, which arrives at the table as a piping-hot and puffy semi-circle of innovation and promise.

It wouldn’t have mattered if it were there on the moon.I had a singular focus: I wanted to tell my story, cook my food.”.

The challenge for Epps and his fellow contestants Bailey Sullivan, from Chicago, and Shuai Wang, of Charleston, was to make the best four-course progressive dinner of their lives.. No pressure.. For the judges at the table, including me, it was clear by the end of the meal that no matter how good Sullivan’s and Wang’s dishes were, and no matter how evident their talent, Epps was cooking and competing at a different level.His third course, an exceptional riff on oxtail Milanese, likely sealed his win.To make it Epps braised the oxtails, picked the tender meat from the bone, sauced it, and formed it into the shape of the traditional circular Milanese cut of ossobucco.

He served the delicate, sticky oxtails over curry-spiced Carolina rice grits, conjuring flavors of West Africa, the Caribbean, and the American South while also paying homage to Milan..In my eight years of guest judging on.

, I’ve tasted many exceptional dishes, including Melissa King’s plum sauce-lacquered quail and Buddha Lo’s blue lobster with squash and curry bisque.

However, I can’t remember another dish that combined such skillful mastery of technique as Epps’, which layered flavor, texture, and storytelling.hickory-fired smokers are aimed pretty much directly at the traffic passing by on its way to someplace else.

Conecuh Sausage reportedly produces upwards of 30,000 to 40,000 pounds of sausage each day, along with a range of other products like smoked turkey, ham, bacon, and their special seasoning blends..Courtesy of Robin McDonald.

It's the sausage, however, that people are most familiar with — pretty much any breakfast joint in Alabama worth visiting offers Conecuh on their menus; once you've had it, smoky with hickory, possessing that delicate snap that comes from all-natural sheep and hog casings, it's hard to put out of your mind.A cynic might put that down to the inclusion of MSG in their special, secret blend of spices that some sleuths have decided includes sage, thyme, red pepper, and anise (among other things), but Conecuh sells an all-natural sausage too, and it turns out that the thoroughly modern version's pretty great as well.. 15 Mail Order Hotdogs and Sausages You Need This Summer.