in praise...
i know. i'm the worst blogger ever. how can i complain that no one ever reads my blog, when can't even be counted on to write once a quarter? alas - one of my many charming imperfections. even more unusual than being moved to write, is that what compels me today is not a rant against 4th meal, or a rotating cheeseburger log at 7-11, or even the jaw-dropping horror that is "mail order bride" on NatGeo...(seriously - don't get me started on that.) today, i have little or no snark at all. i just want to praise something absolutely delicious.
Spring Hill is in our neighborhood. it's been good from the outset, but has gotten better and better. chef fuller and his kitchen staff cook with care, creativity, love and attention, and quite simply - it shows. it would be one thing to praise brunch - even a good one, but i am much too lazy to do that. i'm compelled to write because the dish i'm obsessed with is such a totally improbable one for me.
my friend allison and i went in for brunch a few months ago. rob and i had been, and i was excited for her to try the dish i loved - sauteed mushrooms, toast and their amazing eggs. spring hill water-bath-poaches their eggs which yields an amazing, tender texture all the way through. we ordered like 12 other things, and she was most excited about a quinoa waffle with chicken nuggets and sausage gravy. i smiled politely.
i don't have anything against fried chicken and waffles as a concept. salty, sweet, crisp, etc...i get it. and in the spirit of full disclosure - i will confess, i've never actually had them - together. but i'm leery of waffles. they're rarely crisp enough. i like fried chicken, but it's heavy. and - come on - it's finger food. waffles are fork food. i'm just not sure i get it.
spring hill likes to tweak things - enough to be inventive, not so much that you lose the essence of the original. when allison and i had it, i thought - i don't love this - but rob might. we ate it last - after the 12 other things, and it got cold. nuggets should not be cold. (oh - did i mention that the nuggets are like commercial chicken nuggets - but homemade?...the hash browns are like that too - they look like they could come in a paper sleeve, but they're fresh and real and really good.) it's kind of precious - in a good way.
in any case - of course i agreed to have the waffle, but to me, breakfast means eggs and potatoes, everything else is subject to negotiation and swappery. and the very thought of sausage gravy is kind of repellent to me. it's very unattractive...let's be honest. it looks much more like something that is unexpectedly evacuated from the body than something one electively ingests. in any event, i tried a teeny tiny bit of the sausage gravy and while i was glad i'd tried it - i didn't feel the need to repeat the experiment. but that waffle...even cool...i couldn't keep away from it. the quinoa gave it more crunch than usual and there's thyme in the batter...a nice hit of savory to offset the sweet.
rob and i finally went back a few weeks ago and i ordered my eggs and mushrooms and he ordered the chicken and waffles. this time, it did not get cold. my egg dish, which is still really, really good, just paled in comparison. the waffle was every bit as good as i remembered it being...maybe better. nuggets, when eaten hot, are amazing, and i have to admit - in this very particular application - when prepared by people i trust - and in small dips - i like the gravy.
Spring Hill is in our neighborhood. it's been good from the outset, but has gotten better and better. chef fuller and his kitchen staff cook with care, creativity, love and attention, and quite simply - it shows. it would be one thing to praise brunch - even a good one, but i am much too lazy to do that. i'm compelled to write because the dish i'm obsessed with is such a totally improbable one for me.
my friend allison and i went in for brunch a few months ago. rob and i had been, and i was excited for her to try the dish i loved - sauteed mushrooms, toast and their amazing eggs. spring hill water-bath-poaches their eggs which yields an amazing, tender texture all the way through. we ordered like 12 other things, and she was most excited about a quinoa waffle with chicken nuggets and sausage gravy. i smiled politely.
i don't have anything against fried chicken and waffles as a concept. salty, sweet, crisp, etc...i get it. and in the spirit of full disclosure - i will confess, i've never actually had them - together. but i'm leery of waffles. they're rarely crisp enough. i like fried chicken, but it's heavy. and - come on - it's finger food. waffles are fork food. i'm just not sure i get it.
spring hill likes to tweak things - enough to be inventive, not so much that you lose the essence of the original. when allison and i had it, i thought - i don't love this - but rob might. we ate it last - after the 12 other things, and it got cold. nuggets should not be cold. (oh - did i mention that the nuggets are like commercial chicken nuggets - but homemade?...the hash browns are like that too - they look like they could come in a paper sleeve, but they're fresh and real and really good.) it's kind of precious - in a good way.
in any case - of course i agreed to have the waffle, but to me, breakfast means eggs and potatoes, everything else is subject to negotiation and swappery. and the very thought of sausage gravy is kind of repellent to me. it's very unattractive...let's be honest. it looks much more like something that is unexpectedly evacuated from the body than something one electively ingests. in any event, i tried a teeny tiny bit of the sausage gravy and while i was glad i'd tried it - i didn't feel the need to repeat the experiment. but that waffle...even cool...i couldn't keep away from it. the quinoa gave it more crunch than usual and there's thyme in the batter...a nice hit of savory to offset the sweet.
rob and i finally went back a few weeks ago and i ordered my eggs and mushrooms and he ordered the chicken and waffles. this time, it did not get cold. my egg dish, which is still really, really good, just paled in comparison. the waffle was every bit as good as i remembered it being...maybe better. nuggets, when eaten hot, are amazing, and i have to admit - in this very particular application - when prepared by people i trust - and in small dips - i like the gravy.
a brunch without eggs and with sausage gravy - who would have believed?
eat it.
posted by the pieces @ 3:08 PM
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