Grovite

I have a couple of Chef'n silicone spats along with a couple of Traex spats that have been though several restaurant tours and I love'em. The brushes are meh, especially the Le Crueset, however, the Batali branded and OXO brushes are getting better. I am fond of the various silicone molds as well, excellent for chocolate. As far as the hot pads and oven mitts, I used to not care for them. They were stiff and hard to manipulate. Recently I have found some grid style silicone hot pads made by SiliconeZone that are very pliable and actually work.

There are several throughout Goodfellas. Who can forget the "Funny Guy" scene, cooking in prison, the mailman's head in the pizza oven or Henry's brother stirring sauce?

A second for Lincoln Wearever. I've tried everything out there, including the much heralded Swiss Diamond, Scanpan and Look series and no matter the claims, they all eventually give out, just the nature of the beast. My question is this: Why spend over $50 (or $30 for that matter) on a piece that will give you maybe 7 years tops if you pamper the thing? I have a soft spot in my heart for All-Clad but I refuse to pay the $100+ for one of their NS pans, it's just not worth it, especially when I can grab a cheap-o Restaurant Supply House pan (the Lincoln Wearever) or walk into a place like BB&B with a 20% off coupon and buy one of the always present Calphalon try-me pieces. Six years down the road, it's still going to tug at you that you are tossing a $140 12" AC in the garbage. The $30 pan is just "who gives a shit?" when it finally gives up, you just go out and buy another.

I understand this and have dined there many times, and yes, the brunch is great, but the original intent was to discuss "Tex-Mex", not Mex, which FSM is. Merely pointing that out is all.

Curra's and F.S.M are great places in Austin, but you're right mcdowell, they both fall well outside the definition of "Tex-Mex". We're talkin' the typical rolled cheese enchiladas (processed or cheddar, y.m.m.v), chili con carne, chili con queso, guacamole, fajitas, stuff they call fajitas (chicken, shrimp, veggies), crispy beef tacos, refritos that have been sitting in a warming pan all day, the obligatory "Spanish" rice and the bottomless bowl of tostadas. Of course, there are menu additions and subtractions depending on where you've walked into. In Austin, when I want "Tex-Mex", I skip Matt's, Chuy's and Trudy's and head over to Amaya's . I've never had a bad experience there and the joint definitely falls into the "Tex-Mex" category.

Sounds like they're trying to copy Chuy's or Trudy's, two popular local Gringo-Mex chains. ← Yes, it does. Only thing is, it predated Chuys & Trudys by 20+ years. ← Maybe they're referring to Matt's El Rancho when they say "Austin-style Tex-Mex".

Too funny! What is your take someone like Robb Walsh's idea of Tex-Mex?

I actually go out of my to pick up Central Market/HEB branded items. They are all of high quality and from my experience, better than a lot of the national brands. And this is not a store specific generic, but one of my guilty pleasures are the Malt-o-Meal bagged cereals.

Who would have thought that a little ol'HEB bag would start making his way around the world. Kent, when you get him back, you should show him off to the folks in San Antonio, I bet they'd get a kick out of it

I like the meat grinder, but the juicer and the slicer/shredder are "meh" to me. I dig the freezer attachment, more than the little Cuis ice cream maker I was given. Easy to set up and easy to clean and the results are great.

You gotta go with Collin St. Bakery. All jokes aside, they make the best around. And, if you ever find yourself in Corsicana, TX (I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy ), stop by the bakery and sample some of their other goodies.

After years of using the usual suspects (Wusthof, MAC, Shun, Lamson etc.), I'm looking to delve into the world of custom knives. I've been looking here, there and yonder for the right "One". For whatever reason, I keep going back to the same "one", a Bob Kramer 8" chef knife. Now, I'm not set on anything and I'm willing to learn, so any opinons and suggestions from you fine folks would be greatly appreciated.

What about those palm peelers and corn slitters? Just use a damn peeler and a knife. Oh, Onion Goggles. They may work, but come on, you'll look like a dick with ears wearing those around. Suck it up and let the tears flow!

ANOTHER DISCLOSURE ALERT I am a Sur La Table manager and I am proud of my store and the training that my staff receives. I resent the above comments that we are nothing more than a "lifestyle" store, i.e Willams Sonoma, and that myself and my staff have little to no cooking/product knowledge. The above statements were nothing more than a blanket assumption. I pride myself on the fact that my store sells a lot of items that are hard to find, cheaper than the competition (WS, BB&B, L-n-T) and the fact that I will go out of my way, sales be damned, to find a customer what he/she wants/needs. I have a lot of pros that shop in my store...hell, I have a lot of ex-pros that work in my store. I will not hesitate to send a customer to a supply house, or look on the Fantes, J.B Prince or Le Sanctuaire sites to find what they need. I send customers all over the place, from hardware stores to flea markets to the mom and pop kitchen store to make sure they are happy because brother, that's the bottom line, making sure they leave my store with a smile on their face. I could sell a huge set of All-Clad for $1,200 and never see that customer again, but I'd rather have a customer that will happily keep coming back. Do I detest the fact that we sell Rachael Ray books and knives? You betcher sweet ass I do. I have to live with that though and steer people to the "good stuff". Do I hate the fact that we don't carry MAC knives (I'm working on that) and we have stupid chickens all over the goddamn store? DING DING DING! Don't give up on us yet. If you've had a bad experience at an SLT, let the folks up in Seattle know. If you want certain items to be carried, let'em know. Hell, let me know, I have a habit of getting what you want.

I've got the same problem sir, gun boats for feet. Add on top of that tarcel coalition and that's one helluva good time working the line! Anyway, like you, I've had a time trying to find 15s. I've tried Birkis, but they killed my feet. I've tried several diferent SFC styles, but they all wore out quickly. Crocs are fine, but as you said, they wear out after a couple of months. Right now, I'm wearing a pair of Sketchers "comfort" steel toe work boots with SFC inserts in them. Yeah, they're big and bulky, but I need the ankle support, and by God, they're comfortable, even at the end of the night.

The butt end of the handle looks like a Wusthof, probably the Gourmet line.

Why I need it, I don't know, but I have to get one of those new Shun U2 knives.

Anyone else notice that they dropped Kenmore in favor of GE? I guess NBC wanted to keep the money in-house.

Straight on. Also, find a shop where the people aren't going to blow sunshine up your ass. I would never tell my customers a flat out lie like that.

It's not in the best area of town and it is a gas station, but head over to Fuel City (just west of Downtown near the County Jail ) and sample some damn fine tacos.

Nothing odd, per se, but we did get people that liked their food charred beyond recognition. For example, we had a plate come back with several "problems". The diner wanted his steak sliced and "very well done" and he wanted his potato "crunchy", i.e burned. We tossed the steak and potato in the fryer for a few and sent the hunks of coal back out. The server brought back the empty plate and said the guy loved it. The only other thing I can think of, and this is more funny than anything, was a Red Hat Society banquent I catered. The ladies requested foie gras, or, as the lady in charge said, "fo-waaah grass". So, as an app, we sautéed some slices of foie and drizzled it with a port/balsamic reduction, you know, nice and simple. Now here's the kicker. A lady, complete with her awful red hat, came back to the hall's kitchen and asked if there was any grape jelly. We looked around and found a jar of Welch's and handed it to her, not sure what she was wanting to do. Next thing you know, she's wiping the reduction of the foie and covering it with grape jelly. I wanted to beat her with her dumb, red hat

The "skillet toss" from your station to the sink. We'd see who could get it to "swish" without hitting the back of the sink...of course whoever happened to be walking by would get nailed, which was always good for entertainment.

I grind, or have ground, chuck and season it with just kosher salt, fresh pepper and maybe some cumin or granulated garlic. I've always heard that those Lipton soup packs are great, but have never tried it. I cook them to about medium (for me that is, the better half likes her's damn near burned), usually in cast iron or on my big electric griddle. I usually use a "better" store brand bun (Mrs. Baird's) that is toasted and keep the condiments simple: mustard, little bit of mayo, leaf lettuce, thinly sliced red onions and the oh-so-important dill pickles. On occasion I'll add some sliced jalapeños, shredded sharp cheddar and applewood smoked bacon to a pepper crusted patty. I've also made one of those "bloomin' onions" and put the "petals" on that burger, which is nice. It's similar to a burger you can get a Chili's, but a helluva lot better when done at home.

Straight up, naked au jus honey mustard ranch (especially good with bacon-cheddar fries from Snuffer's in Dallas) Old Bay or some other spice blend gravy

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