The Cape Fear Kitchen

For dinner tonight is braised boneless neck bones, corn and steamed broccoli by Steph.

Good morning, last night I had a taste for turkey burgers but I didn’t want bread. So I pulled this meal together and 💥

Fruit for the week 😋

Today’s Wild Wednesday meal is pheasant. Roasted up with some potatoes and it’s nice late winter switch from chicken. They are a fun and beautiful bird if you can get your hands on one. In fact, it’s pheasant hunting season right now. Like any wild meat, brining it cuts the gamey flavor. We used 8 cups of water, 1/2 cup kosher salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 bay leaves, 2 garlic cloves and a few juniper berries for 8 hours. Pat it dry. Then, slather it in olive oil, salt and pepper. Stuff it with onions and butter. Roast at 450 for 30 minutes then lower to 350 and add a cup of chicken broth. Roast another 20 minutes.

Shrimp and gravy with grits, chicken sausage and cheddar biscuits

Priceless ❤️💕🙏

Wild hog on Wild Wednesday. Pigs are native to Europe but the Portugese and Spanish brought them to Africa and America. Some pigs got loose from shipwrecks, sabotage and natural disaster. When domesticated animals including humans get stressed by the environment, the adrenal and testosterone increases. In wild/feral pigs, this causes them to grow hair and more teeth. The testosterone also gives them a gamier taste. You can hunt them all year long because they are considered invasive. In fact the Natives in the 1700s found them to be more of a mess than a meal. But the European loved them and brought with them their recipes… hog maw, hog head cheese (which isn’t cheese at all) and liver pudding etc were all considered delicacy and is still eaten in European communities in the US today. We made wild pig goulash which we’ve eaten here for centuries.

Apple Cider BBQ Pork Ribs

These are like mini roasts that bring a bite size of comfort on a chilly day. The meat does fall apart so it's good for sandwiches. The 2 or 5 qt Lodge ceramic dutch oven or mini roasting pans are perfect for these ribs. And the recipe can be easily doubled up.

4 boneless pork ribs
½ tbsp pork seasoning (garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and paprika)
1 ¼ cup apple cider
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 tbsp olive oil

Season ribs with pork seasoning and marinate overnight. Pre-heat oven to 375. Heat the oil on medium high in a large skillet. Cook ribs on each side for a minute or until golden brown. Transfer ribs to the dutch oven and pour the apple cider over them. Bake for 1.5 hours. Brush the tops and sides with BBQ sauce. Bake for another hour.

We served it with broccoli.

This Wild Wednesday, it's quail. Quail are one of NC’s three small game birds (the other two are pheasant and grouse). Bobwhites have been hunted in the eastern US for centuries. Archaeologist found quail bones in excavations of ancient American sites. Between, 1700-1930 it was common for free-living folks in NC to farm and hunt quail. Quail hunting in the 20th century was the most popular game hunting sport. It’s easiest cooking method is to smash it flat and fry it. But if you want to get fancy…..

Garden and Gun Quail Stew

Kitchen twine to tie the birds legs together after stuffing it
4 quail gutted and cleaned
Salt
Pepper
2 golf ball sized onions peeled and halved
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium leaks, whites and pale greens only cleaned and diced into ½ inch (about 2 cups)
½ cup pitted and chopped dates (about 6)
1 cup hard apple cider
1 cup chicken stock
Bouquet of 4 sprigs thyme, 4 sprigs parsley, and 1 bay leaf

Rince quail under cool water and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff a tiny onion into each bird. Tie together the drumsticks with kitchen twine. In a dutch oven over medium high heat, heat oil til smoking. Add quail and crisp each side about 2 minutes each. Remove the quail from the pot and set it aside. Lower the pot to medium heat and cook leaks about 5 minutes. Add chopped dates, apple cider and bouquet. Cook for 3 minutes then add chicken stock and quail. Let it come to a boil but lower heat to barely a simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove quail and thicken liquid for another 5 minutes. Spoon some liquid over the quail.

We served it with grits and turnip greens.

All a girl wants for Valentine’s Day is your… thyme.

Two kielbasa sausage cut into a heart. We used hot and cracked pepper.

Diced potatoes, onion, and red pepper sauteed with garlic, salt, pepper and thyme.

Top with cheese,

Cinnamon roll cake waffles.

What's a Friday without fish? It's more of a summer thing but sometimes you just get the taste for it. Most of the fish we grew up eating were catfish, crappie, perch, croaker's and spots. But any white flaky fish is best for a good fry. I like tilapia. The batter obviously makes a difference too. I use Autry's. They're based out of NC (Zatarain's is not but much love to the N.O.)

Fried Fish

2 large fish filets (I cut tilapia filets down the middle)
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup fish fry batter

Pat the fish dry. Pour the buttermilk into a shallow saucer to coat the fish in the buttermilk. In a separate shallow bowl, coat the fish in batter. Put to the fish to the side. Heat the vegetable oil on high heat. Test the oil for readiness by drizzling in a tiny pinch of batter. If it sizzles, it’s ready. Place the fish into oil. Flip it a few times until it's nice and golden. Remove the fish and place it on a paper towel to catch the excess oil.

Serve it coleslaw, baked beans and white bread or hushpuppies.

Pan pork chops, stewed cabbage and mushrooms! 😋

This wild Wednesday, we’re talking elk. In NC, the Eastern Elks once roamed the mountains. The Native people of the state were protective of this delicious resource. However, after settlements on the coast and piedmont pushed people toward the western portion of the state, hunting and loss of habitat led to a decline of the elk. By 1800, the elk population in NC disappeared. Manitoban Elk were reintroduced to NC in the 2000s onto the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. The program has been so successful that NC is considering an elk hunt lottery much like the state of Virginia currently has.

Here we served it up like a little surf and turf:

We cook elk in butter, bacon grease, garlic and our beef seasoning and always served piping hot, medium-r.

Scallops pan seared in outer banks style!

Mini sweet potato with a lot of butter and lil salt.

Spinach, almond and blueberries salad with honey.

Rub your meat. 😊 But seriously, Ms. Ann taught me to rub the seasoning into the meat. And now that I think about it… that’s why they call certain spice mixes a rub. Even regular meat that's not on the grill, you're supposed to "rub" it in. Anyway, when you use a rub, marinade it overnight. For beef, It’s almost some rendition of the same spices every time. One of the most surprising things I learned maybe a decade ago is that McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning is almost the same as Ms Ann’s… there’s is missing the thyme. Now I know that certain spices enhance certain meats or cuts and if you cook long enough, you’ll figure it out.

Beef Dry Rub

Coarse salt
Coarse black pepper
Crushed red pepper
Crushed thyme
Dry minced garlic
Dry minced onion
Paprika

Slowcooked Chuck Roast

This is a good way to use pepperoncini’s, onions and carrots that you froze from last year’s garden.
1 chuck roast seasoned with beef dry rub (salt, pepper, red pepper, garlic, onion, paprika and thyme)
1 tbs butter to sear the roast
2 tbs melted butter for the potatoes
1 tsp dried parley
3 cans beef broth
¼ cup pepperoncini slices
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 – 3 carrots cut into finger sized pieces.
½ onion diced
12 mini red potatoes

Pour broth into crockpot and began heating on low heat. Add pepperoncini, Worcestershire sauce and onion to broth. In a separate pan, melt butter on med-high heat. When hot, sear roast 5-7 minutes on each side. Put roast and its butter into crockpot. After 6 hours, add carrots and cook another 2 hours.
Slather potatoes with melt butter and back on 400 for 20 minutes or in microwave dish for 8 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.
Serve roast, carrots, potatoes, and juice in a pasta bowl. A rendition of this is called Italian beef which instead of broth, you use a can of beer and add a packet of Italian dressing dry mix but also dump a jar of pepperoncini and juices. Both of these, you can shred and make sandwiches.

A little peak at today’s lunch orders. Shrimp alfredo, garlic butta sauce and bread and homemade poundcake. And it smells so good. 😊

Hey y’all, here’s todays menu and yes we can do chicken if shrimp is not your forte. Welcome to the kitchen.

Hi family and friends, we are taking orders for lunch or dinner at 9am. We would love for you to join us for some good eats.

The secret to my spaghetti is to season the noodles. A little salt and olive oil while they’re boiling. Then after they are drained add more oil, garlic, McCormicks salt free garlic and herb and parmesan. Season tomatoes with the same thing and some italian seasoning and basil. Slowly simmer the mushrooms. Make a buffet!

Taco salad tonight. My favorite part about taco Tuesday lately is this Mexican street corn seasoning from Sam’s. Have you tried it?? Also a little tip... put your sour cream in your own squeezable bottle and guacamole in a sandwich bag to pipe it onto your tacos.

Today’s lunch ya’ll. Yes, you can have a plate! And I now take cashapp. Info is below. Give me a call to place an order.

Hello good people, the kitchen will open tomorrow (Friday) taking lunch orders and for dinner . I really appreciate all of the support and am delighted that you enjoy the food. So let’s eat!!

Wild Wednesday just got wilder. NC had wild bison up until about 1800. Now they are all domesticated. We like it because it has twice the protein as beef. Sometimes we try to eat "hunter gatherish". So, I only used bacon grease and wild game seasoning. We had some rolls that we had to use up, so I threw those in.

That salad is kale, raspberries, blueberries, honey and salt.

The green beans have onion and bacon.

Mini sweet potatoes.

Bison and mushrooms.

I was chatting with Alexis and she mentioned how Ms. Ann liked going out for hot dogs on Wednesdays. Specifically, she liked Weiner Works Wild Wednesday specials. We would get the cherry soda, too. She really liked their cole slaw. This is a sweet cole slaw. You don't have to chop it super fine. But do keep in mind that red cabbage is naturally sweeter than green in case you'd like to reduce the sugar. Also, I have not tried to make cole slaw with sugar alternative, so if you do, let us know how it turns out. Anyway, we eat this on a hot or sausage dog, fish sandwich or hamburger.

Sweet Cole Slaw

1 1b green coleslaw cabbage either shredded or chopped fine
2 tbsp diced onion
1/3 cream sandwich dressing (fake mayo)
2 tbs olive or vegetable oil
¼ cup white sugar
1 tbs white vinegar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

In a large bowl, mix the cabbage and onion first. In another bowl, mix all of the other ingredients then pour it over the vegetables. Stir well. Refrigerate two or more hours. Server chilled.

Hello happy people! I like a good bowl of chili in the winter. But I have 3 problems with it. #1 I like it home made but it can be a lengthy and frankly boring thing to cook #2 I honestly don’t like a lot of beans in it. I have skipped people’s chili if it had a lot of beans. #3 Usually it’s one of those last minute ideas that I really don’t have the time for. And maybe it’s me but chili always tastes better in large quantities and the day after. Why is that? Anyway, this has been a cheater version of chili I’ve made for a few years. You might be thinking why not just heat some cans of chili with beans? Because it doesn’t taste right and this is just as fast. Try it and let me know.

Cheater Chili

4 can of chili with beans
1 1b ground beef
1 diced yellow onion
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 can of dice tomatoes with chilis
2 tsp chili powder
1 tbs vegetable oil

Heat vegetable over medium high. Saute onion for about 2 minutes. Add beef and cook until browned. Dump in all other ingredients and simmer on low for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Cozy up and eat with us today. Baked chicken, garlic and herb pasta, artesano roll and some good ole fashioned string beans and rum cake.

Green beans, string beans and snap beans are the same thing y’all. But snap peas and snow peas are not. You can argue with me but… let’s eat. 😂