Party Pick

In my mind, Tuesdays are already beginning to mean “yummy food.” I woke up earlier than usual today because–I kid you not–I had a dream about the delicious food of Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse. I was starving when I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep! But I was also pleased because in my dream JMS was packed with happy eaters who had been following my blog. Perhaps an over exaggeration of the popularity of this little writing project but certainly an accurate take on the quality of Johnny’s food.

Last week, I nobly ate half of a brisket quesadilla and brought the other half home. Today, I thought I might need a helping mouth for some of the other larger appetizers. (Plus, why would I have ever brought along an extra person to help me eat my absolute favorite dish- the brisket quesadilla?! I’m a little bit more willing to share some of the other items on the menu, even as I continually realize that everything at Johnny’s is phenomenal and hence un-sharable.)

Today’s delight was the party pick. This is a big, honking appetizer! As willing as I am to attack any dish, I was glad I had brought along an eating buddy. Mom was glad she had volunteered for the job!

The party pick is definitely enough appetizer for four people. It’s a potpourri of four amazing JMS appetizers: black bean queso dip with blue corn chips, rubbed ribs, cheese nibbles, and brisket quesadilla.

I realize I’ve said that the brisket quesadilla is my favorite dish at Johnny’s but I haven’t mentioned that I also have an... understanding with the black bean queso dip. If you count the brisket quesadilla as my favorite entree, it’s safe to say that the black bean queso dip is my favorite appetizer. It is so yummy! I consider black beans to be the single most useful and scrumptious ingredient ever. Johnny’s queso dip is somehow creamy while leaving the delectable black beans intact. I’m running out of synonyms so I will just give it to you straight: chilled in the summer or warm in the winter, this black bean queso dip is probably one of the most amazing things you will ever eat.

See previous posting and above paragraph for my raptures about the brisket quesadilla. (I don’t want to bore you, although I’m happy to discuss and eat brisket quesadillas all day every day.) The party pick comes with half of a brisket quesadilla- four triangles.

The cheese nibbles were a surprise. I expected traditional mozzarella sticks, but ten times better because, after all, this is Johnny’s. Instead, I found part of the plate filled with delightful, lightly-battered white cheddar. Each bite was the perfect mixture of cheese and batter.

Finally we dug into the ribs. I admit, I was saving the ribs for last for a reason. You see, I’m not really a rib person. To me, they’ve always seemed messy and very labor-intensive for such a small amount of meat. Not so at Johnny’s. I guess by now I shouldn’t be surprised that JMS food always surprises me.

Johnny cooks his ribs in house, to competition standards, each and every time. He believes that the mark of a perfect rib is not necessarily for the meat to be falling off the bone. Instead, biting into a rib should leave a perfect semi-circle cutout. He described this to us, Mom took a bite, and I took a picture. Sure enough, as Mom chewed on an amazingly juicy and flavorful morsel, we could see that the meat was missing a semi-circle the exact size of her bite. Emboldened, I put down my camera and picked up a rib, preparing myself to be wowed. I was thrilled that not only were Johnny’s ribs delicious but they were also not as messy as I feared. Johnny explained that he likes the ribs to be moist, but not drowning in sauce. Instead, it was up to me to dip (or not) into the sauces available on our table.

Another amazing tidbit about Johnny’s ribs: you can taste them for a long time. Driving home, I could still feel the ribs on my tongue. It wasn’t just an aftertaste. For about two hours, I swore I could still exactly taste the ribs. It was amazing.

Note: even as two very hungry people, we could not finish off this dish. It’s definitely an appetizer for at least four and a meal for two to three people.

Click here for more pictures of the party pick on Facebook