fifi

Well, Andrew, there is more "wild land" in Houston, and close in to town, than you might think. I am told that is a result of large tracts of land tied up in big estates. Other than some pockets of high rise and more or less dense population, Houston is pretty spread out. That being said, we have found Bolete mushrooms in the esplanade of an inner city neighborhood. Lots of stuff grows along our many bayous. When you are foraging, once you learn the habitats and what grows (or lives) where and when, you just keep your eye out for possibilities. You certainly don't need vast expanses of wilderness to forage. What a lot of folks don't realize is the relationship of Houston to the Galveston Bay complex. Galveston Bay is the second or third largest bay complex in the US. I think that the Chesapeake is the biggest. I can't remember where Galveston fits versus the San Francisco Bay system. Here is a map link. Zoom to #5 to see where my retirement home will be in relation to Galveston and the Bay Area. Zoom to #6 to see the Bay Area in relation to Houston proper. Right now, I am living in League City. For that reason, most of my tromping will be in this area, because I know it best, with occasional forays into town. I will be back in a bit for tonight's treat.

Many thanks for the kind encouragement. I am not quite off yet. I am still working on beating my new toy into submission. My present to myself was a Nikon D70 with an additional macro lens. I just went through the panic phase of transferring what I have shot so far. It all worked as planned. I am afraid that the new toy is now just an expensive point and shoot at this point in my educational process so don't judge the camera by my pictures. As soon as the cool packs freeze up for the cooler, I will be off and then back to post the day's activities. Lucy, I hope that some of the shots this week will bring back fond memories. Our water isn't as pretty and the beaches aren't as white as the Alabama shore but there is a similar feel. We have pretty much the same ecological profile as that part of the coast.

Mechanics, how this blog will work: First a little recent history, I just retired. (Some of my colleagues read a lot into the fact that I chose April 1, April Fool's Day as the official date.) That means I am foot-loose and fancy-free to pursue what is available here in mid-May and share it with you. A typical day will probably start with getting up not too early in the morning (retired, remember) and choosing a route to go a-foraging. With equipment in hand, off I will go so I won't be on-line for a while. Later in the day, I will process pictures and post. A couple of days will probably be devoted to processing what I have found and maybe cooking a specific dish here and there. I am going to use a broad definition of foraging so I may include some local sources for goodies and maybe some things that we have preserved from previous finds. I will also try to include some examples of what the Gulf Coast environment "looks like" so you can get a sense of how what I find fits into the grand scheme of things. Of course, there is the off-chance that Mother Nature is working on getting in touch with her inner bitch and I will have to share shots of coffee and toast and a sausage and biscuit from McDonald's. If the foraging works like I think it will, you won't be seeing a lot of breakfast/lunch/dinner stuff because, for this week, I am living to forage, not to eat. I don't eat a lot anyway. I'm off. I will be checking in later. (Note that some posting times may get delayed. I have a new wireless network that includes the "works intermittently" feature.)

Good Morning! And welcome to a reprisal of "She who only cooks." Well, not exactly a reprisal. When asked to blog again (boy, was I flattered) I thought it might be fun to take the cooking and eating in a bit of a new direction. Some history: First a little background in addition to what is already here, let me fill in on my foraging history. I suppose I have been foraging since I was a kid. Most of what I remember from childhood involved seafood. My grandfather had a family compound at Oyster Creek where we went on weekends. The kids always had crab lines hanging off the pier. The way we crabbed was to tie a chicken neck or gizzard onto a string, weight it with a big nut, toss it into the water and wait. Pretty soon a crab would come along and try to exit stage left with the bait. The string goes tight and the fun begins. Now, you must carefully pull in the crab so he doesn't smell a rat (or crabber) and drop off. One deft swoop of the dip net and another crab is in the washtub. Ooops, first you have to check that the crab is big enough (from point to point on the shell, at least the length of your spread hand from thumb tip to little finger tip) and that it was a male (from looking at its underside and checking the shape of its flap). Information on our common blue crab is here. The rules were our own on the conservation of the crab. There were no legal requirements or limits at the time but we thought it was the right thing to do. I still think that crab traps are a lousy way to get crabs. Not only are traps boring but they just don't seem right to me. The story of me and the crab is an example of how we related to the bounty of the waters around us. We learned about the critter; its habits and habitats, seasonal comings and goings, and of course how to eat it. My mother, grandmother and great aunt were terrific cooks and knew their way around our seafood. Grandpa had a "big boat" and the guys would use it to go after shrimp and oysters in our bays. They would also have seining parties on the beach front. Grandma and Aunt Minnie were legendary chasers of the redfish or Red Drum. They were even written up in the Houston paper sometime back in the early fifties. I still remember the picture of them in Grandma's skiff, their bonnets in place, Grandma at the helm, headed up the creek to look for the tide line. When I was in junior high and high school, my sister was married to a hunter. He got my dad re-interested in hunting, so we added white tail deer and dove to our diet. Then, my sister got interested in foraging. She had just read her first Euell Gibbons book, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, and she has been hooked ever since and hooked me as well. That worked out because, in addition to places to go on the water, someone had a country place inland and we liked to camp and hike in the East Texas woods. We have found some things that were delicious to eat. We have found some things that we decided weren't worth the trouble but we could at least eat it if we were stranded in a survival situation. (Yeah . . . Right!) But the most fun part of our various foraging adventures is learning about the world around us as we go. We consider good eats a bonus. Alas, my kids (in their 30s) are city folk and don't necessarily participate with the same passion that we do. However, my nephew is a passionate hunter and fisherman. He has also decided that the plant kingdom is worthy of consideration so the tradition continues.

Braised Pork Picnic Ham This Chinese style braise of a fresh picnic ham that makes a spectacular show for a dinner event. We love it for itself and the leftovers are gorgeous. It comes from a Taiwanese friend. This can be done with a smaller bone-in Boston Butt pork roast. It may not take the full 6 hours to get to the required degree of deliciousness. It won’t be as pretty as that whole ham but it will taste wonderful. This is a big piece of meat but don’t let that stop you if your dinner party is small. After you have done your thing for that special dinner you will have great leftovers. Reserve the pot juices to cook noodles. YUM! Use pork for great sandwiches. It is good wrapped in tortillas with other stuff to your liking. I freeze smaller portions with some of the juices like you would pulled pork. Ingredients can be found in any Chinese grocery. 8 lb 8 – 12 pound whole fresh picnic ham (usually found cryovaced, skin and fat on) 1 large hand of ginger, about fist sized 1 bunch green onions 1/2 cup light soy sauce (regular Kikkoman will work) 3/4 cup Chinese cooking wine (usually labeled “not for consumption”… no kidding) 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup rock candy 2 T brown sugar 1/2 cup dark mushroom flavored soy sauce (KJ uses Pearl River Bridge brand) Tie the pork securely with butcher’s twine so that it will hold its shape and provide an attractive presentation. (You may be able to get your butcher to do this.) Bring water to boil in a large pot, big enough to immerse the pork. Boil the pork for 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and discard the water and any grunge that comes to the top. (Tip: I just put the big pot in the sink and ran cold water into it. The grunge floated away and the pork cooled down enough for me to handle it.) Scrub the ginger (you don’t have to peel it) and cut into wheels. Clean the green onions, removing the root ends and cut in half. Line the bottom of a heavy Dutch oven, large enough to hold the pork with the cover on, with the ginger slices. Place the pork on top of the ginger, fat and skin side up. Distribute the green onions around the sides of the pork. Add the other ingredients to the pot, using the dark soy sauce last to brush onto the top of the pork. (It’s a color thing.) Cover and cook in a 275F oven for about 6 hours, basting occasionally. (A bulb baster works best.) It is done when it is tender enough to fall off the bone. Cooking longer won’t hurt. I think it just keeps getting better the longer it cooks. The skin should be dark and shiny and absolutely gorgeous. Keywords: Main Dish, Clay Pot, Easy, Pork, Chinese ( RG1271 )

Braised Pork Picnic Ham This Chinese style braise of a fresh picnic ham that makes a spectacular show for a dinner event. We love it for itself and the leftovers are gorgeous. It comes from a Taiwanese friend. This can be done with a smaller bone-in Boston Butt pork roast. It may not take the full 6 hours to get to the required degree of deliciousness. It won’t be as pretty as that whole ham but it will taste wonderful. This is a big piece of meat but don’t let that stop you if your dinner party is small. After you have done your thing for that special dinner you will have great leftovers. Reserve the pot juices to cook noodles. YUM! Use pork for great sandwiches. It is good wrapped in tortillas with other stuff to your liking. I freeze smaller portions with some of the juices like you would pulled pork. Ingredients can be found in any Chinese grocery. 8 lb 8 – 12 pound whole fresh picnic ham (usually found cryovaced, skin and fat on) 1 large hand of ginger, about fist sized 1 bunch green onions 1/2 cup light soy sauce (regular Kikkoman will work) 3/4 cup Chinese cooking wine (usually labeled “not for consumption”… no kidding) 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup rock candy 2 T brown sugar 1/2 cup dark mushroom flavored soy sauce (KJ uses Pearl River Bridge brand) Tie the pork securely with butcher’s twine so that it will hold its shape and provide an attractive presentation. (You may be able to get your butcher to do this.) Bring water to boil in a large pot, big enough to immerse the pork. Boil the pork for 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and discard the water and any grunge that comes to the top. (Tip: I just put the big pot in the sink and ran cold water into it. The grunge floated away and the pork cooled down enough for me to handle it.) Scrub the ginger (you don’t have to peel it) and cut into wheels. Clean the green onions, removing the root ends and cut in half. Line the bottom of a heavy Dutch oven, large enough to hold the pork with the cover on, with the ginger slices. Place the pork on top of the ginger, fat and skin side up. Distribute the green onions around the sides of the pork. Add the other ingredients to the pot, using the dark soy sauce last to brush onto the top of the pork. (It’s a color thing.) Cover and cook in a 275F oven for about 6 hours, basting occasionally. (A bulb baster works best.) It is done when it is tender enough to fall off the bone. Cooking longer won’t hurt. I think it just keeps getting better the longer it cooks. The skin should be dark and shiny and absolutely gorgeous. Keywords: Main Dish, Clay Pot, Easy, Pork, Chinese ( RG1271 )

I like to keep it simple. I use the little key limes as a preference. Basically, lime juice, onion, a little garlic, hot pepper of choice, a little cilantro or parsley (I come from a long line of cilantro haters), salt, of course and that is about it for the "cooking." I offer fresh diced onion and tomato, radish and more peppers for serving. And, don't forget the Saltines.

Richard, I cook the confit down until there is no "puddle" of watery stuff left in the pot, just the oil and butter. It will keep better if you get rid of the water. How you get there is anyone's guess. I have been known to move it to the stove top. But usually, I am able to get there in the crock pot leaving the lid off. Or, the same thing applies if using a Le Creuset in the oven.

shoutsandmurmurs . . . You mentioned Herberts Taco Hut in San Marcos but that doesn't sound like the place that we were directed to a few years ago for breakfast. I will be darned if I can remember the place but it was near "downtown" and had a fabulous breakfast menu, Mexican for the most part. We were on a road trip to shop at the discount malls. The breakfast was fabulous.

Thanks for the pictures everyone. Now if I can find my mixer I will be set to go.

I have the grandaddy of all dewberry patches located.

Oh . . . I thought you all knew . . . I don't do low fat.

You guys are the best for entering the recipes. I am trying to locate my mixer. I will be making one version or the other. Hmmmm . . . low fat, full fat? That's easy. No pecans. Add cinnamon. Putting pecans on half is something my great aunt Minnie would have done. I am still puzzled that she never made this cake that I remember.

In the local Kroger on I-45 on the way to Galveston, going to the beach, picking up some picnic supplies. Young couple in front of us has 6 cans of Redi-Whip and a bunch of bananas. Giggling starts. Giggling infects the checker. The whole check-out line dissolves into a useless pile of hysterically laughing humanity. The manager appears and tries to sort this out. No one can explain. This really happened.

This is too funny. In my previous corporate life, the fridge got cleaned every Friday. The cleaning people were instructed to trash everything but soft drinks and bottles of water. (Those left over from catered lunches for meetings.) This worked quite well. Everyone knew that the anonymous cleaning crew would purge the fridge on a Friday. If you forgot about that treasured Tupperware, too bad. We had a catered lunch for the whole department (about 100 hungry souls) every first Thursday of the month. We had a favorite caterer and he would package up the leftovers into those styrofoam go-boxes. Those were fair game, first come first served, and would disappear. The funniest thing was when some of our folks brought things for friends. Rather aggressive notes would be attached. One of our managers was quite a fisherman and would bring in fish filets for me. He would put a note on the package . . . "Touch this at the risk of THE WRATH OF LAROSE." I never had a purloined filet of fish.

Wowser. I was about to tell Laurie that indeed she is crazy but thought that that was no way to welcome a new member to the Texas forum. Then _john comes up with that link. eGullet never ceases to amaze me. And a hearty Texas welcome to you Laurie. I am really curious as to why you are on the hunt for an item like powdered pico de gallo, which seems to be an oxymoron in and of itself. BTW . . . I read somewhere here that the name refers to a rooster (gallo) pecking away at the fresh morsels of tomato and onion.

RebeccaT . . . the RecipeGullet entry looks just fine. Many thanks. I do find it kind of amusing to find it based on a Cooking Light recipe. I do have a question since I am a newby to this esteemed recipe. Do you have to have pecans in the icing? I really don't like nuts in sweet stuff very much. I mean, they are ok, but I would rather not have them intrude. Would I be committing heresy if I left out the pecans?

I only heard about this at the last minute. A friend of mine called to tell me about it and that Tyler was going to be there. (She is a huge Tyler fan even though she is not single. ) I am not sure how I missed it. The problem is, I don't get into town to CM very often or I might have seen the promo on it. I will find out if it repeats every year and get it on the calendar. Many thanks for the report.

Top round, eye of round and other such cuts do not have enough connective tissue to convert to gelatin during long cooking at low temperatures and give that succulent texture like chuck or brisket does. Add in the fact that it does not have much fat and there is not much you can do. Andiesenji posted somewhere here about a recipe where she braised some eye of round (I think) that was cut into steaks before braising. Apparantly that helped. I am always tempted when those big ole hunks of protein go on sale to try to make something edible out of it. Success is rare.

Perhaps I am just reacting to reading the Pax Britannica trilogy (James Morris) for the third time. I am beginning to understand the wisdom of leaving the raising of children to the professionals . . . nannies and boarding schools. My solution to this problem is as stated by many above. Let your problem be known to the management. If enough patrons do this, management will eventually have to deal with it. When there is a safety problem I would get a little more immediate. Uncontolled kiddos in a restaurant are a definite safety issue.

That Louisiana "chef" is nuts. Roux is usually the defining element of whatever style of gumbo. In the darker gumbos, the darkly toasted flour loses a lot of thickening power. File is offered at the table for the diner to add to their liking. You don't put it in the gumbo and cook it. It will get slimy and nasty. I really can't think of another use for it, at least that I have seen. He may be thinking of the old adage that you don't use okra and roux at the same time. That isn't necessarily true either. I have seen plenty of folks add file to an okra gumbo. We discussed many of the fine points in the Gumbo Ya Ya cook-off thread.

I love tapas for the same reason. I really try to go to interesting places with friends who are into "sharing." We even discuss what we order with that in mind. Adding to the problem is, I am a light eater, especially in the evening. I know that and enjoy what I do eat, gleefully wagging my doggie bag back home. The problem part comes in when the server, and sometimes the chef good lord, comes out and wants to know if something is wrong. So I guess you could say that I over order when I just order an entre.

I am, too. And, I am actually delighted. I love it when I run into some new factoid and have to hit myself on the forehead and proclaim "Why don't I know that?" My concept of hell is arriving in the great hereafter and suddenly knowing the answer to everything.

I have a family favorite for yellow summer squash that I stumbled on many years ago that absolutely has to have the dehydrated onion flakes. The flavor relies on toasting the flakes in butter before you put the squash in the pan. Yes, the stumbling part of the discovery is that I wasn't paying attention and inadvertantly browned the onion but soldiered on anyway. Onion and garlic powder are a necessary component of many rubs and seasoning mixes that I make. Actually, the term should be granulated, not powder. I have finally learned that onion powder turns into a buliding product with impressive compressive strength in no time in our climate. I have been known to use a bit of granulated garlic when I want just a touch of background flavor in a soup or stew and I am feeling particularly lazy. (A common occurence.) But not when the garlic is one of the stars of the dish. I am not sure what the bottles of lemon and lime juice taste like but it isn't fresh squeezed. However, I can sympathise with folks that run into exorbitant prices for the fresh fruit. I think I would have to look for windows of opportunity (sales), buy up a bunch, have a squeezing party and freeze it. Gad . . . I remember the WW substitutions back in the early 70s when my mother got on that kick. She actually did the whole Thanksgiving dinner one year. She would serve something, tell us about the subs, chirp something like "It tastes just like . . ." About the third time she did this we all screamed in unison "NO IT DOESN'T." We all had a good laugh and things went back to normal forever.

Thanks for the laugh. The concept of me making a jelly roll is just too bizarre. But I might make the sheet cake. The fact that I have never heard of the thing after all of these years has me really curious. The concept of hot icing is particularly intriguing. I will probably go for the recipe in the big coffee table book. Actually, that book has some really serious recipes. Also, the copy I have belonged to my mom and dad and it has all of these check marks and notes and such.