FistFullaRoux

OMG... I had completely forgotten about "bouille". I got to make some. Now. So homesick...

Then would that make Tony Bourdain the equivelant of Johnny Cash? Emeril = Jerry Lee Lewis? Who is Carl Perkins? And is Food Network the Louisiana Hayride, American Bandstand, or The Grand Ole Opry? (Is it getting deep in here, or is it just me?)

I actually went and signed up for the Statesman online (what a pain in the tuchus THAT is) so I could read the column. I've been afraid to really read anything about Austin, because it may make me want to move back. Until I read about Joe Bates. As an unofficial roadie for a number of bands in town, I knew Joe as a helluva guy. Sad thing to read... But the Kelso thing was pretty funny.

Dirty's? Clean? Does not compute. Part of what I liked was the thin layer of grease all over everything. At least the food is still good.

I lived in Austin for about 3 years in the early 1990s. I worked at the plasma center north of campus next to Ruby's. I still prefer County Line. Salt Lick is OK, Stubbs is all right, Ruby's didn't do it for me, but County Line just has the edge that makes me actually want to eat BBQ. I'm not a big fan of the sauce. County Line is the only meat that stands on it's own without it. At least I didn't say Bill Millers... (echk)

It's simple. New Orleans is in the south. Therefore it influences the "cuisine" of the south in some way. Whether it is the increased use of Worchestershire sauce, or raising the demand for oysters, it is an influence. Good or bad is a different story. New orleans has become (thanks to Paul Prudhomme and Emeril) a food destination. Whether that same food can be made in Dallas or Montgomery does not matter. It's the atmosphere. You can make the same recipes with the same flavors at home. You just have to talk your neighbors into flashing you for plastic beads, hire a brass band, and build a balcony. Regarding seceding, New Orleans has and should stand on it's own as a little destination inside a larger one. Like Austin, TX, Washington DC, or The Vatican.

As I understood it when I was living there, Schlotzsky's restaurant #1 was supposedly the one a block from the Continental. Update: I heard right.. Not that the number 1 is anything special. It's outfitted just like the rest of the stores, and there's no real sense on it's place in history, but just the fact that a nationwide chain started in south Austin is pretty cool.

Magnolia Cafe - Head to head with Kerby, Tha Mag wins for me. Dirty's. Not only the best restaurant name ever, but one of the best burgers I've ever had, and the best fries ever. Second place is Hut's. Any number of little shacks and converted trucks that come and go and sell breakfast tacos for dirt cheap. The original Schlotzky's on Congress (near the Continental Club) And when do the BBQ wars start? I vote for County Line...

How astute.... Never thought of that....

Nothing real to add, except my congrats!

What flavor is candy corn anyway? Never could figure that out. I'm all about the little packs of Skittles. But I work at a haunted house. We're busy the night they go trick-or-treating. But I do get to chase them around with a Skil Saw... Does that count? stooped tiepeaus

And you have to figure, an hour show has at least 10 minutes of commercials, plus a 5-6 minute newscast (usually). He's only got to be witty, informative, and charming for 45 minutes a day! And he even gets little breaks in between.

From AllAccess.com - a radio industry website: I like the fact that he was known nationally as a star on a TV show, not as a chef.

Yeah, well I lifted it from History of the World Pt 1. One of Dom DeLuise's greatest performances - as Ceasar

I'm a Trappey's fan for beans. Blue Runner makes good beans as well. Other than that, my only regular purchase is the Green Giant niblets. Love those things. And I do the occasional asparagus from a can. Only after being refrigerated, though...

Treasure... Bath.... TREASURE BATH!!! Yellow bubbles and everything. You know you want to try it. Put a couple of stems in your shampoo to see if it makes a difference. Seriously, I'd make a killer perfect batch of seafood or chicken stock, infused with the saffron. Freeze, then use as needed. Great for rice, great for cream based sauces, and great for seafood.

I'm a fan of the classics - butter bubbling in a pan, garlic in olive oil, just the olive oil heating up, baking bread, cheese, etc. Don't like (I'm keeping this to non-burnt and non-contaminated) - I love roux, especially a dark one, but I hate the smell of it while it's cooking. It's something that I just bear with until I get through it, then I can enjoy the experience. It's pretty intense. - Debris. Everything but the oink, overcooked, in a brown gravy. That one will chase me out of the house. - Raw pork. Reminds me too much of the smell of a slaughterhouse. Once it's had heat applied, I'm fine. - Black Eyed Peas. I hate everything about them, including the smell. Even the smell of the dried beans makes me want to heave.

Here's another link CNN picked up the wire story...

As I read it - Link to Cal. legislature's info on bill You face a $1000 fine per bird, plus $1000 per day in which the practice occurs. I also read this as To be a nitpicker... feeding pigeons in the park, which could concievably make their liver fatty, would now be a very expensive proposition. It's badly written. They wrote it for "birds" in general, trying not to trap themselves when people started using other breeds of birds...

Well, you can't travel the roads of Mississippi without indulging in the Waffle House. But that's me. I like a waffle bigger than my head. If yer on I-55 and looking around Jackson for lunch, try one of the Penn's Fish Houses in Canton. He does a lot of catering, but if you want street fair food without the street fair, the chicken on a stick is outstanding. I've been fortunate to work near his setup at City Stages in Birmingham the last couple of years. Food is available (as far as I know) on a to-go basis only...

I once did a commercial voice-over for a place in Mobile, AL that was a combination (the quotes are from the script, which I still have) "chicken joint" that served fried chicken and a bunch of sides, including "red jello", and jewelry store, where you could get "quality 14 K gold chains and medallions". I promise you that I am not making this up. This was real. I saw the place. I barely escaped with my life. The name of the place (with the name changed to protect the unwitting) was XXX's Chicken Shack and Jewelry Emporium. Also the frist time I've ever seen one business or building referred to as a shack and an emporium at the same time. We made him pay cash. No way we were fronting him anything on these commercials. I think it lated about 2 weeks. He was robbed 3 times. Your basic failure to grasp the concept. He had that "quality 14K" jewelry on display, and seating nearby for people to sit all day and watch your "security procedures". Dude's lucky he didn't get killed.

Timer - yes. Always. With everything. 'cept toast. I have one of them newfangled automatic toasters. The one I have has a clip with a magnet on it, so I can clip it to my shirt or apron (yes, I do have one...) and it beeps until it is shut off. I have a second one built-in to the microwave, and I can use my palm pilot in a pinch, if I really need the third one. But I always set the timer a little short. So I'm checking everything a ffew minutes before it is "supposed to be done".

Are those vegetable pears? aka Chayote or Merliton?

Thanks for that link, BTW. I finally was able to (sigh, I know this is not the first time someone has told this story) translate the tattoo that I got when I was 19. It was supposed to mean "music". I started having doubts about it a few years back, since I chose it from a sheet of flash, not from a Chinese speaker. Turns out it means "song", which is close enough for me. whew. I was afraid to ask anyone to check it for me...

Yeah, I was about to point out the one place on a chicken that would naturally be shaped something like a ring... Then I remembered - That's what McDonalds uses for the McNuggets