There is a hamburger in Stone County better than 90% of the hamburgers being served in this country, and it is being cooked roughly 200 feet from the cattle that died to make it.
Beef has always been the harder, honest answer for a Mississippi restaurant. Most of the great American steakhouses are pulling product out of the Midwest or out of Texas, and for decades that was the only way to put a serious cut on the plate. That is no longer true.
About 30 minutes south of my hometown, on a gravel road just past Flint Creek Water Park, sits Black Jack Ranch in Wiggins, and what is happening there has changed how I think about local.
I knew my friend Rick Carter, who owns the place, had a ranch. I did not know the scale. We were visiting at an event the other night, and he started telling me about his spread and the cattle on it. A few days later, I drove down.
You turn off the main road and drive about a half-mile through pasture, past roughly 1,000 head of cattle, to a barn the size of a small grocery store. The barn is part country store, part butcher counter, part hometown fair booth, and all of it is excellent.
They are selling Wagyu in every cut. Angus in every cut. Beef tallow rendered on the property. Bone marrow butter, which is one of my favorite ingredients on Earth and which I had previously associated mostly with Maple & Ash Steakhouse in Chicago. There is honey, jams and jellies, and homemade lemonade. Running the operation is a Texan named Kim, brought up from San Antonio, and she is a master class in cattle.
Here is the part most people who say the word “Wagyu” do not understand. Black Jack’s cattle are grass-fed and grain-finished, raised on open pasture in Wiggins, with no added hormones and a serious approach to herd health.
What sets them further apart is what happens before the calves are even born. They are not guessing about which cows to breed with which bulls. They are using science and data from the Wagyu Associations of America and Australia to pick pairs that will produce healthier, better-tasting beef.
Two of the highest-ranked Wagyu females in the world live on that ranch. One of them, a cow named Boni 413M, holds the No. 1 ranking in the world for marbling, which is the fat that runs through the meat and gives a steak its flavor and tenderness. No. 1 in the world. There is a cow in Wiggins, Mississippi, who is better at her job than anybody I know is at theirs, including me.
The other cow, S Yuriko 412M, is in the top 1% on the planet for muscle, yield and marbling. My labradoodle is named Donut. I am clearly underachieving as a pet owner. Their bull, LMR Samauri 1749J, is the son of one of the most important bulls in the entire breed.
None of those rankings make a steak taste better on their own, but they tell you what kind of operator you are dealing with and what kind of beef ends up on the cutting board at the end of the chain.
The tenderness is real, not propped up by aging tricks. The flavor has the depth of an animal that was raised right and not rushed.
I know hamburgers. I own a restaurant that specializes in them, and I have been eating them, studying them and ranking them in my head against other hamburgers for more than six decades. There is no degree program for this. If there were, I would have a Ph.D.
Setting aside the burgers we cook at Ed’s and at Crescent City Grill, the Wagyu smash patty at Blackjack is the best I have eaten in this state. They listed grilled onions on the menu, but I asked for them on the side because most kitchens turn out grilled onions still almost raw.
These were not grilled onions. These were caramelized onions, sweet all the way through. Perfect.
There is a special sauce. They asked if I wanted it. I asked if anybody had ever said no to that question.
While I was eating, I asked Kim how they come up with the names, and she explained the registry system, and I nodded the way you nod when someone is explaining cryptocurrency.
The cow is named Boni 413M. That is all you and I need to know.
I cannot think of many places in this state where the cattle are grazing a few hundred feet from the grill. It is worth the drive from anywhere in Mississippi, and probably from a few states out.
The next time I have visitors from out of state, or when my friends fly over from Europe, Blackjack will be on the itinerary. So will Sandy Run. So will the Gulf, the dock, and the bread coming out of our own ovens. Eat local is not just a slogan painted on the back of a building. It is the people doing the work down the road from you, and sometimes it is the people in the building next to yours.
I am grateful, and I am eating well.
Onward.
MEATBALLS
Yield: 18 2 1/2-ounce meatballs
There’s nothing complicated here. Just use the absolute best ground meats you can find.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground veal
1/2 lb. Italian sausage
2 eggs
1 cup grated Romano Pecorino
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
6 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, as needed
Directions:
■ Mix all ingredients thoroughly by hand. Form into 2 1/2-ounce meatballs.
■ Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and pour in enough olive oil to just cover the bottom of the pan.
■ Lightly dust the meatballs in flour. Brown the outside of the meatballs, being careful not to burn them.
■ Place on paper towels to drain excess oil and fat. At this point, they may be held under refrigeration for four days or frozen for three months.
■ If serving immediately, add 4 cups marinara and simmer until meatballs are completely cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Robert St. John is a restaurateur, author, enthusiastic traveler, and world-class eater from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He has spent four decades in the restaurant industry, written 13 books, and written a syndicated newspaper column for more than 24 years. Read more about Robert at robertstjohn.com.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
