fifi

So... You obviously should give in to your craving in honor of your grandfather.

OK... that one made me spit. How about: "Knife Nut Duels" "The SSB Hour" (Brought to you by NoDoz.) "In search of..." (First episode: "The Perfect Pot") "The Cauliflower Power Hour" this is fun

Froglegs, huh? That is pretty strange. I think this might belong here... When I was in high school I was a latchkey kid. Mom would leave some money for me in case I had to go to the grocery. It was my job to start dinner. Nothing in the fridge or freezer appealed to me so I went to the store. There in the meat case was rabbit. Now THAT was unusual. I decided that we HAD TO HAVE rabbit. I had not had it in years. I had browned it off and it was on its way to an elegant braise. Dad comes in the door... "Hey kid, have you started dinner yet? I have this strange craving for rabbit." "Uh... It is in the pot." We were known to be somewhat spookily psychic.

I only have room for two half sheets so I have pretty much decided that this treat will be relegated to garnish on a salad or pasta dish. All of my friends and family love good goodies too much to even attempt to make enough for them any other way. Fights and mayhem would ensue.

The Houston Chronicle - Dining Guide Cafe Annie loses Berryhill Robert del Grande is losing his main man to South Carolina. Our loss, their gain. The buzz about town is where the famous Cafe Annie will end up since the shopping center has been sold and a high rise is destined for the property. Yia Yia: Greek that's sure to be a classic Alison Cook looks in on a new Pappas venture. The Pappas family doing Greek? What a concept! And, what a venue.

I think that what the restaurant needs to be cognizant of is that the reviewer is just one opinion. The regular customer is probably more imortant. They will tell their friends, who will tell their friends, and so on. And there are so many more regular customers than reviewers. Especially here in Houston, as far as I can tell, we consider a reviewer's opinion as just that. A data point and a guide. Granted, Robb is a very good guide. (Dona Tere tamales are awesome.)

I agree with what you have posted. However, I will offer that all of what you have said may be true in New York. But, in the smaller markets (and I will include Houston as a "smaller" market) I doubt that ANY reviewer has a snowball's chance in hell of remaining anonymous, openly, no red herrings. Therefore, I rely on the reviewer's smarts to know when he is being "set up". I don't think, after many years of reading Robb's work, that anyone can scam him. I would say the same of Alison Cook in The Houston Chronicle. These are writers that have developed a reputation in an environment where I do NOT assume anonymity. We don't have that luxury. Houston is a collection of small towns. Then I get back to the fact that I use the reviews as a data point only and go form my own opinion.

So... Are we getting a concensus from the deans of all things culinary that anonymity is all nonsense and Robb can keep his hat and sunglasses?

With my first one, I never had morning sickness. My doctor found this odd and asked about my diet. It turns out that we had a lot of pecans in the lab for testing and we were always munching on pecans. He attributed my great good fortune to the fact that I was getting a lot more than normal of vitamin B6. I have no idea if that is bull**** or not. What I did crave was anisette and almond snowballs. (We lived in New Orleans at the time. Snowballs are the same thing as Hawaiian Shave Ice.) Since my daughter was born in June, I was in agony until the snowball stands opened. (They close for the winter.) The other thing was watermelon. We bought some pretty expensive watermelon, shipped in from where I haven't a clue. Then, oddly, later in the pregnancy I could not stand to be around raw meat. For some reason, veal was especially repugnant. Hubby was so proud of himself that someone had these big veal shoulders on sale and he brought this huge thing home to slice up into veal cutlets and stew meat for the freezer. After I barfed, I left the house for a friend's place until he called me with the all-clear. Otherwise, all through that pregnancy I don't remember ever feeling so good or full of energy. For my second one, I don't remember any particular cravings or aversions. I was too busy with blocked kidneys, pneumonia, infected sinuses, even an ingrown toenail. And this from someone who is never sick. The boy was a whole new ball game.

redfox, if I haven't properly welcomed you, let me do that now. Do you have a BIG rice cooker? That scant quart of confit came from a largish (5 quart) stock pot that was full. I don't think you have to have a crock pot. A heavy pot, like a LC, in a 200F oven should work just fine. Mine took a long time because I figured out that a heating element went out in my old crockpot so it was running on low the whole time. I think these things work on the principle of one element for low and two for high. At any rate, I couldn't see any temperature difference whatever the setting. I got another crock pot but that is another story. Anyway, this stuff is so good that I don't expect that quart to be around long. Go for it. You won't be sorry. Oh... And be sure to report back. There are all kinds of variations you can add. Give us the details. After all, woodburner put ham in his. WOW!

When I didn't have the RoTel tomatoes on hand I have used a can of diced tomatoes and a small can of green chiles. Can you get green chiles where you are? Or you can substitute whatever kind of chiles that you might like. Just be aware that green chiles are mildly hot, not scorching.

I have many favorites, most of which involve lemon and garlic. However, my Coconut Glazed Chicken is by far the most often requested. Funny that this isn't a "crispy skin" recipe and all of my crispy-skin-nut friends still request this one. Go figure. edit: to fix Recipe link

Sophie says... NO! Since stuffing the ballot box with the dearly departed seems to be accepted... The incomparable Sophie the basset wouldn't touch okra. It was one of the few vegetables that she would absolutely reject. A little bowl of my mother's gumbo would be licked clean with the okra slices (also licked clean) left in the bottom of the bowl.

The Houston Press - Dining Cupid Plays the Odds Although our own Robb Walsh is deeply involved in his own Q&A he has found time to scout out promising places for that perfect Valentine interlude. It is probably a good thing, too... given his choice of the horse track last year. Psst... Robb... I don't think the right ponies would have helped.

My mother used to do this in the corn stick pans. She always told me to add "an extra splash" of buttermilk and turn the oven down "a bit". Sorry about the specificity here but that is the kind of cook she was. I have never tried it because I never got any of those pans, considering them a PITA. Besides, my skillet corn bread recipe (well, my great grandmother's actually) is too perfect to mess with. I think the point was that given the smaller size and larger surface to volume ratio means that extra liquid and a lower temperature are called for. I bought one of those fish pans at an old hardware store somewhere in central Texas because I thought it was "cute". I later realized that baking five little fish at a time was totally stupid. I should have gotten two pans if I were serious about using it. It will probably end up as a decorative piece hanging on the wall.

Don't worry about it. That 5% that thawed is still very cold, probably colder than refrigerator temperature. And, you probably have it out of the freezer such a short time that it should be no concern at all.

Not my problem but my sister just put up 8 batches of "mystery orange" (probably calamondins) marmalade. Seven of them jelled nicely. One didn't. Jellies and preserves can be perverse. When making these things, it is wise to have a ready made supply of decorative labels for "Pancake Syrup". Preprinted, they give the impression that you intended to make syrup.

Mabelline beat me to the senate bean soup for DC. That is the ONLY thing I associate with DC. Houston - Um... Er... Let me see now... Um... I'll get back to you.

AH HA! Remember folks. You heard about it here. (Or maybe I am the only one who did because I have been spending too much time under my rock again.) I am looking forward to that one, Robb. Especially the wild speculation. You may have a cat in a bag now but you might end up with "civet cats in a footlocker" after it comes out. (Thank you, P. J. O'Rourke.)

Just curious... What do you think of Rio Ranch? At least it is a rif on the only indigenous Texas architecture that I can think of. Check out the Circle View to see the interior. Their menu tries pretty hard to be Texan. Just don't order the Chicken Fried Steak!

After thinking about the regionality of styles of gumbo, I started wondering if the same thing occurs with chili in Texas. I found this information on the famous Chili Queens of San Antonio and find that the tradition of chili goes back farther than many people think. The real shocker here? BEANS? I am going to assume that the beans were served alongside. Then it looks like it made its way to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. I wonder if it then made its way to Cincinnati where an aberation was born. Then other parts of the country got into it and now, every sort of nonsense is being called chili. (Vegetarian chili? GET A ROPE!) So there is all of that variation. But what I am wondering now is if there are regional differences within Texas and what the origins might be. Any wisdom, Oh Guru of Chili? edit to add: Look what popped up in the New York Forum! "A Taste of Texas on the Sidewalks of New York"

It was read and reported a few days ago that the ever-struggling Fashion Square Center (Is that what it is called now?) has been sold and high rises are coming. Maybe now Cafe Annie can get a venue worthy of its reputation. I always felt like it was just a step up from a joint in a strip center. Same with Tony's. But then I wasn't very impressed with Tony's on any count.

Sorry to be late to the party. NO!

Braise FIRST, Grill SECOND... Never done that one. I am wondering how it will really work, especially on pork butt. When I am done raising a pork butt, it is coming apart. Would you just try to keep it in fairly big chunks and hope for the best on the grill? Carnitas are kinda sorta like that, but with the pot for frying or broiling instead of a grill. But that is the only relatively common dish I can think of that uses this kind of technique. I don't put preboiling ribs in this category because you don't usually actually braise them. I am defining braise to mean that you take the meat all the way to conversion of the collagen. But that is just my definition. Do try it and tell, Varmint.

I want to bump this thread up. It is one of the classics here and we have a lot of new members that may have something to add to this important topic.