FoodMan

I do like their sandwiches and breads for a quick lunch, and I usually stop by to pick up a coffee refill in the morning. However, stay away from their muffins. I honestly cannot figure out how someone can make muffins so bad. they are rubbery, chewy and have no flavor. Woodburner, can you elaborate a little bit about your original post? Are asking for an opinion or simply stating a report? Elie

In this week's W&D, the manager at Bracino asks some smokers to clear the bar area for his non-smoking dinner crowd. What do you think about that? Elie

Houston Chronicle Dining Guide: Home Away From Home Alison Cook reviews Lemond New World Cuisine. Who knew that Pearland has such good eats. Born on The Bayou Fried Turkey for Thanksgiving? Dai Huynh reports on where to get a nice bird. Houston Press Dining Section: Sweet 17 Brian McManus delivers an excellent review of 17, the sleek fine dining establishment in the Sam Houston Hotel. Elie

Thank you for joining us this week Mr. McGee, it's a pleasure to have you. So, no matter what I do i can almost never peel a boiled egg properly. 9 times out of 10 pieces of the white come of and it looks pretty bad. I tried using fresh eggs or a few days old eggs with the same problem. Do you have any tips how to properly peel a soft or hard cooked egg. To cook the eggs I never boil them so as not to get a green tinged yolk and rubbery white. Instead I put them in a cold water filled pot, bring slowly to right before boiling. Turn the heat off and cover. For firm hard yolk I leave them for about 10 minutes (about 4 eggs), less for a soft yolk. Thanks again Elie

Ok, I am officially pissed. I call in to Jessica's Biscuits to check on my order (Les Halles book and Bouchon and some free book) and she informs me that Bouchon has been shipped but Les Halles will ship as soon as it is available. I ask her if they sold out and she claims they have not recieved it from the publisher yet!! What's up with that? I need to be at the book signing on Monday and I have no book. The least they could do is say it on the website that this book is not available yet (it definitly should be by now you would think), before people order it! Elie

Amen to that... To layer: 1- thin layer of ragu 2-noodles 3-balsamella 4-Parm Repeat till all is done. I also top mine with grated mozzarella. Bake covered till done then uncover ofr the last 5 minutes to get the mozz colored. Elie

parsnip/pear with cream Sweet potato, orange zest, butter, milk and brown sugar Sweet potato, butternut squash, butter, milk. this could be sweet or not. I like it with pure maple syrup mixed in though. Elie

For my very first Terrine I tried Julia’s from Mastering the Art. It is a basic pork and veal terrine so I thought it would be perfect. It was absolutely delicious and quiet pretty to look at (once sliced ). I cannot wait to try some more variations, I’m thinking duck is next. We served it with Dijon mustard, homemade onion jam and fresh baked baguettes a Lancienne. The only issue I had was with the quantity, I though my terrine pan is too small for the recipe so I decided to half everything. I was wrong and instead of three layers I ended up with two. I am very pleased with the result and now I know that 7 cups is not too much for my mold. I was also worried about not finding good fatback and did not want to use bacon. However my local butcher, “Pete’s Fine Meats” in Houston, came through and sliced some very thin fatback for me. He also ground up the veal, pork and pork fat. Here are some pics: Elie

My HEB alwasy has some great apples. I usually buy Braeburns, Gala, or Cameo. Elie

Saturday: baked/brolied garlicky chicken roasted yukon gold potatoes sauce made with garlic, mayo, olive oil and lemon juice pita bread Sunday: Pork veal and ham terrine from Mastering the art. Served with homemade Baguettes A Lancienne, Dijon mustard and homemade onion jam. My first terrine ever, I was very proud of it, it came out great. Pork coddled in olive oil with tuscan beans (recipe from Wolfert) Dessert: Homemade coffe ice cream, ganache, whipped cream. So rich and so good Elie

Thanks for the update and the pictures. I am very glad you liked them. They will keep on getting soft however, once the oil level drops below the top of the pepper I usually refrigerate them since they can get moldy. In my case I kind of prefer them a little on the crunchy side though. Elie

Call CM and complain. I am sure they want to know.

I definitly see your point, but I did not think the waiter is the one to blame in this case, unless he changed the channel. Elie

Moussaka. I know the picture is not much to look at even though the dish was excellent, but I am so glad that my camera software is finally up and running that I had to test it.

I LOVE my Atlas. I don't see why I would need anything more fancy or expensive. Two hands are more than enough to operate it as well . Elie

This is my favorite method as well. I learned it from Paula Wolfert. It does not get rid of every last droplet of fat (I wouldn't want to anyways) but it produces excellent results. The other method is the refrigerate-remove solidified fat method. But the downside is it takes time. Elie

We had our client visiting on Tuesday and they wanted to have something Texas themed for dinner. So Rio Ranch was picked as the venue and we met there for dinner. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The bread basket had both biscuits and corn bread. I was not too crazy about their biscuits which were a little too fluffy with no texture. However the cornbread was pretty good. It was crumbly but not too dry, with a very good corn not-too-sweet flavor. We shared an appetizer that had vegetable taquitos and I think chicken quesadillas. This was also excellent with good flavors and not greasy at all the way taquitos tend to be. The salads were standard issue house salads and I opted for the blue cheese dressing which like was mentioned earlier is a vinaigrette. Again, this was also a hit. I enjoyed the blue cheese flavor with the tangy and not cloying vinegar/oil emulsion. For a main course I really had a tough time to decide but I avoided the CFS per the previous warnings on this thread and went with the pork chop. This was truly awesome. The chop was bone in (I made sure to ask before I ordered), cut about an inch thick. It is lightly smoked and then grilled perfectly still slightly pink in the middle and very juicy. I could not have asked for it to be cooked any different than that. It gets better. This comes with two finger size smoked SPICY sausages that are also fantastic. The both meats are sitting on top of a zesty red spicy/sweet sauce that the menu I think calls “Chile sauce”. Since we were with clients I did not think it was wise to gnaw on the bone…but after a few beers I did not think anyone would care so I cleaned that bone up. For a side dish I almost got the “Sautéed wild Mushrooms”, then I asked if the mushrooms are really “wild” or are they button mushrooms, our very courteous waiter informed me that they are white button and Portobello mushrooms so I opted for asparagus. This was also done right. The dessert menu did not sound very interesting but I still got a blueberry apple cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The filling tasted good but the crust and topping fell short. Just like the biscuits it had no texture. Overall Rio Ranch is well worth a visit, especially for some out of towners who want a nice setting and a Texas style meal. Elie

Houston Chronicle Dining Guide: Worth Waiting For Alison Cook visits Marini's Original Empanada House that opened up again afetr thirty years. 'Tis an ale wind that blows RJ Middleton conducts a beer tour among Houston's Pubs Houston Press Dining Dancing Delicacies Robb Walsh reviews Saffron, the new Moroccan restaurant. Why read his reviews, check out these quotes: Read it and check out what it's all about. Elie

It varies, but I usually use Mario Batali's recipe from The Babbo Cookbook for the raviolis. it is very simple, roasted butternut squach, egg, parm. the sauce is also easy, just brown the butter, toss in some sage leaves and coarsly chopped roasted hazelnuts. Toss the cooked raviolis in there. Do let me know if you need more detailed instructions and I will check my book(s) when I get home. Elie

In today's W&D, I chose to pick on Ms. Lamon who believes her waiter should "know" what game shoudl show on what TV and advise his patrons accordingly. Oh, but she only requires this at a sports bar. Elie

I love this weather, and I actually believe fall is the best food season (or week if you are in Houston). I'm thinking a nice pot of Pozole with homemade tortillas would be great pretty soon. Beef Bourignone is also a favorite fall/winter staple Butternut squash raviolis with hazelnut/sage/butter sauce Elie

I made this numerous times and the only thing I do different than his instructions is to divide the dough into four not six baguettes. However even with six I still got a decent rise but the loafs were a little too slender for my liking. This really is the best baguette I have ever tasted. Flat as a pancake is very strange. I would think maybe your oven is not hot enough or you overworked the loafs when shaping. also make sure your yeast is not expired. Elie

Saturday: Meghrabi Veal meatballs with chickpeas and spinach, a delicious recipe from Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. I actually used ground beef instead of veal since that was what I had. A kind of relish made from chopped banana peppers, Meyer lemon segments, olive oil and flat leaf parsley. I made it because I had picked a few late season peppers from the backyard and a ripe lemon from the tree. It was excellent and went very well with the meatballs. Sunday: Pan fried quail Green Pea oatmeal. Steel cut oats, peas/pea puree, butter. Sauteed mushrooms with shallots Caneles De Bordoeux (major sp?) for Dessert Monday: Rigatoni tossed with a cauliflower "ragu". Cauliflower, canned tomatoes, anchovies, garlic, onions, fresh oregano. Topped the whole thing with Parm and Pangritatta (sp? Again) (coarse bread crumbs crisped in olive oil with salt, pepper and dried oregano) Dessert: Homemade dark chocolate Gelato with caramel-sea salt pistachios mixed in. Topped with homemade candied orange rinds and some of their syrup. This is definitely the best chocolate ice cream/gelato I’ve ever made and it went so good with the pistachios and the topping. Sorry for lumping it all together. Been real busy lately. Elie

Do we really not have a great restaurant? I am sorry to hear that. But let me ask, what is a great restaurant? and compared to what? We do not have anything on par with Trotter or the French Laundry maybe but we do have excellent fine dining restaurants. I've been to both Aries and Mark's and I do prefer Mark's since the less than stellar service at Aries (my review is in here somewhere) overshadowed the excellent food. However, in every instant Mark's was perfect, excellent service paired with a cozy atmosphere and top notch food. Elie

I guess that concludes it...for now. Until I get my copy and try it out that is