fifi

I think it is in It Must've Been Something I Ate. Amazingly enough, there isn't a general topic here on gratins. So . . . I started one here.

I have to say that I have also had great results from creme fraiche. Actually, it was Mexican Crema. I had a potato in hand and a true craving for a bit of potato gratin. I was planning on using one of my little individual gratins in the DeLonghi oven. Well, I opened the little carton of cream and there was a nasty looking clump of mold. But I did have a relatively new jar of crema. What the heck, says I. I thinned it down just a little with some milk. (Crema is more liquid than sour cream so it didn't take much.) It was great. I used the cream technique on some particularly fresh and sweet carrots one time and that was wonderful. What else have some of you done?

Much to my amazement, I can't find a topic on gratins in general. I love gratins. Ever since I got my Le Creuset enameled cast iron pans, I have been "gratining" (Is that a word?) everything in sight. Lately, gratins have come up in several topics so I decided that it was time to start a topic on this fabulous technique. Many of us have sung the praises of Jeffrey Steingarten's excellent preparation of Potatoes Dauphinoise. I have taken his excellent technique and dumbed it down and it works for me. I will start off with that one. First you peel and slice two medium Russet potatoes into even 1/8 inch slices. Do not rinse. the starch is needed to bind the final product. Either butter the gratin pan or spray with cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes in even rows, overlapping by about 1/3 both horizontally and vertically. In a heavy saucepan, heat 2 cups of a mixture of heavy cream and whole milk* with a crushed large garlic clove, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon white pepper, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. Discard the garlic clove. Carefully pour the cream mixture over the potatoes. Note that in the picture it looks uneven because the rack isn't level in the extended position. I find it convenient to pour the cream on the rack so you don't have to carry the pan and disarrange the potatoes. *Some recipes go all out for the heavy cream. I usually dilute with 3/4 cup whole milk. Some recipes use half and half. I wouldn't go for less butterfat than that. Bake in the lower part of the oven at 325 degrees F for about one hour. Allow it to cool slightly, cut and serve in squares. Use a spatula to get all of the browned bits off of the bottom. The square on the right has been turned upside down so you can see how the bottom has browned. Your turn.

Nullo Modo, you inadvertently did what Paula Wolfert is trying to talk us into doing with braises here. If I were you, I would ditch the rest of the story and just say that you learned it here.

Does anyone know what time of year those massive coquina beds can be found? I found this useful site run by the National Wildlife Federation But they don't say when they show up.

OK . . . I am about to call my friend and have her read the thing to me. She picked the book up off of my coffee table and randomly opened it and was reading while waiting on me to get dressed. She was similarly hooked. I love his writing. As I recall, he later gives a simplified technique but I don't remember what he skipped. I think I took it a step further, in simplification that is. I can't tell enough difference to work harder than I need to. I never could understand adding milk to the cream and then adding butter. You end up with about the same ratio of milk solids to butter. When I see a recipe that gets obsessive about the detail, I do it by the book the first time. If it is good enough that I am going to repeat it, I will see if I can simplify it without sacrificing something. This was a prime example of that process. Yep . . . I am lazy.

Sometimes I have had to order the fresh ham cut even here. They show up in cryovacs in the grocery around the holidays. But my favorite source for pork is still my big Asian market with a real butcher. I really prefer the shank portion because it is easier to cut. I certainly don't understand why the shank is often a little cheaper than the butt. You can certainly do the recipe with just a pork butt. I have done it and it comes out just fine. Try to find one with a good fat cap. That ends up as some luscious fat. While wrestling the thing out and starting to dissect it for service, there are always some wharf rats hanging around with a knife to snitch some and eat it on crackers. This isn't really Steingarten's "recipe." I think of it as more of a technique. I can't compare it right now because I just loaned that book to a friend. (Yes . . . I know where she is.) For the potatoes, I just poach some garlic in the cream, enough to cover the potatoes, and add a little nutmeg. You cut the potatoes in even 1/16 of an inch or so. Professionals would use a mandoline but I can do ok with a knife. It is easier to do if you cut the potato in half lengthwise and cut half rounds. Then you arrange the slices in the bottom of the gratin, overlapping by about 1/3 both horizontally and vertically. It will kind of look like fish scales. You want only one layer. Salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I will add some herbs. Pour the cream over the potatoes. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven at 325 F for 45 minutes to an hour. This may differ depending upon your gratin and oven. The cream will break into butter and milk solids and you should get some good browning, especially at the edges. Hmmm . . . I have a potato. I have cream. I have dinner!!! edit to correct an oops: I just checked my Word file. That is 1/8 inch slices, not 1/16th.

Bravo! It is kind of an adrenalin rush when you actually pull something off. I have to give you extra points for diving in head first. I am not in lobster country but I might just have to try that next time I fire up the Weber.

I found this source for the lime trees. I seem to recall that they can't ship to Arizona, California and Florida though.

jscarbor, I think you may have hit on one of the reasons this place appeals to me. When I was a kid, there were various "joints" on the east end of Galveston island, along the landward sanded in part of the jetties. The grown-ups would stake out a spot at one of the places, drink beer and eat shrimp while us kids would crab and generally play at being wharf rats. There is a whif of that here. Of course, today's parents would never allow the degrees of freedom that we had along the waterfront and that makes me very sad. But I suppose that I sense the possibility here, probably never being realized, but at least the food is a whole lot better.

AWWWW! Woodburner, thank you for the kind words. I have tried several tricks with the maps. There doesn't seem to be a good way to post the multiple scales here. I am going to leave the link at the overall view so folks can see where this is in relationship to the Houston area. Then you use the zoom in scale to get more detail of the major roads in the area then down to the detail in San Leon proper. Edit to correct: Ooops. Now the map link isn't working like it was. It is now defaulting to the close in view. I have no idea what you will get when you click on the link. Back to the zooming. I will look for a better solution.

Maybe add a very little moisture to the jar before sealing it. I remember years ago before you could get brown sugar in the plastic baggies, my mother used to sit an apple slice in the box where the sugar had gotten like a brick. After a while, the sugar softened up. Then she would throw out the apple slice before it got yukky.

I bought my mortar and pestle at a big Asian market here. It is that really heavy greenish stone. It looks like a fine grained granite but I am not at all sure that is what it is. Anyway, it was a lot cheaper (though not what I would call really cheap) than anywhere else I found and if you look at shipping on one of any size you just might faint.

Sorry, I didn't make that clear. I buy the palm sugar in a jar. I'm not sure about this but it looks a little moister than the chunks as well.

Jake, I don't think I could improve on your sweet potato gratin. It sounds simple and lovely. I have a confession to make. I first went to Steingarten's simplified version of the potatoes, then I just started seasoning the cream, pouring it on and being done with it. I don't miss anything. I got into an experimental mode of pouring cream on just about anything in the gratin pan. I ran into some really fresh and sweet carrots. Those were really good. I get really confused about yams and sweet potatoes. And I am in the south! We aren't too careful about what we call what so who knows. I found this topic in the Southern Food Culture forum.

Somehow I knew that this was going to come up. I came to that realization when I got home and realized that I had forgotten the copy of the menu that I intended to get. This is a guess but here goes. Appetizers are in the $3-5 range. Main course may run up to $15-18 with many less than that. Let's just say that prices are on par with or better than a chain and you aren't paying any extra for the quality and setting.

Chef Metcalf, thank you so much for the ideas. That picture is particularly helpful, not to mention just a little obscene. The finely chopped leaves are really very pretty. For some things, where the look and texture of the chop might not be important, what about copping fairly finely, to be sure it won't end up fibrous, and whacking a few times in the mortar?

This can't possibly be a coincidence. I was just cleaning out the freezer and found a nice sized package of smoked pork butt chunks residing forlornly in the corner. There is an attractive jar of black beans decorating the bar. Now, I wonder if I have any corn. (That is a new one on me but it sure sounds good.) Well, I have to go to the store for coffee anyway. Please elaborate on the sweet potato gratin.

Patti, I have also run into the tradition of serving potato salad with gumbo. You must be from way south Louisiana. At least that is where I ran into it. I think that it may have something to do with the fact that the gumbo is commonly pretty spicy and the creamy potato salad is a charming cooling counterpoint. Susan, I would trust a recipe from Brooks. I have run into a few recipes where canned soup works just fine. In some cases, don't try it without it. I think it has its place. It is just too bad that using it in everything crappy in the past has given it a bad rap.

Inevitably, there comes a time when life gets a little hectic, frustrations accumulate, I find myself getting grumpy . . . and hungry. It is time to change my attitude by changing my latitude and I head off to Topwater Grill. (With apologies to Jimmy Buffet.) First, a disclaimer is in order. I am not a restaurant critic. I arguably don’t even have that great a palate. This probably isn’t even a fair and balanced report, the sub-title giving you a clue. Consider it a case of sharing with you one of my favorite places, why it is a favorite, and . . . oh yes . . . the food. Topwater Grill came into being about three years ago. Captain Wally Jakubus owns the April Fool Point Marina in San Leon Texas. I don’t know the details but someone got the good idea to open a restaurant. So his son, Robert Jakubus, did. The idea probably started with the fact that Captain Wally owns some mighty pretty shrimp boats and shrimp are rumored to be good to eat. The locals showed up, tried it out and rejoicing in the streets ensued . . . or something like that. You can’t keep a good secret forever and word got out. That is probably a good thing because it is still here and thriving besides being in a quirky community like San Leon (that a surprising proportion of the Houston area population never heard of) and being just about impossible to find, even if you have heard of San Leon. (I will help you out with that later.) In its short life, Topwater Grill has continued to grow and change; a patio here, added docks there, a deck up top might be a good idea. The menu continues to evolve and grow as well, but as you might expect, is centered on the local seafood. The “regulars” seem to feel that they have been a part of all of this as the staff is always willing to enter into discussions regarding various menu items and architectural details. As you approach, the inviting patio is the first thing you pass. My favorite spot is the outside tables. It is closed-in in this shot because the day is a bit brisk. It opens up in fine weather. During those scorching summer days, you can get heat stroke on the parking lot but be wonderfully comfortable out there. The secret is that a prevailing southeast breeze comes in off the water and sweeps through the area. Adjacent to the restaurant is the boat ramp and bait shop. I am including this here because folks are always asking about bringing kids here. Well, they love it. Notice there is a fish cleaning station between the ramp and bait shop. Pelicans and gulls squabbling over scraps makes for great entertainment. Kids also get a kick out of the parrots. This is one sitting beside his oh-so-neat nest next to the parking lot. These are actually Monk’s Parakeets and have been resident in San Leon for many years. Just to whet your appetite, one of the oyster scows is just coming in to deliver your dinner if you are in an oyster frame of mind. Moving inside, this is the main dining room. It is normally not this empty. I chose a time in between lunch and dinner so I wouldn’t disturb too many patrons with the camera. The bar is about as comfy as a bar gets. That big thing hanging from the ceiling is a huge replica of a Topwater Lure. A little more background for you folks that may not be obsessed with harassing our finny friends: A Topwater lure is a long favored lure for catching any number of species. Why they decided to name the grill after that I haven’t a clue. A word about the clientele: They are as eclectic as San Leon. All you have to do is take a good look at the parking lot. Here you see the little roadster generally favored by intellectual baby boomers next to the gleaming Harleys favored by our many gastronomically inspired motorcycle clubs. You also find an assortment of geezer barges, pick-up trucks, soccer mom mini-vans and the family SUVs. The other piece of this picture is the staff. They are friendly and helpful, very efficient, and charming in the face of chaos. Yes, when things get crazy, service may slow down or get a bit confused. But if you chill out, settle into the ambience, have another cold drink, listen to a little more Jimmy Buffet, all will be well. They always come through and I have never had a bad time. Well, let’s eat. For some reason, we were in a shrimp kind of mood. I know. It is not shrimp season. This is the time of the year for oysters. But, I don’t like oysters and my companions were having a craving for their favorite shrimp dishes. I don’t know where these guys get their shrimp but they are excellent even out of season. Maybe you can imagine shrimp season when the shrimp come in from Captain Wally's boats and flip their way into the kitchen. OK, maybe you can't, but you gotta trust me here. I also have to say that the quality of the various fishes measures up to the shrimp. I haven’t had any aquatic fauna here that wasn’t good. But . . . You have to start somewhere. The Bloody Mary here has been known to inspire intense cravings. We got talked into the lump crab meat and it is a good thing we did. See that little cup of sauce on the side? See fifi’s jaw drop at the first taste? Well, it did. Why haven’t I had that sauce before? It is described as a lemon butter sauce, made by sautéing some garlic and shallot in butter, add white wine and reduce, add lemon juice and heavy cream, drizzle in butter while whisking. They strain it before serving. All I know is, it is light, incredibly tasty, and I want a vat of it. Snorkel, please. We must now make progress on the mission of the day. This has to be our very favorite dish, shrimp en brochette. Before we get to the details, please note the bed of black beans. I don’t know what these guys do to black beans and they ain’t talkin’. I typically order a container to go. Let’s get to the heart of the matter. Somehow, the bacon is always perfectly crispy, the shrimp is meltingly tender, the sliver of cheese and strip of jalapeno hiding inside is in just the right quantity for optimum creaminess and heat level. That greenish sauce is poblano cream? Cilantro? I dunno but it is good. Now to my current fixation, coconut shrimp. I normally don’t like sweets in my entrees but coconut shrimp has wriggled its way into my heart. I get it at restaurants in this area and on my travels in an obsessive case of comparison fever. This is still my favorite version. The crunch of the crust and the tenderness of the shrimp just works. They also advertise that there is some Malibu® Coconut Rum in there somewhere. Note the sauce in the cup. It is the usual mango habanero concoction but they have added pineapple. They also have the sweet sour balance just right and the heat is pleasant but not overwhelming. I have a confession to make. I begged some extra sauce to take home. I had it on buttery toast for breakfast. With a tiny adjustment in sweetness it would be dynamite on pancakes or French toast. Note to the dessert department: Think about this on ice cream or sorbet. Perversely enough, I still gave them a hard time about the coleslaw that is served with it. It is a sweet version and very good for what it is: crisp and fresh, just enough dressing, little shrimp hiding in there. I just hate sweet coleslaw. Note to self . . . Ask for a substitution and quit griping. Speaking of dessert, we got talked into the bourbon pecan pie with chocolate chips. It was a worthy version of pecan pie. I do have to mention that I have friends who are connoisseurs of key lime pie. They pronounce the version that Topwater serves as particularly terrific and I agree. So, what is it about this place that has captured my heart? I can’t put my finger on any one thing: The food? The setting with the soft gulf breezes wafting through? The warm hospitality of the staff? Jimmy Buffet playing in the background? The interesting and friendly folks that frequent the place? The fact that so many of us have been around to see it change and grow? The memory of celebratory gatherings of family and friends? I have to conclude that it is all of these things together that have made Topwater Grill more than just a restaurant to many of us. I am sure that some of you have similar special places and could tell a similar story. If you do, please share. I want to thank General Manager Brandon Hart for his kind hospitality and forbearance. I am especially appreciative of the hints about the lemon sauce. (But, darn it, he still won’t spill the black beans.) Topwater Grill 815 Avenue O (south end of 9th Street) San Leon, TX 77539 281.339.1232 Web site coming soon. I said that I would help you find it. Here is a useful map link. Use the zoom feature to get the scale you need. Click here.

I also tend toward a thinner curry. I do have to say that the Chaudoc brand that I use typically yields more than a quarter cup of cream. I get at least a half cup, maybe more, per can. It might be worthwhile mentioning here since it may not be obvious. To be sure you can get some cream off when you open the can, let it sit in the pantry for a good long time. I have no idea what that means. I just get one of the cans from the back of the shelf that I know has been sitting around undisturbed for who knows how long. I carefully move it to the fridge so as to not shake it up. Then I open it and lift the cream off. I have noticed that some brands separate more than others. One of the "grocery store" brands I have used in a pinch never would separate. Maybe some brands are "homogenized" somehow.

Thanks for the reminder about cutting the leaves. I had forgotten about that. My Victor Sodsook book, True Thai, has an interesting section, "Cooking with a Thai Accent," on extending Thai flavors to more familiar dishes. I looked for uses of the lime leaves. I found a salsa that uses the usual suspects but substitutes sriracha for chiles and adds slivered lime leaves. There are several good ideas in that section but this is the only recipe I found with lime leaves. In the dessert section, there is a suggestion to add kaffir lime zest to a key lime pie. The only problem with that is that I have yet to see an actual lime. My friend's bush has never made a lime, either. (I will have to look into why that is.) I am wondering if you could impart the flavor to a key lime pie mixture or a sorbet maybe by letting some leaves sit around in one of the ingredients and infuse for a while. This sounds like an area for fruitful experimentation.

I like to have coconut cream on hand as well as the milk. Oddly enough, it is sometimes hard to find here. Whereas, they will have cases of the milk stacked up at the ends of the aisles. My nephew ran into some large cans at the dollar store, of all places, and brought them home. He wanted to make coconut ice cream. Following a recipe that called for coconut cream that I found for him he made a batch. What he neglected to notice was that the coconut cream that he bought was the sweetened stuff for mixing drinks, sort of like Coco Lopez. That ice cream was so sweet it was almost inedible.

All of the above. They are typically used like we do bay leaves. That means that they are added for flavor and then removed. There are cases where they are pulverized in curry pastes and such. I freeze mine (a friend has a bush) in small canning jars. They dehydrate some, you will get some ice crystals on the inside of the jar, but they will keep their flavor a long time.

I actually dream of the breakfast buffets at the better hotels in Mexico. We have an Indian restaurant here that has an awesome lunch buffet. The quality and variety are terrific. (What is the name of that place . . . Bombay Bistro?) The Thanksgiving buffet at The Houston Yacht Club was elegant and well served. When I find a good one, I will go back. It does take some research, though. I also have a problem with buffets. I am a light eater. But I also like to sample the variety. That makes for some very strange looking plates of food.