Heads Carolina, Tails Carolina

The ACBN's culinary tribute to an exciting bowl game matchup

Hello! Welcome back to The Action Cookbook Newsletter.

I hope you’ve had/are currently having a restful holiday.

If you’re a frequent reader of this newsletter, you probably already know that I enjoy a cooking challenge—I love to come up with new recipes, and I’m especially fond of odd mashups or remixes of familiar food favorites.

Sometimes it’s simple; sometimes it’s a fried football full of Skyline Chili.

If you’re new to reading this newsletter, (as I can tell quite a few of you are in the wake of my Rudolph post getting some legs)—welcome!

I publish three times a week, and each Friday I put out a big weekend edition, an extra-large newsletter jam-packed with the things you need to make your weekend better, including a recipe, a cocktail, music/book/television recommendations, other assorted fun diversions, and—the best part—photos of the adorable animal companions of ACBN readers. Typically, this edition goes only to paid subscribers; perhaps you’ll consider becoming one. In fact, this week I’m running a year-end special; you can save 20% on annual subscriptions if you sign up today.

Anyways, back to the food challenges.

We’re deep in the throes of college football’s bowl season, a liminal space in the sports calendar where odd couples of teams are paired up for one-off competitions in exotic locales, often with interesting sponsors and unusual traditions. We get one last shot to see many of our favorite players, some hopefully-exciting mid-week football at a time when many of us are off work, and the thrilling prospect of mayonnaise being dumped on someone’s head.

A few months ago, I received an intriguing message from Miller Yoho, longtime online pal and ACBN reader. Miller is Director of Marketing and Communications for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, an annual favorite postseason game whose latest edition is set to be played this Thursday, December 30th at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.

He proposed an intriguing food challenge:

Do you think you could come up with a recipe that honors both teams in this year’s game?

Obviously, I was in.

Of course, it wasn’t until a few short weeks ago that we knew the matchups for each bowl game, and so I was enamored of the many possibilities. The game’s conference tie-ins this year promised to match up teams from the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference, but I wasn’t sure which two it would be.

I began to map out all the potential scenarios.

Virginia. Thomas Jefferson helped popularize macaroni and cheese in the United States. I’ll make mac and cheese. Or maybe something with ham.

Virginia Tech. A Hokie is a turkey. I think? I’ll make something with turkey.

Tennessee. Country ham’s in play here. Or maybe pancakes? Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are crazy with pancake houses. Goo Goo clusters? Tennessee is a culinary powerhouse.

Miami. Cubano. Slam-dunk.

Auburn. Hmm. Something with white barbecue sauce?

Mississippi State? [20 minutes of Googling foods] Well, hopefully it’s not Mississippi State, or I’m gonna end up serving mac and cheese out of a cowbell.

Louisville. Papa Johns pizza? Although I guess Papa John hates them now. It could be KFC or Taco Bell-themed? God, there’s a lot of fast food based in Louisville.

Clemson. Huh. Shouldn’t they be in the playoff? [looks up record] Ah, well. That’s a shame.

Finally, on December 5th¹, the two teams were announced.

Carolina vs. Carolina. North vs. South. Tarheel vs. Gamecock. One game for dominion over all the Carolinas.

With the matchup set, the meal appeared to me, as if in a vision.

A delicious sandwich—but something more than that. A new icon of Carolina cuisine. A culinary trophy for one of the college football postseason’s most beloved games. A tribute to sibling states divided by football and united once again by food.

The Carolina Hot Loin.

Again, if you’ve been around The Action Cookbook Newsletter before, you may know that my signature dish—the most popular recipe I’ve ever conceived here, and one that dozens and dozens of people have sent me delicious-looking photos of—is the Kentuckiana Hot Loin, a mashup of Indiana-style breaded pork tenderloin and Nashville Hot Chicken, pictured glamorously here:

I didn’t want to simply rehash this—this close to the holidays, the last thing I need to be doing is deep-frying—but the notion of a sweet-and-spicy pork sandwich was ripe for reformulation to Carolina standards.

One of my go-to moves for grilling, something I stumbled across online a while back that I frequently employ for a simple dinner, is a quick-and-easy marinade for pork or chicken made by combining a bottle of cane sugar-based fruit-flavored soda, a half-cup of soy sauce, and a ton of garlic. I usually use Pineapple Jarritos in making it, and it’s something I do almost weekly in the warmer months.

Well, there’s a North Carolina icon that can slot in nicely to this move: Cheerwine.

The delicious, bright-red cherry soda has been made in Salisbury, North Carolina for more than a century, and unlike other sodas of its era, it’s had staying power—still widely-popular and available across a decent swath of the country.

(At least as far north as my current hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.)

But, what for South Carolina? What can balance out this sweetness and elevate this sandwich to new heights? What can give it some kick?

[DOOR FLIES OPEN]

[Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper” plays]

That’s right, I’m talking about the Carolina Reaper, a hot pepper developed by Fort Mill, South Carolina-based pepper breeder Ed Currie and certified to be the world’s hottest chili pepper, clocking in at somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million Scoville units. It’s a beast, and one to be handled carefully.

Or, y’know, chucked into a marinade to see what happens.

what could possibly go wrong

I’d have a sweet, savory and searingly-spicy sandwich. Here’s the full recipe:

The Carolina Hot Loin

• 1 lb boneless center-cut pork chops

• 1 12-ounce bottle Cheerwine

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

• 2 Carolina Reaper peppers (I used dried, given the season)

• brioche hamburger buns

• Duke’s Southern Coleslaw

• Pickle chips

• Duke’s Mayonnaise

Place the pork chops in a glass or non-reactive dish, and strew the chopped garlic over them. Pour the Cheerwine and soy sauce over the chops to cover, and add the peppers whole. (Chop them up if you want it on the hotter end).

Allow to marinate at least overnight and up to 24 hours.

Drain the chops and pat dry, discarding the marinade. Grill on high 4-5 minutes each side, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 150F internal temperature. Don’t move them around while grilling—the sugar in the marinade means you’ll get beautiful grill marks if you just let them be.

Ohhh yes. Yes yes yes.

Now, I don’t usually enjoy a big hunk of untenderized meat on a sandwich; this is a failing of a lot of pork chop or steak sandwiches. If you leave the meat whole, chances are it’ll pull right out of the bun when you bite into it. The whole mechanics are off.

No, slice the grilled chops very thinly, and pile them onto a buttered, griddled brioche bun. Top with the Duke’s Mayo-based slaw and pickles, and bask in the glory of the Carolinas.

Now, I’ll confess something. Despite expecting the peppers to rock my world—they didn’t. A very nice, surprisingly-subtle level of heat was imparted to the pork, with a good amount of pepper flavor, too. Surely this is a product of leaving the peppers whole; halving them or even dicing them would undoubtedly introduce a much higher level of spice to the sandwich. I liked it where it landed, and I didn’t end up with any gastrointestinal distress as a result.

Sometimes things just work out perfectly, whether that’s a bowl game getting two of the closest programs to their site to play an irregular-but-passionate rivalry game halfway between then, or a delicious tribute sandwich.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this culinary journey today; if you’re not already a subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one. As a Mayo Bowl special, I’m offering 20% off annual subscriptions to The Action Cookbook Newsletter today through Thursday’s kickoff:

This is the 152nd newsletter of 2021, with two more to come before the year’s over. Think of the bargain you’re getting.

Anyways, enjoy the sandwich, enjoy the game, and most importantly?

Go Bearcats.

—Scott Hines (@actioncookbook)

1. This was the same day that the football team of my alma mater, the Cincinnati Bearcats, became the first non-P5 team to make the College Football Playoff. Just felt that merited mention here.