day hustle and bustle. If you aren’t ready for 5 o’clock before you get there, your inner clock will chime as soon as you arrive.

Elm Street Cask &

MEREDIT H BOND STEE LE

Kitchen self-identifies as a “neighborhood bar and grill.” The comfort food menu is a little bit Southern, a little bit Texas. The whiskey collection focuses on Kentucky bourbon, but there are plenty of other American and global whiskies represented in the 200-bottle collection. The “Whiskey Bible” i.e. menu has back stories and tasting notes for every label.

We started our run through the food menu with a couple of starters, hush puppies and wings. Jawbreaker size rounds of fried cornmeal batter came with a pot of honey butter burnished by a touch of roasted chile. More sweet than spicy, the compound butter is a good BFF for the Southern-style fry bread. Fried chicken wings offered three sauces, traditional Buffalo, honey chipotle and “Alabama White.” Serious students of barbecue likely know about the mayonnaise-based sauce and its well-documented history. Created in 1925 by ‘cue legend Bob Gibson of Decatur’s Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, the sauce is famous as a partner to smoked or grilled chicken. The idea is to slather it all over the cooked chicken pieces as you would a glaze. Give it a chance to soak into the chicken before serving. Serve some more on the side like gravy.

Opt for the Alabama White treatment on wings at Elm Street Cask & Kitchen. The sauce lives up to its reputation. It is as good on fried wings as smoked or grilled yard bird.

Texas touches on the menu include Pinto Bean Hummus (not tried) that I bet is a lot like good ol’ bean dip, dressed up with pepitas, mole spice and pita triangles instead of tortilla chips. And there’s a bowl of chili, made with Shiner Bock, if you’re craving a bowl of red. Chili also comes on the happy hour hot dog, a special that looked more appealing than any hot dog I’ve seen in a while.

For our main, we sampled a couple of the Southern accented dishes. The meltingly tender braised short rib is glazed with Lakewood Bourbon Barrel Temptress, an English sweet milk stoutstyle beer brewed by local Lakewood Brewing Co. Plenty of pan juice soaked in to the side of smashed potatoes and added bonus flavor to spears of fresh asparagus.

Shrimp and Blue Corn Grits draws on the blue corn of New Mexico as the canvas for a Cajun sauce with shrimp and Andouille sausage (see recipe on this page). There’s nothing traditional about the grits but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good. Smoked gouda gives the creamy, cheesy grits a layer of smoke flavor. The Cajun sauce hews more toward the traditional except for the substitution of poblano for green pepper. The carnival of flavors comes together with the shrimp and sausage to make a beautiful hybrid dish.

Sharing the bread pudding topped with ice cream and caramel sauce brought the meal back to a traditional Southern ending.

Elm Street Cask & Kitchen is the hotel restaurant for Hilton Garden Inn so it serves a full day’s worth of menus and weekend brunch. The patio will lure you in. The menu provides incentive to return.

ELM STREET CASK & KITCHEN 1525 Elm St. Dallas, 75201 972-232-1728 elmstreetcaskkitchen.com MEREDIT H BOND STEE LE Shrimp and Grits at Elm Street Cask & Kitchen.

By Dotty Griffith dotty.griffith@yahoo.com

This dish is so full of flavor and fun it begs for a dinner party. Make the sauce ahead. Baked grits cook during appetizers and first cocktail. Just before serving, combine the sauce and seafood and spoon it on the grits. Party on!

Enjoy the Elm Street Cask & Kitchen Cajun shrimp and andouille sausage with smoked Gouda grits. Known as the holy trinity of Cajun cooking, celery, onion and bell pepper form the flavor backbone of many Louisiana dishes. This recipe substitutes poblano for green bell pepper for a little bit more spice. Go old school and use green peppers if you like.

CAJUN SHRIMP AND ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE 3 tablespoons butter 2 (3- to 4-ounce) andouille sausages, sliced 16 large shrimp, peeled with tails on 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 (3- to 4-ounce) andouille sausage, chopped 1/2 cup bacon, chopped 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup poblano chile, seeded and finely chopped 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped 1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning blend 1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated 1/2 cup white wine 1/2 Roma tomato, chopped 1 green onion, sliced (white part only) 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped 1 sprig thyme 1/2 cup chicken stock 1/4 cup heavy cream In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter. Add sliced andouille and cook until edges begin to brown. Stir in shrimp and cook until no longer translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove sausage and shrimp from skillet and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium and stir in olive oil, chopped andouille sausage and bacon. Cook until bacon fat melts. Stir in onion, poblano and celery. Cook until onion begins to brown. Stir in Cajun seasoning and garlic. Cook 1 minute longer.

Add white wine, stirring frequently. Cook until white wine is reduced by half. Stir in tomato, green onion, parsley and thyme. Cook until tomato is soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and cream. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced by one-fourth.

Add sausage and shrimp to sauce. Serve over Smoked Gouda Grits. Makes 4 servings.

SMOKED GOUDA GRITS 1 cup (2 sticks) butter 1/2 cup white onion, chopped 3 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped 3 3/4 cups water 1 1/4 cups white or blue corn grits 2/3 pound coarsely grated or cubed smoked gouda 1/2 cup cream

Heat oven to 300 F. Place a medium stove-top safe casserole or skillet with tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Remove lid and melt the butter. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook until onion is soft and light golden in color, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add water and grits, stirring to combine. Bring liquid to a boil. Cover with lid and place in oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Add cream and cheese, stirring until cheese melts and grits are smooth.

Makes 4 servings.

MULL cont'd from page 7

Aikman works for XFL broadcast partner Fox Sports.

In reality, the XFL must quickly realize that it is seriously lacking talent on the field. In Stoops, Jim Zorn of Seattle, June Jones of Houston, Kevin Gilbride of New York, Winston Moss of Los Angeles and Mark Trestman of Tampa Bay, the most recognizable football names are on the sidelines and not on the gridiron. No one goes to a game to see the coach.

A case can be made that the bestknown roster name in the entire league is former NFL player Marquette King. And he is a punter.

When the American Football League (AFL) became a success in the 1960s, the league had swagger. They featured stars like Joe Namath and Don Maynard of the New York Jets, Lance Alworth and Ron Mix of the San Diego Chargers, Len Dawson, Bobby Bell and Johnny Robinson of the Kansas City Chiefs, Bob Griese and Nick Buoniconti of the Miami Dolphins and George Blanda, Willie Brown and Jim Otto of the Oakland Raiders. All of those players are in Pro Football's Hall of Fame.

The NFL quickly realized that they were losing fans to a more exciting brand of football from the upstart league and had to merge to survive. The AFL won Super Bowls III and IV, an embarrassment to the stuffy senior circuit. They moved three longstanding NFL teams (Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cleveland) to the former AFL for balance. The NFL is, by far, America's most popular professional sports league.

When the American Basketball Association (ABA) became a success in the 1970s, the league had glitz. They had Julius "Dr. J" Irving, Rick Berry, Billy Cunningham, George "The Iceman" Gervin, Artis Gilmore, David Thompson, Dan Issel, Moses Malone and George McGinnis. All of those players are in Pro Basketball's Hall of Fame. The NBA quickly realized that they were losing fans to a more exciting brand of basketball from the upstart league and had to buy them to survive. They adopted ABA standards like threepoint shots and colorful uniforms and seamlessly integrated the ABA stars into the NBA.

"Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning." – American businessman and best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki.

The XFL is too new to pass judgment. But they can take a page from AFL and ABA history books and build on it. Those leagues achieved success with innovation and excellent players that fans flocked to see. The XFL must realize that a fan's attention span is very short and loyalty runs out like sand in an hourglass.

The NBA and NHL playoff races are around the corner and pitchers and catchers have reported to Major League Baseball spring training facilities. The XFL has a tight window of opportunity. They must step up the quality of play immediately and next year attract some name talent. Otherwise, they are doomed in Dallas and beyond. And you can quote me on that.

"If at first you don't succeed, you are probably starting a new football league."