jess mebane

amen! y'all can't see her, but right about now therese is duckwalking around the pulpit to the beat of pew fans and holy spirit.

Malawry, your the only person other than Xanthippe's mother and her mama's sister I ever heard refer to a "covered-dish" supper. They both were from Durham, NC. Is that strictly a North Carolinianism, or is the term used all over the south? We used to have "covered dish" suppers in my church, growing up in east Texas. I've never heard it outside of that context. Maybe it's a southern Baptist thing? I rather think the terminology springs from vigorous Baptist trepidation over anything resembling "pot" or "luck".

she's tough but a really great food writer. I lavh her. So is she working for the Chronicle or the Press these days?

yesssss. Just got into these recently, and LU pear is monstrous difficult to find, but worth it. Now me and the groc. bskt entourage will have to go a-hunting for the purple-dipped Oreos that Miz Tillie mentioned--what the hell is the flavor there--BarneyOs?

did anyone have the cajones to try all of those dipped oreos that were cropping up everywhere a few years ago? Do they in fact still make the oreos dipped in mint cream or white chocolate or whatever?

hello, I'm fourteen mos. preggers, and what I rilly, rilly wanted for dinner was about four bloody Marys, so instead I pan-fried a steak with a tomato/cream/shallot sauce and homemade fries on the side. Whatever that means.....somebody please put me out of my misery and end this episode of Invasion of the Belly Snatchers!!!!

omigod you are so right--my oldest boy and I will blow through a box of those bad boys, washed down with quantities of whole milk on very special occasions. Occasionally just when Dad's been out of town for two or three days, too.

when we lived in Boulder, I had a dear friend who always wanted us to go to Masala; she just loved it.

I concur with cabinet refacing or pro spraying at the least--the extra out-of-pocket v. the years off your life in sanding, priming and painting is a heavy consideration. Dear spouse spent several days and (big money on preservation-qual. paint) on our mantel going the DIY route, and while it is still one of the gleaming beauties of the house, he was only too happy afterwards to have the kitchen cabs sprayed by the house painter. I think it took one of the assistants 45 mins. I think I get way more satisfaction out of his jobwelldone than he does--he still growls at the mantel with deep hate now and again.

puhleaze, shug.....cold food in the MTV green room? All that is to be consumed at the VMAs is found in the loo, or Courtney Love's purse.

3rd boy. I believes this cements my position as eternally outnumbered and outgunned, n'cest pas? (hee!)

seems like. But, the tripa parts were more accents in a dish that had recognizable, savory pork chunks and the red chile puree, for sure. Thank you for the recipe; I'm going to try it on a leisurely weekend veddy, veddy soon, because as a hugely pregnant person, this dish sounds pretty good about now. Just finished some hatch pepper 'n cheese chicken sausage from Central Mkt, by the way--very good with the heirloom tomatoes and some fontina cheese.

I make mine from an old Fine Cooking recipe which is not avail. on their site without buying the back issue, but here are my tips from the strictly amateur corner: 1. Heat the oven to 500f, put the muffin tin/popover cups in 2. Room-temp eggs, melted butter and whole milk 3. I poke to release the steam; seems to keep mine from collapsing, anyway. 4. Immediately turn the oven to 450f and cook for 21 mins, no peeking or it's pancakes. lemme know if you want the compleat recipe; it's easyeasy and assembled in the blender in about 30 sec. once all the ingreds. are room temperature.

totally. the consistency is slurpy, almost granular and seedy. Is that the potato reduction effect or more to do with the tripa?

Yes, Jess - was the lady Mexican? Because that's exactly right. When I lived in Panama, they made their meat stews much differently from the Mexican versions I was accustomed to. No se. Empiezo que ella es de El Salvador, porque su guisada tiene color muy, muy roja. Y tiene <chitlins>, tambien. I begin to think this is not guisada at all, based upon the responses here, but some sort of soulfood stew. I mean, there were definitely gelatinous pork pieces like chicharrones, or someting. I was also ruminating over the sheer "redolent" quality of this dish, and then you said the same thing. Que bueno!

Lord, Lord, have I seen the light! I used to avoid this dish based on the truly awful, grey gelatinous stuff I saw going by on hotplatehotplate in restaurants, but I had it at a picnic yesterday made by someone's adorable abuelita, and damn that was good! Trouble is, I asked her for a recipe and she smiled enigmatically at me while the rest of the family giggled into their plates. Any help out there?

10'x15', with plenty of ugly linoleum to support bigwheel derbys and the pasta pot houseband.

Long-time poster, first-time viewer of the Hot Rocco's Cold Food show, and: 1. Boy bettah get some rubber floor mats post haste, as this is how I broke my collarbone many moons ago, and one more person slips BOH, either pretty boy or NBC's looking at a class action suit. 2. If you're gonna swing a big dick in FOH, make sure there's big balls on the line.....chef's line, that is. That poor sweet line cook (Benny? Lenny?) is getting killed in there. Rocco's coming across more masher than Toots Shor during these table schmoozes anyway, so maybe more kitchen time and less personal space violation would be a good business move. 3. Don't live in NYC, so feel free to malign this remark, but aren't some of the basic laws of physics behind this cold food dilemma? Cold air sinks, the kitchen's in the basement and kids are rushing plates through a maze and upstairs to diners? Seems like the large-scale equivalent of blowing on your soup spoon. And yes, we are pandering to the tube, Nick. After the aforementioned product placement and media buys that pandered so shamelessly to you, it's like shooting fish in a barrel for some savvy marketeer. There's your real star on this show, not Rocco--the ad guys.

that's a shot penalty, russell.

Make something wonderful, then promise her a cheese and mayo only after she cleans her plate. Seems to be working with my toddl--I mean, girlfriend, anyway.

Metairie, if you get a respite from the quarter, has a great dive called Gennaro's. Po boys, beans and rice, and whatever blue plate special should feed you and a loved one for about $15. The waitress there looks formidable (taller than my husband and broader shoulders, too), but she is sweet as pie and puttin' herself through school, so overtip if you go.

I grew Burpee's Golden Bantam last year, just three rows, and it were cornier than Stringbeans' "Letters from Home" on Hee-Haw. And it's heirloom, I believe. SAAAAAL-UTE!

The old Lay's BBQ recipe, in the burnt orange bag, and Zapp's cajun crawtators.....

Lankford's is the best, and they have the coldest Shiner bottles, too. Next week's heatwave survival tip: head to Lankford's. So glad you brought this up!

1. Green with envy, ovah here. 2. Make a silky, tomato and cream soup, subbing the 28oz. can of toms and 2 cans tom jce with your homegrowns, and add rough basil and sauteed red onion at the end. Makes enough soup to start a dinner party of 12, and a big jar to send to your favorite local elderly person. Delectable. 3. Take some great color photos, and triple matte with green, yellow and widest white, then hang in your kitchen. Almost as good as artificial sunshine bulbs in the winter, and a worthy garden trophy without involving expensive taxidermy.