I was sitting at the bar last night enjoying a cup of scorching hot chili at the Shipwrecked Inn. I suddenly realized that it's the Holiday period and a time for reflection - so; "what is the best hot and spicy food I've eaten in Door County during 2011?"
Well I have to confess that I haven't been around the county much this year. I've pretty much beaten a path to the same old joints, those within an easy drive of home-base in Egg Harbor. So the question is more one of 'what's changed' at the regular joints.
John Henry keeps on doing what John Henry does best, provide good food, good value and an honest approach to local bar food. His wings are basically unchanged from the recipe he's used for the last 3 years or so, which is fine with me (A Frank's hot sauce side, crunchy deep fried wings, no loose skin or nasty looking fat globules). Now I have to confess that I haven't had John Henry's chili con carne since he moved from the old pad in Egg Harbor, so I need to set that straight before the year end.
The Pen Pub wings have gone through some changes, in fact they do tend to change from time to time. The first time I encountered them the 'Hot' sauce was quite a mild rendition of an in-house sauce, with a fairly heavy butter base cutting the heat. Pretty decent as I remember them. In the Summer of 2011 they seemed to loose the butter and gain a little heat, fine by me. Kyle is kind enough to make me a 'custom' version, which I suppose is available to anyone who asks, but it's basically Kyle's competition wing sauce without the extract, so it's hot, really hot. Great. I loved that. The wings are deep fried but the added sauce reverts them back to their rather soft-skinned texture. Not atypical as far as wings are concerned, but I'm starting to lean away from the soft-skin and more towards wings cooked with a crisper, crunchier exterior.
Kyle's chili is also undergoing changes too. From its first iteration in Summer 2010 to its present guise, it seems to have lost a bit of earthiness and richness and gone to a more traditional blend of minced beef, tomato and the pureed peppers. It doesn't have the heavy, rich consistency that I enjoy from a good hearty chili. I suspect it may change again before the start of the 2012 season.
I should close by saying that there's no shortage of 'heat' at the Pen Pub. They have their own house sauces and also their own house hot sauce (bottled). There's a Golden Habanero option and a Bhut Jolokia, so if you need to kick things up there are good options to do so.
Exit the Pen Pub and head over to Casey's and things are pretty much the same as the past couple years. Their wings are ok, their chili is very much an acquired taste. It's rich and thick and has a deep smoke flavor, the signature taste of Casey's smoked foods. The heat level just doesn't come quite up to scratch and Casey's don't offer any hot sauces capable of boosting the heat. So it's a good chili base, just not quite hot enough for my tastes, and perhaps a little too smoky.
Down the pike to the Shipwrecked Inn and I find myself in the Captains Lair. Towards the end of the season I discovered that by becoming a member of their Captains Club, I could buy my pints of house-brewed ales at only $2 and get a nice discount off appetizers during NFL games! Great, it's worth every penny of the $25 annual fee, I figure it paid for itself in a couple weeks! (thanks to Joe, Caleb and company for not telling me about the membership until the year was almost over :)
But what about their hot foods?
Well here's an odd thing. They have a permanent menu item which is a burger slathered with jalapeno peppers, I forget the name but it's pretty darn good. They also have a smoked hot wing with Frank's hot sauce on the wings, and available with a side of......Frank's Hot Sauce! The kicker with these wings is that they have a light house-smoke, which gives them a nice deep earthy flavor, and the cooking/smoking process results in quite a dry wing with a little outer crunch. I'm more a fan of these than is the wife, but I do like drier wings where most of the fat and skin is rendered down.
On the chili front, as far as I'm concerned the Shipwrecked Inn - Egg Harbor, has scored a home run. It isn't a traditional chili, it actually has large chunks of tomato, green pepper and ground beef. It's chunky, soupy with a nice heat level. In fairness, the heat is a little on the low side for my tastes, but they now have a 'Death Powder' on hand at the bar to kick things up. The powder is none other than a dried Bhut Jolokia pepper, not a blend, but pure Bhut powder. Wowzee. So one can sprinkle the powder on wings, chili, burgers....anything you choose.
Outside of Egg Harbor I've had wings at the AC Tap, Cornerstone Pub, Bayside and one or two other local joints, but there's been nothing out of the ordinary to report from any other location.
So that's a quick brain-dump heading towards the close of the year. I need to make a concerted effort to get around the County a little more before the end of the year and see what's what, but so far there's a close contest between the 2010 winner - Peninsula Pub and the Shipwrecked Inn.
Let's see what the last couple weeks of the year can dredge up.
Cheers.
Well I have to confess that I haven't been around the county much this year. I've pretty much beaten a path to the same old joints, those within an easy drive of home-base in Egg Harbor. So the question is more one of 'what's changed' at the regular joints.
John Henry keeps on doing what John Henry does best, provide good food, good value and an honest approach to local bar food. His wings are basically unchanged from the recipe he's used for the last 3 years or so, which is fine with me (A Frank's hot sauce side, crunchy deep fried wings, no loose skin or nasty looking fat globules). Now I have to confess that I haven't had John Henry's chili con carne since he moved from the old pad in Egg Harbor, so I need to set that straight before the year end.
The Pen Pub wings have gone through some changes, in fact they do tend to change from time to time. The first time I encountered them the 'Hot' sauce was quite a mild rendition of an in-house sauce, with a fairly heavy butter base cutting the heat. Pretty decent as I remember them. In the Summer of 2011 they seemed to loose the butter and gain a little heat, fine by me. Kyle is kind enough to make me a 'custom' version, which I suppose is available to anyone who asks, but it's basically Kyle's competition wing sauce without the extract, so it's hot, really hot. Great. I loved that. The wings are deep fried but the added sauce reverts them back to their rather soft-skinned texture. Not atypical as far as wings are concerned, but I'm starting to lean away from the soft-skin and more towards wings cooked with a crisper, crunchier exterior.
Kyle's chili is also undergoing changes too. From its first iteration in Summer 2010 to its present guise, it seems to have lost a bit of earthiness and richness and gone to a more traditional blend of minced beef, tomato and the pureed peppers. It doesn't have the heavy, rich consistency that I enjoy from a good hearty chili. I suspect it may change again before the start of the 2012 season.
I should close by saying that there's no shortage of 'heat' at the Pen Pub. They have their own house sauces and also their own house hot sauce (bottled). There's a Golden Habanero option and a Bhut Jolokia, so if you need to kick things up there are good options to do so.
Exit the Pen Pub and head over to Casey's and things are pretty much the same as the past couple years. Their wings are ok, their chili is very much an acquired taste. It's rich and thick and has a deep smoke flavor, the signature taste of Casey's smoked foods. The heat level just doesn't come quite up to scratch and Casey's don't offer any hot sauces capable of boosting the heat. So it's a good chili base, just not quite hot enough for my tastes, and perhaps a little too smoky.
Down the pike to the Shipwrecked Inn and I find myself in the Captains Lair. Towards the end of the season I discovered that by becoming a member of their Captains Club, I could buy my pints of house-brewed ales at only $2 and get a nice discount off appetizers during NFL games! Great, it's worth every penny of the $25 annual fee, I figure it paid for itself in a couple weeks! (thanks to Joe, Caleb and company for not telling me about the membership until the year was almost over :)
But what about their hot foods?
Well here's an odd thing. They have a permanent menu item which is a burger slathered with jalapeno peppers, I forget the name but it's pretty darn good. They also have a smoked hot wing with Frank's hot sauce on the wings, and available with a side of......Frank's Hot Sauce! The kicker with these wings is that they have a light house-smoke, which gives them a nice deep earthy flavor, and the cooking/smoking process results in quite a dry wing with a little outer crunch. I'm more a fan of these than is the wife, but I do like drier wings where most of the fat and skin is rendered down.
On the chili front, as far as I'm concerned the Shipwrecked Inn - Egg Harbor, has scored a home run. It isn't a traditional chili, it actually has large chunks of tomato, green pepper and ground beef. It's chunky, soupy with a nice heat level. In fairness, the heat is a little on the low side for my tastes, but they now have a 'Death Powder' on hand at the bar to kick things up. The powder is none other than a dried Bhut Jolokia pepper, not a blend, but pure Bhut powder. Wowzee. So one can sprinkle the powder on wings, chili, burgers....anything you choose.
Outside of Egg Harbor I've had wings at the AC Tap, Cornerstone Pub, Bayside and one or two other local joints, but there's been nothing out of the ordinary to report from any other location.
So that's a quick brain-dump heading towards the close of the year. I need to make a concerted effort to get around the County a little more before the end of the year and see what's what, but so far there's a close contest between the 2010 winner - Peninsula Pub and the Shipwrecked Inn.
Let's see what the last couple weeks of the year can dredge up.
Cheers.
