Bill Miller

Replying to myself one year later--perfection--one bottle Tabasco mild mix--add crystal hot sauce and worcestershire to taste--some celery salt, juice of two lemons--one can campbells beef broth--two cans vodka--combine and serve with pickled asparagus and celery spears. Add fresh ground pepper.

I like to season my meat (beef), with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic and then dredge in flour. Sautee in corn oil until browned--do in batches so as not to crowd. I then remove the meat and instead of de glazing I actually make a gravy with water and more flour if necessery, and add to the stew with the meat. Really helps with the consistancy. I also add a whole jalepeno or two with the other vegetables.

Just a heads up to all--I have ordered one to two whole spiral sliced peppered city hams from Bergers Smokehouse in Missouri for the last four holiday seasons. They are consistantly fabulous and reasonably priced. $78 delivered for a 12 lb ham. Take a look at http://www.smokehouse.com --you'll love it.

A friend brought me one. We thought about brining and roasting. Maybe stuffing with garlic colves and vegis and braising in cheesecloth overnite? Any ideas would be welcome.

We just made and froze my Creamy Wild Chanterelle Soup. It is posted under my name on recipes.egullet.org . It is a wonderful rich way to use the mushrooms.

Rick Stein's "Complete Seafood" and the Houston Jr. League's "Stop and Smell the Rosemary".

Supply & demand. Adam Smith.

Had a bottle this weekend--very nice--dark fruit, good tannins, coffee, and pepper with spices. Full bodied and silky. Cabernet sauvignon--50%, cab franc-20%, merlot-20% and petit verdot-10%. Beautiful color. Label says it will improve for 5-10 years. Bottled in Carlton Oregon by Cuneo.

East Texas is very southern--heavy slave cooking influence along with cajun/creole. Houston/Dallas are infuenced by S/W and cowboy. By the time you get to Austin you have a heavy German, Mexican, Tex-Mex, S/W, brisket and spare ribs infuence. West and south Texas are S/W and Tex-Mex. The Gulf coast is a whole other country.

If all food was produced organically there would be widespread starvation, war and pestilence.

We've eaten at four of the so called top 50 over the country, including Canlis twice while visiting over in Seattle several times in the last four years. I think it is the league with the others named (Grammercy, DaMarcos, Le Reve). Service was consistant and the food lovely.

Bill, how low is low? An hour is pretty long for a thin cut of meat like skirt. ← 200-225, but wrap with foil.

I like to season the meat with Zachs or Williams fajita seasonings--add a little garlic powder,salt and black pepper to taste. Sear both sides on the grill and move to the smoke side--add wet chips and smoke at low heat for about an hour--wrap in foil and put in the oven another hour at about 225--slice across the grain--should be moist and tender.

Simposio has slipped a bit. The service was full of effort, but spotty. The veal was cold and the potatoes uninspired. The Caesar was dry but quickly repaired with additional dressing--very good. My Bologenese was ok but a bit salty. The Tuscan bean soup needed a drizzle of olive oil to finish it. The Marquis de Barolo was great, as usual. Jane insists we try it again, reminding me that the last meal we had out was at Le Reve. I agree.

Is "properly cured manure"still organic? I don't know the PC rules for "organic".

It was a review from an individual in the on line Zagat. Don't worry, we're going--I'll give a report.

They told me (At Whole Foods here in Albuquerque) that their Italian purveyors could not provide chemical and hormone free product. ← I believe it was organic, chemical and harmone free spinach that started the e coli mess. Chemical fertilizer is not contaminated with e coli.

I just read a Sept. Zagat report that said Simposios has declined. We are eating there Friday nite--anyone else heard anything? It has always been my favorite Italian place in Houston.

Small difference between trans fats and foie gras: to my knowledge, foie gras is not carcinogenic to humans. (Not that I would really care to live in a world without french fries, either!) ← Well, charred beef has been shown to harbor carcinogens, and I wouldn't want to give it up, either. And foie gras is not exactly a health food. I just get worried that the more busybodies start taking foods they don't agree with off our plate, the menu we have to choose from begins to shrink. Before too long, caviar's off the list, veal's off the list, swordfish's off, red snapper's off, and you're left choking down farm-raised catfish suishi and veggie burgers -hold the mayo. ← Don't forget lobster.

My wife and I ate at Le Reve Thursday nite and were debating if Gramercy or Le Reve was better--Gourmet seemed to break the tie Saturday morning. I don't know how you judge between two like that.

Thursday, Sept. 21 We had a wonderful experience at Le Reve. I told Jane I thought it was just below Gramercy Tavern--she thought just above. Sat morning in the paper Ruth Reichel broke the tie. I started with a wild mushroom risotto with Brie de Nangis and hazlenuts. Great taste and perfect crunch. Rich. Jane had New England Lobster and roasted Yukon gold potato galette. Full of lobster and full of flavor. I followed with escabeche of skate, butter lettuce, tomato salad with olive oil and anchovy dressing. My first experience with skate was a hit. Very gourmet. Jane had haricot vert salad with Spanish Marcona almonds (very different and very good!), creme fraiche, basil and chives. Just the right serving size. Throughout the meal we were treated to little surprises--here we were served a ruby red grapefruit sorbet with vermouth--different and tart. I will copy this!! I completed the meal with a New York strip "aromatized in garlic and thyme",with roasted bone marrow and parsley crostini. The beef was rich with herb and the marrow was buttery and a terrific compliment to the beef. Jane had the tournado of beef, "sauce grand-mere", pearl onions, lardons, button mushrooms and beef jus. I liked hers better than mine!! Both were very, very tender. We started the meal with a glass of young Groth sauvignon blanc from Napa and finished the meal with a bottle of silky smooth, mouth filling '03 Caymus Cabernet. Very enjoyable, though young. The wine was about 50% over retail and and the three course meal goes for $80. Cheese and desert add $10. each. We chose the a la carte menu as we rarely do dessert and were too full for cheese....the tasting menu was $100--$150 with wine. Plan to spend three hours in a wonderful culinary bubble--only 12 tables--easier to get a reservation on weeknites. Four stars.

I'll make notes--we're excited.

I made reservations for Thursday this AM--Friday was full.

We just decided to find outwhat all the excitement was about. Anybody have any comments or suggestions? The wine list looks good and so reasonable. We will probably order from the menu.

Did the tentacles cling to your tongue? *shudder* ← I had the same thought- lift and chew quickly lest it stick to your tongue. I think this is more than I can bear. I wonder how Whole Foods would handle that?