Mayhaw Man

The omelette section was great. As I seem to have an overabundance of eggs at the moment (fresh, from my neighbor who has too many chickens inspite of marauding coons that comb our woods at night like bandits), you have solved my dinner question for tonight. I am going to try the water addition, as I have never thought of that before. Nice work.

That is so cool. I can't wait to visit the place.

The "House of Seafood" is only about 15 minutes from my house. It is only open on Friday and Saturday nights and for Sunday lunch, so you know that it's goot be fresh (or I sure hope so anyway ). The food is great for what it is. Lots of people drive over and spend time on the Northshore going to the farmers markets, brewery tours, etc. just to kill time waiting on the place to open up. The kitchen used to be staffed by Pentecostal Ladies who were really sweet and sho nuff knew their way around a deep fryer. I don't know if it is anymore, however.

One would think so, but as you can see from the answer given just below yours by the expatriate in Birmingham, that may not be the case. And I know of at least one Texan who is going to vote no.

Clearly. You can go forth feeling clean and refreshed (not to mention correct ) I know that I feel better now.

I've had enough. The Axis of Evil Thread and many others contain comments that state strongly posters positions on Okra. All regular readers know that I am a disciple of the Pod of the Gods (thanks Robb) and there are a few others here, but I suspect that many people are not. So to that end all of you must come forward and announce your postion on this controversial issue. Here's how it works: All you gotta do is type one work-yes or no-no explanation is needed. I'll go first- Yes!

I'm with Sam, except that I probably put more pepper on it ( I love that crunchy, spicy skin). Sometimes instead of spatchcocking I will use one of those little wire stands and bake it standing up. It makes for more square inches of crunchy skin goodness.

That may be true, but isn't part of the (not very well defined) definition of film noir that film noir is bad people acting bad in bad ways with very little or no hope of spiritual redemption being offered, or for that matter sought? The main characters in most of the films that have become "film noir" are generally social outcasts, criminals, and degenerates of other sorts-they were supposed to be metephorical representations of society (generally American Society, although the style has it's roots in pre war Germany and France) as a whole. In Casablanca, Rick is not inherently bad and certainly not a degenerate. He does have a (not very well defined)past as some kind of person who lives on the edge of the law and has become an expatriate, but in the end he sacrifices for the good of the others. In fact, the final scene , is in essence, a happy ending. This is not something that would define it as film noir. The lighting and the large number of social outcasts in the film certainly have something in common with Film Noir, but in the end Casablanca (imo) is a tale of good versus evil (good represented by Rick and bad represented by the Vichy French and the Nazis) and while it is one of my favorite movies, it is really just a really romantic political/war/crime tale.

New Orleans-Gumbo (in any of it's countless derivitives)

I have more or less ceased watching Food Network except as background "white noise" when I am in the kitchen. Alton Brown is interesting, but most of the shows are repetitive and not particularly interesting. I have been watching the "Great Chef's" series and whatever the other couple of shows are produced by the same people. They are straight cooking shows narrated in overdub. Intersting and informative and full of technique. Dishes are cooked (more or less) from start to finish and the programs are very educational. I do like Nigella, as a) she's funny b) she can cook (although her fried chicken was an abomination and proved to me once again that frying chicken may involve genetics as much as cooking ability). I also like Jaucques Torres chocolate shows, even though the chances that I am going to make most of that stuff are pretty close to zero.

Mabelline and Fifi- Good News! There is a cure for the disease that you both apparently suffer terribly from-Blennophobia. Perhaps with enough therapy you too can enjoy all of the pleasures of a full and slime laden lifestyle. I am sure that there is government money available to help finance the cure (should you need help) and all you need to do is take the first step. Make the call now. You will not regret it. Heh, heh, chuckle, chuckle

What a fine service you just provided to the rest of the Nation. I googled on one because I was too lazy to post the recipe out of the Cotton Country and couldn't find one that was right. Your recipe is perfect. Nice Work. Southern Hospitality at it's finest.

Well, The King Ranch is one of the largest cattle operations in the world (somewhere areund 800,000 plus acres) and I suppose that is where the name comes from. Just look at a map of Texas, look to extreme South Texas butting against the Gulf and pretty much a big hunk of the five counties (Kleburg County and South and West of there) is the Ranch. There is the explanation for the King Part. THe little geography lesson is to throw you off so you won't scream when you hear the ingredients of this staple of Southern Casserole Dining (a true subculture in it's own right. Basically the casserole consists of the following main ingredients and a myriad of minor ones that vary from cook to cook, but mainly you have your boiled chicken, onions, bell peppers, cream of mushroom soup, rotel tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and tortillas. THis is put in a casserole, in layers, and baked. It is really good and as Fifi and I (I had not read her post when I wrote mine) said-EVERYBODY LIKES IT! Don't let the cans throw you off. I have made many semi-official versions without the cans and it is not the same. And you know that as often as Fifi and I disagree that when we do finally agree we must be right. Just ask us. We'll tell you. That Texas Caviar stuff she was talking about is really good too, a very nice dip. It can be (and often is, at my house) accompanied by a dish of crispy, spicy, pickled okra (she won't agree with this ) There you go. King Ranch Chicken in a nutshell.

Hey -- how's about that Texas comfort food fave, King Ranch Chicken???? Bingo. Great Idea. Everybody likes it and when they become Jr. Leaguers they will have one more dish in their repetoire for luncheon.

Well, I don't know about the film buff part, but I think that I might agree with the manic part

I am checking for you on Guiding Star. As far as the mash goes, it is not nearly as hard to get as it used to be. You can buy it at the gift shop on Avery Island packed in heavy duty ziplocks. Before they slicked up the tour of the plant and made it ALOT less interesting-you could ask to buy some mash at the end of the tour and the guide would point towards the back of this huge place and say, "back that way". This was the beginning of your self guided, unauthorized tour of the Tabasco plant. Sadly, these days, they just send you through a glass tunnel and straight into the gift shop. It is still interesting and Avery Island is a very beautiful place, but the tour is not nearly as fun as it used to be.

Like you remember.

How about? For Salad: Scarlet Street Red Endive Salad with a Touch of EVOO For Dessert: Murder, My Sweet Potato Pie And yes Carloyn, you should go on.

What about Calvin Trillin? I think that Trillin probably has had a fairly large influence on Food Writers as he certainly seems to have the ability to take a food and describe his enjoyment of it in a way that allows the reader to almost taste the same thing just by reading the passage. He got started writing about food as a common man's persuit pretty much in the late 70's early 80's He was also one of the first non Louisianans to "get" what crawfish were all about. His writing on the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge is both accurate and hysterically funny.

What about pans of Lasagna? It is really easy to put together in bulk (lay out the pans, line them with foil, and start putting it together assembly line style) and most of the materials can be come by pretty inexpensively. Portion control is easy and almost everybody (even picky college eaters) like it.

Jambalaya would be a very inexpensive and easy to handle option, as Jason pointed out. What about red beans and rice with sausage? Serve with big green salad and bread and well-there you go. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Hops are flowers of the hop vine. They are grown in North America primarily in the Northwestern US and Southwestern Canada. A hop barn full of freshly cut hops is one of the most wonderful and aromatically pleasing places on the face of the earth. It is unbelievable what a couple of thousand tons of these things smell like.

Maltese Fowl con arroz

Diet Barq's over ice Diet coke in a can (at work)

I'm looking forward to your recipe, Mayhaw. But tell me -- how much sugar does it take to make 1200 pralines? Also, where do you buy your pecans? I've been buying from a place down your way, H.L. Bergeron, for about 10 years. (Caution: name dropping....Martha Stewart recommended them at a wedding.) They don't have a web site, and ordering took a long time. I'd like to find a good pecan farm grower with a good reputation and a good web site. Pecans come from my family's farm in Mer Rouge, LA. The trees have been there a very long time. I once fell about 30 feet (we later measured, just for macabre humors sake) down through the limbs amd landed flat on my back. I was there with my grandmother and her housekeeper. My grandmother (75 at the time) ran about a 1/2 mile across a cotton field to get her car (she came mowing down through the just picked rows like something out of the Dukes of Hazzard, pretty cool for an old lady) to get me and take me to the Doc. I was fine. Very lucky. The bad part of the story is that she had a heart attack that night (she was fine too, she lived for a very long time after that, although she has now sadly passed). I have always felt rotten about that. It is kind of fun now though, as my kids point out the tree in question everytime we go by it. Enough of that-Now for the Pralines 3 cups granulated sugar 1 cup WHOLE MILK 1/2 Cup Sugar 4 Cups toasted pecans (I toast mine relatively dark, but I like em like that) 1 tbls. butter 1 tsp. vanilla 1) Bring the 3 cups of sugar and the milk to a boil 2) Caramelize the 1/2 cup sugar (I use a tiny black iron skillet, looks like an ashtray, but any pan suitable will do) 3) Incorporate the caramel into the milk/sugar mix and bring to soft ball 4) Add the vanilla, pecans, butter and bring it all back to soft ball( a degree or two past but just barely-to little will result in sticky and too much will be grainy) 5) Take off of heat and whip like crazy (this is where the trick is-you want to beat it enough to smooth the mixture out and add air, but not until it starts to sugar again-once you figure out what this looks and FEELS like- you can do a batch (or a double or othe multiple) in no time at all 6) Spoon onto wax paper 7) You can add a little milk to it and reheat if you are working in large batches and it starts to cool before you get them spooned out-sometimes you will need two people if doing large batches to get them spooned out quickly enough. 8) Let them cool completely and peel off of paper (they come up easily) and put into time or wrap in wax paper Single batch makes 24-36 You can quadruple this with no trouble, and make about a 100 or more at the time (depending on size) but you have to work fast or you will need to reheat. I have found that a good, heavy, non stick sauce pan (I have a bigh Calphalon Pro) work best as it holds heat fairly well and is easy to clean up. Bon Appetit