​Pregame Platter: Falcons at Ravens

Falcons at Ravens, Sunday Oct. 19, 1 p.m., M&T Bank Stadium, Fox

Has Joe Flacco stopped throwing touchdown passes yet? If so, it likely won’t be long until he starts again. Atlanta comes limping into town this week with a 2-4 record and a defense with an aptitude for folding. The Falcons are giving up an average of 277 yards passing per game, fourth worst in the NFL, and they’re surrendering 28.3 points per game, third worst in the league. They’re 0-3 on the road, which makes the Ravens a solid bet even as 7-point favorites.

What to Eat: I spent part of last weekend in suburban Atlanta hanging out with more than one native Georgian. When I asked what special food is associated with “Hotlanta,” their faces looked as dumbfounded as the Buccaneers’ defenders did last week. Soul food seems to be the city’s signature, so for lunch I’m heading to the appropriately named Georgia Soul Food (102 E. 25th St.) for some fried catfish, candied yams, collard greens, and peach cobbler.

But before that, a trip to the venerable
Miss Shirley’s Cafe (513 W. Cold Spring Lane and 750 E. Pratt St.) seems to be in order. Does it get more southern than Dixie cornbread squares, southern fried deviled eggs, chicken ‘n waffles, or the southern fried slammer sandwich, an artery-busting combination of fried green tomato, applewood-smoked bacon, smashed avocado, cheddar cheese and fried egg on pumpernickel?

If you’re staying in, this
Savannah-style crab soup recipe seems like the perfect marriage of Georgia and Maryland. (It even has Old Bay!)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups clam juice
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 pound lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed
• 1/3 cup dry sherry

Directions:
Place flour in a cast-iron skillet; cook over medium heat 15 minutes or until brown, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add carrot and the next five ingredients (carrot through garlic), and sauté five minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add Old Bay seasoning, salt, black pepper, dried thyme, and bay leaf; cook for one minute. Sprinkle the browned flour over vegetable mixture, and cook one minute, stirring frequently. Stir in clam juice, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until mixture is slightly thick, stirring frequently.

Stir in the milk and half-and-half; cook four minutes. Stir in crabmeat and sherry; cook five minutes or until the soup is thoroughly heated. Discard bay leaf before serving.

What to Drink: Georgia, of course, is known as the Peach State, and folks down south are now using that juicy fruit to make beer. RJ Rockers is a brewery out of Spartanburg, SC, but its Son of a Peach is an unfiltered American wheat ale that’s Georgian at its core. It’s available at Total Wine in Laurel.

I was drawn to this
peach margarita recipe because of the site it’s on, ABeautifulMess.com. That’s often how I feel after drinking a few margaritas.

• 1/2 cup peach puree
• 1 lime
• 1.5 ounces tequila
• 1/5 ounce of triple sec
• 1 tablespoon simple syrup
• Sea salt and a peach slice to garnish

Directions: Skin and puree two white peaches. This should yield enough peach puree. Combine the puree, lime juice, tequila, triple sec, and simple syrup. Stir to combine. Rim your glass by placing the rim in a shallow amount of water and then dipping it into coarse sea salt. Add ice and pour the mixed drink over ice. Garnish with a peach slice.