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Showing posts from October, 2007

True Confessions of Two Chefs

David Leibovitz reviews Alice Water's new cookbook, The Art of Simple Food, and begins with a classic reminiscence. During my interview at Chez Panisse, as I sat across the table from Alice Waters in the main dining room at the restaurant, she asked me, "What do you eat at home?" Since I'm not exactly convincing when lying, I told her. "I eat popcorn, mostly." And continued, "I'm a restaurant cook. I don't have time to eat at home." (Although I did conveniently omit the fact that it was microwave popcorn...) In spite of that, or because of my chutzpah, I got hired and worked at Chez Panisse for a long time. What nailed it for me and endeared me to Alice, years later, wasn't her politics or her philosophy on cooking. It was when I told her, "I really like to drink coffee leftover from the morning, with milk in it, that's been sitting on the counter all day." And she said, "Me too." Go read the review a

Fine Art Friday

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The Bucket by Edward B. Gordon Can this guy do a painting I don't like? Nope.

How to Judge a Tex-Mex Restaurant

Here are a few guidelines: 1. It has to be family-owned. 2. A ramshackle space with added-on rooms is a positive. The most successful Tex-Mex restaurants started small and expanded due to popular demand. 3. It’s best if the patrons in the dining room look like the face of democracy. You want a mix of gringos and Hispanic customers; professionals and laborers. Joe Gonzalez who, with his wife, Alma, opened El Jardin in 1975, offers a fourth tip: take careful measure of the chips and salsa. “It’s the first thing that hits the table,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “Are the chips and salsa homemade, or does it taste like they’re from a bag and a jar? Right there you know if you’re in for the real thing, or they’re trying to save money.” Indeed, this is exactly how I begin judging a new Tex-Mex place. Much, much more about Tex-Mex, that "native regional food," from this NY Times article, A Celebration of Tex-Mex, Without Apology . It's got plenty of input from Robb Walsh whose seminal Tex

Deep in the Heart of Texas: Robb Walsh

Whenever I see an unlicensed shade-tree barbecue stand along the side of a Texas farm-to-market road, I think of history's first barbecue salesmen -- those famous outlaws, the buccaneers. In the French West Indies, the word for a barbecue grill is boucan (from Tupi, a Brizilian language). Boucanee means smoked meat. Hence, "buccaneer" is derived from the French word for "barbecuer." The buccaneers were a ragtag crew consisting mainly of French and English outlaws and escaped slaves. They hid from the Spanish on the island of Tortuga off the northern coast of Hispaniola in the mid-1600s. Although they would later be known for their seafaring exploits, their original business was smoke-cured meat. The buccaneers hunted the wild cows and pigs left behind the failed Spanish settlements on the island of Hispaniola. They smoke-cured the meat and sold it to the passing ships. Hunted themselves by the Spanish, the buccaneeers banded together for their own protection.

Now Serving Hot Links

3 Easy Pieces Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs, Quesadillas, and Shrimp. That's what three Dallas chefs cook at home for their families on their day off. Good looking and simple recipes ... I'd forgotten about Quesadillas as a potential meal so this was a nice reminder of a really quick, delicious save for busy days. This is the feature story of the food section at the Dallas Morning News and free registration may be required. The King of Casseroles? We Texans, like most Americans, love our casseroles. Though what usually sets a Texan casserole apart from its neighbors is the spices used. Not shy with the peppers, most Texan casseroles have a bit of a kick. And one of the most popular casseroles we make is King Ranch Chicken Casserole, a soft, slightly spicy, cheesy mixture of tomatoes, corn tortillas, chicken, cream and peppers. It goes down easy and is the ultimate comfort food. Yep. I love a good King Ranch Casserole which I'd never heard of until I moved to Texas. Homesick