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First, I think you have to define what kind of road trip you are going on. When I used to travel on business, it often meant flying in to the closest somewhat major airport and then getting in a car and driving. (Many fabrication shops were in small towns and my general rule has been that if the place was in a three hour driving radius I didn't bother with a commuter airline. Since 9/11 that increased to four or five hours.) If the place I was visiting included taking me to lunch, I was in the hands of knowlegeable locals (well, most of the time) and had some really good eats. If I was on my own, I really didn't have time to explore or research. That is where the chains came in. In that case, I was eating to live on a short clock and that was ok. But, then there is the meandering road trip that is undertaken just for the hell of it. That would involve much research and discussion. That would occur even if we are just driving from Houston to San Marcos to go to the discount mall. (They have a Le Creuset outlet.) On one of those trips, the research yielded a knock-out place for a Mexican breakfast. Darn. I can't remember the name. Anyway, eGullet is my best source. Then my next source was some of the guys at work that are into motorcycle cruising for good eats. They nailed it every time. A lot of them have cruised all over the country.

Heh heh. The lamb problem. I ran into that with the other cook-off. I really want to do this one but will probably go for a beef substitute. It might be a cultural bias. Not so many years ago the monastery near the country place ran some sheep as well as the cattle. When we would go visit (they were all friends) my dad would mutter under his breath "(expletive deleted) prairie maggots." It is only in the past few years that finding lamb here was possible at all, except for a few specialty shops. I remember that my dad wouldn't let it in the house. A lot of his buddies that also served in the South Pacific during WWII got fed a lot of mutton. He never touched anything that ever went BAAAA again. Then we started seeing more immigrants that have lamb as part of their cooking heritage. I only ran into moussaka at the one Greek restaurant here (then) about 20 years ago. Now, this is not a dish I eat that often but I don't recall ever having it with potatoes in it. Odd.

From Robb's first chapter "Talking Tex-Mex":

I do all of the above. I enjoy cooking for myself. The challenge is downsizing. I also find that even soups and stews that freeze well don't appeal after the second time around. They get shunted to the back of the little freezer and eventually thrown out. Gumbo is one exception to that rule. My stroke of genius is getting smaller pots! My 2 1/2 quart Le Creuset is my best friend. It was the star of the braised chicken experiment. It is also perfect for cooking a half pound of beans using the Parson's Method. Then when I bought my Black Chamba the baby pots became part of my reheating strategy here. I love braised dishes and find that they downsize neatly if you have the right size pot. I also bought a 2 quart (3 maybe?) crockpot.

Oh . . . I didn't realize that what you have is a volunteer, or maybe wild fennel. That would be cool if it grows here.

When I had fennel growing, I tried to collect the pollen. I did get some and used it to sprinkle on a salad that included thinly sliced fennel stalks. I know there has to be a better way to collect the pollen. I really enjoyed having the fresh seed and used them in just about everything. But the most fun was letting the caterpillars eat their fill. I had dozens of what I think were Spicebush Swallowtails. Just about every morning there would be one that had just emerged and was expanding its wings.

Back home and making enchiladas. BTW . . . Robb didn't win but it was a big enough deal to be a finalist. Arthur Schwartz won for New York City Food: An Opinionated History and More Than 100 Recipes. As I said above, I was really curious as to what the gruyere cheese would do for an enchilada so I am making "Montparnasse Gruyere Enchiladas" on page 253. The chile gravy is on page 106. I went right by the recipe. On the cheese, I had some imported and a block of Boar's Head. I have to say that the imported is better. It is a bit more tangy and nutty. The Boar's Head isn't bad, though and is a worthy substitute. But . . . why? The imported was cheaper. It works out that you need just shy of a pound for the three cups of grated called for in the recipe. So . . . we get started with the chile gravy. Now for my first casualty. My piece of crap blender won't go. Oh well. I never liked the thing anyway. Now I have an excuse to go buy a real blender. I turned to my handy dandy Kitchen Aid food processor. It did an admirable job of pureeing the cooked anchos, onion and garlic. I did use only two cups of water at this point instead of the three called for in the recipe. Three seemed a bit much and I was already having to do this in two batches. I put the puree through a strainer but there was precious little "gunk" left behind. The cheese is grated, the poblanos roasted and cut into strips, it is time to make the gravy. This is what I call a light roux. Adding in the chile puree there is a lot of sputtering going on and it is bubbling like the mud pots at Yellowstone. I did end up adding in that other cup of water at this point. One note on ancho chile paste. It stains everything orange. I am orange. My T-shirt is orange spotted. (I should have worn black.) My floor, counters, range top, various utensils and parts of the ss sink are all orange. I used to wonder why The University of Texas has that weird orange as its signature color. Now I think I know. The tortillas are fried and two cups of the chile gravy has been fried again in the pan used for the tortillas. More orange eruptions. It is time to assemble. Just for the fun of it, I am putting two enchiladas each in my single serving Le Creuset gratins. And we are ready for the oven. After about 15 minutes at 350 degrees F they are all bubbly and ready. One big pan may take a bit longer. Finally I get a taste. The stringy cheese has added orange to my chin. The verdict? Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. These are some really good enchiladas. I was afraid that the chile gravy would wipe out the distinctive cheese but that isn't the case. The nutty tang comes through. This is definitely a new twist on Tex-Mex and worth doing again. The chile gravy has a very slight bitter note to it that is a good foil for the richness of the dish. I was a little confused as to the three cups of water for the gravy. I was about to use the water that the chiles were cooked in but I am glad I did not. I think the bitter note would have been too strong. The other part of the good gravy news is that I have almost two cups left over. I will have to decide what to do with it. Maybe make some of the old style like "Larry's Enchiladas" next time around.

Now, that is the post of a desparate man! Do you have HEB stores in your area anywhere? The larger ones have started carrying some of the CM brand stuff. That is where I got my last bottle.

Hmmm . . . Chris, I just read your recipe. I have never "toasted" anchos in oil. That is probably a very different thing. The recipe sounds terrific. I have also never toasted the oregano but that makes sense as well. I will be trying this recipe. I am beginning to think that the noble ancho may have multiple personalities . . . all good.

Now that RecipeGullet is back in operation, here is my Crab Boil Corned Beef recipe. I did finally end up adding a bit of beer to the pot. Again this year, I had trouble finding the point cut. I have done a couple of flats and thoroughly enjoyed having that around for sandwiches and hash. I think that braising in a covered pot, low and slow, is the salvation for the flats. Good grief, I love the fat off the top. I have been known to scrape some off onto a biscuit.

I am with you on this one. Having done a side by side comparison, I have rarely toasted anchos since. Perhaps it is a personal preference. I have to say that for toasting, I finally evolved to removing the stem and seeds and flattening strips before toasting on a hot skillet. I found that I could control the toasting better that way. There may be something lost by not having the seeds in there but that is better than scorching points of contact of the uneven blob that is an ancho.

I don't think of sriracha as even related to Tapatio, Tabasco, Crystal or any other vinegar based sauces. It is its own thing. I like Tapatio and Tabasco and others in different ways. I think of sriracha as kind of analagous to Pickapeppa. It is that different.

Notice I said that I have had my skillet for over 20 years. It is much much older than that. (I don't know how old.) I am sure it started life being fed only lard. It probably went through a period of being subjected to margarine and any number of supposedly "healthy" oils with baths in Crisco in between. Corn oil is the common lubricant for cornbread. Well, bacon grease if I have some. I just don't worry about it and it seems to do fine, even for more delicate preparations such as eggs. I do not recall ever getting any off flavors. What? Me worry?

I just noticed that you said raw. I don't know that I have ever eaten a raw eggplant. Well, except to nibble while slicing to check for bitterness. That is an interesting concept that requires more exploration.

jscarbor, you make a good point about the kids. I am a bit removed from having kids to be attendant to the details. When I say it is a great place to take kids, I mean those that are old enough to let them roam. What is that? Eight to whatever? Not being an oyster freak I can't say about the quality but I understand that this year was outstanding. I am told by those that are oyster freaks that you have a couple of weeks until the water temperature comes up. The old adage of oysters in the months with an "R" seems to hold. Also, once you get to spawning time, forget oysters and wait until next season. But the good news is that shrimp season kicks in.

Cool pictures, Austin. I have seen all of those at my Asian markets except for the pretty stiped ones. I have never seen those, even in rather exotic seed catalogs.

I certainly second what Katie said. For most of the recipes that I do, I have come to prefer the chile paste made after soaking them. Sometimes I toast them, sometimes not. It is a little different flavor. But there is definitely a place for ground as well. I would just try it both ways in a basic chile, for instance, and see what you like best. At least, you will get a feel for the different flavor notes. I would start with anchos, the most common base, and do some really basic meat/onion/garlic/cumin chile using paste, toasted paste and ground. That will give you a good feel for it. That is what I finally did years ago to get taste for this when confusion reigned. I am not sure I understand the not combining ground and paste. I have been known to add a bit of ground cascabel for instance when just the anchos needed a kick. Come to think of it, I have done the same with chipotle powder. In that case, the ground is definitely a minor flavor note. I suppose that I am usually deciding after I am into the recipe that I decide it needs something. At that point, I am too lazy to get into the toasting, soaking and blending thing again. I suppose that if I were confident of the flavor and heat level of the other chiles, I would toast and blend them together with the basic paste. Edit to add: Do yourself a favor. Get a copy of Zarela Martinez's Food From My Heart and make a batch of her chile paste marinade from the "Chiapas Style Roast Pork." Not only is that a good example of using a paste like you would a dry rub, but I will also challenge you to run out of ideas for using this fabulous concoction. You will thank me. You can PM me for instructions for how to contribute to my retirement fund.

I think you hit the nail on the head with that comment. I used to frequent the old place on the Gulf Freeway (now closed). Mama used to hang out there some. I had many discussions with her on the finer points of cole slaw and her marinara. I think food passion genes are firmly entrenched in that family and it shows. Sure, they are out to make money. But they seem to have a philosophy that if you have the passion and the skill to put that passion on a plate, the money will happen. It has worked for them. (I will also bet that some of the clan has some serious business chops as well.)

In case you missed the link in the Q&A announcement, don't miss FoodMan's book review. We also printed an excerpt from the book here.

Remember what I said up-thread about arguing with inspectors?

Sounds like a plan for early morning clean up after the fried chicken orgy the night before. I have never really thought about the type of oil. I don't think the previous owner of my ancient skillet did, either. I may variously use butter, peanut oil, canola oil, Crisco, lard, whatever. The thing has retained a perfect patina for the 20 or more years that I have owned it. I never use detergent on it. I just rinse it out under very hot water and dry with paper towels. If there isn't some residual oil left I may add some but that is rarely necessary.

Oh, I do agree with you on that point. I guess that I have high expectations of productions coming from PBS. I was disappointed in this one. While there were bright points, overall it just seemed muddled. Perhaps I should view the next two programs and keep an open mind.

OK . . . I totally missed this post that is a completely inaccurate assessment of the situation at the time. You had to be there. I thought that my directions were perfectly clear. Well, I may have forgotten about that right turn at the blinking light but he was coming from the Galveston direction for crisakes. Everyone knows that the place is really down thattaway. Sheesh. Whatever happened to intuitive direction finding? (BTW . . . Richard didn't suffer too badly. He polished off the biggest plate of fish tacos I have ever seen. )

Elie (FoodMan) and I have been discussing cooking our way through Robb Walsh's book since it came out. The eGullet Tex-Mex Q&A with Robb Walsh was held last summer. Having played with the book for a while, and with the change of seasons, we think the time is now. Believe it or not, a lot of Tex-Mex dishes are great for taking on a picnic, adding back-up dishes for that BBQ, and just general good stuff for anytime. Many of the recipes are quick and easy to make, perfect for summer days when you have other fun things to do. And, of course, the results are delicious. So, partly to cook our way through another book, and partly to honor Robb's accomplishment, I propose that we start. Honor you say? Oh, yeah. In case you missed it, this announcement from International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP): Cookbook Awards Finalist “The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos” Author: Robb Walsh Publisher: Broadway Books Editor: Jennifer Josephy Price: $17.95 U.S. I am not going to get to actually cook until Saturday or Sunday but I wanted to kick this off now so we can wait around together for the results of the Saturday night, April 16 awards ceremony. Becoming a finalist in this crowd is already a huge honor. But it will be fun anticipate the outcome. And we do have to have something to eat while we wait, don't we? Actually, I am going to start off with a recipe that is not true Tex-Mex but I am anxious to try, "Montparnasse Gruyere Enchiladas." If that doesn't get the more curious of your taste buds to jumping, well . . . I don't know what to do for you. For me, I have a secondary reason for wanting to do this. There were all kinds of "Mexican" restaurants when I was hanging around in The Hague. The menus were actually Tex-Mex, but I quibble. I had enchiladas that I am sure were made with gouda cheese. While the sauce was a little tame for my taste, they were really good. Doing my shopping I got a bit of a shock. I am not a cheese whiz (pun intended?) so I go to my local Spec's that has a decent cheese section. The knowledgeable deli manager points me to a block of imported gruyere. It is aged over 120 days and is $11.57 USD per pound. The block is a little over a half pound. After looking at the recipe again, I think I may need more. I make my trip to the HEB to get the dried anchos and poblanos since they have good turn over. Better get a bit more cheese. I picked up a block of Boar's Head brand. It doesn't say how long it is aged. It is $15.98 USD per pound. What's up with that? Before I grate it, I will do a taste test and report later. I feel that I am on an adventure already. Remember, typical Tex-Mex enchiladas use "that yeller rat cheese" or Velveeta. (Yes, really.) BTW . . . This recipe uses the red chile sauce from "Old Borunda Stacked Red Chile Enchiladas" on page 106. I can see why Robb chose it. It looks particularly tasty and anything that starts with the dried peppers has to be good. If you have a blender, it is much less trouble to make than you might think. I will be back with the enchiladas later. In the meantime, I can highly recommend the mango salsa, page 254. The mangos looked particularly nice in the HEB today. I now consider the "Salsa Verde," page 94, a "pantry staple." It is terrific on broiled fish. I have even mixed it with a little mayo and crema for a salad dressing. Chapter 2, "Old Fashioned Breakfasts" is likely my favorite chapter so look around in there for some good wake-up ideas. So get out your boots and Stetson, crank up the Mariachi or Salsa music and let's cook some of Robb's Tex-Mex.

Add another 8 for me . . . Gifts and an Amazon orgy.