In Kansas, can't find what I am looking for

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cent96

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
3
Location
Kansas
I moved to Kansas 6 years ago from Chicago, and I love living here, except.....there is no food here )except for the bbq.)

So I have been trying to recreate all of our family favorites here at home. I cannot find smoked butt in any store I am ever in. I don't even know if it is called smoked butt, but that is what Grandma used to call it.

I also cannot find any decent mexican or pizza. So while I am here, I am going to be looking for good mexican and pizza recipes, or resturant recommendations.

Talk to you soon
CJ
 
Welcome to DC Cent96. Not sure about the smoked butt. Is there a butcher nearby that you could ask? As far as pizza and mexican foods, check out the ethnic forum for ideas and or do a search in that forum for specific questions.
 
Hi CJ. I am new also. I am from Kansas. I have lived here most of my life. I live in Overland Park. Where do you live? There is more to Kansas than BBQ. I'd be more than happy to give you some restaurant recommendations and even some recipes.:chef:
 
Thanks Amber

I am in Spring Hill, just south of Olathe. Thanks for your reply. We have really been focusing on adjusting to our surroundings. We have found a couple of places where we have been pretty happy. We go to La Mesa off of 135th street for Mexican food. And we have been going to Rosatis for pizza, but it is always cold by the time we get it home. It is good though. Any recommendations you have would be great. And feel free to set me up with any recipes you want to share!

Talk to you soon
Christine:)
 
Cent96, you can make your own smoked pork butt if you have a stovetop smoker. We have one and have made some of the most delicious smoked pork butt.

As for moving to an area that seems to have limited food/cuisines, we moved to this area (very rural western Kentucky) after 30 years in Washington, DC. Can you say "culture shock?" At first we were disappointed about what we perceived as limited availability of lots of things we were used to back East.

As it turns out, we just weren't looking hard enough or deep enough into our area resources. It became a challenge and quite an adventure at times, but we've adapted very well and can now create nearly any dish we prepared back in the D.C. area.
 
Thank you Katie

Thanks for the advise. I will have to look for a stovetop smoker. Take care
 
being as you're from Chicago and all, no place is going to have satisfactory pizza for you but Chicago, you realize that, don't you? I mean the rest of us got things we call pizza, and many are mighty fine and tasty, but they are not a Chicago deep dish pizza. As for your smoked butt, look for a real butcher or meat purveyor and you'll find it.
 
A pork shoulder is a primal cut..that includes the front leg and a portion on top of the leg...the top portion is the "Butt" portion...the lower is used for "picnic" hams...However as jennyema stated..the terms are used interchangeablely...The Boston Butt is what most folks slow cook for pulled pork etc...a fresh "picnic" can be slow cook and pulled as well but will be a different texture and somewhat a different taste....
 
cent96 said:
I am in Spring Hill, just south of Olathe. Thanks for your reply. We have really been focusing on adjusting to our surroundings. We have found a couple of places where we have been pretty happy. We go to La Mesa off of 135th street for Mexican food. And we have been going to Rosatis for pizza, but it is always cold by the time we get it home. It is good though. Any recommendations you have would be great. And feel free to set me up with any recipes you want to share!

Talk to you soon
Christine:)

Hi, I am close to you Louisburg.

Tons of good food in Kansas I would agree with you about Spring Hill I think
the only good food there is bbq. I think it is called K&M bbq.
For mexican go to Mi Rancheto (sp) there is one in Olathe very good or Manny's which is downtown KC.

for close Italian I would recommend Carabas it too is in Olathe. For pizza
I personally like Minskey's. Now for seafood McCormick and Schmidt it
is on the Plaza and well worth the drive.

A great steak place is CC broiler off 151st and 69 just a block or two west,
very good.

You have to have been right off I-35 and 119th there is many resturants.
Also get on mykcfox and look at the new blogs there is one created
named reviews on kc resturants. Keep looking and trying new things
here I think your tummy will be very satisfied, but sad to say I don't think
you will find much in Spring Hill, same with Louisburg. Nor do I think you
will find a good Polish place in town. I have been looking for good Polish
food and can not find any. We have family in Chicago we have the Polish
food shipped here.

For grocerys I would recommend seafood from Hen House, meat too
and of course when it is winter best produce. I would also recommend
Hy-Vee for meat I think it is just as good as Hen House but not as pricey.

If you want spec meat Rancher's meat is really good.

Good Luck


Good Luck
 
cent96 said:
Thanks for the advise. I will have to look for a stovetop smoker. Take care

To smoke a pork butt will take an outside smoker as it takes anywhere from 6 - 12 hours too cook - maybe more depending on the size. An stove top smoker will be good for chicken breasts, pieces of fish, even vegetables.

Katie E. - I take it you are cooking MUCH smaller portions - maybe even individual pieces?

I also recently did a pork butt in my oven as the temperature outside wasn't worth fighting to keep the smoker hot enough. Rub down with olive oil, salt, pepper, a bit of brown sugar, and if you want a couple dashes of liquid smoke (I don't care for it though).

Cook on 225 degrees until internal temperature reaches 200 - It took 20 hours for mine to cook and the next time I will place a large pan under it filled halfway with apple juice and place the pork butt directly on the rack. That meat was like butter but I didn't like the way it sat in all the juice grease for so long. The apple juice in the pan will also impart a lovely flavor. Let the outside get crusty - that helps seal it and keep the inside juicy!
 
I smoked a pork butt over the weekend yummy, I thought you were looking
for other stuff than bbq? You should be able to find pork butt
everywhere in Kansas. All the stores I go to call it pork butt.
 
kitchenelf said:
Katie E. - I take it you are cooking MUCH smaller portions - maybe even individual pieces?
Actually, no, I usually smoke about a 5- to 7-pound pork butt in my smoker. I can smoke meats as large as 12 pounds in it. I have a Cameron's stovetop smoker and smoke all kinds of things in it. I also have their smaller one (about half the size as the big one) and use it to smoke vegetables and cheeses.
 
I'd like to be able to give you advice as to where to find certain products, but as a 'veteran' (in more ways than one) I can tell you that sometimes you have to just learn to live with the restrictions of a new location.

You haven't said WHERE in Kansas you are. It is a large state, and I assume you aren't in a metropolitan area if you can't find good Mex or Pizza. The answer for Mex is to drive south, you'll find it. For pizza of your taste, whatever it may be, you might just have to learn to make it. Living only a few hours from Chicago, I was surprised to learn that the local taste for pizza is the neopolotan thin crust, which thrilled me because that is what I like. Mexican is also to a particular taste. I have lived among Mexicans all of my life, and if you can't find "good" Mexican, you must not have a restaurant in town at all, or you're looking for something that is specific to a restaurant near where you used to live. The only reason we have restaurants in this country is because Mexicans are willing to do work no one else will do. So go looking for places they shop and eat. I've found that of all the cuisines I love, good Mexican is the easiest to find. I've found it everywhere, yes, even in rural Kansas. that, by the way, is where I found some of the best Vietnamese food~
 
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