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What Are Eggs Blindfolded?
The name and the method came from the old Nighthawk restaurants in Austin. They had the domed lids handy, so that's what they used on the griddle. When I make these at home, I use a 9 inch frying pan with a lid.
Pressure Cooker Phobia?
Pressure cookers are very practical in tropical climes like India and Houston. The steam is trapped, so you don't waste energy warming up the kitchen. When your AC is barely keeping up with 100° heat, that's a big deal. I use a Kuhn RIkon. Great for beans, chili, pozole and squash-chepil soup.
Video: Sky Full of Bacon's 'A Better Fish'
Gulf coast fish lovers follow wholefish (Reef chef Bryan Caswell) and jgossen (Louisiana Foods seafood wholesaler Jim Gossen) on twitter--
and sign up for Gossen's Seafood Market Report at http://www.louisianafoods.com/
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Are You a Night Baker?
In Texas, when daytime temps are 90 or more, we bake at night to avoid heating the house at the hottest time of day. When my college age daughter was helping me test pie recipes, we met in the kitchen at 4. She was out with friends until then. I was waking up early.
Speaking of Lonesome Dove, I am baking with a sourdough now.
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/09/sourdough_pancakes_recipe.php
What Are Eggs Blindfolded?
The name and the method came from the old Nighthawk restaurants in Austin. They had the domed lids handy, so that's what they used on the griddle. When I make these at home, I use a 9 inch frying pan with a lid.
Pressure Cooker Phobia?
Pressure cookers are very practical in tropical climes like India and Houston. The steam is trapped, so you don't waste energy warming up the kitchen. When your AC is barely keeping up with 100° heat, that's a big deal. I use a Kuhn RIkon. Great for beans, chili, pozole and squash-chepil soup.
Video: Sky Full of Bacon's 'A Better Fish'
Gulf coast fish lovers follow wholefish (Reef chef Bryan Caswell) and jgossen (Louisiana Foods seafood wholesaler Jim Gossen) on twitter--
and sign up for Gossen's Seafood Market Report at http://www.louisianafoods.com/
Sunday Brunch: Amaya's Migas
Funny thing about migas is that Anglos think of it as a Tex-Mex breakfast dish, but Robert Amaya told me that he never ate eggs for breakfast when he was growing up. In Mexican families, migas was a dish you got on Friday nights and during Lent when Catholics didn't eat meat.
Facebook Groups Respond to 'Anti-Kebab' Law in Italy
What is Carlo Petrini and Slow Food Italy's stand on this issue?
Robb Walsh on the Davis Meat Market Cheeseburger
The white slope is the Styrofoam to-go box that the burger basket comes in.
Bay Area Eats: Hog Island Oyster Farm
Thanks for the plug Lambowner!
Hog Island got a chapter in my book, Sex, Death & Oysters and they also have their own book!
There are some more photos of Hog Island, the picnic area, and the farming operation in the "Oysters Moments" slideshow at robbwalsh.com
Grilling: Tacos Carne Asada
Next time you're it town, try a weekend breakfast at Gerardo's:
http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-10-18/dining/convenience-store-carnitas/
This Week's Tasty 10
Some things never change--Ed is still a hippie.
Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: Southside Market Sausage
I am just here to testify that Southside Market in Elgin, Texas makes some damn fine sausage. I keep a heap in my freezer.
Sunday Brunch: Cisco's Huevos Rancheros
Cisco's is a bakery, hence the flour tortillas. The restaurant business was a sideline and they didn't take it very seriously in the old days. In the secluded rear dining room there used to be a self-serve crockpot full of pinto beans with a little sign that said: "Tex-Mex Salad Bar."
Cisco's became famous for breakfast thanks to LBJ. When LBJ told Rudy Cisneros to make him a Bloody Mary one morning in the 1960s, Rudy said, "But I don't have a liquor license."
LBJ wrote "liquor license" on a napkin, signed it, and told Rudy to go get the damn tomato juice and vodka. From then on, Cisco's started serving free Bloody Marys starting at 7 am--the earliest place to get a drink in Austin for many years. (You can't sell liquor without a liquor license, but you can give it away.)
You had to buy breakfast to get a drink--hence the enormous popularity of Cisco's huevos rancheros. The place has a liquor license now, but I still get the runny huevos rancheros and flour tortillas for breakfast when I visit.
Grilling: Chorizo, Onion, and Poblano Quesadillas
Homemade chorizo is as easy is throwing some pork and spices in the food processor (red wine vinegar and lots of paprika are key). And it tastes a zillion times better than the storebought plastic-wrapped kind.
BTW: Winter is our "grilling season" on the Gulf Coast. In the summer, the mosquitos carry the meat away.
Dinner Tonight: Puglian Chickpea Soup
They make similar soup in hole-in-the-wall eateries in Rome. But the Roman soup has garlic and after cooking, you puree half of the chickpeas. Then you return the puree to the broth to thicken it.
Dinner Tonight: Corn Macque Choux
And pronounced "mock shoe."
Robb Walsh on Cheeburger Cheeburger's Onion Rings
Thanks for the kind words Adam--in fact, I reviewed the cheeseburger too:
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2008/08/cheeseburger_cheeseburger_come.php
Huarache Glory at Huaraches Dona Chio in Chicago
http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-07-03/restaurants/historic-huaraches-in-stafford/
The name comes from "El Huarache Azteca," a restaurant that was opened in 1938 by a woman named Carmen Gomez, who started out selling the oval-shaped masa boats called tlacoyos in a small eatery in Mexico City. The dish earned the nickname "huaraches" because of its resemblance to the thick soles of sandals.
Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 25: Maybe 100-Calorie Snack Packs Aren't the Answer
Between meals, I recommend summer sausage.
Keep four or five varieties on hand so you don't get bored.
Very Atkins.
Grilled: Robb Walsh, Food Critic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat'n_Park
Eat'n Park started as a Bob's Big Boy regional franchisee using the Big Boy icon signage and serving a double-burger sandwich, the Big Boy. Eat'n Park's burger used a different sauce -- similar to tartar sauce -- from the chain's standard. The affiliation was terminated in 1976.
Cook the Book: New South Grilling
Ham salad
Dad cut the remnants off the Easter ham before mom made pea soup with the bone. He kept a hand-cranked meat grinder under the sink. He would put the ham through the grinder and combine it with pickle relish, mayo and mustard according to his secret recipe (which he made up as he went along.) He liked his cold ham salad sandwiches with beer. We got ours with root beer.
It Was Almost the 'Dr Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'
Dr Pepper sweetened with Imperial cane sugar is available in Houston at Spec's, Central Market and the Kroger on Montrose.
The Roanoke Valley of Virginia consumes more Dr Pepper per capita than anywhere else east of the Mississippi. The drink was named for Dr. Charles Pepper of nearby Rural Retreat, Virginia.
Did Robb Walsh Find the Best Burger in Texas?
I can't fault you. I stuck my face in it.
Did Robb Walsh Find the Best Burger in Texas?
Right you are Christianne--in fact here's what Hruska's burger looks like:
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2008/05/hruskas_grocery_bakery.php
Fort Worth, Texas: A Serious Eating Tour
Ed-
We ate those desserts at Reata on Sundance Square, not Brajas, whatever that is.
-Robb
The Tastiest Streets in the U.S.
NYC number one, Houston number two, that's refreshing.
Although I probably would have gone for Bellaire Blvd., Houston, myself.
Are You a Night Baker?
Oh, most definitely. I often don't start baking until 11:30 or so. But now that I have a new roommate (husband!), I don't know if I'll be able to do this anymore. I'm pretty sure that the sound of my KitchenAid whirring at high speed at 1 am won't fly anymore. :(
Are You a Night Baker?
Absolutely! If I'm not too exhausted from having to get up at an ungodly hour that morning, I get a late burst of creative energy late at night and will often bake, paint or both at once until 3 or 4 in the morning. This is why I'm going to be looking for restaurant work as opposed to bakery work when I'm done with pastry school -get to sleep in, wander into work in the late afternoon and gogogo until the wee hours. Yay!
Are You a Night Baker?
Simply put, yes, yes I am! :D
Are You a Night Baker?
Totally weird. I thought we were a rare breed. However, I don't night bake by choice. It's just that by the time I get all the ingrediants together, it's already nighttime. Oh yeah, it also helps that I usually forget something and have to rush back to the store. *sigh*
Are You a Night Baker?
Although I try not to bake at night for fear of late-night over-indulgence on whatever it is I just made, I have been know to whip up a batch of my chocolate chip cookie dough to be made early the following morning because my husband promised some co-worker or another some "fresh-baked cookies tomorrow" in exchange for a computer application upgrade or whatever.
Are You a Night Baker?
Best time to bake and to decorate those cookies!
Barbara Chapman
Are You a Night Baker?
I often bake well into the night most times by design but sometimes because I under-estimate the time ill need, like recently making a triple layer Boston Cream pie and ended up in the kitchen till past midnight but I actually enjoy the calmness that the evening has, less pressured
Are You a Night Baker?
unless i want to bake on a weekend (i usually don't), i have to bake at night! people think i'm crazy to bake after i get home from work (12+ hours usually, start sometime around 9pm if i'm lucky, 10pm is more like it), but then when i come in with cookies or brownies the next morning, all is well in the office :)
i also once stayed up until 1am making a mille crepes cake (smitten kitchen) for my friend who was leaving our group
Are You a Night Baker?
pfft...you know it. I baked a batch of blueberry muffins last night and didn't end till 1 in the morning. It's now 7:50AM and the only reason why I'm still conscious and not passed out on my keyboard is because of my crayz insane sugar high.
Are You a Night Baker?
betteirene - The first thing I thought of when I saw the title of this post was Maurice Sendak's "In the Night Kitchen", which I've been reading to my daughter for the last week. "Milk in the batter! Milk in the batter! We bake cake and nothing's the matter!"
Are You a Night Baker?
Night, day, it doesn't matter, then I'm in the mood I bake. Rye bread and bagels are my passions at this time.
Are You a Night Baker?
When I saw the title of the article, I thought, "This is so me!" There is two main reasons why I night bake:
- There are two other active cooks in the kitchen in the morning, so there is no space for me to play.
- I enjoy the quietness of night to bake and make a mess in the kitchen even if there is time and space in the daylight.
By the time the sun rises, I have made a mess in the kitchen and ate half of my work!
Are You a Night Baker?
LOVE baking at night. Put on some Michael Buble and make whatever I'm craving. A few nights ago it was spanakopita. And it was goooood spanakopita.
Are You a Night Baker?
I love to bake and cook at night, especially in the summer months...it is so peaceful when the rest of the house is asleep...
I put on a Julia Child DVD softly in the background and experiment with gluten free reciepes.
Last night I made GF crepes with rice flour to reheat for breakfast, a crusty GF bread, GF brownies and a blood orange sorbet was whirring in my ice cream machine as I played with recipes and baked my heart out.
Thank the Lord for the night-time...! (sorry Neil Diamond...)
Are You a Night Baker?
So glad to see that I'm not alone :)
I ONLY bake at night.... there's just something so soothing about whipping up a batch of cupcakes before bedtime.
Are You a Night Baker?
You know the Maurice Sendak book "In the Night Kitchen?" One of my sons copied a drawing from the book and turned it into a little refrigerator magnet for me. He says his very first memory is waking up from the smell of butter cookies and thought for sure that his pajamas would disappear and he'd magically float into the kitchen.
I bake all the time, but mostly at night. I have this thing about freshness and I absolutely positively cannot make breads and cookies and pies ahead of time. There are very few baked goods that taste good and keep their texture the next day, so I bake at night if I have to bring something somewhere in the morning. And the phone doesn't ring at night.
I think my favorite night of the year is the night before Thanksgiving. I'll make all the doughs a day or two ahead of time, and after dinner on Wednesday everything comes out of the refrigerator and freezer and I bake until two or three. Except for the crescent rolls, which don't go into the oven until the turkey comes out.
Last night I roasted tomatoes. No plans for tonight. Yet.
Are You a Night Baker?
Just pulled a batch of brownies out of the oven, so I'm going with yes. This recipe. Always a big hit whenever I bake them.
Are You a Night Baker?
Everyone knows me to be a night owl and middle of the night baker.
Why? I am an insomniac and when Mr Tomato goes to bed this gives me lots of space and time to go in there undisturbed and do my thang.
All the best bakers bake in the middle of the night. When I was in my 20's the best french bakery in our town was just getting started baking when I was head back from the clubs in the wee hours. Now I know why. It's an ancient and arcane ritual. From the darkest of night comes things that are amazing.
Are You a Night Baker?
I am DEFINITELY a night baker! I'd often come home from work or class (I just finished culinary school) and bake though the night. I really like that I get the kitchen to myself and that it's much cooler at night. Plus, since no one's around no one gets to see my mistakes but me!
Are You a Night Baker?
I feel like this post was written for me...
I'm totally a night baker. I somehow always end up baking late at night. It's the perfect antidote to a stressful day.
Are You a Night Baker?
I'm an inadvertent night-time baker. Mostly because I can't get the time planning for no-knead bread right, despite making it all the time! Somehow the 18 hrs wait always end up around midnight.
I feel inspired by night bakers everywhere. In university I lived above a bakery/cafe with a twitchy fire alarm. I would hang out with the bakers at 3 am while waiting for the fire service to let us back inside. A crazy bunch who worked from midnight to 8 am...
Are You a Night Baker?
I never plan (or even want) to be a night baker, but I frequently am by default. In general, I am a much happier, more productive person in the mornings (I think my brain partially shuts down after 10PM). Despite this, I often find my days and evenings overcommitted and baking projects are pushed waaaaaaaay past dark.
Are You a Night Baker?
Wow I never realized this was a category of baker. I would not say I am not just a night baker but a night cook in general. Baking at night is especially nice for those dishes which cannot be consumed before chilling/resting for a period of hours(flans and frozen custard come to mind).
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About Robb Walsh
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Favorite foods: mollejas, sesos, menudo, chivo
Last bite on earth:
In Texas, when daytime temps are 90 or more, we bake at night to avoid heating the house at the hottest time of day. When my college age daughter was helping me test pie recipes, we met in the kitchen at 4. She was out with friends until then. I was waking up early.
Speaking of Lonesome Dove, I am baking with a sourdough now.
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2009/09/sourdough_pancakes_recipe.php