The Mill Pond Steakhouse - 5 Star Comfort Food

    As many of you know and some of you have come to realize I live in South Carolina, and due to the city in which I live (Sumter) I am within easy driving distance of every major South Carolina city. I'm within 2 hours of Columbia, Greenville, Charleston, Myrtle Beach and many of the South Carolina islands. This means I get to have some of the best food in the southeast (and depending on the restaurant, the country) and I don't have to wait to go on vacation. Having said that, one of my absolute favorite places to eat is The Mill Pond. It's a perfect comfort food meal is in the tiny town of Rembert about 15 or 20 miles northwest of Sumter. The restaurant is really in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and unless you see the tiny sign on Hwy 521 pointing to Boykin Mill you will go hungry that night. Funny story - The first time my wife and I went I even had GPS and it announced we had arrived when we were driving along fields of corn. If I hadn't just said let's drive a little further and find a place to turn around we wouldn't have found it. 
    The Mill Pond sits on a pond (go figure) alongside Boykin Mill. Now, this may seem a little country to you cityfolk, but if you then think about the fact that South Carolina is best known for one thing, namely shrimp and grits, the lightbulb will then go off in that brain of yours and you'll realize that this restaurant is perfectly set up to have some of the best, and freshest, grits in the state. Thing is, they don't disappoint at all. They have my favorite shrimp and grits anywhere, and what makes them good is the chef's ability to add flavor and ingredients to the grits without taking away from the creaminess that is the perfect plate of grits. It has some great heat and spice, pan fried tasso - which is a spicy smoked pork cut from the shoulder, huge prawns, and it's all served in a dish that could feed 4. It's just glorious.
    They don't just rest on their grit flavored laurels however, they succeed at every level of the menu - appetizers, soup/salad, entrees and dessert. My two favorite apps are the cornmeal encrusted oysters and the duck spring rolls. The oysters are perfectly dredged in their cornmeal ground not 100 feet away and fried to perfection served with a semi-spicy remoulade that is just wonderful. The spring rolls are as they should be, namely perfectly prepared pulled duck, asian spices and Caramelized sweet onions, shitake mushrooms and cilantro rolled in a spring roll and fried to crispy perfection. it is then served with a plum glaze and sweet chili sauce. Awesome. One thing I look forward to every time and a dish I never waver from is the She Crab soup. It is creamier than a lobster bisque with twice the flavor.
    I know I've gone on and on about everything that is not in the name of the restaurant, but don't fret they do steaks very well. In fact if it wasn't for the shrimp and grits being so damn good I would've easily talked about their steaks before anything else. They have every great cut and they don't skimp on the size either. The smallest cut is an 8 oz filet, but my personal two favorites are the ribeye and the bone in strip. If you have masochistic tendencies then please go for the "cowboy cut ribeye," a 22 oz bone-in ribeye that will wonderful but will probably mean that you'll be too full to drive home. I guess that may not be a bad thing because it means that the rest of the table will get to enjoy the beauty that is the Mill Pond cobbler. They usually have two to three different kinds, and they are finished tableside a la mode. The crust is perfectly sweet and crunchy and I have never heard anything but complete and undying love by everyone who has had the opportunity to partake in the ideal dessert.
    All in all when you live in a place that has a lot of chains and everyone shops at that culinary destination also known as Wal-Mart there aren't that many opportunities to have really really good food, but no matter where you live or what you're used to, this is the aforementioned really really good food. If you find yourself in central South Carolina please find the mill and partake in this feast. 
    I know I didn't leave a recipe last time, and this time is not much different. I don't have a full recipe, but what I do have is something easy for the home cook that will dress up the after dinner ice cream that everyone loves, and always a big hit at dinner parties as well.


Warm Blueberry Topping for Ice Cream
Ingredients
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
In a saucepan, combine the blueberries, water, sugar and salt; cook and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 7 minutes or until the berries burst. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir into hot blueberry mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for two minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in the lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Serve over ice cream. Yield 1 1/4 cups.
The fun thing about this recipe is that you can dress it up with some mint as well as switch ou the blueberries for any other fruit you prefer. Enjoy!!