FoodMan

I did make it to the market this past Saturday, unfortunately I got there around 10:30 and everything was pretty much gone. I bought some great looking Texas pecans from one stand and I got some Meyer lemons from Monica Pope’s stand. According to Pope and Andrea Lazar they are still having problems with the state Health Department and when I mentioned if they can get any help from the State’s Agricultural Dept. she just shrugged and shook her head. Hopefully we will see them back there in March. Elie

Saturday night dinner: Cassoulet in Houston Elie

Prompted by this thread and by Fifi's suggestions to have a Cassoulet in Houston thread, I tried to do just that. I've never tried making this dish before but it sure had all my favorite ingredients. Firts thing I bought were two ducks and three duck legs from and Asian grocery store called Well Farm market on the corner of highway 6 and Dulles. I removed the duck breats in one piece, cut the leg/thigh portions for confit, rendered skin and fat and made duck Demi-glace with the cracasses. To make the dish I used -more or less- Paula Wolfert's recipe from The Slow Mediteranean Kitchen. All pork products , fresh ham hocks, salt pork, rinds, pork butt were from Fiesta. In hindsight I should've bought those also from the Asian place or from Hong Kong market but I was tigh on time and Fiesta was the closest. The beans were regular Great Northern beans from Whole foods. I also bought fresh pork garlic sausage from there (Pete's Fine Meats were out of them). Here are the cooked seperate ingredients for the dish right before assembly. On the left side from front to back I have the cooking liquid, duck confit and beans. On the left side the cooking pot with pork rind skin on the bottom of it, the cooked various meats, and the sausage all the way in the back. The dish was fantastic, I invited my in-laws over and everyone loved it. The one thing I might change next time is use a little less liquid in the final cooking and maybe use coarser bread crumbs. All in all a fun project and great meal, lucky for us the wether was nice and chilly here in Houston. Elie

It really is disappointing and shocked reading about what the City’s Health Department position is. They actually have a fresh cheese guy and a fresh farm egg guy at the market and the HD is giving them shit about it. That is just wrong. I am definitely going to try and pay the market a visit before the January/February hiatus—and will look to buy some of that fresh cheese and eggs. Elie

Today’s Chronicle has a full length article by Alison Cook about this. I really cannot wait to check this place out. Click here for article Elie

Taste very good with pasta Elie

I always use Mario Batali’s recipe: Carrots, celery, onion, beef, veal, pancetta, white wine, milk, a little tomato paste, in this order (I think). The result is a nice thick pink meat sauce, not tomato-y at all. Elie

Lupe Tortilla in Houston gets my thumbs WAY down for noise level (and long wait time, and mediocre or even rude service). Sure the fajitas are very good, but not good enough for me to tolerate all the above mentioned pitfalls. Still one would be lucky to be seated in less than 40 minutes-- it's usually packed . Elie

In preparation to make a Cassoulet sometime soon, I had made duck stock (which jelled up nicely), and duck confit. So for the past two days we had duck for dinner. Wednesday: Duck breast, pan seared till the skin is nice an crispy. Served with roasted root vegetables (sweet potatoes, parsnips, Yukon gold potatoes, and carrots) tossed with honey, balsamic and marjoram. Topped the duck with a sauce made with duck stock, Grand Marnier, orange zest and raisins. Dessert: individual Genoise cake with buttercream frosting. Thursday: Duck leg confit, crisped up in the oven. Served with potatoes roasted in duck fat with chopped garlic and a salad of celery hearts and romaine tossed with EVOO and chopped preserved lemon. Elie

mmmmmmmmmmm.....walrus chops (a la Homer Simpson's mmmmmmmmmm...pork chops). I'll ask if they have it Elie

Stopped by Pete's for lunch today, that place is great and thanks to all Houston's e-gulleteers for suggesting it. the place really felt like a neiborhood joint and it was pretty busy. I had a steak Hoagie and a bowl of chilli. Very good. They have literally everything you might want. If it is not in the store they will order it for you. anything from Alligator, to lion, to turtle. I asked about a standing rib roast for Xmas, they sell prime dry aged beef. I also inquired about lamb leg and fresh pork leg. It is of course recommended to order a week in advance to reserve your meat. Elie

Central Market does it for 50 cents per inch Elie

Very weird, I did not get it much either. BTW refering to him as Dr. is a little creepy in a Hannibal Lecteresque kinda way. Elie

I do not mean to stray from the topic at hand, but how do you dry age beef at home? I thought you need to buy a very large section in order to dry age it. Elie

there used to be a pretty decent butcher shop on Murphy road and Lexington. The funny thing is I was looking forward to patronizing his shop when I moved to that area of town and sure enough he closed his place down a few weeks afterwards saying that the place was sold to dentist!! Now there is a dentist's office over there. Actually it is not that funny. I was under the impression that Pete's was a Deli (not sure why), it's good to know that it is a butcher shop since I am also thinking about doing a standing rib roats for Xmas, depending on how many people are coming. Slkinsey, let us know what you find out if you go there before I do. Elie

While reading this piece, I could not help but keep on smiling because the first thing that came to my mind was Seinfeld’s George Costanza eating Pastrami while having sex . He later on proclaimed it as the most sensual of the cured meats. I wonder what he thinks of Grvad Lax. Elie

Silly me, I thought it was in Houston. Maybe I'll check it out when I do head up there. Elie

motochef, where is Sparks located??

sighs of exasperation from the waitstaff as soon as you walk in then they ask you u if you NEED a menu...maybe they thought we will all order the Chef's special Elie

What a fantastic post!!!! The best ever. Thank you so much. I loved the Chefs-at-work pictures as well. I cannot waite to dine there. Elie

Paula Wolfert was kind enough to take a picture of the clay pots she recently received from a friend of hers in Lebanon. With her permission I am posting the picture and the comments that her friend emailed to her about them. " first left upper row: "jorn toum", a mortar for garlic, from the beautiful mountain village of beit chabeb. Lots of stone houses and red roof tiles, and a special terra cotta factory/ The food is still cooked in the pots made in the region in an old wooden oven/ They also make jars for stocking olive oil and arak, and some clay dishes are used for serving bean salad or even larger ones to prepare kechek (by the way I was there 2 days ago to buy an olive oil jar for my mother because she just broke the old family one ... and we still do provision of olive oil for a year or two, that we stock in her cave in terra cotta jars) - middle rows: up and down and left down: 3 pieces from Assia, a mountain village in Batroun area, known for its old white mulberry trees, which were used to feed silk worms for silk production and latter in summer to feed the sheep. women used to fatten them up just like the French do for foie gras. These examples of pottery are special because not only are they hand made, but made without a wheel. There is no glazing and they are very fragile; so the first time you must wipe them well, then sweep them with a little vegetable oil, and put them in an oven (not so hot ... temperature # 1 or better heat it then cut the fire and put them) for more than an hour. The round one is used for stew cooking on fire and the oval one for oven cooking. On the right: up and down: both are from "jisr el qadi" (meaning the bridge of the judge, or the one who passed) a village under old pine trees in the green Chouf region. This is one of the last pottery workshops still working well. Both are glazed. Up is an "eedreh" or kedreh, a bowl used to prepare yogurt, from hot milk and ferment. It exists in different sizes, traditionally bigger than what you have, as a family size. Down on the right is a "meqleh", a frying pan used to fry only eggs; I think you know how to prepare them for cooking as you already tried that one out. For serving meghli I think the best is to serve it in a round or oval assia pot. Traditionally meghli was served in individual servings, in poor houses in tea cups, and richer in small glass bowls. but when taken as a gift for neighbor and friends, it was poured in big plates like these.” Thanks For sharing Paula, Elie

I think jscarbor means the restaurant "Churrascos", the south American place owned by the same folks as "Americas". From your comments I think you understood the Churrascarias(sp?) such as "Fogo De Chao" or "Rodizio", the Brazilian grills. Am I correct? As for my choice for a Houston Steak house I would have to say "Houston's", for consistent great food and service for a reasonable price. I usually always order their off the menu porterhouse or ribeye. My wife loves the ribs there. Elie I had a complete brain fart. You are completely correct. I was describing Fogo. I haven't been to a Churrascos in several years. In fact, the Clear Lake location has been closed for some time now, and it has been at least eight years since I have been to one of the locations in town. Are they still open?

While I would not consider Churrascos a stakhouse, I definately would consider it to be a great meat house (though sometimes it is difficult to convey to the Gaucho that you want rare meat)! Lots of fire roasted meat (lamb, beef, pork, chicken, sausage)...if you go away hungry, you either don't eat meat or are an idiot! Even a non-meat eater could fill-up at the salad bar which is the size of a football field (though this would be an expensive salad). I had dinner at Chrrascos two weeks ago. Service and food were both good. However, the wine list and the bar selections are lacking. Only one liter of potato vodka (Monopolowa), and I was told when that bottle was empty, it would not be replaced. The bourbon selection was weak as well. Wines were average and expensive. I think jscarbor means the restaurant "Churrascos", the south American place owned by the same folks as "Americas". From your comments I think you understood the Churrascarias(sp?) such as "Fogo De Chao" or "Rodizio", the Brazilian grills. Am I correct? As for my choice for a Houston Steak house I would have to say "Houston's", for consistent great food and service for a reasonable price. I usually always order their off the menu porterhouse or ribeye. My wife loves the ribs there. Elie

This is a staple in mom's kitchen in Beirut, however it is only prepared the way Roden describes and that's how I do it. I do however make it a little less "soupy" and more like a very loose paste. I have a package in the freezer that you make me want to cook up now!!! Elie

The Saveur cover and recipe look very good. Also check the current issue of Bon Appetit is has a funny article by David Leite accompanied by a very tasty sounding recipe for roast goose. I might try that myself this year. Elie