Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

If sodium replaces magnesium and calcium ions in the beans does that mean the nutritional value is lowered? If so, I wonder by how much?

Mike, I have to agree with you on Huynh. The mi quang is amazing and they have the best iced coffee in town.

Yelapa Playa - Mexican fusion (Richmond)
Mi Bolillo - Mexican bakery (Airline)
La Trattoria - Italian and one of the best steaks I've had in this city (Westheimer/Voss)
Tampico Seafood - the grilled fish a la diabla! (Airline)

Houston is massive and many people live in the exurbs and commute in. I live in the Clear Lake/Galveston Bay area and there's great seafood out there. Like:

Topwater Grill - from the boat to your plate. The pecan-crusted red snapper is my favorite. (San Leon/Angel Point)
Thai Seafood Kitchen - black pepper softshell crab (Hwy3/Nasa Rd 1)
Outrigger's - seafood gumbo and bloody marys (Seabrook under the bridge on the Clear Lake ship channel)
Bailey's - chef Roland Soza is doing amazing things and this is totally worth the drive. Shiner Bock braised beef short ribs. Berkshire pork with spicy molasses demi-glace. Peanut butter mousse "candy bar" with whiskey ice cream. (Seabrook, Nasa Rd 1 near Hwy 146).

In Houston I would take folks to Huynh near downtown for killer central Vietnamese food. There's a million great Tex-Mex places, but the old Doneraki on Fulton has a lot of charm. Anvil Bar is great for cocktail enthusiasts and is in an old eclectic neighborhood. Houston is about more than just what's in the city limits, so I'd take a drive to San Leon to Topwater Grill (when it re-opens from hurricane damage) where you can watch the fishermen catch and clean the fish. Head up to Kingwood to Bill's for that Texas roadhouse vibe. I could go on forever - folks have no idea how great the food is here!

Kitchenista, b4ueat is wonderful. That's my go-to for local critiques. I also like Fearless Critic, but I find it to be a bit biased towards certain areas of town/latest foodie darlings.

Ooooh, I received this cookbook for Christmas and it is awesome! I made this soup last week and it is fragrant and light and beautiful. Tonight, I made the recipe for the Turmeric Almond Potatoes - a definite winner. The oven roasted Chicken Cacciatore is good too. The Thai style seafood saute was bland, but so far everything else is proving this book to be my favorite Christmas gift of the year.

Giblets are essential for my heirloom (and delicious) East Texas cornbread dressing recipe. Grandma would smack me if I left them out!

My killer chili.

I want this right now.

As others have said, mustard and pork love each other. I make what I call Double Mustard Pork - it's pork tenderloin medallions crusted in mustard seed and panko with a mustard, shallot and vermouth sauce.

@StripeyChef: How do you make your ginger simple syrup? Do you steep the ginger in the water before adding the sugar?

I want to go to your party, StripeyChef! Sounds delicious.

It was in the 90s today, so I have a large glass of a lightly chilled Tempranillo rose wine.

Chisai, you might also like:

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
Escoffier: the King of Chefs by Kenneth James
The Art of Dining by Sara Paston-Williams (explores food history and kitchens in England's National Trust estates)

frederika, I'm with you - I would LOVE to see a Bourdain cooking show. Just based on his brief cooking sgment of the "No Reservations" holiday show, I think he would be great teaching behind the stove.

And ol' Puddin' Cups Sandra is the best comedy on TV.