If You Love Fried Fish And Jesus-8/14/09

Every time we travel, even locally, I love to find a great restaurant that brings a smile to my face with both excellent food and delightful atmosphere. Richard had a triathlon Saturday in Elberton, Georgia, about 2 hours from our house. Since the triathlon started at 7:30 a.m., we got a hotel in town the night before and headed out on Friday afternoon. Elberton is a town of 5,000 so the dinner options were fairly limited. I got online before leaving though and the "Red Minnow", a place known for its fried catfish, caught my eye. Thankfully, we looked up the directions because this place was in the middle of nowhere. We turned off the main road going into town and went several miles down a very empty side road before seeing the sign.
This place was a classic. I'm not usually a buffet fan, maybe just a bit squeamish about other people leaning over my food and the knowledge that it may have been there for awhile. This place was packed with locals, a fact that always makes me feel better. (People don't often return to a place they got sick!) The lady at the cash register knew most everyone and even had her kids, preteens at best, seating people.
The food was southern, lots of fried fish as promised, and other classics. Richard didn't enjoy the meal as much since a dinner of fried food is not great pre-race food and his options were more limited. I tried lots of the fried fish and liked the texture and moistness of the fish. Everything else tasted very traditional, lots of butter and fat, but still good. The real highlight, though, was the desserts. On top of one of the buffet lines were lots and lots of little Styrofoam cups with all kinds of wonderful desserts. There was apple bread pudding, chocolate bread pudding, banana pudding, and several fruit crumble types. They were all excellent and Richard and I shared 4 different ones.
Now to the loving Jesus part... Let's just say I did not know they made wallpaper border with Bible verses. That wasn't all. There were pictures of Jesus covering the walls and handwritten signs asking the diner if they knew where they would go if they died that night. Above the desserts was a sign about eating dessert first because Jesus could come tomorrow (presumably before you got fat!) It was a bit odd but suppose it was a bit like seeing Buddhas at the local Asian eatery. It sure added character. So if you ever head to Elberton, Georgia, make sure it's a weekend. The Minnow is only open Fri-Sun but it's worth a visit.
Before we left, I made a few recipes from August's Gourmet. I'd actually started the night before but after we took dinner to the friends with the new baby, we used a gift card we realized had been given to us when Eyrleigh was born. (She turned 21 months on the 12th so it was probably time!)
The Green Bean Gazpacho recipe on page 55 did not come with a picture. That was a good thing. This was not an attractive dish, without giving details, let's just leave it at that. It was basically green beans with a fresh tomato gazpacho sauce over it. It didn't taste bad, the beans were crisp and the tomatoes fresh, but I wouldn't make it again.
The Sausage and Summer Vegetable Saute on page 53 was yummy and fresh and had no visual issues. I actually used the Bruce Aidells Chicken and Apple Sausage instead of a pork sausage as recommended. They were just so good when I used them in an earlier recipe. The vegetable saute was a great mix and the onion mellowed the sweetness of the fennel. This was an easy weekday dish that in some variation I will try again.

Green Bean Gazpacho-D

Sausage and Vegetable Saute-B+