fifi

This is sort of a two part post. First, a little background. I have been reading some James Villas books and there is an inevitable emphasis in there on biscuits. I have been inspired to attempt to achieve fame in biscuit-dom so off I go. I have rendered a bit of lard. I have purchased a fresh can of Crisco and Calumet baking powder. I have even searched out and nailed a bag of White Lily flour (Central Market). I have a new KA food processor for cutting the fat into the flour, though I may try a side by side test to see if hand cutting with the pastry cutter thingy makes any difference. Short of making another dedicated trip to Central Market I will have to do with Borden's buttermilk for now. Having successfully mastered the cream biscuits from Cooks Illustrated, I am ready to embark on the "real thing". Maybe we can have a debate on that here as well. What I mean is a debate about "the real thing". What I remember as the quintessential biscuit is the production of my great-aunt Minnie that used to visit us on a regular basis when I was a kid. My grandmother and mother were excellent cooks but rarely made biscuits. They were intimidated by Minnie's prowess in the biscuit department. That intimidation remained long after the dear passed on. There is one aspect of Minnie's biscuits that I am curious about. In most Southern cookbooks I have not seen it so I am wondering if it is a particularly "Texas Thang". While she would sometimes bake the biscuits on a baking sheet, her favorite way was to put a cast iron frying pan in the oven with a bit of lard, bacon fat, or Crisco in a pinch. Then she would bathe both sides of the cut out biscuits in the melted fat, position them in the pan, and put them back in to bake. Sometimes, in a smaller pan, the sides would touch and they would be a pan full of tenderness. If the really big frying pan was available (if it wasn't in service for frying chicken) she might space them out a bit so the sides got crispier. So... One aspect of this thread is the question as to whether or not this is a regional variation on biscuit making or just one of Aunt Minnie's idiosyncrasies. The next thing that worries me is the White Lily (or maybe Red Band) flour. Was the soft wheat flour generally available in Texas, ever? Am I possibly straying from Texas authenticity (if there is such a thing) by straying from all purpose flour. After all, I had to go to Central Grocery to get it. I have no idea about availablility many years ago. Keep in mind that I am sticking with my Aunt Minnie as the icon because she was quite a woman and entrepreneur. After her husband died, as a youngish woman she ended up owning the cotton gin, the hotel and restaurant, provided catering for the railroad and actually owned a pretty big piece of the town... Brookshire. This was in the twenties, I think. Her cooking was well known state-wide. One other interesting anecdote... My dad, long before I was born (actually before the war) made her a biscuit cutter to her specifications. She used to always have it with her on her visits. It was about 3 or 4 inches across and very very sharp. The metal was thick enough so that she actually sharpened it. Or she had my dad do that. If he was at home when she arrived you would hear... "Ed... You need to sharpen my cutter. The last few batches of biscuits that I made didn't rise worth a damn. The dough gets too smashed together. Go on... Get busy now... Or we won't have decent biscuits for lunch." Does anyone have anything to contribute to the existence, or maybe not, of Texas style biscuits? It may take a week or so before I start cooking but when I do I will post pictures.

Having had a rather unpleasant lunch during the week, I am reminded of this thread. There are some cuisines where the "authentic" versions have a lot of fishy fish. Strong fish. I am particularly thinking of Japanese and Dutch as those are the ones I have been exposed to the most. When you get into strong fish, fish skin, sometimes bones, I just can't handle it. Yes, I have tried it. I admit to being timid about trying it but, for instance, there have been some fish on a Dutch breakfast buffet that I was glad I was timid. If I had taken a big bite, there would have been an embarrassing incident. That seems odd since I was raised on the Gulf Coast with a lot of seafood. There are even some fish that I won't eat even if I just boated it. Some of the mackerals and blue fish come to mind.

You too, huh? I have it on my lap as I type, sniffling away. I never met her but I feel that I know her. Such was her magic. Her life was magic. Her love was magic. How else could she have touched as many lives as she did. I truly believe that she is dancing with her beloved Paul at the eternal feast. But she will get in there and direct the proper cooking of the duck. Heaven is truly blessed.

I hate to admit it but I am enamoured with the chocolate covered cherries. You know... the ones with the liquid centers. It is a nostalgia thing. Many years ago, my dad would buy boxes of those things around Christmas. After that... No nuts, please. Soft caramel is right up there. After that, a chocolate truffle type center.

I think I mentioned this up-thread but you were too busy with your sledge hammer. Check out the GE Monogram. clickety What I like about it is that it can put out 50 pounds a day and it is the little crystal clear cubes. I have several friends that have them and are in love. (GE Monogram kitchens have become very popular here in upscale homes and patio homes. Great service network as well.) The fridge looks really good.

I never thought of that one. That could be useful. I do know of one that paid off for my son. He had a "loyalty key" for our local wine and liquor emporium on his key ring. One Saturday, he lost his keys. He called me in a franitc fit to come pick him up since his car key was on that ring. By the time he called me, some nice soul had found them in the parking lot, turned them in to the local coffee house, they called the store. The store called me to tell me that the good samaratin had left his keys at the nearby coffee shop. In response to his call... "Dear, Brazil has your keys and they are holding them for you at the register." His response... "Mothers are just too spooky." It took a while for him to figure out the loyalty key connection. I didn't encourage his discovery.

I count wasabi peas as a vegetable in my personal food pyramid. This isn't exactly foreign but every time I am in Hawaii, there is a bag of those taro chips at my side. They aren't actually flavored (at least the ones I have had) but it is the texture that I crave.

Well... Actually, we are talking about different "eras". Being a leading edge boomer, I was fortunate enough to see the transition. Actually, I find the on-going evolution of Tex-Mex highly fascinating and a lot more complicated than I thought. Felix opened in 1937. That was the era where there was more emphasis on Americanized "Mexican" food to bring the groups together over a plate of cheese enchiladas. Ninfa's original on Navigation opened in 1973. She caught the "era" where us baby boomers were ready to move on to something different. She wisely called an old family recipe "Tacos al Carbon" in a brilliant marketing and timing move. She was raised in the Lower Rio Grande Valley where grilling the fajita (diaphragm) was already a long tradition among the cowboys. There are two competing claims on the first commercial fajitas originating from 1969, at a stall at a festival in Kyle TX and The Round-Up in Austin. There is a lot more to the story and I would refer anyone who is interested to check out Robb Walsh's book: The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos. He does a thorough job of research establishing fajitas as a Tejano dish originating in the valley with a long history. Chapter 12 is devoted to fajitas and was an enlightenment to me. The earlier times are well documented in Chapter 9. (Don't forget to use the eGullet friendly link below. )

I have made any number of off-the-wall pestos experimenting with what is growing in the herb garden. It is fun to wander around in the garden, taking snippets of leaves and tasting, either alone or in combinations. I remember one favorite that was with anise hyssop. I think we may have diluted it with parsley because the hyssop was such a strong flavor. Then there is the decision as to which nuts, garlic or no garlic, cheese or no cheese. My sister and I get pretty free-wheeling with pestos and tradition goes out the window. The oddest thing we ever did was a few weeks ago. At the local grocery, they had these gorgeous bunches of radishes. We wanted radishes to go with some Mexican dishes but what my sister zoomed in on was the condition of the leaves. They were perfectly fresh and undamaged. (An unusual condition for supermarket radishes.) So, she asks, "Do you have any pecans?" We were playing with my new KA food processor. In went the radish greens, toasted pecans, a little bit of garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Tasting as we went, we determined that cheese would just muck it up. We ate it on saltine crackers. It was a wonderful green tasting concoction with a little bit of a bite... very refreshing. BTW, andiesenji is correct about the flavors getting in the plastic. When I have some to freeze, I use the little 1/2 cup wide mouth mason jars.

Ummm... Not likely. I don't even like the French species. Indigenous snails are one of those things where I would "draw the line" on authenticity.

Good points. I can certainly see using snails as a food source. After all, the French do. Now I am wondering if even the little buggers that crawl around in the flower beds here might have been used in soups and such. I am reminded of a wonderful chowder that we have made (recipe from Euell Gibbons) from the little coquinas that we sometimes find in huge beds on the beach. You just steam them and use the broth. You sure don't try to shuck them.

I agree with you on these points. Tex-Mex is and has always been evolving. Beyond the nostalgia, Felix is a snapshot in time of a style of food that was prevalant at a particularly pivital point in history. IMO... It must be taken in that context. I would not recommend it to anyone looking for the "latest and greatest". But I do recommend it to those that have an interest in the history and give them that background. Those that have such a historical bent have always appreciated the "time warp" aspect of the place.

You mean they were like guests who show up for dinner, but you just can't get them to go home? That is what I am thinking. There is a pile of oyster shells out here in the flower bed where I live. (Why, I don't know.) After a rain, there are all kinds of snails and slugs crawling around in there. That is why I am wondering if the assumption that the snails are a food source might be wrong.

After the predictable comments about snails that live in a river... I am now wondering if they actually were a food source. Stay with me here. I notice that after a rain, all kinds of snails emerge and crawl around. If I were a snail and I had a trash heap nearby to go and forage, that is where I would go. What I am wondering is that the presence of the snail shells may not indicate that they were a food source. Maybe they just showed up later?

Welcome, AustinJohn. And thanks for reminding me about the chile con queso. I haven't ordered it the last few times I have been to Felix but it was certainly a staple when I was a kid.

Ummm... What is a river snail?

And... Some serious foodies are shocked that a lot of "authentic" Mexican cooking includes such "abominations" as Maggi, canned milk, Knorr chicken base and so on. And... the gods forbid... they are using blenders and tossing the metate in the yard as soon as electricity arrives.

Sounds like someone needs to "take one for the team", go to Segari's, take pictures, and report back here on a Segari's thread. I don't get "into town" much so first one has dibs.

I agree. I think there are a lot of sour grapes out there being stomped. All you have to do is eat at Emeril's to find out where the chops are. Now, I don't know him like MM does, but my kids know a couple of folks who have worked for him (or still do, I can't keep track) and what he has done for some careers is phenominal. It is like he is carrying on a tradition of the Brennan's. I recall that one of his Executive Chef's started as a dishwasher, showed ambition and talent and Emeril sent him to school! If yelling BAM! to the masses helps him to continue... BAM! on, Emeril. I forgot about the Julliard thing. Thanks for remembering that.

Oh, please do encourage him. My son still has memories of sitting on a high stool next to his grandma helping with the preparations. I recall my horror of going into mother's kitchen with my 3 year old son weilding a paring knife dicing celery. Mother was giving him instruction on safety with knives and he completed the celery task without any blood leakage. He was very proud. I was very proud. Paniced, but proud.

No man around now (Thank the Gods) but the men in my family in later years always cooked. When I was young in the 50s, mother did it almost exclusively. Then, dad started cooking recreationally. He would see a recipe that intrigued him and start in on it. He was what I call a "project" cook and I enjoyed joining in with him. Later, they shared cooking duties. My son lived with me for a while when finishing school and we enjoyed cooking together. He is a very good cook. He learned at the side of his grandmas' from the time he was very young. My daughter, on the other hand, is a late bloomer. I think it is really interesting how men have migrated to the kitchen and are more into cooking today than I remember from the 50s. I saw my dad grow out of the stereotype. Now, a man doing dinner isn't such a big deal. I have a lot of men friends that are really into cooking. I think it is great.

The history is there because I am never sure who is making what kind of sandwich. I just got back from Randall's and the wrapper says something like "Made under license by Tasty Po'Boys" or some such thing. Antone's should probably look into that. If all you have had is the heavy-hot-dog-bun imposter, you haven't had one. Now that I think of it, The original green wrapper reminds me of a New Orleans muffaletta from Central Grocery, at least in concept. It is all about the bread, a bit of ham, salami and cheese for flavor, and the chow-chow to give it zip. Change the bread, substitute the olive salad and the muffaletta is built on the same concept. Or, vice versa since I think muffalettas were "invented" about 1906. Now if Droubi's would expand their way down to the bay area, I would be a really happy camper. I used to eat lunch there a lot when I worked downtown. Now, I try to schedule downtown meetings so that I can go in there and get my "fix".

Why am I getting such a kick out of this scenario that ran through my sick mind: *cue TV reporter* "Today, the local Dairy Queen in Kicktown was closed down be the health department. It seems that, due to a current promotion for MooLatte, 50 potentail customers showed up with their pet cows on leash. The volume of cow pies in the parking lot resulted in a considerable amount of cow plop being tracked into the restaurant. The manager says that they will be closed for a few days for clean-up, sanitizing and reinspection." *cameraman slips on a fresh cowpie and the picture is lost - end of report*

Welcome Bwana64! Thanks for the first post. You are correct about the colors, of course. I think I get blue stuck in my head because ever so often I just have to have one of the tunas. I am so glad that the real deal is still available. Now all I have to do is find a handy shop. Unfortunately, their web site is under construction. That the Taft location is closing is sad news indeed. So we are back to whoever makes those things for Randall's... Get a rope! Trust me on this... You don't want one of those.

That has to be just about the stupidest thing I have ever heard.