veil

I'd like any recent suggestions from Dallas as far north as Plano (have a friend in McKinney, but there may not be any decent food there!)--will be there the first 2 weeks in June.

Any new info on this topic? I'll be in Dallas for the first 2 weeks in June. Will be working, so can't take any day trips to Austin, etc. Will eat anything (huitlacoche, tripe, etc.). Prefer holes-in-the-wall! Thanks in advance.

I'll be relocating to Dallas within the year, and want to learn something re the local food/ingredients/farmers' markets. I've looked through this thread--are Robb Walsh's "Tex Mex" and Bill and Cheryl Jamison's "Border Cookbook" still the best and most representative available? I'm fond of the "chattiness" of good regional cookbooks, and have cooked a lot from Jasper White's "Summer Shack Cookbook" and Kathy Gunst's "Notes from a Maine Kitchen". Any other suggestions for something similar for Dallas/Texas in general? Thanks, Veil

Thanks, but I don't have a Gourmet Whip (and don't want to spend the $ to get one). I'd be happy with a mechanical plunger type of thing, but so far haven't been able to find one with a big enough diameter (except for the "Amazing Ronco Solid Food Injector").

Any current thinking on this?--I'm looking for an injector for, say, putting a duxelles filling inside chicken breasts. So, a greater diameter than just the needle that a marinade injector has, but with a long tube to get deep into the pocket. Thanks.

Harbor Fish was great--though I got there mid-afternoon, so too late to get fish heads, and had to settle for 3 pounds of lobster bodies. Still, the resulting stock was wonderful--fragrant and rich and heady.

Took your advice, and had exactly that. Except that the doggies couldn't join me, because the 2 patio tables were occupied, it was perfection! And Micucci's was great, too--got a loaf of focaccia, a bag of their 3-cheese ravioli, and a half-pound of dried wild mushrooms at a good price. And had the Allagash White--extraordinary.

What Bruni misses is that Deen doesn't season well, or interestingly, or even appropriately to appeal to an investigative palate. And she doesn't spend enough time/effort creating contrasting textures. Hell, I love salt pork as much as the next girl, but something creative needs to be done with heavy food, or it's just--heavy and uninspired.... It's not a difference in class; it's a difference in a thoughtful approach to food and making it great.

A fellow suckster? Yup!--there are things Aunt Sandy does so very well, and bringing to light her terrorizing of other food stars is one of them....

Bourdain is freakin' hilarious, and pretty darned smart. His palate is much more adventurous than mine (my most ambitious food experiences have been crunching tasty bugs--but at a bug museum--in Costa Rica, and spending an entire day in San Jose del Cabo seeking out huitlacoche (dragging a somewhat willing Merchant Marine family member from one hole-in-the-wall to the next, and convincing him eat tripe tacos for lunch), finally stumbling on the only restaurant that would promise it for that evening, dragging my entire adult family there for dinner, then spending most of the wee hours of the morning in the john--but it was worth it!), and I enjoy the televised results of his mania. Would never make a recipe from Paula, Rachel, Sandy, or Guy (though I admit I WILL watch marathons of Diners Drive-Ins and Dives while I'm cooking/cleaning the kitchen, just because I love made-from-scratch diner food and I honestly think I learn something just by hearing the rapid-fire list of ingredients the chefs recite. (E.g., there was a Polish restaurant featured earlier this month whose stuff I'm totally stealing.) The most appropriate appreciation of "Aunt Sandy" would have to be the survivorsucks.com forum for her show (which is called "Putting the 'Ho' in 'Semi-Homemade'": My link Today's postings celebrated her latest invective-filled You Tube outtake clip (the part where she grabs her own boobs and proclaims them "semi-homemade" is particularly noteworthy): My link

Would Harbor Fish be the best place in Portland to buy fish heads/skeletons? I'll be passing through Portland on Wednesday on my way to a month in Bangor, in which city--for numerous reasons I don't pretend to understand fully, but which have all been painstakingly and repeatedly explained to me by the apparently crazy (yet entertaining) seafood guy who sells out of a van on Broadway near Hannaford and Governor's Restaurant--one reportedly cannot buy whole fish, fish heads, fish skeletons, etc., in Bangor, due to some bizarre combination of overweening government regulation and cut-throat commercial competitiveness, allegedly involving organized crime syndicates. (I can special-order whole fish of a certain few types from Hannaford's, but I suspect they're frozen.) Over the past year during which I've spent much time in Bangor (for romantic reasons, not food reasons), this fish-part unavailability has been a big shock to me, since I've lived for years in Manhattan and Dutchess County, NY (near the CIA), and have always been able to get great fish parts for stock. Hell, even in Western Mass. when I'm visiting my elderly father, I can get decent fish parts from Whole Foods in Hadley (lots of farmers and hippies there, plus a big yuppie/academic community because of the five-college area). The absolute LAST thing I expected was to have trouble sourcing fresh fish bits in Bangor. My Bangor romantic interest is a native Down Easter (family goes back 300+ years), and is also the freakin' grouchiest Maine bush pilot God ever created. But, he loves my fish chowder, and will often fly to Rockland to get me good ingredients. On this Wednesday's drive from Dad's (in Western Mass.) to Bangor, however, I'm on my own. So, I'm kind of desperate here for a decent source! Thanks in advance, Veil

Thanks!--just the kind of thing I was looking for. I looked at their menu online, and I'm already hungry....

I will be driving up to Bangor on Wednesday, and will have driven 3.5 hours by the time I get to Portland, so I'll be hungry! What's a lunch place that is open on Wednesday, that will tolerate shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops (not to mention the cranky woman who will be wearing them), that is a "not-to-be-missed"? It will have to be quick (takeout is even OK), as I'll have 2 dogs in the car (so safe parking for them is also a consideration). Any kind of cuisine is OK (but a dodgy part of town is not). I'm spoiled by having lived in the Rhinebeck/Hyde Park area for years, with the gazillion foodplaces started by CIA grads. Also, any recommendations for Bangor-and-environs food places will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Anyone watching Cycle 7 (which started last night)? As usual, the cheftestants are about half and half--executive chefs, sous, and line cooks, with one CIA grad/butcher, and, on the other side, several "Personal Chefs" and "Private Chefs". (What's the difference?)