FoodMan

That has to qualify for the most unique burger ordering criteria I have ever heard! This is not a joke is it? Cold rare = raw?! Elie

fifi- It has lots of fresh tomatoes on it and the patty is stuffed with Feta cheese...just kidding, I've never had it before. Elie

Robb Walsh in this week's cover story goes on a Texas Burger Binge. He is trying to find the ultimate Texas burger, so all the name of research he cases joints all around the state, judges a cook-off, eats 15 burgers in one day (I'm not sure even Kobayashi can do that)!, and does a pilgrimage to try the famous DB Burger. It's amazing how few of his 18 places to try I've evenm heard off. I guess it's time to start binging Elie

huh??!! What do you mean?

Sure there is at least one. The "French Riviera Bakery" on Chimney Rock between Richmond and Westheimer has wonderful French baked goodies such as Brioche, baguettes, boules, a few tarts and of course croissont (sp?). Just stop by for some breakfast and take a deep breath, the place smells divine. They also serve a light lunch (sandwiches, salads,...). It's owned by a chinese baker who learned his craft in Paris. Elie

Oh! and I was thinking that maybe Pete's Fine Meats has another location . Karen welcome to Houston and best wishes for a speedy recovery. It's good to hear that you enjoyed Central Market. Unfortunatly I have a wife-imposed curfew against CM, since I always end up buying more stuff than I should, especially at the cheese section. Other suggestions if you are interested to venture a few miles out of the Medical Center area include an amazing Colombian restaurant called Mi Pueblito on Richmond between Fondren and Gessner right next to Dodo's chicken. If you go, order the best Empanadas in town and a Bandeja Paisa. Himalaya (there's a thread devoted to the place around here) has excellent Pakistani food. For darn good Lebanese try Mary'z on Richmond and Chimney Rock. Keep us updated with your gastronomic excursions in this fair (but hot and humid ) city. Elie

I currently have a small (picnic ham) "prosciutto" hanging in my garage fridge. I made it following basically this recipe. It looks very promising so far and it should be ready to slice into in about 2 weeks. I will post some pictures and maybe an adabted recipe then. I am keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that my two month wait will be worth it. This is my first try doing something like this and if it works out I will shoot for a bigger ham next time around. Elie

We headed over to Da Marco for dinner on Friday night. The place was packed to the brim. So, I was quiet surprised and pleased to be seated only ten minutes after our reservation time. While waiting by the bar, actually the bar was also packed, so we more or less waited by the restroom entrance, we enjoyed a couple of glasses of Proseco and nibbled on some nice fresh flat bread topped with a sharp cheese. I have to get the bad part out of the way first. That was twofold, service and NOISE. Holy crap is that place noisy. I have not encountered such a noisy bunch of people anywhere else, including in any of the Pappas chain restaurants. I literally would’ve used earplugs if I had any, mainly because of the table behind us whose patrons had a little too much wine. The Service was also mediocre at best. Here’s the blue print: - We get seated - Our waiter, without saying a word, drops off some toasted bread topped with chickpea paste. He does not explain what that was or what’s on it. He also gives us menus - He comes back and we order two glasses of wine, again the only words he utters are to confirm what we got. - About 10 – 15 minutes later he stops and asks if we are ready to order. I make it easy and order everything at once. - Plates are dropped on our table, removed, table cleaned. NEVER once we were asked if everything was ok, you know like they do at fine establishments such as “Chili’s”. - When ordering dessert I notice our fabulous waiter reciting some good looking specials written on a board to a table close by. I had no idea they had specials that night. I ask him about it and he says he assumed someone else mentioned them to us since we were ready to order when he got back. Ah-hah , that’s what I get for trying to make it easy on him and not asking to many questions I guess. Stuff like that really piss me off! Don’t assume anything man! - I do not believe in stiffing waiters unless service is downright horrible. So, “Mr. Server of the year” does not get the normal %18-20 I would’ve given to him otherwise. From previous posts on this thread, I am getting the feeling that my experiecne with the service was not the norm. Or maybe no one's ever been on a Friday night . Ok, with that off my chest, the food part here is very good and will warrant more visits. My wife and I agreed that we would not mind one bit coming back for lunch one day and having the simple but awesome Buffalo Mozzarella with Arugula and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. Another Exceptional antipasto we had was the Grilled Octopus with Potatoes and Orange sections. This hands down was the best dish of the night and something worth going to Da Marco for. Come to think of it, it was the best octopus dish I've ever had. We got one pasta dish, the Corn Ravioli with Lobster. Everything I’ve heard about this dish was right. It’s great, sweet corn and perfectly cooked lobster, combine to make a must-have dish. The Entrée I got was not in the same league unfortunately. I ordered the Rabbit A La Cacciatore. It was way below average, the sauce was salty, the rabbit dry, and there were no mushrooms in sight the way I would expect to see in a proper Cacciatore dish. I would never order this again. BTW, even though I left a good piece of rabbit in my plate, our waiter did not even ask if anything was wrong. The Parmiggiano risotto the rabbit came with was perfectly made though and I ate every last bit of it. For dessert we got the Cannoli, with homemade flaky/crispy shells and creamy ricotta laced with citrus filling. They were another perfect hit from the kitchen. Da Marco might have one of the best Italian food in town, but their small venue and the fact that they are packed might make it more worthwhile to give them a try during the down time. Maybe a late lunch or midweek dinner will result in more attentive waitstaff and will be more gentle on the eardrums. The food is simple but very well prepared (if you stay away from the rabbit) and delicious. If you stick with Antipasto and pasta it’s not that bad on the wallet either. However, from a Fine Dining standpoint Da Marco is not in the same league as Mark’s (perfect food and service) or Aries (excellent, modern, imaginative). IMHO, if you want a restaurant with finesse and food for thought, try these two, but if you want a good authentic Italian meal then Da Marco fits the bill. Elie

Maftoul certainly does not seem like the same thing as Israeli couscous. I have never heard of it before but it sounds very interesting. Hopefully, some of our experienced cooks/authors might be able to shed some more light on its origin and uses. Elie

I should probably also add that I am talking about the Arabic version of Ramzi's book. I am not familiar with the French one. Elie

I guess we should clarify who Ramzi is for those who do not know. Has anyone heard of Emeril Lagasse? Probably. Ramzi is sort of Emeril in the Middle East. He IS a chef and isntructor in a Lebanese culinary school, so I have no doubt that he can cook and is an effective teacher. On the other hand, like Almass said, he is a TV chef with a very popular program aired on satellite all over the middle east. I am sure that he has a staff that does most of the research for him but that does not mean that his book is not worth anything. It is actually the most comprehensive book of Lebanese recipes from all over the tiny country. Like I mentioned in another thread, the recipes seem to need a more extensive round of testing, but I use it with a large grain of salt, mainly to look stuff up and get ideas about how a certain dish is made. In the context of this thread, we still do not have a codified cuisine. Ramzi's recipes are a collection from restaurants, families, artisans and bake shops from each region of Lebanon. Probably the biggest proof that there is not "codified" cuisine in Lebanon is the fact that for some recipes (like pumpkin kibbe for example), Ramzi provides several different variations depending where in Lebanon he got it from. Elie

Quiet honestly, I cannot answer that. I have never been to Cafe Lili and here's why. It seems like almost every non-Lebanese person who likes Lebanese food (co-workers, neighbors,...) thinks Lili is a good place to eat. On the other hand a few Lebanese friends of mine and my wife all seem to think that it is not! So, I am a little conflicted and have never tried it for myself even though I truely have been meaning to for quiet a while. I just never gotten around to it. My favorite decent (notice I did not say "great") Lebanese joint, other than my own kitchen , used to be "Fadi's" (on Westheimer and Dunvale not the "other" one). Right now it is Mary'z, where everything I tried tasted fresh and homemade. What do you think about Lili's? About Fadi's if you've ever been? Elie

The review was pretty positive over all, the only negative part is in the very last paragraph. Even that is simply a difference in opinion between the Post's critic and the book's author. From his "bad news" commnet I expected more.

Very interesting article from last week’s Houston Chronicle, Click Here I took several classes at HCC and had no idea the Chef Eddy Van Damme (as far as I know he is not related to Jean Claude) is there. The food in the cafeteria sure did not reflect his presence . The excerpts above certainly caught my attention in the article as well as the recipes included. Has anyone heard of him or his book? Are the concepts mentioned in the article truly new? Or are they pretty common in the industry and the average diner is just learning about them? I figured if anyone will have something to say about Van Damm, the book, the concepts it will be the good ol’ bunch on the Pastry and Baking forum. So let us hear it. link to the book Elie

From last week's Digest: I never stopped by Mary’z before. I have seen it and drove past it, mainly because it occupies the same location that “Sammy’s” had, and I was not fan of “Sammy’s”. Not one bit. Another reason for not stopping by was because it always looked dead, now I know it’s because the parking was moved to the back and that it gets hoping on Sundays. Thank Alison. After reading Cook’s review, I was a little mad because I did not give this place a chance. So, I headed over there for lunch with my wife and I was very pleasantly surprised. We ordered the following: - Lebanese Cabbage rolls (if they can get those right, they will warrant at least another visit. - Babba Ghanouj ( A dip of roasted mashed eggplant with tahini) - Hummus (you know what that is, right?) - A Falafel sandwich (ditto) - Chicken shawarma plate with rice The last four are basics, that you will find at any middle eastern restaurant, but are usually badly or at best mediocrally (is that a word?). The dips usually have way too much tahini, lemon juice (or lemon salt), or salt or all of the above. The falafel sandwich is sometimes served with the pita toasted and crispy and this is a crime. Mary’z on the other hand excels on all counts. The food is amazing, flavorful and homemade. The cabbage rolls taste almost as good as my mom’s and are way better than mine. I agree with Cook, the eggplant dip is so good that we were tempted to order another one. Even my wife who typically is not too crazy about this dip loved Mary’z version. The falafel sandwich was great, so was the juicy and flavorful chicken. Just like Alison pointed out, the place does have a negative side. The restaurant is operated by the mom who also cooks, and her son Jimy (manager/waiter/bartender). I think they have one other waitress around. After the Chronicle’s review the place got pretty busy for lunch and we had to wait a good while for our food. All in all it was a 1.5 hour lunch. The friendly Jimy was concerned about this and when he asked how everything was and I praised the food but mentioned the slow service, he agreed and said they were not expecting such a spike after the review. He also mentioned that almost everything is made to order from scratch and this does take some time. So, a fix for the restaurant’s service problem is in the works and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will not involve a Sysco truck . In the meantime if you have a craving for great homemade Lebanese grub, give Mary’z a chance. It is worth it. Maybe a good idea is to order the food before hand or to pick it up instead of eating there until the slow service situation is taken care of. Elie

You are more than welcome. Did you do a whole fish or fillets? Elie ← It was a whole fish (as a matter of fact, 2). next time filets. too many bone work, my family is spoiled. Tommorow we'll have the ("Clean") leftovers. Boaziko ← The "clean" leftovers are one of the perks. I shred the leftover fish, pick craefully for bones and mix it up with the stuffing and sauce and eat at room temp almost like a dip with pita crips. Elie

You are more than welcome. Did you do a whole fish or fillets? Elie

Just in time for this thread I recieved a package from my family in Lebanon and among the few goodies -in a large cleaned Nido podered milk can- are those: "green" shanklish. Made by my grandmother and are called "green" meaning young, underripe not moldy . These will be stored in a jar until ripened, then washed, dried and rubbed with zaatar. In the meantime they are still great crumbled in salads or -my favorite- scrambled with eggs and eaten with pita. I will try and keep this thread updated with their progress. Elie

Wednesday: - Hunnan-Szechuan Stir fried pork - Homemade pot browned chinese noodles Both recipes are fantastic and taken from Tropp's first book Thursday: Asian again. This time a recipe based on one from Charles Phan in the latest F&W issue. Brasied spicy Eggplant with coconut milk over white rice. Topped my portion with some Sriracha. It was so simple and amazing Dessert could not have been further from Vientam. I had just recievd a package from my family in Lebanon and it included a box of Lebanese pastries (baklava and such), the absolute best in the world IMHO. Here is a small sampler. Elie

Houston Press' Dining Section Past Its Prime Robb Walsh reviews “Taste Of Texas”. Politics and food commingle in this sharp critique of a joint well past its prime. Houston Chronicle's Dining Guide Blending Middle Eastern Tradition with Ingenuity Alison Cook reviews “Mary’z”, a Lebanese family run place that seems worthy of a try or more. This thread is for food media DIGEST entries. If you want to discuss one of these news items, please start a separate discussion thread.

They sure do. They have a whole selection of huge deli sandwiches. I also second the recomendation for Khan's. Elie

Steven- It's interesting to have it spelled out as to what is involved in the wine mark up at certain fine restaurants. I guess it's one of those things that not too many diners think about. So, going back to your first sentence above, is it worth it paying the markup at most restaurants? Do you? Elie

rinse and dry, then roll in zaatar

That is I believe a bitter melon. I've never cooked with them, but I think they need a good soak to remove the bitterness before cooking. They are quiet popular in Indian cuisine. Elie

You are on the right track my friend. any pictures??? Elie