FoodMan

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I'll stick to the regular, cheaper metal pans then. Elie

The ones I saw were entirely made of silicon (I think). So they were very flexible, think "rubber pans" that can be twisted and manipulated. That's why they seemed like a good idea, if they are flexible getting a cake out of them might be a lot easier. Are those the one you bought? Elie

I saw these neat looking Kitchenaid silicone round cake “pans” at the store the other day and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them. Are they worth the $20.00 price tag? They just seem so convenient to use, especially in the unmolding the cake part after baking. The little sticker on them claimed they are non-stick and will not need any buttering and flouring,… Any advice as I am looking to buy one or two cake pans? Elie

Fifi- Thank you for remembering and posting the address for this place. Sounds like a neat place to visit and maybe finally start making my own beer like I keep saying. I guess, according to Russ, the sun tea jar idea should work. I'll pick up a jar next time I see one. Elie

Here is an article by Robert Wolke about the subject and it should shed some light on the whole matter. Elie

Food section of the Houston chronicle talks about wines: Tips for throwing the perfect wine tasting partyand pairing wine with cheese The African American Wine Tasting Society has a Houston chapter, read all about it. A tasty looking fried yuca and pork recipe, courtesy of Café Red Onion (a highly recommended dining spot ). Someone should tell the writer that yuca is a little more than just in Mexican cooking. Elie

Most brands you would find at a grocery store are usually pretty good. I like to stick to regular Tahini, not the dark toasted ones you find at health food stores sometimes. My two favorites are Cortas and Al-Rabih, in that order. both are Lebanese brands and good. Elie

Jason- True, Quesadillas are a Mexican food. However, just like tacos the true Mexican ones bear very little resemblance to the Tex-Mex variety. The one made with flour tortillas and filled with lots of melted chihuahuah cheese and fajita meat. They are quiet good in their own right. These were the ones I was wondering about. There is an excellent Mexican restaurant restaurant in Houston that serves Mexican street food like the one found in Mexico city not Tex-Mex. Under Quesadillas they have a disclaimer saying something to the effect of, "these are Mexican quesadillas, not Tex-Mex". all they are are soft corn tortilla tacos with shredded cheese. Elie

nessa- Gas grill should work out perfectly. I've even roasted them in the oven with very good results. But if you want to, try your method of smoking first. I am very interested in the result, so keep us posted (maybe start a thread if there's not already one). Elie

Sunday- Official start of summer backyard bbq meal: -Grilled boned and butterflied chicken, marinated overnight in garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. -Grilled t-bone steaks and tenderlions basted with a mixture of worsectershire, soy, honey, an lime juice -Tomato and asparagus salad. the tomatoes (several heirloom varieties)picked fresh from the garden. The thin Asparagus was boiled till tender and shocked in ice water. The whole thing was tossed with EVOO, vinegar and basil leaves. -Hummus dip. -Abita Turbodog to drink Monday- -Pan seared duck breasts with simple teriyaki glaze (recipe from Peterson's The duck Cookbook). -White rice with scallions -Pickled ginger. Homemade from the China Moon book and very tasty. Elie

Jake and Nessa- Here’s my basic Baba Ghanooj recipe/method: -Roast a whole large eggplant (skin on), preferably on a charcoal grill. This is what gives it a smoky flavor, I seriously doubt the Lebanese restaurant you were at actually smoked the eggplant. Make sure you prick a few holes in it with a fork before roasting/grilling. Roast until it is very soft, you can tell by squeezing it gently with a pair of tongs. - When it is cooked through let the eggplant cool to a manageable temperature, then peel the skin off or simply cut in half and scrape the flesh out. -The rest of the ingredients are pretty much to taste, you can add more or less of them. I like to throw in 2 garlic cloves in the food processor first and chop them up with a few turns, then add the eggplant flesh and process some more. Now add a few tablespoons of tahini (maybe ¼ cup), be careful with this, you do not want it to be overpowering and you can always add more later. Last goes in lemon juice, cumin (about a teaspoon), and salt, all to taste but I like mine on the tangy side. Process till the mixture is nice and smooth. -Serve garnished with chopped parsley, a few dashes of paprika or cayenne and drizzled with virgin olive oil. Sorry I have no exact amounts but it really is very simple to make. I will write the quantities down next time I make it. If you omit the tahini sauce and add olive oil, then you have “the poor man’s caviar” another excellent eggplant dish. Nessa- I know the rice you are talking about. I think some Lebanese restaurants have some horrible rice. It might actually be boiled and strained. Everyday Lebanese rice is very good and is usually made with Samneh (clarified butter). Check out my course in the eGCI about Lebanese cooking. It talks a bit about it and it has a recipe. This should taste much better than the ones you’ve had in a restaurant. Link to eGCI class on Lebanese cooking If you are interested I can also post a variation with spices, almonds and pinenuts. Elie

I see the same packages (I think two seperate brands) at HEB everytime I'm there, and wonder the same thing. The ingredient list usually lists Nixtamal as one of the ingredients. Elie

nessa- This Fatteh sounds dissappointing, sorry about the bad experience. Actually the only thing in the dish that has anything to do with Fatteh is the crispy bread. Chickpeas IN a Tahini sauce....this doesn't sound like any Fatteh I know, although eating Fatteh on top of rice is not uncommon especially rice made with chicken stock and flavored with some cinnamon. Babba Ghanooj is a very simple dish to make. Let me know if you would like an expalantion for it. Elie

Fifi- Do u remeber where on Bissonet St. the shop is? They might have those jars with spigots that Abra and Oreganought mentioned. Elie Does your town have a Pier 1 Imports? If so, they carry several different containers with a spigot. You can use any of them, just keep the lid off and cover with cheesecloth. We do have a Pier1. I will check it out. Maybe a sun tea jar would work as well, probably cheaper than the Pier 1 stuff and I'm pretty sure it has a spigot in the bottom. Elie

Fifi- Do u remeber where on Bissonet St. the shop is? They might have those jars with spigots that Abra and Oreganought mentioned. Elie

Today's W&D is fun. A reader describes a Filet Mignon as “apocalyptic”. I’m assuming that’s good, it sure does not make me want to rush and order one though. More discussions about tipping and one reader is now seriously depressed and exclaims “customers have to worry whether the waiter will make enough money from their meal and others so that they can make ends meet. Good grief.” Next waiter to serve her table might get a big fat tip, I guess. A couple of readers are deeply wounded by Alison Cook’s fine –IMHO- review of Mi Cocina. One even claims "Alison Cook is the meanest reviewer ever", and I think she is a little over five years old. For what it’s worth I think Robb Walsh’s review of Mi Cocina is pretty much in sync with Cook’s. Happy reading Elie

Very interesting. Can you elaborate, please? Do you mean this happens when you let it ferment for a long time with the mother in the vinegar/wine? Or does it only happen if you cork it and store it with no mohter in it? Elie

I think it's the white stuff not the dark stuff. The dark stuff are more like wine residue. The white stuff on the other hand started out relly small and now it is a large "swirl". Elie

No lid FoodMan,it's a living organism and needs oxygen to thrive. Keep it in a dark place....in a cupboard or pantry,and it's really not going to smell too bad,you would need to get up close and personal to really smell vinegar....unless it's in a very small space.I keep mine out in the open.It doesn't need to be a mason jar the opening can be smaller at the neck.Have some fun with it I will give it a try. I already called my wife and made sure she did not throw it away. Thanks again Elie

Oreganought- This keeps getting better and better...raspberry vinegar! Just to be clear, is it absolutly necessary to use the cheese cloth to close the jar? A lid would not do? I am mainly worried about the sttrong smell this might cause in my pantry if left with nothing but a piece of cheese cloth on. Elie

Ok, so let me see if I understand this process correctly: 1- using a cheese cloth strain the “mother” out of the vinegar. Reserve the vinegar for regular use. 2- Scrape the “mother” into a large glass mason jar, add red wine (or champagne, or sherry,…) close the mason jar with the ring and a cheese cloth (not with lid??) 3- Put away for 4-6 months and then taste. I should have vinegar. 4- Repeat process to make more vinegar. Does that pretty much sum it up? I am looking forward to trying it out since it is such a rare occasion for this mucousy stuff to appear. I feel very fortunate . Tommy- I’ll send you some of my finest Champagne vinegar once it is ready. Elie

Wow....creepy? Yes. Interesting? Very. I need to call my wife and make sure she did not through that "disgusting stuff" away. Thanks a lot for the help, I will make sure to try and make my own vinegar now that I have a "mother". Elie

The bottle of red wine vinegar (Colavita brand) could not have been more than 6-8 months old, and I know I've kept vinegar longer than that. I was going to use it in some salad dressing and I noticed funky looking white swirls in it as well as thin dark red strands. When I tried pouring some, part of the white swirl came out like as a nasty mucousy substance. What the hell is that? I’ve bought red wine vinegar before and this never happened. Maybe I should try and post a picture since the bottle is still sitting on my kitchen counter. Elie

This is a fantastic book, a joy to read and to look at. Here are some recipes I enjoyed very much: Pork stewed with Prunes and onions Pork loin with dried fruit compote Orange flavored beans with pork Cassoulet Double Cooked chicken Marrakesh style Elie

Self-encapsulation of liquids was something we had talked about at Trio since the beginning of our time here. The concept of it exemplifies the thought processes we have in the kitchen. You will frequently hear me say to a cook asking what to add to a puree to adjust the consistency is. …itself. If you are making celery soup, what should the ingredients be to make that soup taste like the essence of celery? Well, celery ….of course, not water, not cream…celery. The point I am trying to make is if you take a product and wrap it in itself it has nothing to dilute the flavor that you are trying to express. In 2003 a former team member and myself visited the IFT expo in Chicago. (Institute of Food Technologists). The expo is a showcase for food processing companies, similar to the National restaurant show in its respective field. One of the things we stumbled upon was a company that was demonstrating the uses of Alginate. In the food processing industry they use it primarily to adhere spice mixes to frozen chicken breasts to add durability during packaging. We watched the demonstrator pour a clear liquid onto a table. He would then mist it with another solution, and it would congeal before our eyes. The other solution was calcium chloride. At this point we had encapsulated liquid in pasta. (black truffle explosion) At the sight of this new technique we figured we could eliminate the pasta and wrap black truffle juice in itself. We placed an order for the product. One week later the NY Times Magazine piece on Ferran Adria came out. There it was…caviar of apple and the infamous pea ravioli. One step ahead of us for sure…but we were on the right track no doubt. When the product arrived we knew we couldn’t do “caviar” or even super ball sized encapsulations due to Adria’s precedent. So we posed ourselves with a challenge. How do we create an encapsulation the size of a hardball? A self encapsulated soup or sauce depending on the size desired. Two weeks later we figured it out, and the technique has been applied to both sweet and savory applications in the restaurant. Pete Wells does a good job of describing the process in the July issue of Food and Wine…the article on Innovative pastry chefs, check it out. Here is a link to the article Chef Achatz is talking about with the whole Alginate thing. Very good article about avant garde pastry chefs in the country, needless to say Trio's pastry chef is mentioned inthere. There is also a blurb about Alinea and the fact that it will have no pastry station! Pastry Provocateurs Grant- best of luck on your new venture, it will defenitly be on our to-go-to places next time we're in Chicago. What's the physical address? Is it closer to downtown Chicago than Trio? Elie