fifi

Emphasis mine. I think that Jaymes has eloquently expressed where we are on this subject. Now all I have to do is to convey that idea to my sister and friends that don't have a clue.

OMG that sounds good. I will be off in the search of shrimp this weekend. What I am seeing in your recipe is that the ratio of roux to the rest of the dish is less than, for instance, a gumbo. That is what I am remembering. Thank you for your guidance.

OK... this is upscale, but, at Brennan's, I can't sit down to dinner, lunch, or Sunday Jazz Brunch for that matter, without the Turtle Soup.

This sounds like an excellent opportunity for questions about migas in the Q&A with Robb Walsh starting July 19. In his book, TexMex Cookbook, Robb mentions migas and offers a couple of recipes. But I will bet that he has more to offer. (After all, editors have to stop somewhere or all books would weigh 50 pounds. )

I have to admit that I haven't done a lot of shrimp creole in the last few years. We should explore that more. I am not remembering a roux but that is quite possibly a failure of memory. Any suggestions/recipes out there?

I have to agree with you that the dark in the jar is ok, but not the same. How light is the light one? I haven't seen it in the groceries here in Houston but we do have a Cajun Market locally and I might be tempted to look for it. When you say light, do you mean peanut butter color?

I really like what you did with that shot. But I am not sure I agree with you about getting rid of the reflections. I kind of like them. The light is obviously directional as indicated by the shadow from the cup. I think the reflections are true to the subject and help define the texture. To me, the directional light with the refections and shadows says "good morning".

Hi folks... I have changed the title of this thread to focus in on what is developing into a really interesting aspect of this thread. We need to keep reports on individual restaurants in separate threads to assist all of us when we do searches and to keep our discussions of those restaurants more focused. This is an overt, shameless appeal to please start a new thread on a particular restaurant that you go to for your "Must-Eats" so that we can discuss in more depth now and over time. And please continue to post your local culinary obsessions here. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Hmmm... I am trying to think what the alcohol in the mix would do to the cell structure of the onions. I am not getting anywhere with that and haven't found anything comparable, as in brine plus alcohol, in the meager resources that I have. I asked my sister (she is the pickle maker) and she doesn't have a clue, either. I would be curious to find out how it works if you try it. BTW... I have never tried to pickle cocktail onions... too much of a PITA to clean.

Reality check? Remember, they got clocked by the feds for claiming that their fried chicken was a "healthy addition to a balanced diet" or some such words. That is why I have a sneaky suspicion that they are after coming up with some sides they can make some real claims on and do a publicity blitz in the process. Are they doing this because they think it will be fun? NAAAAHH! But then, I am a cynic. $5000 seems pretty paltry, though.

FoodMan, I seem to remember that that is the one col klink has been using. I had a New Braunfels that is very similar and was quite happy with it. Check out Academy in Houston. They used to have the best prices and I think they carry it. They also carry a pretty good selection of spare parts for Weber and such.

Yet another starch added to their already unappetizing potatoes 'n' gravy, baked beans, corn, and biscuit? Actually, I think you ought to enter it, irrespective of the other stuff they offer .... headlines? Fifi Foodfinds: cornbread dressing to die for! Well... My version (actually my mother's that I finally wrote down) does have a lot of veggies in it.

Yes. If you are part of the group it is just plain rude. If you are not part of the group, it is probably curiosity. In a restaurant, either of the two above is a distraction from what should be a communal experience of the group at the table, or at least the right in a public place to not be annoyed by the boob at the next table.

Hmmm... These are some criteria to keep in mind. Especially the publishing part. Anyone who is going to enter should probably be careful about any "publication" here, maybe even partial publication. Originality is fine but I think you have to keep in mind what would "translate" to a fast food operation. Fit with the menu is a no-brainer. Presentation and appearance is somewhat baffling. What difference does that make since the final product will be plopped into a styrofoam cup? Maybe it is just a way to aid the judging. But I can see things like adding a little chopped red pepper to make it look better in that cup. Corn bread dressing.

I am thinking that with all the bad press on fast food, they are going to need to have some offerings to assuage the soccer moms' guilt. What about southern style green beans? (Didn't they used to have those?) Those could be made ahead in a commissary and should freeze quite well. You would probably have to leave the pork products out but I have successfully substituted concentrated chicken stock before when a no-pork guest was at hand. Wasn't too bad. Sweet potatoes are a good idea. Add some cinnamon and nutmeg and you probably have a winner. They can be had in huge quantities in dehydrated form. How about individual fruit cobblers, heavy on the fruit, light on the sugar? That is another one that can be pre-made and shipped in frozen. Or you could do a baked apple thing without the crust. Then there are the typical southern casserole dishes that would lend themselves to pre-packaging: brocolli with rice and maybe cheese, squash with cracker crumbs, corn puddings.

OK... I will fess up. I am in this resaurant at lunch in downtown Houston. This is during the Enron dust-up. This self-important asshole at the next table is yammering about this "deal" he is making, going on and on about how he has really pulled one on the other party. I pick up my (turned off) cell phone and start saying things like... "Hey guy. You won't believe what I am hearing. This idiot is on his cell phone talking about a deal that sounds kind of shady. Yeah! Right here in xxx (the restaurant)! Yeah! Unbelievable! Who knows what it is about? Let me see... He is in his late 20s to early 30s, gray suit, blue shirt with white collar, reddish tie..." Offending diner snaps phone shut and exits, stage left.

My current culinary ruts: Droubi Bros for just about anything Lebanese/Middle Eastern (various locations) - I get their sampler plate for lunch. Outriggers (Seabrook) - coconut shrimp Topwater Grill (San Leon) - those big shrimp with jalapeno and cheese wrapped in bacon, black beans to die for Dona Tere for tamales - I wrote about this place here. I will probably think of more.

Not at all. Actually, it can be quite good. I keep a jar of dark roux in the fridge for when I want to add some of that flavor to a soup or stew but I am not up to making it. What I haven't found are jars of medium or light roux. Does Savoie make that? However, for a big pot of dark gumbo, I am not sure you would get the same thing. As some of us have indicated, we stop the roux cooking by dumping in the trinity. I continue to delude myself that the veggies hitting the heat like that makes a flavor difference. I worry that I wouldn't be able to get the pre-made roux hot enough without burning it.

I spend time in The Hague and there are several TexMex places that usually call themselves Mexican, especially in the seaside resort area of Scheveningen. When you look at the menu and taste it it is TexMex. (Well... A mild form of TexMex.)

Cell phones in a restaurant are just plain rude. If you really have to be available for a really important call, there is a little setting called vibrate. Then you can excuse yourself. Otherwise, there is the off button. Holly was just experiencing yet another example of the current generation of navel gazing, self absorbed, human larvae that were raised by mommy to think that they are the center of the universe and there is nothing more important than what they want to do right now because they are the center of the universe and they know this is true because their mommy told them so. *whew*

Thanks, Owen. That Pixresizer is "da bomb".

I have actually done the gratin without the sausage, using a generous slosh of good olive oil to provide the "grease factor". One thing I like about the gratin method of cooking is that the veggies get a generous dose of caramelized goodness.

The connection with The Canary Islands had me slapping my forehead. It was one of those Why-Didn't-I-Know-That? moments.

I just checked Amazon and that Vincent Price book is up to $150 in "fine" condition. I bought that book for my parents when it first came out. I am sure that it is not in fine condition, though, because they actually cooked from it.

Judith, your veggie smush sandwich idea sounds a lot like what I have done with the eggplant gratin recipe I linked to above. A couple of weeks ago I did the gratin just for doing that. However, I was in search of a New Orleans style po' boy bread for the sandwiches. Not easy. I have added a brush of really good olive oil to the bread before stuffing the sandwich. I may have to go buy a cinnamon basil plant to try it in that eggplant, tomato, onion mix. A friend brought me some yellow squash and I made a pan of my "Scorched Squash" recipe. this originated many years ago and was actually a mistake at first. Then I started doing it deliberately. Put 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter into a frying pan that has a lid. Saute finely diced onion, shallots, or (for a really interesting nutty flavor) dehydrated onion flakes until golden brown. Add fairly thin slices of squash, generous salt and pepper and stir around to coat the squash with the butter. Put the lid on so that it starts to cook down. Remove the lid and continue to cook until all of the liquid boils off and the squash "scorches" slightly. You need to tir frequently to get a good distribution of scorching. I could eat buckets of this.