Raynickben

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Taste Passage to India by Tina Danze suggests using Indian spices when grilling. Recipes and information on Suneeta Vaswani's book Easy Indian Cooking is here. Ms. Vaswani will teaching an Indian grilling class at Sur La Table on July 14 and she will lead an Indian Market tour and lunch on July 15. Call 214-219-4404 for more info and reservations. An now for something completely different: Michael's Mexican and Oriental Market has opened in Dallas. Susan Taylor has info on what the store offers, hours of operation, A TAKEOUT RESTAURANT!!, etc.

I ate at Enigma and I'll never forget it. It was beautiful inside, gorgeous artwork, lighting, etc. My silverware was hanging off of a gold hand sculpture and my husband's silverware was fashioned into a teepee shape. The china was all mismatched and all top quality. We did have different menus but ordered off of the same menu. I can't remember what on earth we ate but I remember it was unusually presented and we had no complaints on taste. There was a big party seated next to us and they did order some of the same dishes...all came out plated completely different from each other. Someone back in the kitchen was very creative! I was sorry when it closed.

I eat a certain cheeseburger combination and the owner of this place I used to go to put it on his menu with my name in the title. I thought that was pretty cool (and I sent lots of friends there to eat it )

The DMN Texas Taste is featuring an article on Margaritas. Read here. Growing up in NJ I was never a fan of Margaritas. Rolling Rocks were king. But then I moved to Texas and wow! That is a tasty drink The best margarita I have had is the regular lime version at Monica's Aca y Alla and the watermelon margarita at Ciudad (also owned by Monica, now known to me as Goddess of Margaritas). Both restaurants are in Dallas. So the question is: Where have you had a truly great Margarita? And a bad one (I'm talking to you Tia's)? Anyone have a margarita recipe you'd like to share?

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Taste All Things Margarita by Kim Pierce. The Ft.Worth Star Telegram Amy Culbertson provides a look into DFW's Local Farmers Markets. Includes info on market specialties, hours of operation, etc.

The local station here in Dallas is not showing The Restaurant tonight in favor of "Crossing Jordan". I guess it's ratings based. Is the rest of the country getting the show tonight?

I had the Gouda and Smoked Ham sandwhich and the Jasper's Greens salad. Menu and website: Jasper's

I thought my first post was pretty clear as to what I liked about Jasper's. But to help you get a picture of what Jasper's is like: Cuisine: Fife Atmosphere: Bluehour Drinks: Paley's Service: Uhhh...never had good service in Portland

Just had lunch at Jasper's. Still a fan.

In Dallas: The Riviera, Flemings, and Liberty Noodles are closed. You may wish to add Randy's Steakhouse, Eddie Merlot's and Terellis (all in Frisco) Iris, Jaxx Cafe, Suze, Aurora, Dragonfly, York Street (all in Dallas) and Goodhues in McKinney. Addresses and more details on these establishments are located at www.guidelive.com.

Both The Dallas Morning News and The Ft. Worth Star Telegram have cookbook reviews this week. Hmmm, wonder what that's all about.... Anyway, The DMN has reviews by Laura E. Ehret of Slow-cooker books and Amy Culbertson of the Star Telegram reviews Kitchen MANuals, cookbooks geared toward men.

I am surprised by the lukewarm review. I've eaten at Jasper's twice for dinner. The first time there was eight of us. We had a wide variety of salads and entrees and not one of us had a complaint. I had the pork tenderloin and I thought I made a great tenderloin...but wow, Jasper's was fantastic! The second time there was just two of us. I had prime rib and I found it to be very good but I was wishing I had ordered the pork again. My husband, who is so damn picky sometimes, really enjoyed his steak. The first visit I had the butterfinger creme brulee and found it too sweet for me but others that had ordered it loved it. I forget what I had for dessert the second time. Probably another martini. I also had the potato chips both times and I don't care if it's Maytag or not I'm having that for my last meal if I'm ever sent to prison. I liked them that much. Both times we had great service. Rathburn visited our table and others during my second dinner. I'm going to Jaspers this week for lunch so I'll post about that afterwards. By the way, I can be a harsh critic of restaurants so I can appreciate when others offer a dissenting opinion on a joint but put me in the "fan of Jasper's" column.

The Dallas Morning News: High Profile Joyce Saenz Harris presents a VERY interesting profile on Avener Samual, owner and chef of Aurora. Aurora was named The Best New Restaurant of the Year by the DMN. Article Aurora website

I am a total nut about food safety to the point that I often refrain from eating at parties where the food has been sitting out for who knows how long. I can't even open a package of raw chicken (or raw meat of any kind really) without a whole arsenal of sanitizing products, paper towels, disposable gloves, etc. I have been hospitalized with food poisoning (and I was 5 months pregnant) and sickened by food three other times. It's the worst. Try these flex boards from Crate and Barrel as a less expensive and dishwasher safe option to maintaining 4+ cutting boards.

Did they give you beer money too? Because that's a whole different animal clothier. Parents might THINK their kids have enough for food but really some of that money goes to the bars, and the CD store, and the book store, etc. And the fact is that the University I went to (before CIA) had three meal plans: starvation, gluttony, and somewhere in between. Most kids got the somewhere inbetween meal plan and somedays that was enough and other days, like weekends, it was inadequate.

How about not eating at all? That's what I did in culinary school. I was in the morning classes so I got breakfast and lunch during classes (woe the days we were in "International Kitchen" and had to eat kidney pie). When I didn't have any money for dinner I would just go to sleep, knowing that at 5 a.m. I could eat when class started.

Ft. Worth Star Telegram Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs is revamping the school nutrition program. Jessie Milligan interviews her and provides a look into what our kids will be blaming the cafeteria lady for in the future. Mystery Meat. Jessie Milligan also spent 5 days eating school lunch. Her conclusion? Bring on the Tums. Wayne Lee Gay has Dessert Tamales. Amanda Kingsbury reviews Joe T's Margaritas The Dallas Morning News: Texas Taste Susan Taylor interviews Steven Pomerantz who left advertising and opened Cupcake Kitchen. A kitchen of cupcakes? I think this guy is my new best friend. Loroco. What is it? Where to get it? Mary G. Ramos tells all.

I'm a little surprised by all the criticism of Food & Wine. I enjoy the magazine for a lot of reasons: the articles are well written (I especially love Lettie Teague's hilarious "Wine Matters") and the recipes are not intimidating for the home cook yet offer some challenges and unique results that can expand one's repertoire. My notebook is filled with info and recipes that I have culled from F&W. I can't say the same for other magazines (and I subscribe to A LOT of magazines.) To each his own.

Rocco is never there because he's going through an intensive de-homosexualization process. (Anybody who has seen "Sordid Lives" is laughing right now.) That comment is uncalled for and libelous. I'm not laughing.

Scott: It's never too late I found your post interesting. And I'd like to say that I too have had inconsistant dishes at Ciudad but oh, those Watermelon Margaritas...

FYI - Pegaso Cafe mentioned in Theabroma's post is closed. As far as comparing Aca y Alla and Ciudad I find both to be consistantly great but different. You should check out the menus on both websites to determine which is more to your liking. You can't go wrong with either.

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Living High Profile: Andrea Immer by Steve Quinn.

Place the bowl so the steam is hitting it and the bowl itself isn't in the boiling water. It'll keep you from scalding your delicate chocolate. But isn't the steam hotter than the water itself? Or am I imagining that? Sorry, bleu. You're imagining it. Steam gets significantly hotter than water. Ever hear of the Steam Engine? Geothermal Energy?

The Dallas Morning News High end restaurants are becoming more welcoming and kid friendly for families. Article by Karen Robinson-Jacobs.

Dallas Morning News: Texas Taste From Laura H. Ehret: Five things to do with GARLIC. Scaring away vampires is not one of them. From Samantha Critchell of the Associated Press: Emeril wants to get kids cooking. Emeril will be signing copies of his book "Emeril's There's a Chef in my Family" on May 18 at Waldenbooks in North East Mall, Hurst. BAM! From the Associated Press and the DMN: More cookbooks for kids. Ft.Worth Star Telegram From Amy Culbertson: The Derby Table. Does not include recipes for horse meat.