This past Thursday, I spoke on a panel of entrepreneurs that have turned our “Passion into Profit.” It was produced by the creative event group that happens to have a publication called 12th and Broad. The night kicked off with a cocktail hour in the lobby of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Chef Mark’s creations were beautiful. I didn’t get to eat much, because hors d’oeuvres should never repeat during a presentation. By the notions from other guests, I do believe Chef was a hit. My indulgence was a snort of Bulleit. It seems that there is a women’s bourbon club that I shall start attending. Tweet @BourbonWomen if you are so inclined.
I must say that it is a rich and delicious feeling to be well received. There I sat in a room full of creative minds that had buckets full of sense. Really, their buckets were overflowing. Yet, they had come to hear what I and my fellow panel members had to say. Please follow the 12th and Broad links for more about our discussion.
Let’s cut to the fat…
I am issuing an NC-17 rating here for my vegetarian and vegan friends.
You may have read my FoodBlog South recap called Feet Under My Table. It touches on Virginia Willis’ pork chop account that her friend Nathalie Dupree coined. The gist is that one chop in a searing hot pan will scorch on the outside and be left rare in the middle. Place two chops in that same pan and you will end up with a golden-to-perfection piece of pork waiting to be savored. The chops feed off of each other’s fat. Not to leave the veggie lovers out of the application, consider an onion. Fried in a dry pan it will not infuse flavor into a sauce. It needs a drizzle of oil. Fat is flavor regardless of dietary needs. Virginia and Nathalie, do forgive me if I have left out a few details.
When 2008 happened, our lives were changed forever. We are still learning from our mistakes as a country. So much good also came from the struggles and heartache of a recession like no other since the Great Depression. We now live in a space full of entrepreneurs yearning to leave their legacy. Some ideas will succeed with a garnish of crisp cracklin’s, yet others won’t ever make it out of the pan. Not every idea is a good one worth an investment. Ah, but the ones that are? They need fat to develop flavor.
When a peer succeeds, be the first one adding the garnish. When found alone, for goodness sakes jump in the damn pan and nurture them for the intense, layered flavors only fat can impart. The greenish-grey ones need to be left the hell alone. Trust me when I say, “You’ll smell ‘em before you even see ‘em.”
Pank turned me onto this ZZ Top song years ago. Sometimes to get him tickled, I will sing it opera style. It’s about Spider Kilpatrick, drummer for legendary Lightnin’ Hopkins. When Spider didn’t have time for a break way back when, he would lay his sandwich on the rim of the snare until the set was finished. Perhaps, pork nor Texan blues are your inspiration. Nutritionally speaking, the human body needs fat to transport vital nutrients. Even still, I’m about ready for a “Poke Chop Sandwich”….