Mayhaw Man

Were they square, by chance? If they were, I think that I know the answer.

I hate it when people don't put in their recipes. There should be some kind of law. I always do what Marlene tells me to. Dave, well, he's got alot to learn.

OK, tonight I got busy with a little Watermelon Sorbet. I followed Rachel's recipe, excepting the corn syrup (this watermelon, which I stupidly failed to take a photo of, was incredible- a watermelon of the Sugar Baby variety-grown by a neighbor who should have a bottomless supply for the next couple of weeks). I used turbinado sugar instead of white (I got 10 lbs. during a recent trip to cane country) and it gave the sorbet a nice, light, mollasses flavor. The stuff was really, really good. I highly reccomend it. Sugar Baby Watermelon Sorbet

Possibly in New Orleans, but you make a good point. =R= ← We don't even bury dead folks, we make them part of the landscape.

Get some more crabfingers and marinate them ovenight (hiding the bowl in the back of the ice box, as there won't be many leftover the next day for serving, if you don't hide them). You can do a ton of them at once and only crazy people don't like them. After all, you are starting with the best part of the crab and only making it better. What's not to like?

I suppose these are cousins to the world famous Zircon-encrusted tweezers?

Well, if you know who Donna Summer was or know what Studio 54 was, you probably have one answer for this question. But, I believe that rather than referring to little vials of Locker Room, that Dave was referring to a commercial version of these. I give him a 10 for inventiveness. In fact, Zippy Mart Iron Chef might be a fun cookoff!

I've been wondering what that was inside of that fried batter. Thanks for the info! ←

I've been wondering what that was inside of that fried batter. Thanks for the info!

Barbecued beans are not a North Carolina dish. Lima beans. Butter beans. Snap beans. Pole beans. Just not barbecued beans! Watermelon's a good idea -- it'll still be in season. ← I just got three bushels of lady peas in the freezer. I suppose that I could sacrifice a few for the cause.

We'll need ice cream, Dean. I'll bring the big boy freezer along with me and make some custard base in advance. We can turn it into whatever looks good at the market, flavor wise. I have a new client ( www.thevanillashop.com ) who has vanilla that her family grows in Madagascar. I will make some from those fabulous beans and then have some base that is ready to go for fruits, etc.

Not sure if this will help much, but I had some two weeks ago at the Fancy Food Show. Bubbie's Mochi Ice Cream had "Sakura" (cherry blossom) and a bunch of other really good flavors. The stuff is great, good enough to be the ice cream at Nobu. It ain't cheap, but it's worth it. I know that you were looking for ingredients, but as I don't have a clue about that I thought that you might want to try some of this as a comparison.

When I had a brewpub (Abita) we always, as a matter of course, put new caps on the growlers. The liners in those things are some kind of paper and they always mold. The caps cost all of a nickel or so and when you buy a pallet of growlers, you get a ton more caps than you need-so just tell them to give you a new one. THey surely won't mind doing it for someone who is taking the trouble to be a repeat customer and is coming in schlepping a gallon jug to purchase some of their fine product.

First of all, if it was 25 years ago I am suprised that you remember it, as you couldn't have been more than two or three. You can still do it. In fact, I stay in an old Florida house in Destin that was built in the Forties that is now surrounded by yuppies with gazillion dollar homes (the lot that the house is on is apparently worth about 20 times what the house is, but it's family owned and they won't ever let it go I don't think). One of the joys of this place is that most mornings some guy or another is wading in the shallow water of the bay (it's on the inside, on Joe's Bayou) trying to catch shrimp in a cast net for bait. One of the by products of this project are shiny, slippery mullet. They are always willing to give you pretty much as many as you want. We usually get some and fry some for lunch, set up the smoker and do some that way. We take some of the smoked ones and make fish dip (which is usually accompanied by some West Indies Salad made from blue crabs caught in traps on the dock, that morning) out of the rest. It's really a great eating fish, but I agree with the young lass-mullet need to be eaten fresh to be much good. And the one downside of this delicacy is that they are really nasty to clean. Gross, actually. They have some kind of gizzard in them that is always full of green goo that invariably gets sliced open while cleaning. It is better for guests unfamiliar with this fact to not be around when you are cleaning them .

No straw, really ever. With the exception of during overseas travel. As someone who has run bottling plants in three different countries other than the US, I can tell you that a straw is a good plan in many places. Particularly in Latin America. I will eat the street food always, and not even worry about the consequences (there are rarely any, is my experience) but I know that at some point a bottle washer in an underfunded soda plant is pretty much gross, even if it's not a health hazard. This rule does not go for new containers. It's not the packaging or the product, it's the cleaning of the recycled glass or plastic (in much of Latin America there is a heavy pet plastic bottle that goes back for reuse). This also does not apply to beer. Breweries are clean or they are not in business. Especially huge breweries. Beer is usually the safest beverage around. I like to crunch ice and I don't like to use straws, so I usually don't.

Allow me to step in here and straighten all of you out on this little known and misunderstood delicacy. Mullet are salt water fish (though they are often found in brackish estuaries along the entire Gulf Coast). They usually exist in large schools and do not respond to bait (meaning they are net caught-usually in a cast net). The meat of a mullet consists of two long filets down both sides of the tail that are a darker meat than most fish you might think of, perhaps like a tiny amberjack. Generally, though not always, they are slow smoked or grilled and served as bar food, particularly on one part of the coast between Mobile, AL and Panama City, FL. Smoked mullet is considered by many to be more than a redneck snack food, many people think that cooked properly that it is a highly underappreciated fish flesh (I love them). Smoked mullet also makes excellent fish dip, as it has a bit more texture than many white fleshed fish. They are not large, so they are kind of a pain. They are rarely caught on a rod and reel, and they are a pain in the ass to filet. So many people do not ever get the chance to try them and just spend their time making fun of them (much like the way people treat, say, New Jersey). I highly reccomend both mullet and New Jersey as something that everyone should keep an open mind towards and try at least once in their life. .

Nothing like a good "spit julep"!

Mullet are also a key element in a popular atheletic event on the Gulf Coast

You can count me in as the "designated watcher"

Does anyone have one of these things and are they any good? It's hard to believe the price judging from the look and the features. I have to make a move soon. Real soon. I have decided, for reasons of energy efficiency and marital bliss, to unload the old O'Keefe and Merrit, though I love it so.

OK, so I'm paid up. It's official. I'll be there to take on "Dave, The Dark Lord of the Fryer" in a fry to the death.

I might know a guy who has a friend who might know somebody who knows somebody. You know? I will axe him about a bit of the corn (or muscadine-sometimes it's one, sometimes it's the other.

Well, one of my favorites is know as a "Lighten Up" 2 oz. quality moonshine 1 oz. fresh lime juice Pour over ice in a tall glass and top off with soda. Stir and serve with a lime garnish. This is regularly served in some of the finest trailer parks. It should be plenty good enough to serve at the home of a guy named Varmint. Just for the record, this is a real drink. Not one of my usual jokes. There is also the "Pineshinepagne" which is pineapple juice, moonshine, and soda. It's really kind of a brunch drink though. Probably wouldn't match the pork thing very well.

I get mine straight out of the tap. I even flush my toilets with it.

I was in New Jersey for the first time last Tuesday (other than the airport, and that doesn't count, does it?) night for a fabulous meal in Newark. I have to admit that while riding in the back of a giant 78 Eldo (in showroom condition-except with a better stereo), passing across the Meadowlands, I found myself humming the theme song to the Soprano's-I know it was wrong, but it's just the way that it was. That admission being made, we had a great time, great food, and even better company. I love New Jersey. It's a great place and I pledged to my hosts that I would try to make up for all of the years that I made it the butt of my admittedly ignorant and uninformed jokes. I am ashamed of myself and am using this forum to cleanse myself of my former New Jersey baiting ways. I apologize to New Jersey and all of it's fine citizenry. It's a lovely place. From now on, when I think of great times, I will think of Newark.