fifi

Since I am a very logical person, this makes no sense to me. But, then, I am not a lawyer. I really don't see the difference. Who srote those stupid laws, anyway? No don't tell me. You know, watching the making of sausages and such. If you offered the dealer some sort of deal... like, "if you drop the price of that cook top then I might be persuaded to order those countertops from you if you meet this price on the countertops" would you be breaking the law or the dealer's agreement?

Pores? Muscle and fat tissue doesn't have "pores". Vacuum processing may drive some seasoning deeper between the fibers but there are no pores. On a big piece of dense meat like brisket, I don't see any difference with dry rubs. I just let it go overnight in a zip lock bag, if I think about it. Different story with liquid marinades and less dense meat.

Uuuumm... My sister has had a country place at Chappel Hills for 25 years or more and we go there on week ends. We love Chappel Hills sausage and buy it all the time. But for getting closer to what we had 30 years ago, J&B seems to be closer. The CH garlic is really good if you put it on the smoker and let it almost go to jerky. We cut it up into chunks for nibbles with cold beer.

That is about right. Besides, rendering the lard is done at much more gentle temperatures so you wouldn't get the popping. Now what I want to know is what the "popcorn" tasted like.

I put my Le Creuset in the dishwasher if I have room. Otherwise, I wash it by hand, no big deal. For dutch ovens, Le Creuset and their ilk have no equal IMHO. But they persist in calling them French ovens.

I apologize. I forgot to answer about the thorns on the tree. On the outer parts of the limbs, where the oranges are, the thorns are small but sharp, less than 1/8 inch. As you go inward toward the woodier parts of the limb, the thorns get a lot larger and more vicious. My sister, who did most of the picking while I was taking the research pictures, is complaining of coming into contact with a nest of crazed civet cats. She was complaining the whole time of the stinging of her wounds while we were processing the things. Oh dear... the torment... the drama... I told her that such a sacrifice for marmalade was worth it. I don't think she bought it. Her reaction was pretty much .

That presumes that it can make the trip without wrecking yet another car. (Sorry... Inside Houston joke. It did smash another car today.)

Robyn... You are absolutely correct. Houstonians tend to put down their fine dining opportunities, and they are many, with award winning chefs, national awards, not the local rag. Cafe Annie and Tony's are right up there. I have avoided Mark's for the noise factor. If you are staying at The Warwick, La Colombe d'Or or Four Seasons you will have a good to great (Four Season's) on the premises. (Too bad Four Season's is downtown. Not the most convenient for your interests.) You will also have a knowledgeable and professional concierge. Go with their recommendations after you discuss what you are after. Just be sure to ask about the noise factor. For some dumb reason, there are some places here with excellent food experiences that chase me away with their noise level. I refuse to scream at my dining companion. The Museum of Natural Science is in the museum neighborhood and often has really great knock-out special exhibits. Just before Christmas I went to see the one on pearls. Spectacular. That one will be gone but you might check out what they have as a special exhibit. They also have the finest mineral collection in the country if not the world and the exhibit's staging is spectacular. I always have to visit it when I am there.

Oh my... Soba just opened up a whole new can of lemons. That really sounds good. I will be looking for some of those recipes.

Well, I am not lucky. The easement is lucky. This is nowhere near where I live. It was spotted while driving by and took a bit of a search to figure out how to actually get to it. I am now christening the tree my Confusing Calamondin. cdh... Those limequats look really cute. I am going to try candying some if I can find them. Any particular tricks to making them come out so pretty? PM me and I will be sure to tell my sister not to cook all of the seeds. BTW... For purposes of this thread, I am going to extend the meaning of "preserving" in the title past the traditonal use of the word in mediterranean cuisine. We can discuss candying, marmalades, whatever preserves citrus. Where did I hear or see something the other day about using dried tangerine skin in an oriental dish. I looked for it at my Hong Kong Market and couldn't find any so I figure I will have to dry my own. Does anyone know about that?

Definitely killer marmalade. We are out of the batch my sister made last year. That was the best I have ever had. When you opened the jar, the aroma hit you in the face.

Welcome to the forum. We hope to hear from you often. I will try to lure you outside of the loop for some good eats in the bay area.

After Mayhaw Man's post, I am leaning toward a Calamondin. These things taste nothing like a kumquat and I have grown those. So what in the hell is it doing here? And, according to what I read about Calamondins, this thing should have frozen years ago, or at least frozen back to the point that it wouldn't be this tree thing. I am guessing at the age but it should be at least old enough to have gone through some prolonged periods in the low 20s F. Adam, thanks for the genus/species information.

Well... fifi is finally in the picture business. This is the mystery "orange" tree. A little closer look. Some of the little buggers with some leaves. Notice the one in the lower right where some of the peel has come off. That is what I mean by it looking tangerine-like. This is what they look like when sliced. These are my current preserving efforts. The lemons have been going for about two weeks and are starting to develop. The key limes have only been about three days. They are starting to turn more of an army green (can't really tell because of the green jar) but they smell wonderful. The little mystery oranges were just started last night.

Woo Hoo! I am in the picture business! This is a bunch of lemon grass growing in my sister's back yard. We are wondering if this is the typical size. There have been some heavy frosts and everything else looks scruffy but this thing keeps soldiering on. The flamingo is there for scale only and should not be construed to be an example of our refined tastes. This isn't exactly gardening but you might want to check out this puzzling citrus tree that is being looked at on the Preserved Lemons thread. Pictures to be posted soon.

Our Central Market is "inside the loop" but I was going to make an excursion there to look for Seville oranges. I was going to do that today but we spent too much time raiding the mystery orange tree. I will look for them. I may also try Fiesta. One thing we did with the mystery oranges last year was make flavored vodka. Limequats might be good that way too.

Brooks, that looks close. We made an excursion today and raided the tree. Good thing. If we had waited any longer, they would have been too ripe. I took some pictures for the purpose of posting them here and maybe finding someone at A&M that might be of help. I would post them now but I am too tired at this point. We had to process a styrofoam cooler full of the little bastards because they wouldn't wait. We put up three pints in juice and salt using the Patricia Wells method. Then deseeded and juiced the rest for marmalade and whatever else we might think of. They are very sour, at least lemon/lime sour and VERY aromatic. They scream ORANGE with an overtone of tangerine maybe. That could be transferrence on my part because the skin structure reminds me of tangerine. The skin is thin with very little pith and loosely attached to the flesh, but not "baggy" like the skin of a tangerine. If you peel one, the little sections remind you of a tangerine. This is a volunteer tree on an easement and it is BIG so it must be freeze resistant. There is nothing in its vicinity that would suggest a local microclimate. Now that I have figured out that I can set my camera to "eGullet size" I will also snap pictures of my lemons and key limes and post those, too. cdh... What the heck is a limequat and where did you find it? I never heard of such a thing. rgruby... With that much acid and salt, botulism is not a problem. There are some methods that cure lemons with a more dry method. I don't know much about that. Maybe Paula Wolfert will stop by and enlighten us.

I am currently in the Clear Lake area south of Houston. The new house will be on the bay in San Leon. We are really zone 9 down here. Actually, IH-10 is pretty close to the line between 8 and 9. On the San Leon peninsula we are probably a 9.5 if there were such a thing. That is because of the surrounding bay water. I have seen huge plumerias and such in some yards. I will be planting the bay tree somewhere under the pecan tree or the oak tree. Wild in the woods, they are most commonly found as an understory tree, but they are sometimes at the edges of clearings so they can take some sun. I am clueless on tomatoes. I will ask my sister. I just got a look at our friend's proposed garden plot for us to play with. Picture an area about 30x40 where she has tossed piles of leaves (she has lots of trees) for the last 6 or 7 years. We kicked back some leaves. OMG! Inches of the most wonderful leaf mold with big old earthworms sticking their heads up to say howdy. It is on the south side of her garage and gets just the right sun. We are drooling. The downside of gardening vicariously at my sister's and my friend's place is I will miss the morning tour of the garden to see what is going on. That was always my favorite time of day. But, I am looking forward to some good veggies.

For those of you wishing for square fruit. BTW... What's up with that? Two posts wishing for corners?

Ah, dear past... The fault lies not with you but with the fowl. I don't consider turkey wings edible. The meat to gunk ratio is just too low. The only reason for the existence of the turkey wing is to make stock. The typical domestic turkey doesn't even use them.

Rio Ranch and Churrascos fit those descriptions. I didn't bring up the steakhouses like Pappas Bros. Restaurants with "attitude" last about 15 minutes in Houston. There is too much competition and Houstonians just flat won't put up with it. Most of the restaurant action is from the Museum area and points west. NOWHERE is a "short" cab ride but still doable. I am not as up on some of the newer restaurants in the close in Westheimer strip and Montrose area. What I listed are those that have a particularly Houston "flavor" run by nationally recognized local restauranteurs. We have many other talented chefs that have a single venue. Your concierge would be a good guide. For the museum district, I recommend The Warwick Hotel.

I will start with the assumption that you would enjoy something that has at least a Texas leaning. That pretty much says beef and seafood. The overlay on that is the Latin component of our city that goes way beyond just Mexican. A couple of ideas: Rio Ranch does a decent job in the beef department. Just avoid the Chicken Fried Steak. They just don't get it. The architecture is also interesting in that it is based on a typical central Texas ranch house and is true to the style. This is a Robert Del Grande restaurant of Cafe Annie fame. There are links to his other restaurants on the left. Churrascos is a popular choice for a South American take on beef. I ate there the other night and the signature dish, churrascos, a style of steak, is unique and delicious. I was also really surprised at the calamari on the appetizer tower. I don't usually care for it that much but this was wonderfully tender and well done. This is a Michael Cordua restaurant and links to the others is on the left. We have a Brennan's here that is always a delight, same family as in New Orleans. My favorite is the jazz brunch on Sunday. In the same neighborhood as Brennan's is Damian's, the flagship of one of several prominent Italian restaurant families here. Too bad the web site is lousy. Houston has a long history of Italian families in some sort of food business. If you want to go to the Bay Area you might find the Kemah Boardwalk amusing. However the restaurants are kind of mediocre. Willy G's isn't awful and The Flying Dutchman used to be the best place for Gulf seafood on the whole Gulf Coast. Then the whole thing came under Fertitta's "evil empire". For really good seafood you have to get a little more funky. Our current favorite is the Topwater Grill in San Leon. They don't have a web site that I can find. It is located at a marina where the owner keeps his shrimp boats. I really haven't skimmed the surface. Houston is a great restaurant town with many cuisines represented. I am sure there will be other recommendations.

Ah... all clear now. I think it was the core talk that sent me astray. What I have been doing is removing the florets and then slicing them so the core has not been an issue. Heh heh! And here I was thinking a whole roasted cauliflower on a platter with an apple in its mouth.

Oh my... But I do have a couple of questions. When I do the roasted cauliflower, I slice it up and toss with olive oil before roasting on a half sheet. Your method seems to roast it whole. How do you do that? Do you oil it? Do you still roast at 400 degrees F? Now that I am hopelessly addicted to the roasted slices, it occurs to me that a roasted whole one would make a nice presentation that you could carve at table. That would be some fun. But, good grief, that soup sounds good.

On the When life hands you lemons... thread and the Seville Oranges thread, the topic of preserved citrus came up. I typically keep a glass lidded jar of preserved lemons in my fridge. I have a new batch started just now. I use the salt and lemon juice method from Patricia Wells' At Home in Provence. I want to explore other methods and the results as well as some of your uses of preserved lemons. Then I want to step outside of the box and see what other citrus would lend itself to preserving. And an even better question might be, what would you do with THAT? Yesterday, my local grocery had bags of Key Limes on sale. These are actually the little suckers that come from Mexico and are called limons there. I scrubbed them up, cut them into eighths just like the lemon recipe I use, juiced the rest of them, and put them down with salt in a glass lidded jar. If they behave like the lemons, it will probably take about a month for them to "finish", or it may take less time since the slices are so much smaller. If I find some Seville oranges I may try them, too. Then there is the "orange tree" on the power line easement that my sister found a couple of years ago. Actually, these things look like an orange key lime. I have seen something like them once on an Emeril special in Hawaii and they called them "Hawaiian limes". I have no idea if they are the same thing. They just looked alike. They are very tart, seedy and have a strong orangy flavor. They made dynamite marmalade. We have no idea what they actually are and even less of a clue as to what that tree is doing growing in that easement. We may go check it out tomorrow. If we do I will get some pictures and finally figure out how to post those here. Let us proceed...