Jaymes

Jin, Thanks for your prompt response. I had promised my mom & dad grilled artichokes for my mom's 85th birthday tonight, so was up against a time factor here. I did what you said and they turned out great. Also, Maggie, made your caper sauce which was also delicious (and easy). The other recipes sound absolutely wonderful as well...the one with blanched asparagus (another favorite) and fava beans, and stuffed, Creole style. I love artichokes and have a whiskey half-barrel on my condo deck where I grow them, so needed some new ideas. Really appreciate y'all coming through for me! Thanks again.

We have completely different tastes. When I lived in Austin, the only joint I didn't like was the County Line. The sauce they serve tastes like watered down ketchup, horribly unappealing. But they are the only place I can think of that serves up beef ribs and I did like their sausage. And I do like the Salt Lick, primarily because of their sauce, the habenero sauce is even better... Sadly, I love 'em all. But County Line is my least favorite. I do like their babyback ribs, and they are the "nicest" and most-expensive of "joints" (as you put it ). I had a laugh when I saw in one of the New York (or New Jersey threads) that someone had gone to a BBQ place and it was "$60 per person, which I thought was reasonable." County Line is BY FAR our most expensive "barbecue restaurant" but it's easy to get out of there for $25 a person! They have a full bar, "restauranty" tables and chairs, metal tableware, and classy desserts. That is where we take the out-of-town guests that we believe wouldn't want to hit a REAL "joint" nor drive the hour and a half (or more) to one of the TRUE 'cue temples.... Kreuz, Cooper's, Louie Mueller's, etc. Also, County Line has wonderful "sides" and is famous for their breads, but who goes to a BBQ joint for bread!!?? And the Salt Lick. Yes, I love it there. I like looking at the big pit with the meat hanging all 'round. And their 'cue is wonderful. Man, am I spoiled little 'cue brat. And that's just how I like it. PS - Celeb mention: In an interview, Sandy Bullock said that the Salt Lick was her "favorite restaurant in all the world." She gets the BBQ Chicken Sandwich.

Wow. That sounds positively orgasmic. Thanks!

I'm no physician, but suspect 6 is what holds the whole mess up there, wobbling about.

Yes, right you are. But how does one know what Caviar is supposed to taste like, when he/she never had it. Does this go back to the "educated" palate? I believe this is absolutely an excellent example of educating one's palate. I suspect very few, if any, enjoy caviar upon first taste. In my case, I attended some fairly high-profile occasions when I was young and, not wishing to appear unsophisticated, managed to gag some down. After several years of about four of these "gaggings" per year, I eventually began to not dislike, and then to enjoy the dish. And I began to seek out caviar and to study and learn more about it in order to serve it appropriately in my own home. I read somewhere that the metal spoon interacts unfavorably with the caviar, so conducted my own kitchen test with various caviars and a metal spoon and a plastic one (not having ivory, mother of pearl, or bone). So, this was "educating my palate" in several ways: both through reading, studying and learning about caviar; and through empirical evidence. Obviously, I would never have been able, at a young age, to take from a metal spoon my first bite of caviar and remark, "You know....this is 'off' somehow. Could it be that metal spoon?"

Oh - and thank you BHoward for that link. You are correct, all four restaurants are indeed perennial favorites of the locals.

You are certainly correct about asthetics and ambience playing an essential role in any sensual experience, which eating surely is. But as to this question, the answer is more simple. Interacting with metal changes the taste of the caviar.

Good morning, Mark. Thought of you today, whilst reading the Austin paper. In the Food section, they were discussing a new "contraption that will give pepper lovers a thrill." It's a "chile grill" that holds peppers upright for heating in the oven or BBQ. You can find one at chilegrill.com. Yours in capsicum, Jaymes

Please, Jin... please get started. If you really like artichokes, you must have one or two faves!!! Please? I swear I'll check out Mario as soon as I have more time.

While in California a short time ago, visited Rutherford Grill in the wine country. We had wonderful artichokes. They had been halved and, I believe, smoked or grilled over a wood fire, but am not sure. So now I've bought some at the grocers in hopes of replicating that dish. What does everyone suggest? Parboil or bake before putting on the Webber? Baste? Any other favorite cooking suggestions, other than boiling? Favorite accompaniment suggestions?

I'll have to dig the thing out.... May be packed away somewhere in the mound of boxes from my last move, but I'll try. Might take a while, though. I ain't the most organized girl in class.

Most of my best recipes are for entertaining... comes from years as a caterer, I guess. But another successful chicken curry salad starts with fresh pineapples which you halve, then chop up the meat, mix it with chicken, curried dressing, cashews, coconut, green peppers, green onions, and serve in the pineapple shells. Can dig the recipe out, but sounds like you're well on your way to many options, so you might not need it. It was wonderful, though....and again, impressive presentation, which is totally not required around the old kitchenette table!!

Someone suggest a solution. Hounding John will not answer any of these questions. Repeatedly bringing threads back to the same issue is viable, but is bad for the site. Anyone got any ideas? Unfortunately, the only way for this to end is just to stop posting about it. Which we can't seem to manage (myself included). I hope we all can manage it. I arrived at eGullet at about the same time as the "Nazi" thread. Everyone kept talking about how much they enjoyed eGullet and how happy they were to be here. How they treasured the interaction, the comradarie, the foodie lessons learned. One person referred to it as "my beloved eGullet"; another said that, regarding one particular food topic, they had "learned more in two days on eGullet than in twenty years of professional cooking." And then it all got caught up in the stink rising from an open wound of acrimony, dissension, and accusations, some undoubtedly justified, some surely not. I feel like the girl who arrived at Woodstock just as the crowd was leaving....the girl standing there on the edge of something wonderful, listening to the crowd laughing as they streamed out, chatting about the cosmic event, the seminal moment in history, the coolest most fabulous thing ever. Only by the time I got there, all that remained was a couple of farm boys throwing cow chips at each other and arguing over whose fault it was that there was such a mess, and who should be responsible for cleaning it up. I just wish we could stop pointing fingers and slinging cow chips, and get back to the music.

I have served a very successful Curried Chicken Salad for years. I don't know if you are looking for a "just us" kind of salad, or something for entertaining. This is more for entertaining. It is absolutely delicious, great fun, very festive, beautiful to look at, and the guests really enjoy it. My sister, who hates to cook or entertain and is wretched at it, was forced to host a luncheon in her neighborhood recently, because all of the other wives just flat out told her it was "her turn" and they were all coming. She called me, panic-stricken. I gave her this recipe, step by step. She was a smash hit. It's already on eGullet, over in the India board, under Simple Summer Garden Curries (or something like that, started by StellaBella), and I'd rather not retype it all here. But, it's a winner, for sure.

Hey that's cool, but I wonder if it has any legal effect. Although I haven't been interviewed very often (the last time was for an article on eGullet and much to my surprise I was not only quoted accurately, but in exactly the context in which I placed my responses) I have used the expression "off the record" both when I've felt I might be quoted and just when I don't want a confidant repeating my words to another in private. Generally however, I think e-mail and private messages are off limits unless in response to an interview. "Any legal effect" when you yourself have put something into the public domain? Of course not. As soon as you publish it, it is "on the record." That was the joke, that Steve thinks it might be!!

You know, Steve, if John had PM'd you, seeking your opinion on this or that, and then published your responses without your permission, you might have a point. But if you really believe that what you post in this public forum, with full knowledge that your words are freely available to an indiscriminate audience of millions, is tantamount to a private conversation deserving of some degree of confidentiality, well then, to quote Judge Judy, "Are you nuts?" If you actually do believe that, then may I suggest you change your signature line to: "Attention Journalists: This is off the record." That is the phrase, is it not, that you use when requesting confidentiality during your many interviews?

Wow. I thought that was a terrific post. And I agree completely!

Make it the fall.

I just love it when you talk dirty. (Cassoulet in the Autumn?)

Carrots, perhaps? In keeping with the food theme?

Golly, John, you're THAT IMPORTANT to me... But don't worry, I'm "virtually impregnable" as well (ever since the change), even if one "were to form a charitable organization for that sole purpose." So, Darlin', Cassoulet in the Autumn, maybe???

Sounds to me like the editor of the food newsletter was, as editors everywhere constantly are, looking for something interesting and newsworthy to fill his space. News outlets are voracious sharks.... and this particular news shark has to limit his topics to food. To publish feature after feature regarding foodie web sites certainly looses appeal after a time... So should he do yet another: "On eGullet, people get together in a virtual community; people from all over the world talk about food; people get together in their own neighborhoods." This already has been well-covered in the media....just so much more blah de blah de blah de blah...no new information for his readers there. But suddenly on one of the premier food sites there's a big flap that has edged into politics and religion, creating considerable controversy. The resulting acrimony may, some say, even threaten the very viability of the site itself. Also, one of the moderators appears to possibly have been kicked off. Is that not newsworthy, by the standards of a newsletter for food writers? So, if you were the editor of the newsletter and had 300 subscribers expecting the latest foodie culture info, what would you do? If I were he, I'd call a Guild member that I knew to be an excellent writer, as well as a participant of the site, and assign him to cover the story. I'd call John.

Wow. That makes the Moon Palace look like, well, a palace.

Jaymes, I wasn't kidding about having our house stolen. Armed people took it over and forced out the people we had watching it, forged papers to show they had purchased the lease on the land, and bribed local judges to support their case. After spending $10,000 in "legal fees" we gave up. Well, I've heard of that happening... Mexico recognizes squatter's rights. Particularly along the Pacific Coast. It's pretty tricky, I know, and that is one reason I haven't done anything about buying a place until I am ready to spend at least half my time there. Again, to second Nina's question... where was it?

Well -- I'll admit I did get a laugh myself imagining the maid's husband that night, when she came home with a couple-hundred bucks worth of fancy little fripperies, the likes of which I'm sure he'd never before seen. So if you just take ratty old underwear, I'm sure you'll be fine. And who knows, maybe you NEED a new timeshare. But I actually love Mexico, and spend a lot of time there, and plan to buy a second home there, maybe sometime next Spring. There are really just a few hotels down there that I dislike. Okay, one. Okay, the Moon Palace. When you return, you'll have to let me know how it works out. One thing I do know is that everyone's experiences differ. We put up quite a stink with FunJet, whom we had booked the trip through. They said they had gotten a lot of complaints and had sent a team down there to work with the Palace folks to try to improve things, so maybe they have. Buena suerte!