Grilled Chicken Club

I’ve looked over Johnny’s menu countless times but somehow I’ve always skipped over the grilled chicken club. It is on both the lunch and dinner menus but I had just never really noticed it before. With all the yummy barbecue beckoning, I never thought to give this average-sounding sandwich a try. Of course by now I should know what nothing at the Smokehouse is average.

This is a chicken club sandwich the way it was meant to be. Three perfectly grilled chicken strips smothered in cheese, topped off with cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

Did you notice that I didn’t mention mustard or mayo? Yes, they’re available but your toasted bun doesn’t come with either. Jill and Johnny talked it over and decided they didn’t want anything to distract from the amazing flavor of this sandwich.

The moment you sink your teeth into this amazing sandwich, you’ll wonder why you never thought to try it before. It certainly belongs on the Smokehouse menu.

So, am I the only one who has neglected this sandwich? Have you tried it before and loved it? Is it on your list of “gotta try this soon”?

more photos on Flickr to get your mouth watering.

Barbecue Sampler Platter

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m indecisive. I always have so much trouble ordering at restaurants because I just can’t decide what I want. Johnny and Jill realize that a lot of people have trouble choosing which JMS award-winning meat to eat, so they’ve created the perfect platter for all their indecisive meat loving customers.

The barbecue sampler platter still involves making a decision, but you don’t have to narrow it down to just one thing. Instead, you choose your 3 favorite meats. Your options: sliced brisket, pulled pork, chicken, ribs, and smoked tofu.

If you really looked at the picture above, you may have noticed that I have more than three meats on my plate. Lucky me, Johnny served all five options for the photoshoot. Now you know what all the options look like and, as an added bonus, I got to try everything!

I’ve mentioned before how much I love Johnny’s brisket. He really takes the time to smoke it just right and results are fabulous.

Also, I may have mentioned his pork a couple times before. I may have mentioned that it wins awards left and right and that the delicious pork flavor explodes in your mouth.

I’ve also tried the smoked half chicken before. Remember when I wrote about how pink is a mark of smokey goodness?

And of course you all remember the posts about ribs. I talked about them in the party pick post and the rack of ribs post. Cooked to competition standards, Johnny’s ribs are definitely worth trying- even if you think you don’t like ribs.

Finally, the smoked tofu. If you haven’t tried this yet, the sampler platter is a great way to try smoked tofu without committing to an entire plate of it. It’s very easy to be overlook tofu because so often tofu just isn’t cooked right. It kind of reminds me of brisket. Johnny always talks about how brisket is the “orneriest piece of meat” but if it’s cooked just right, it can be the best. Even though tofu isn’t meat, I think the same thing applies. It’s so easy to cook it wrong, but when it’s done right, it’s delcious. So please, don’t give up on tofu until you’ve give Johnny’s version a try. The tofu at Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse has all the depth and flavor of a piece of meat, but it’s not actually meat!

So, which three would YOU choose for you barbecue sampler platter?

more photos on flickr, as usual :)

Shaved Prime Rib Sandwich

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Johnny’s prime rib special. (Check out that post here)

I still think you should head out to the Smokehouse on a Thursday night to try the prime rib and listen to live music by Just Steve.

BUT if for some reason you can’t make it Thursday, never fear– you can still enjoy Johnny’s delicious prime rib. Just snag a shaved prime rib sandwich off the everyday lunch or dinner menu.

Just picture it: toasted-just-right Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse bun, fresh crisp pickles, loads of savory shaved prime rib, creamy provolone cheese, and flavorful au jus.

Is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is and I just ate!

Johnny took the Thursday night special and made it into something you can enjoy every day of the week. And trust me, once you try this, you’ll want to eat it again and again. There’s just something about the mix of provolone and prime rib that I can’t get enough of!

So please, have a look at this sandwich. Check out how the prime rib is completely covering the bun with meaty goodness. Pay special attention to the delicious provolone cheese mixed in with the meat. This is a sandwich you don’t want to miss!

Pictures on Flickr...

Chicken Strips

I’ve told you before that Johnny only buys the highest quality ingredients and that’s part of the reason why his food is so amazingly delicious. So it makes sense that his chicken strips are some of the best I’ve ever had. The moment you sink your teeth into them,, you can tell they’re hand-battered, white meat only chicken.

But rather than write you a couple paragraphs about the exceptional nature of Johnny’s chicken strips, I’ve consulted my brother, a certified picky eater. My little bro doesn’t usually go for chicken; he’s more of a hamburger and mac and cheese eater. But here’s what he had to say about Johnny’s chicken strips:

“I don’t normally like chicken but I really like this. Tender and tasty.”

He wasn’t kidding either. The next time I turned around, most of those chicken strips were gone gone gone!

Check out the pictures on Flickr.

SPECIAL: Smoked Turkey Sandwich

I know I’ve already done a post today but this was just too good not to share!

Johnny’s special today is a smoked turkey sandwich!

All I’ll say is “WOW!”

I’m calling for an encore of this one :)

Fish Sandwich

You may have noticed that I titled this post “fish sandwich” but if you looked at the picture above, you’re probably asking yourself, “Where’s the bun?”

I’m not trying to trick you; it really is a fish *sandwich*-- it’s just that the fish filet is so big is completely covers up the bun. If you look closely, you can see a browned edge of the bun sticking out in the bottom left of the picture. So that should give you some idea of how BIG this fish filet is. The fish filet used on the sandwich is the same size as the regular fish filet plate.

So, WOW. If you really love fish, this is the sandwich for you. Actually, even if you don’t love fish, I suggest that you give this sandwich a try. As I mentioned in the post about the fish filet, it’s not really like any fish I’ve ever tasted before. It’s not particularly fishy, just yummy. Don’t forget, you can pick how Johnny cooks your fish: grilled, blackened or fried.

So, what’s the difference between the fish sandwich and the fish filet? The bun and the number of sides. The fish filet comes with two sides. The sandwich comes with a bun and one side.

Check out the pictures of this enormous sandwich here.

Pork Plate

I know I tend to go on and on about how much I love Johnny’s brisket, but this post is to let you know that he has delicious pork too. Not just average pork. Not just “oh they’re out of brisket so I guess I’ll settle for pork” pork. It’s full-on “wow this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted!” pork.

After all, Johnny and Jill work hard to make sure that nothing in the Smokehouse is just adequate. Every dish is carefully crafted to have the perfect balance of flavors that will make your tastebuds thank you for making the trip out to Euharlee.

The pork plate is a great way to get your daily dose of Johnny’s delicious cooking. You get Johnny’s slow-smoked pulled pork, grill toast, a pickle, and 2 sides! Plus you can add your favorite Smokehouse sauces! It really doesn’t get any better than that!

I love the size of this plate. When I’m really hungry, I can polish off the meat and sides yet not feel over-full. On the day of the photo shoot, it was more of an afternoon snack so I ended up taking some home for leftovers. However you choose to eat the pork plate, you’re sure to enjoy it.

Check out more photos on Flickr.

PS: I ordered my pork plate with coleslaw and french fries so look for those :)

Brisket Plate

I believe I’ve mentioned several times before how much I love Johnny’s brisket. Hmmm, maybe in the brisket quesadilla, party pick, winter wine dinner, nachos, and redneck reuben posts. I even worked it into the fried pickles and mushrooms post!

So you get the idea. I *love* Johnny’s brisket. I understand why it wins awards. It’s just that good. The brisket plate is no exception. It’s a stupendous way to get your daily dose of brisket.

Really the only thing I have to add it a great quote from Johnny that lets you know how serious he is about serving high-quality, tasty food,

“Sauce is a condiment, not a cover-up”

So yes, Johnny’s food is served with sauce, but it doesn’t have to be smothered to be delicious!

Check out more photos of the brisket plate here!

Rack of Ribs

When I covered the party pick, I already told you how much *I* enjoyed Johnny’s ribs. You can check that out here.

This time, you don’t have to take my word for it. I was able to interview an expert! Warren Kaylor, a member of the Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse competition team, was kind enough to let me pick his brain for some interesting tidbits to share with you.

Warren was first introduced to barbecue competitions through work. At the time, he enjoyed cooking but absolutely fell in love with competition. He started out cooking for his employer’s team then joined the JMS team in October 2007. Of course since then, the JMS team has gone on to win many an award (including grand champion at the Georgia Barbecue Classic) so I would definitely consider Warren an expert about competition and good food in general!

First I asked Warren about the differences between cooking for a restaurant and cooking for competition. He said that the most important thing is the portions and the flavors. In a restaurant, people are probably hungry and a planning to eat an entire plate of food. In competition, you only have one bite to impress the judges so you need to have more intense flavors. Warren says that the JMS team self-tests their samples for quality. Right before turn-in, they each taste one piece of rib. They check for the nice bite mark, texture, and taste to make sure that the judges are getting the very best the team has to offer that day.

I mentioned in the other post that you can take a bite out of Johnny’s ribs and leave a perfect semi-circle bite mark. Warren highlighted the importance of this in competition. Competition standards dictate that a bite should leave a clean mark, without pulling the meat away from the bone. Johnny chooses to apply this same standard in his restaurant.

As competitors, Johnny and his team are constantly looking for tips and tricks to modify and enhance flavors to give them more depth. Then Johnny turns around and applies the same high standards to his restaurant food, ensuring that every bite of rib at Johnny’s will be as rich and flavorful as possible.

A big thank you to Warren Kaylor for letting me interview him and for being a superb hand-model for the rib photo shoot! Check out those photos here.

Hamburger Steak

Remember a couple weeks ago I mentioned how much I love hamburger in any form? So of course I was super excited to try Johnny’s hamburger steak this week. It is, after all, just a low carb hamburger. Along with my hamburger steak, I was delighted by the sides of sautéed mushrooms and pasta salad.

Like all JMS meat, this hamburger steak was cooked to perfection. It arrived on my plate warm, juicy, and covered in onions. I’m here to tell you that those onions are the perfect crunch to complement the meaty texture of the hamburger.

I’m pretty sure I’ve already written about Johnny’s pasta salad but in case you haven’t read that post, here’s a quick review of today’s pasta salad: lots of pasta, lots of flavor. I’ll never get over how colorful Johnny’s pasta salad is– loaded with tomatoes, olives, and purple onion.

Now for the grand finale: Johnny’s award-winning sautéed mushrooms. I’m not really a mushroom eater (remember the surprisingly yummy fried mushrooms) but I believe Johnny’s sautéed mushrooms have changed my mind.

I vow that from now on I’m going to give all mushrooms a chance. I’m not convinced any other mushrooms will be as delicious as Johnny’s but they deserve a chance.

So yes, I LOVED Johnny’s sautéed mushrooms. Maybe it was the wine sauce. Maybe it was trying a bite of mushrooms with a bite of hamburger steak. Maybe it was because of the quality of the mushrooms Johnny uses. Regardless, I’m pretty sure I’ll be ordering sautéed mushrooms as a side with my next hamburger steak, fish fillet, or brisket sandwich.

Now I mentioned that these mushrooms are award-winning. I wasn’t just saying that because I like them :)

At the 2010 Georgia Barbecue Classic in Cartersville, not only did the Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse team win grand champion, they also took first place in the open pit challenge. The open pit is a chef’s chance to branch out and wow the judges with something unique, something not-barbecue.

I have the inside scoop on Johnny’s prize winning open-pit entry and it includes mushrooms! Johnny’s team impressed the judges with a marinated and grilled lamb chop served on a bed of Mediterranean mashed potatoes topped with a pinot noir mushroom reduction sauce, and pico de gallo.

This award winning pinot noir mushroom reduction sauce is very similar to the sautéed mushrooms that Johnny serves in the smokehouse every day. I knew Johnny serves his award-winning barbecue here but I never thought about sides!

So here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Johnny always wants to bring the best food to his customers and will serve competition-quality mushrooms to anyone who’s willing to give them a try.
2. I love mushrooms, as long as they’re done right!
3. Always check out more pictures on facebook :)

Dixie Burger

An enormous half-pound burger served Johnny’s way with bacon and barbecue sauce.

After demolishing this baby, I am so full! Still, it was so delicious that I couldn’t help but eat the whole thing.

As usual, Johnny’s meat was perfectly cooked, leaving this burger warm, juicy, and oh-so-tender. The bacon was crispy and yummy. Top it off with Johnny’s award-winning barbecue sauce and you have a deliciously unique burger.

So which do I prefer– smokehouse burger or dixie burger? It’s a tough question but I’ll try to give you a straight answer. I love Johnny’s barbecue sauce but in my opinion the smokehouse sauce is even better. I liked the two types of cheeses on the smokehouse burger but I love the bacon on the dixie burger. So I’ve come up with a compromise. I think next time I’m craving a burger I’ll try the smokehouse burger but ask for bacon too!

Yum yum yum!

So what’s your favorite: dixie or smokehouse? I’m curious about what everyone else thinks.

And if anyone tries the burger “Mary Catherine’s way” how is it?

Check out the pictures on Facebook.

Read about the smokehouse burger here.

Hippie Meatloaf Sandwich

The familiar flavors of hippie meatloaf now brought to you in sandwich form! The hippie meatloaf sandwich is part of Johnny’s Express Menu and is available for only $3. Add veggie sticks or potato chips for only 50¢ more.

This sandwich is heaped with hippie meatloaf and served with Johnny’s signature meatloaf sauce. Basically, it has all the yummy goodness of the hippie meatloaf plate but is a bit smaller. The hippie meatloaf plate has 3 slices of meatloaf and two sides, while the sandwich is 2 slices of meatloaf with the option of veggie sticks or chips. But don’t worry: this sandwich won’t leave you hungry. The hippie meatloaf sandwich is the perfect size for one person.

Next time you need a lunch break, don’t hesitate to come out to the smokehouse for great deals and great food.

Check out more pictures on Flickr!

Smoked Chicken Salad Sandwich

This delicious chicken salad sandwich is part of Johnny’s very special Express Lunch Menu. The sandwiches on the Express Menu are only $3! For an extra 50¢ you can add veggie sticks or potato chips. I think all of Johnny’s food is well-priced but the Express Menu is a true bargain!

Just because this sandwich is inexpensive doesn’t mean it is any less delicious! I absolutely love Johnny’s smoked chicken salad. The extra tang of the smoked chicken really makes this chicken salad stand out in the crowd. Keep your tastebuds open to the delicious addition of dried cranberries as well.

This sandwich is a great size for a hungry person! Johnny heaps chicken salad onto the toasted bun until it overflows. Still, it’s not so much that I ever feel over-stuffed after polishing off every delicious morsel.

Johnny’s chicken salad sandwich with veggie sticks is definitely my idea of a perfect lunch. And at such a great price, it’s easy to enjoy it often!

More photos available on facebook.

Smoked Half Chicken

Johnny sure knows how to cook chicken right! I’m usually more of a chicken tenders kind of girl, mainly because I don’t like having to worry about getting the meat off the bones. This half chicken is so tender and moist that I had no trouble at all finding delicious hunks of meat that were falling off and ready to eat.

Let me tell you: this is a lot of meat! I knew a half chicken would be big but I was surprised by how much white meat was packed on. Definitely enough for more than one person. Or if you don’t want to share, save some for later and you’ll have another great meal.

Some customers worry that this chicken is too pink to be safe to eat. Actually, the meat is cooked to a proper 165 degrees, until the juices run clear and the joints move freely– two signs of fully-cooked chicken. Jill explained that the smoking process can leave very distinct pink rings on the meat. Any pink you find in this chicken is just proof of how well it’s been smoked. As Jill assured me, “We’re using real science to cook your chicken; we’re not just wingin’ it!”

Today I paired the chicken with Johnny’s potato salad. I found it to be the perfect balance of hearty potato chunks and crispy onions. Also, you don’t have to worry about being overwhelmed with mayonnaise. Del-icious!

The smoked half chicken made for a difficult photo shoot but in the end we had several great pictures of a delicious meal. Check them out here.

Soups

Johnny always strives to make food that is good for the soul and his soups are no exception! Pintos are a perfect match for anything on the menu but I’m also happy to have a cup of chili or brunswick stew any time.

Johnny’s soups come in the traditional sizes of cup or bowl but if you’re really adventurous, you should give the endless bowl a try. For only $4.95, it’s as much soup as you can eat. Johnny will keep refilling your bowl with any soup of your choice! So go on, try that cup of pintos. Then the chili. Then the brunswick stew. What have you got to lose?

More photos on Facebook...

Prime Rib

On Tuesday afternoons around 3 o’clock, you can usually find me at Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse enjoying another amazing meal and a chat with Johnny and Jill about the quality and unique nature of their food.

Last week, I was very lucky. I went on Tuesday as usual and had a delicious veggie burger but Jill also convinced me to come back on Thursday to try their prime rib. Boy did she have to twist my arm to convince me to come to Johnny’s twice in one week! Yeah right, I was thrilled at the opportunity.

“Why Thursday?” you may be wondering. Thursday is the day that Johnny cooks the prime rib. Thursday afternoons at 5 o’clock, the prime rib is fresh and ready to be eaten. So, of course, I was ready with my camera on Thursday at 5:15.

Johnny’s prime rib is fantastic! That’s all I can really say about it. It was perfectly cooked and I loved it.

Just be warned, this is an enormous piece of meat. Johnny measures his meats after cooking, not before. So this ribeye was 16 oz, after cooking!

Something I’ve learned is that with a truly nice piece of meat and a cook who is as talented as Johnny, the meat doesn’t have to be as well done for me to like it. Normally, when I order a steak I go for medium-well and I don’t really want to see any pink. Now Johnny has me hooked on eating things medium-rare. I trust him to cook the meat right and I’ve started to enjoy the extra juicy flavor of medium-rare.

So two things:

1. go to Johnny’s on a Thursday and try the prime rib
2. try ordering your meat slightly less cooked than usual and let Johnny surprise you with how good it tastes

Check out the photos on Facebook! I’ve found that it’s very difficult for me to capture the delicious essence of Johnny’s steaks but I’m very satisfied with these shots. Hopefully they will make your mouth water and your stomach rumble

Veggie Burger

Wow! I cannot believe how chock full of veggies this burger is! I’ve grown accustomed to “normal” veggie burgers, where you can tell it isn’t meat but you’re not really sure what’s in it. Not so with Johnny’s veggie burger.

Look at those colors! Clearly real veggies are a major part of this burger. The basis for this burger is always Johnny’s delicious black bean queso dip. What other vegetables go in is determined by what’s fresh. My burger was filled with carrots, broccoli, green beans, potato and cauliflower. Then the whole thing is flavored with Johnny’s Smokehouse Rub to give it that special JMS feeling. Yum yum!

I love the texture of this burger. It’s not too firm, and delightful chunks of veggies kept falling out of the bun and onto my plate. To me, this just seems to prove how real Johnny’s food is. It reminds me that these veggies were mixed together in the kitchen by a truly amazing chef who really cares about feeding people good food.

I chose pintos as the perfect companion for this burger. Johnny’s pintos are delicious. Eat them as an appetizer, with your meal, or as a dessert! Johnny adds smoked garlic to the pintos for extra smokehouse flair. Now that’s something you don’t see every day.

Check out the pictures on facebook.

Redneck Reuben

This unique Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse sandwich is more than just an excuse to eat brisket. (Although really, I should admit that when it comes to Johnny’s brisket, I’ll eat it any chance I get, no matter what the form.)

Brisket, sauerkraut, cheese, and rye. So delicious. A brilliant combination of flavors.

When this sandwich is brought out of the kitchen, all warm and delightful, you can’t help but smile. The top piece of marbled rye is always perfectly toasted. The bottom piece of bread is usually softened by the sauerkraut. Picking it up can be messy but is ultimately rewarding. Whenever I take a bite out of this sandwich, my tastebuds just scream “Yummy brisket!” It’s an involuntary reaction really.

If you’re not a fan of sauerkraut, don’t worry: it’s not overwhelming. Before I first tried the redneck reuben I was worried that the other ingredients would detract from the amazing-ness of the brisket.

Now, I know Johnny and Jill better than that. Every dish at JMS is a perfectly balanced mixture of flavors and this is no exception. The sauerkraut enhances the brisket. The melted cheese adds to the tastiness.

Watch out brisket quesadillas! You may have competition for being my favorite way to eat brisket :)

Also, a quick note about Johnny’s coleslaw: it’s delicious. I avoid most coleslaws but I liked this. The veggies are firm and fresh, and the mayo-sauce is not overwhelming. Once again, way to go Johnny and Jill!

Check out the pictures on Facebook.

Chicken Olé

I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

I knew the chicken with molé sauce would be delicious; after all, this is Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse. But I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what it would look like, never mind what it would taste like. Jill told me that chicken olé is a traditional Mexican dish, but one that isn’t likely to be found at our local tex-mex restaurants.

Blending together ten different ingredients, the molé sauce is one of the more complicated items on Johnny’s menu. Since the sauce contains everything from cocoa to chiles, it was impossible for me to predict which flavor would dominate this interesting dish.

Even after trying the chicken olé, I can’t tell you which flavor is most pronounced. I’m still learning about the mysteries of the way flavors come together and I found it impossible to distinguish one spice from the others. All I can give you is the assurance that the results were amazing. The sauce, the chicken, the provolone, each piece perfectly complemented the others.

One of the things I found interesting about this dish is that the chicken tenders are on top of the molé sauce, instead of the sauce being dribbled over the chicken. The amount of sauce may at first seem overgenerous, even for three hearty chicken tenders. However, once you try the sauce, you understand that having more is definitely better. I found myself carefully bathing each and every morsel of chicken in the sauce, so that I could enjoy the maximum amount of this surprising and delicious sauce. After I finished the chicken, I couldn’t resist using my bread to sop up the remaining sauce. It was just that good!

The chicken olé comes with grits and black beans. These two sides were handpicked by Johnny and Jill because of how well they go with this dish. After trying this amazing combination, I agree that the grits and beans definitely bring out the best flavors in an already wonderful dish.

Check out the photos on Facebook.