Posted by Daily Post Athenian, TN on June 20, 2009 at 15:39:30:
In the Kitchen - City vs. County in kitchen competition
GREG MOSES Staff Writer
In the Kitchen this week are four men who have stayed in the kitchen despite the heat in many instances. Now, they're competing to see whose cooking up the best recipes in the area: Athens or McMinn County.
The "City Chefs" - Athens Mayor Hal Buttram and City Manager Mitch Moore - are going against the "Courthouse Jesters" - County Mayor John Gentry and County Trustee Phil Tuggle - in this first-ever contest to see who has the best recipes: City or County.
In recognition of summer, the two teams offered recipes that go well with the season. Both sides picked a recipe for the grill, and John explained why "grilling" is near and dear to the hearts of public officials.
"I've been grilled more than I've grilled," John said. "We're used to having the fire turned up under us, and I can certainly empathize with a tenderloin roast."
For the city, Hal has prepared the Friendly City Fish Glaze, which he said is now the official fish glaze of Athens. Mitch has entered his recipe for MitcHELL Sauce, and as the name implies, it's not for the lukewarm at heart.
In response, the county team has entered Tuggle's Tenderloins, a marinade for pork tenderloins, and John's Julius, a family Orange Julius recipe formed over years of trial and error.
Trial and error, according to Phil and John, is how they have come to be masters of the grill.
"It's kind of hit and miss. We've learned by doing," Phil said. "I've been grilling for about 35 years, and I prefer charcoal. Gas is more convenient, and a little less messy, but you get a better flavor with charcoal.
"And even though John and I are younger than Mitch and Hal," he added, "our experiences on the grill and in the kitchen have probably been more productive than theirs."
"Most of my cooking involves experimentation," John said.
Through experimentation, John concocted his version of an Orange Julius, one of his earliest forays into the world of the kitchen.
"When I was a kid growing up in this county, there was a place my family and I went to that sold Orange Juliuses. We thought we could make those ourselves, so we played around with the ingredients until we found a recipe that worked," John said.
What makes John's recipe for Orange Julius so special is found in the ice cubes.
"The secret ingredient is well water," he said. "You can't use city water to make these ice cubes."
"Hal and Mitch can't make that," Phil added. "It's a county recipe."
To Phil's statement, Mitch replied, "Doesn't he know we get our water from wells, too?"
Mitch's liquid concoction is not quite drinkable, although that can be done at one's own risk.
The recipe's ingredients are simple enough: Salt, vinegar, and habanero pepper. Much like the county's well water ice cubes, the habanero pepper is what gives MitcHELL sauce both its kick and its name.
"Habanero pepper at one time was the hottest pepper grown," Mitch said, adding that on the Scoville scale, a measure of hotness or piquancy (spiciness) of chile peppers, Tobasco rates around 30- to 50,000 while habanero rates over 300,000.
Hal added, "The end result registers an 8 on the Richter Scale."
Mitch advises anyone who wants to make MitcHELL sauce to "start very, very small and work your way up."
"If you think, 'Nothing is too hot for me,' just try a teaspoon of this," Mitch said.
Hal added, "And keep the Milk of Magnesia handy, too."
In the spirit of good sportsmanship, Mitch gave Phil a bottle of MitcHELL Sauce last week. This week, Phil took a staycation at home.
While the city team was worried Phil may have imbibed a little too heavily on the MitcHELL Sauce, he was actually at home working to perfect his recipe for "Tuggle's Tenderloins."
"This is a secret Tuggle family recipe," Phil said as he printed the recipe from a cooking Web site. "It's got good reviews."
"This recipe is true to our heritage," John added. "We're a hogs and hominy state. The city's doing a fish recipe. We don't do fish in this county."
"The county's recipe is for pork," Hal replied, jokingly adding, "That fits. Tuggle's always rooting around like a pig."
Being a Navy man, Hal enjoys a meal centered around the bounty of the sea. His wife, Susan, however, is not fish's biggest fan. That's how Hal's "Friendly City Fish Glaze" came into being.
"In order to make fish more palatable for Susan, I developed this glaze, which is very tasty," he said.
Grilling for their wives has been a pastime both Hal and Mitch said they have enjoyed. Promoting it as a pastime for all Athens and McMinn County men was a major reason for their entering into the contest with the county.
"Being the dutiful husbands we are, always considering our female companions - and really the fairer sex in our city - we would admonish all husbands to join with us and take our lead in giving some relief to the wives of this community by giving them a well-deserved break from the kitchen," Hal added.
For Phil and John, it was all about the pleasure of giving the citizens of McMinn County a tasty treat.
"You take my tenderloins and John's Julius, life doesn't get any better than that," Phil said. "Your tongue will beat your lips to death just trying to get to our recipes.
"This is good stuff," he added. "Just take our word for it - we're politicians."
Both teams noted that all of their ingredients could be purchased inside the county, and each recipe is extremely economical to make.
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