The Blistered Pig Smokehouse in Apex: Another culinary treat

At The Blistered Pig Smokehouse in Apex, the motto is we only smoke the good stuff. That slogan has been used for years by individual's all over the world. This aphorism refers to the meats not leafy "veggies." A visit to this relatively new restaurant is well worth it, as far as sampling tasty food. It’s along Salem Street in downtown Apex, the quaint two-to-three block business district of the highest elevation from sea level on the Seaboard railroad thus the name “Apex.”

The Blistered Pig Smokehouse is a back-to-nature sort-of meat eaters destination with pork, beef and chicken that’s been pasture-raised and not produced in the typical meat market of modern agriculture production. A limited amount of meat is smoked each day, and when it’s gone, it’s gone, no more until the next day. (If you’ve ever been to Johnson’s in Siler City for a hamburger, you understand the concept of serving until everything is eaten, cutting off the lights and going home.)

Don’t expect an extensive menu (it's just one page) at The Blistered Pig Smokehouse, but do expect unique and scrumptious selections such as the charred jalapeño pimento spread or the fried chicken livers or the fried oysters or the deviled eggs, four of several appetizers. The lunch/dinner platters offer you a choice of one, two or three meats and two sides. The meats are pork spare ribs, pulled pork, ancho coffee rubbed smoked brisket, rotisserie chicken, or barbeque chicken.

The sides include: Braised Collards in pot liquor, Hoppin’ John “Damn Good” Baked Beans,  Carolina “Red” Slaw, Yeller Slaw, Hand Cut Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Baby “B” Tater Salad, Elbow Mac and Cheese, Mashed Red Potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with bacon and onion, and Anson Mills Grits with hoop cheddar cheese. Recommendation from someone who usually doesn’t eat Brussels Sprouts: Order the Roasted Brussels Sprouts! Another recommendation: stay away from the hand cut fries unless you like nubs. These seem to be cut from very short potatoes. Tasty but too short for hand-cut fries. Need to be longer, at least as long as your index finger, not just from the tip of your thumb to its first knuckle.

The sandwich selections are interesting and include the Pulled Smoked Pork Cuban made with pulled pork, smoked ham, dill slices, jalapeño pimento cheese, on grilled ciabatta bread. This Cuban is absolutely scrumptious, probably as good as those made in the movie, Chef. The Pimento Cheese BLT is also good but needs a better effort with the buttermilk bread that’s just toasted, as normal BLTs. Despite the ingredients, the bread was dry and detracted from the ingredients: crisp smoked bacon, basil mayonnaise, butter lettuce, tomato, and jalapeño pimento cheese. Maybe the bread should be grilled for an even better tasting BLT. There are other choices for sandwiches but a return visit will be required to test and report.

Drink alert: All beers are in 12-ounce cans and bottles at about $5.00 each, and that’s no bargain. No draft beer, but lots of craft beers in the cans. The wine selection looked pretty good but also over-priced, serving small pours for the price of a full bottle at your neighborhood grocery store. The pours are so small, it would take five glasses to empty the bottle. Despite the price of drinks and because of the food, a trip to The Blistered Pig Smokehouse in Apex is worth your time.

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amain (adverb) [uh-meyn]: with full force