OUR REVIEW OF JASPER'S

The father who raised both Kent Rathbun of Abacus in Dallas and his brother Kevin of Nava and Rathbun’s in Atlanta to be famous chefs belonged to the greatest barbecue fan club that ever existed, the brotherhood of touring jazz and blues musicians.

From Louis Armstrong to B.B. King to Wynton Marsalis, the arrival routine for such artists has changed not one bit: find the gig, find the hotel, find some barbecue. Inspired by what he tasted in his travels, as well as by what he tasted at home in Kansas City, Rathbun’s father perfected his own skills to the point of asking to cook for his buddies in hotel kitchens on the road. Back home, he made sure his sons knew their way around not only a smoky backyard pit but the classics of Kansas City’s barbecue scene, especially the legendary Arthur Bryant’s.

The single most intriguing thing about Rathbun’s concept for Jasper’s, beyond its subtitle “Gourmet Backyard Cuisine,” is the absence of a true smoker in the kitchen. At the original location up in Plano, as well as in expansions to the Woodlands and then to the Austin area, Rathbun has not only installed the “next best thing” but has, in a sense, carried barbecue even farther back to its roots. The smoker-grill he’s designed for Jasper’s starts out each day as a rotisserie, with chicken, turkey, back baby pork ribs and even rainbow trout turning slowly high above a fire of oak and hickory. At this point, the grill man pushes the burning wood and glowing coals forward under a grate, adding more wood as the evening progresses, to create a high-heat grill for finishing smoked meats as well as cooking flat iron steaks. There’s no time-honored 18 or 20 hours of cooking beef brisket at Jasper’s, but there is the tradition and the taste, delivered by a man who remembers the boy who loved nothing better.

A perfect example of what a chef-artist does with old-fashioned barbecue is what Rathbun does with his baby back ribs – even before he dishes them up with New Age/Old World “creamy baked potato salad.” You have to start, he says, with a great product – which is chefspeak for “expensive meat.” Each rack gets rubbed with olive oil and then with a spice blend created for the occasion, then allowed to marinate with those flavors for 12 hours or more. These racks are then cooked over a low fire until medium-well done, being flipped often and basted with a citrus barbecue sauce. Once they reach that desired status in life, they are transferred to a pan, covered with aluminum foil and chilled. When ordered, the racks are cut into “bricks” of three ribs each and finished on the by-now super-hot grill.

As though in response, Rathbun’s version of traditional Texas potato salad starts out as a baked potato, then gets cubed and flash-fried, then mixed with sour cream and spices where the mayo normally would be. Even to a potato salad lover – or indeed to a baked potato lover, or to a French fry lover – Kent Rathbun’s spin on this classic is an epiphany.

One of the joys of Jasper’s, seldom seen in other, far simpler Texas barbecue joints, is first-rate appetizers, soups and salads. Best starters include the prosciutto-wrapped shrimp and grits, direct from the Carolinas by way of polenta-crazed northern Italy, the jumbo lump crab cakes made a textural wonderland by tomatillo-poblano cream and jicama-tortilla slaw, and (for blue cheese fans) a freshly-fried order of perfect potato chips doused with creamy-crumbly Maytag blue. The best soup is the grilled chicken masa, a bit like Tex-Mex “tortilla soup” that’s died and gone to heaven, while the single best salad wanders far from Texas barbecue. It features red chili-seared ahi tuna, with rice noodles and a heat-infused Thai vinaigrette.

Happily, desserts at Jasper’s come as “minis,” not so much so you can eat less as so you can eat more of them. Customer favorites based on childhood memories include the banana parfait with homemade “Nilla” wafers (the pudding whipped till air-light, garnished with banana slices and a sprinkle of crushed vanilla wafers), the Rocky Road ice cream sandwich with chocolate and caramel sauces and “gooey marshmallow cream,” and Rick’s Rockin’ Chocolate Cake. Rathbun is threatening to work up a new dessert based on those old-time campfire s’mores. After tasting all that’s come before, we’ve decided to take him very seriously.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR JAN. 5

A NEW YEAR FOR STONE CRAB
One of the world’s most interesting seafoods used to be available only in the “Caribbean” tip of the United States, a zone stretching south from Miami Beach through the Florida Keys. Today, thanks to intrepid chefs like Trevor White of Oceanaire Seafood, stone crabs can be an annual celebration when they come into their season. Trevor joins us for a stone crab tasting and talk in our studio.

A FULL YEAR FOR A WINE DIVE
It’s been about 12 months since Max’s Wine Dive, combining downhome comfort foods in large portions with quirky, well-chosen wines (hopefully in large portions as well) became the latest dining darling of Washington Avenue. With some fresh ideas and a brand-new chef in its very open kitchen, Max’s joins us in force to celebrate its first birthday.

HOW SWEET IT IS
As part of our new promotional relationship with Houston’s Health and Fitness Magazine, we have their latest “healthy chef” on the show once a month to talk about what makes his or her food arguably healthy. Not every dish on the menu, in most cases – but some. Our goal, including this week with a chef from Sweet Tomatoes, is to slowly improve our own eating habits without ever losing the excitement and enjoyment of terrific food and wine.

NOT-SO-PLAIN JANE
Jane Weiner is a bit of a local treasure. Long admired by the dance community for her innovative choreography at her Hope Stone dance company, she has become even better known for building her ensemble as an ongoing project devoted to inner-city children. At Hope Stone, in other words, dance is never just for dance’s sake. Jane joins us to talk about her group’s purpose and upcoming performance.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
PHEASANT GRANDMERE

2 pheasant
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
½ cup flour
¼ cup butter
½ cup vegetable oil
8 slices bacon, coarsely cut
12 large mushrooms cut in quarters
1 cup light red wine
2 medium size potatoes, boiled, peeled and cut into ⅛ inch cubes
½ cup pearl onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

With a sharp knife remove the four breasts and legs from the two guinea hens. Pull off the skin and discard. Separate the thighs from the drumstick. (The drumstick can be used for soup). With a mallet pound the breasts and thighs lightly, season with salt and dust with flour. In a frying pan heat the oil and sauté the guinea hens over high heat for four minute on each side until golden brown.

Discard the oil, add the butter and sauté for another few minutes. Add bacon and mushrooms and sauté a few minutes longer, until bacon is cooked but not crisp. Add wine, potatoes, and onions. Cover and simmer slowly for 25 minutes. Place the birds on a heated platter, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve with seasonal vegetables of your choice. Serves 4.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR DEC. 29

This week’s Delicious Mischief comes to you from our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

A COCKTAIL WITH MANY TALES
Even in Washington, a place with more than a few secrets and quite a few people willing to share them for love or money, the Round Robin Bar at the old Willard Hotel has to take the cake. Or at least, take the cocktail. In recent years expensively and luxuriantly renovated as an Inter-Continental, the hotel nonetheless clings to its history about a block away from the White House from before the Civil War. Head bartender Jim Hewes hasn’t been here quite that long, but he sits down with us in the Round Robin for a drink and a chat about the alcohol that has fueled 150 years of American history.

COOKING RENAISSANCE
No one in Washington seems more aware than Neall Bailey of the dining renaissance the nation’s capital has enjoyed over the past 20 years. Long a South-Meets-Midwest meat-and-potatoes kind of town, Washington has finally embraced the embassies along its famed Embassy Row to serve food and open restaurants from every nook and cranny of the globe. As executive chef at the Willard Inter-Continental, Neall competes with such places for oohs and ahs nightly – in the hotel’s restaurants, its more casual cafes, and its busy catering calendar.

CHEF WITH A PASSION
Some years ago, Jeff Tunks was merely another great chef. Most familiar to Houstonians from the meals he cooked at the ritzy Windsor Court Hotel’s Grill Room in New Orleans, Jeff disappeared from the Gulf Coast’s radar for a while – until he came right back at us, with an eatery called DC Coast in Washington. With that place, Jeff and his two partners in a company called Passion Food started a process that would also give the world Asian food at Ten Penh, Hispanic New World food at Ceiba and, just recently, south Louisiana food at Acadiana. We taste and talk with Jeff about his journey.

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT
David Guas left his hometown of New Orleans to follow his mentor Jeff Tunks to the nation’s capital. Each of the four restaurants Jeff and his partners at Passion Food have opened so far have opened featuring David’s desserts. The only funny part of that is that this whole “pastry chef thing” happened by accident, as most creations in the kitchen do anyway. Now David sits down with us to talk about his brand-new life as a caterer and restaurant consultant. And if your place simply needs some new killer desserts, we imagine he’d be more than happy to oblige.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
TRES LECHES

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces evaporated milk

Topping:
¾ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, mixing until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool. Pierce the cake with a fork in about 10 places. In a bowl, combine the milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk and pour over the cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. To make the topping, whip together all ingredients until thick and spread over the top of the chilled cake. Serves 6-8.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR DEC. 22

Today’s Delicious Mischief comes to you from our state’s capital, Austin, recently improved immeasurably by the opening of three Spec’s stores.

A CHEF’S NEW SEASON
Every so many years, at a luxury hotel like the downtown Four Seasons towering above Austin’s Town Lake, it’s simply time for a change. That’s what the powers-that-be decided here recently. That’s what they put their money behind. And that’s what they entrusted to German-born executive chef Elmar Prambs – who has embraced more than a few such changes in his two-plus decades at the Austin property. For our money, the versatile new space called Trio is the hotel’s finest “fine dining” effort yet.

MORE CHANGE AMID CONTINUITY
In recent years, one of the big reasons people came to Austin from elsewhere to eat was the Driskill Grill, stationed at the heart of the history-laden Driskill Hotel. The executive chef for much of this time was David Bull, landing his smiling face on the cover of Food and Wine for his creative use of Texas ingredients and his spirited updates on that first generation of “New Texas Cuisine” – Robert Del Grande, Dean Fearing and Stephan Pyles. We sit down for a tasting with new Driskill Grill chef Josh Watkins, to learn (among others good things) that he was doing lots of cooking and creating in Bull’s kitchen all along.

BARBECUE MOVIN’ ON UP
It’s part of a trend we’re seeing in all the major cities of Texas: traditional Lone Star barbecue treated with respect but also lifted from its casual nature by the use of fresh ingredients, imaginative sauces and a rainbow of meat-friendly appetizers, side dishes and desserts. Some folks call this “fancy barbecue,” and Lou Lambert in Austin’s born-again East End doesn’t mind that one bit. We sit down with Lou at Lambert’s to talk carefully about definitions. Still, with Lou’s background on a West Texas ranch, no one is going to “define” barbecue as anything but his native cuisine.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
SMOKED SAUSAGE QUESO

3/4 pound Texas smoked sausage
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup finely chopped red onion
½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
3 cups heavy cream
2 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack
2 ½ cups shredded Pepper Jack
2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
½ cup chopped green onions
Tortilla chips

In a food processor, pulse the sausage into a fine crumble. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and brown the sausage over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, stirring until caramelized, 4-5 minutes. Add the cream, reduce heat to medium and whisk to incorporate. Gradually add in the cheese, stirring until melted and incorporated. Thicken with the dissolved cornstarch. Garnish with green onion. Serve in a bowl with tortilla chops. Serves 10-12.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR DEC. 15

NEW STEAK IN TOWN
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to your old favorite steakhouse, whatever it might be, along comes Del Frisco’s Double Eagle to try and lure your loyalty away. The latest address in the Galleria’s already-glistening Restaurant Row, Del Frisco’s was born in New Orleans 25 years ago but grew only after it threw in its lot with Dallas and the same people who gave us Sullivan’s. The new, huge and kaleidoscopic Houston location joins others in fun places like Las Vegas and Orlando. GM Arthur Mooradian will surely try to convince us that his place is the most fun of all.

AND… NEW SEAFOOD IN TOWN TOO
Houston, we try to remind ourselves, is positioned more or less on the Gulf of Mexico, and only far enough away from the waves to comfort us during hurricane season. But culturally, this is the Gulf Coast, a geography shared with seafood-loving states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. If the location on Montrose were still O’Rourke’s Steakhouse, we probably wouldn’t have them on with Del Frisco’s. As it is, with Danton’s Gulf Coast Seafood joining us in studio, we’ll be able to taste from all the major food groups – and let you join the fun.

‘HIWI’ FOR THE HOLIDAYS
The two guys behind the “Houston. It’s Worth It” marketing campaign have caught a lot of flak over the years, especially from the companies paid big bucks to bring tourists, conventions and businesses to our city. They have prevailed, however, and even won praise from Mayor Bill White for their quirky, honest and “non-promotional” approach to promoting Houston. The campaign, predictably telescoped to HIWI, has inspired first a photography show and now a photography book, filled with images of Houston from you and me. And, it’s just in time for holiday shopping!

A WEE DRAM OF SCOTCH
We always enjoy instruction in the art of enjoying single-malt Scotch – especially when the lesson is delivered by a bona fide Master of Wine. That’s M.W. to you and me. And Lorne Mackillop is precisely that, applying his deep understanding of the grape along with his work as a master blender for the Scotch whisky known as Tomintoul to helping us better understand. As with any art form, many variables come into play and require many separate but related decisions on the part of the blend. Mackillop will tell us all about it in today’s Grape & Grain segment.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
SHINER BOCK BARBECUED CABRITO

1 (5-6 pound) goat hind quarter, cleaned
½ cup prepared mustard
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
½ cup chopped cilantro
½ cup lemon pepper seasoning
½ cup chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup butter
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 lemons, quartered
2 limes, quartered
1 bottle Shiner Bock beer
2 cups vegetable oil
½ cup Worcestershire sauce

Rub the coat completely with the mustard. Combine the jalapenos and cilantro with seasonings in a large sealable plastic bag and place meat in the bag, turning to cover with seasonings. Close the bag and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, melt the butter in a saucepan and cook the onions and garlic in a large saucepan until caramelized. Add the lemons, limes and beer. When the foam subsides, stir in the oil and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for about 25 minutes.

Prepare the grill for indirect cooking, with soaked mesquite chips for smoke. Remove the meat from the marinade and place directly on the grill and smoke for 2-3 hours, basting regularly with the sauce. When the goat’s internal temperature reaches 155 degrees, wrap it in foil and return to the grill until the internal temperature reaches 185 degrees. Remove from the grill and let meat rest for 20 meats before carving. Serve pieces on a platter with barbecue sauce on the side. Serves 6-8.

OUR REVIEW OF DEL FRISCO'S DOUBLE EAGLE

You just don’t see many double eagles anymore – unless you frequent cafes favored by extremely old Russian royalists waiting for the Romanovs, like the Old South, to rise again. The double eagle was a symbol of a European royalty both genteel and intermarried, before World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution brought that world crashing down around their heads.

As we see clearly at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, the latest entry in Houston’s upscale carnivore wars, royalty loved nothing better than watching other people work. At this sparkling, two-story palace in the Galleria’s growing Restaurant Row, this is accomplished by having the kitchen downstairs and the dining room up – not the best idea for your own house but a fine notion for watching waiters slog plates full and then empty up and down a wide, thoroughly regal staircase. In another doff of the hat to royalty, Del Frisco’s subscribes to a style of service called “swarm,” in which any waiter near enough to help at your table is expected to. The result for diners is feeling pampered and privileged, as though at your manor surrounded by lots of servants. The result is feeling, well, royal.

How Del Frisco’s got to this point is as an odd story, even by restaurant standards. The first Del Frisco’s opened in New Orleans in the early 1980s. Despite some success there, we imagine it ran up against the fact that New Orleans had room in its heart for only one local steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris. As a result, after several years, the place gave up on the Crescent City (as homebase, anyway) and decamped for Dallas – a place with a bigger heart, thicker wallets and a greater sense of dining curiosity. Nothing is worse for restaurant diversity, after all, than too much customer loyalty. Del Frisco’s flourished and flirted, as people, places and things tend to do in Texas, finally arriving at a liaison with Sullivan’s that allowed it to “marry money.” As a result, there are now Double Eagles going gangbusters in dining and convention destinations like Las Vegas, Orlando and New York City. And now… Houston.

There is, without a doubt, a certain sameness in what each major steakhouse can do, whether it’s national chains like Del Frisco’s, Fleming’s or Ruth’s Chris, or proud local upstarts like Pappas Bros., Vic and Anthony’s or Perry’s. USDA Prime steak is a great start, built out with the now-mandatory seafood, plus indulgent and hopefully varied appetizers and side dishes, plus decadent, usually gargantuan desserts. It’s not their fault so many steakhouse menus look alike – it’s ours. We know what we want when we go, more than with most other restaurant concepts. If it wants to win a place in our rotation, a new place in town had better serve what we want.

In some places, appetizers represent the kitchen’s only chance to get wild and crazy. At Del Frisco’s, starters couldn’t be more traditional, but they are wonderful. Shrimp cocktail and New Orleans-style shrimp remoulade (the first of several references to Del Frisco’s long-ago hometown) are first-rate but blown away by the same jumbo shrimp simply marinated Italian-style in olive oil, garlic and onion. Speaking of onion, the rings are thick and lightly batter-fried, and deliriously pumped up with flavor. For soup lovers, the lightly creamed seafood broth is better than the New Orleans turtle. And for salad lovers, there’s a nifty iceberg wedge with homemade blue cheese, or a less fattening tomato and sweet onion that’s as satisfying as it is sprightly. Everything, of course, comes in large amounts on even larger plates, so be prepared to share. Personally, we don’t think non-sharers (you know who you are) should be allowed to dine out anyway.

Del Frisco’s is a steakhouse, and that means it had better serve great steaks. It does, though the art and science of doing so has made that achievement more commonplace now than ever before. Buy prime meat is the start of the mantra, then cook it in high-tech, high-heat broilers that no home chef could afford in a million years, then serve it with panache on large platters with very large knives. Del Frisco’s does that. In the Panache Dept., it offers several cuts familiar with the bone out with the bone in. For all the predictable jokes about eating like Fred Flintstone, cooking meat bone-in is a wonderful play for maximum flavor, even more than it’s a bit of tableside theatrics. We like the bone-in ribeye, strip or porterhouse best, but we’re sure the anti-chew brigade who prefer filet mignon will be happy at Del Frisco’s too.

Lobsters are of the Australian cold-water variety, thick and succulent tails broiled just until a bit caramelized on top. The halibut with citrus vinaigrette is a seafood winner, along with two thick medallions of sushi-grade tuna offered with the perfect interplay of sweetish soy and tiger-stripes of pungent wasabi mayonnaise.

There are more side dishes offered here than the law ought to allow, so just dig in and order your favorites from childhood. In addition to some great (huge, naturally) baked potatoes for sprinkling with Del Frisco’s apple-smoked bacon, get at least the creamed spinach and the incredible creamed white corn. You’re allowed onion rings at this point only if you didn’t have them as your appetizer. Since by now there’s never any room for dessert, have some anyway and cart the rest home. Best bets are the lemon “dauberge” cake (lemon pound cake meets the French New Orleans favorite) and the whipped, air-filled cheesecake with strawberry sauce.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR 12-8

ITALIAN CAN BE HEALTHY
On this week’s show, we launch a new segment created with the editors of Houston Health & Fitness Magazine and devoted to the secrets of “healthy chefs” all over town. We start the monthly series with Anthony Russo of New York Pizzeria, who shares some of the ways his Italian cuisine is not only one of the world’s most ancient but one of the world’s most life-giving. We agree already, Anthony, but we can’t wait to taste the samples you bring to help make your point. Health & Fitness editor Rod Evans joins the fun.

THE WINE SERENADE
Carlo Cignozzi wanted the vines that produce his wonderful, deep-ruby Il Paradiso di Frassina wines in Tuscany to be healthy. And what better way, he figured, to keep a living thing healthy than to play lovely music for it? In the beginning, he played the accordion in his vineyards, but in moré recent years, first-rate sound technology has rescued him from his vine-side vaudeville act. As Carlo explains (and his wife translates), the Brunello vines of Il Paradiso have not only been carefully crafted but lovingly serenaded with Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi and Scarlatti.

LOOKING FOR GOOD SPACE
In keeping with this show’s theme – talking with one healthy chef and then with the maker of healthy wines – we couldn’t resist also inviting two of the healthiest people we know, pilates master Melody Morton of The Good Space and our yoga instructor Selise Stewart. Both women are remarkable since both have worked in terrific restaurants (Selise as a chef) - and both now manage to be healthy while continuing to enjoy the very best in food and wine. As the holidays make ye olde clothes fit tighter by the day, we ask them in desperation for their secret.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
HONEY-JALAPENO PARTY DIP

1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 ½ teaspoons seeded and minced jalapenos
4 teaspoons honey
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire
¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Whisk the mayonnaise with the remaining ingredients, cover and refrigerate. Serve with tortilla chips.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR DEC. 1

CORK OR NO CORK
Wine lovers everywhere love to pop the cork. But what was once a given of the industry is now more of a question, with traditionalists standing tall for the tradition but a host a growing (and surprising) voices sounding off for artificial corks as well as what we all once dismissed as “screw caps.” Author George Taber, who once chronicled another wine revolution – California’s victory over French wines in 1976 – joins us to talk about his new book. “To Cork or Not to Cork” gives all the arguments for all the sides, in a really fascinating way.

HOP IN THE DIRECTION OF SCOTCH
In the past few months, we’ve been lucky enough to sit down with several representatives of Scotch whiskey distillers and learn more about their revered product – and especially those examples of the tradition now known as “single malt.” We’ve been known to partake happily of blended whiskies from Scotland, so all the better when we sit down for a tasting with our new best from Macallan. We’ll surely taste again how soil, climate and craft affect the taste of a fine Scotch, just as they do a fine wine.

THEATER WITH A MESSAGE
Here, just by chance, is another segment inspired by Scotland. A theater troupe born on that northernmost of British Isles has recently spun off an outlet right here in Houston – and when Acting Up puts on a show, its actors aren’t just hoping for a round of applause. Acting Up does theater with a message in mind, one usually having to do with on-the-job safety, and it puts its talents in service to oilfield companies and others who need to hear it. We chat with the Scottish recruiter who set up the program, and the local actor chosen to make it real.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
WARM GERMAN POTATO SALAD

5 potatoes
½ pound bacon
1 large onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
½ teaspoon chopped fresh basil
½ cup bacon drippings
½ cup cider vinegar
½ cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Boil the potatoes in salted water until cooked, then peel and slice while still warm. Fry the bacon, drain and crumble. Add the ½ cup bacon drippings to the pan. Saute the onion, celery, tarragon and basil for 5 minutes, then stir in the vinegar and water. Bring to a boil. Add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, celery seed and pepper. Combine the dressing with the potatoes and serve warm. Serves 8.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR NOV. 24

MOTHER OF MEXICAN CUISINE
For 35 years, Carmen (Titita) Ramirez Degollado has been cooking the food of her native Veracruz in her restaurant in Mexico City. Recently, during the Star Chefs International Congress in New York City, we caught up with Carmen and expressed to her our love of Mexican cooking. Of course, when we say that, we generally mean the Tex-Mex wonders we find here in Houston. So in the course of our interview from New York, we explore the many-splendored differences between Mexico City, Veracruz and the borderlands that have given our world so much flavor.

NOT YOUR GRANDMA’S HAM AND CHEESE
You might think you know all you need to know about prosciutto di Parma and the same city’s globally famous cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, but that’s hardly what Fabio Trabocchi would say. The chef, who recently uprooted his career from the Washington, D.C. area to the Big Apple, is also the author of a cookbook celebrating the cuisine of his own native region, Le Marche. Not as well-known as Tuscany or Umbria in the north or Calabria or Sicily in the south, Le Marche has inspired a cooking demo of the most intriguing ham and cheese dish we’ve ever tasted. Fabio is here to tell us all about it.

MEANWHILE, A CHEF FROM TEXAS
Of course, to close out a show from New York City, we had to find someone wonderful from Texas. And thato we did – longtime New Southwestern pioneer Stephan Pyles. Along with Houston’s own Robert del Grande of Café Annie and Dean Fearing of the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Stephan provided a seriousness and credibility that a cuisine based on chicken fried steak and a handful of chile peppers had long lacked. We touch base with Stephan about the state of Texas fine dining – and about his current project in Dallas, a place called… Stephan Pyles.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
SALAD GREENS WITH PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA
AND WARM BALSAMIC DRESSING

Few of us are capable (or interested) enough to make Chef Fabio Trabochhi’s version of ham and cheese, a kind of cheese ice cream with ground prosciutto sprinkled on top like nuts. Here’s a much simpler to prepare and enjoy these two classic products from Parma.

6 cups mixed salad greens, torn in bite-size pieces
3 ounces thinly sliced Prosciutto di Parma cut in wide strips (about 1 cup), divided
3/4 cup lightly packed Parmigiano Reggiano shavings (about 1-1/2 ounces), divided
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, divided
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, divided
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 cup bottled balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

In a large bowl, toss the greens with half the Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, pine nuts, red onion and all of the basil. Pour the balsamic dressing into a microwavable cup and heat just until warm, about 30 seconds; pour over salad and toss gently. Divide salad among four plates. Garnish with remaining Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, pine nuts and onion rings. Serves 4.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR NOV. 17

THOUGHTS ON STAR CHEFS
Recently, Delicious Mischief traveled to New York City – to a new highrise overlooking the site of the former World Trade Center, in fact – for an annual event called the Star Chefs Congress. Though at times no more impactful than the Congress in Washington, this event offered a chance to record several shows for you featuring chefs whose reputations transcend the ones we know in Houston. It also was a great chance to check out dishes and ingredients and ideas destined to turn up on all our plates very soon, since that’s what all the chefs in attendance were talking about.

WINES FROM BRAZIL
It’s a safe statement that these days the wines we find on the shelves of Spec’s hail from countries we didn’t even knew produced wine a mere generation ago. That doesn’t mean the wine operations there are “new,” since some have histories going back a century or more. But our awareness of them is new. On this week’s Grape & Grain segment, we sit down for a tasting in New York City with two leading wine people from Brazil to tell us all the whys and wherefores – one a representative of the industry itself, the other a member of the Miolo family that brought its Italian winemaking heritage to this brave new world.

THE ART OF THE DEAL
Most people who talk about opening a restaurant assume they’ll make a small fortune doing it. And, to quote the old joke, unless you’re starting with a large fortune, that’s highly unlikely. Restaurant ownership is a complicated and difficult way to make a few bucks, even though most of the chefs attending the StarChefs Congress were hoping for their own place someday. In our final segment, we talk seriously with a globetrotting consultant named Adam Block, who has put together a lot of those “celeb chef” restaurant deals that have transformed Las Vegas and virtually everywhere else.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
APPLE-BRINED SMOKED TURKEY

1 ¾ quarters apple juice
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
3 quarts water
3 Texas oranges, quartered
6 slices fresh ginger
15 whole cloves
5 bay leaves
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (14-pound) turkey, cleaned
¼ cup olive oil

Bring the apple juice, brown sugar and salt to a boil. Dissolve the sugar, cook for 1 minute and remove from heat. Let mixture cool to room temperature. In a large (5-gallon) container, combine the water, oranges, ginger, cloves, bay leaves and garlic. Stir in the apple juice mixture. Submerge the turkey in this apple “brine,” cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. (Use heavy weight to keep turkey submerged, if necessary.)

Set up your grill for indirect cooking using soaked wood chips for smoke. Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry. Tie the legs together with string. Lightly brush the turkey with olive oil. Set on a rack inside a heavy foil pan and cook over medium heat until wings are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Wrap the wings in foil to prevent them from burning. Continue roasting until the breasts are golden brown, about 1 hour. Cover entire turkey with foil and cook until the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, or the internal temperature reaches about 180 degrees. Estimate: 12-14 minutes per pound. Transfer turkey wrapped in foil to a cutting board and let meat rest for 20 minutes before carving. Use the pan drippings to make a gravy, if desired. Serves 8-10.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR NOV. 10

ROOM TO GROW AT LA VISTA
Seems like just a few short years ago, the Houston eatery called La Vista was known as “that place you bring you own wine” – one of the few, in fact, that didn’t punish you for doing so with exorbitant “corkage fees.” These days, not only is owner Greg Gordon perfectly happy to sell you “his” wines if you prefer, and not only has he sprouted a new second location, and not only has he started serving lunch instead of dinner-only – he has one of those wine-themed private dining rooms that his fans are lining up to reserve.

NEVER TOO MUCH PIZZA
That’s our opinion, and it seems to be Anthony Russo’s opinion as well. While most things wouldn’t get very far in Houston on the strength of mentioning “New York” in their name – picture that wonder we’d call “New York Barbecue,” for instance – the tag definitely works for pizza. The style of pizza formed in Little Italy there as much as a century ago has become the standard for pizza in America. Sorry, Chicago. And Russo is now opening his 20th location of his New York Pizzeria in Houston to prove it.

A YEAR AT SEA
When the Oceanaire Seafood Room opened a year ago in the Galleria’s a’borning Restaurant Row, looking for all the world like an elegant 1930s ocean liner, it was easy enough to make jokes about a seafood restaurant company based far inland in Minneapolis. But thanks to the hard work of executive chef Trevor White, we here on the seafood-rich Gulf Coast have learned in the past 12 months to take Oceanaire very seriously. Trevor joins us in the studio to tell us all about the things he’s learned from us.

THAT OLE ‘GYPSY’ SPIRIT
In her lifetime, Gypsy Rose Lee became an American cultural icon – not bad for someone who was sort of a stripper. Out of her life filled with flash and dazzle came at least one musical filled with much the same, and that is the latest production at the Hobby Center from the ever-ambitious Masquerade Theatre. On today’s show, we’ll discuss the joys of “Gypsy” with artistic director Phillip Duggins and one of the show‘s stars, the incessantly dazzling Rebekah Dahl. We asked them to maybe send us a stripper, but then decided: No, that’s that other guy’s radio show.

THUNDER HEART BISON FAJITAS

1 pound Texas bison skirt or flank steak
Juice of 3 limes
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 large onion, sliced
1 large green bell pepper, sliced
1 large tomato, chopped
Prepared guacamole
Prepared sour cream
Prepared tomato salsa
4 corn or flour tortillas, warmed

Using a mallet, pound the meat to about ½ inch thick, then place in a plastic bag with the lime juice, salt, garlic powder, chili powder and black pepper. Seal bag and marinate in the refrigerator about 8 hours. When ready to grill, caramelized the onion and bell pepper slices in a pan with a little olive oil. Remove the meat from the marinade and grill over mesquite goals to about medium rare, 2-3 minutes per side. Thinly slice the meat. Serve the bison slices atop the caramelized onion and bell pepper, with chopped tomato, guacamole, sour cream, salsa and warm tortillas on the side. Serves 6-8.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR NOV. 3

A TIME-FREE ZONE
The Texas Renaissance Festival may have a specific period in its name, but that doesn’t keep employees and casual celebrants from tiptoeing through about 500 years of extremely vague history. Still, one guy at the festival who tries NOT to is chef Charles Prince. As the man in charge of the bawdy King’s Feast at the RenFest each year, Prince spends a good deal of his time researching which foods and drinks were enjoyed when. It’s only after they’ve passed historical muster that this chef lets himself (and his guests) start having fun with them.

BEER LOVERS DELIGHT
At any Renaissance festival, you’d expect something billed as a “beer tasting” to get pretty wild, in a room filled with ham-fisted lords and cleavage-ridden ladies knocking back brews less than likely to be distinguished. But after a recent rethinking, this is no longer the case. The daily beer tasting actually supplies attendees with solid information on beer itself – you know, yeast for fermentation, malts and hops, that sort of thing – as it travels through fascinating different brews from England, Wales, Belgium and Germany. We do the tasting ourselves in today’s Grape & Grain segment.

IN THE MARKET FOR A MEAL
First and foremost, the Texas Renaissance Festival is a festival, and that points us toward row after row of food and drink vendors. In today’s show, we wander about tasting things – one of our favorite activities on earth – and settle in to chat with a pair of cooks who’ve parlayed their cooking into an annual gig. Ligia Giles, known as the Empanada Lady, has been hawking her delicious Latin-flavored wares here for 31 years, while relative newcomer Rhonni DuBose has turned her Queen’s Pantry into THE place for breakfast on the colorful fairgrounds near Plantersville.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
THE KING’S SALT-CRUSTED PRIME RIB

4 pounds beef prime ribeye
¼ cup chopped garlic
½ cup kosher salt
4 tablespoons fresh or dried rosemary
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 ounce extra-virgin olive oil

Dry the roast completely with a paper towels. Combine salt crust ingredients then rub a few tablespoons. of this mixture into the surface of the roast. Place roast on a wire rack in a 2 inch deep roasting pan. Cover roast with the remaining crust mixture on top and sides of the piece try to spread evenly and leave the bottom bare of the crust. Roast in oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. the garlic should brown a bit. Reduce oven temperature to 300 F and roast until the roast reaches an internal temperature of 125 F. about and 1 ½ hours on a 4-5 Lb roast about a half of a prime rib. Larger roast of 8-12 Lb. takes about 1-hour more. Allow to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Chef Charles Prince says: “The roasting of beef is a simple process that we tend to make difficult with formulas for cooking times that many times result in the roast being over cooked. Internal temperature is the best guide. The crusting is added before cooking. If you leave the crust on overnight the salt will begin to “corn” as in corned beef - the flesh takes on a pink hue from the salt. This can be a good or bad thing. It makes the finished product more forgiving in the color for presentation. The drawback if left overnight is that even if overcooked it will keep a pink color. Patrons who prefer their meat ‘well done,’ with no pink color, can be a problem.”

SHOW & RECIPE FOR OCT. 27

PIZZAS FROM CALIFORNIA
One night about 20 years ago, we found ourselves hungry in Beverly Hills – and wandered into the very first California Pizza Kitchen. Loosely inspired by the kinds of things Wolfgang Puck and his ilk were doing – putting anything and everything on a pizza – CPK grew to a powerful national restaurant presence, with a frozen pizza line in your supermarket. For the recent opening of CPK in River Oaks, we sat down with founders Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfeld to talk about the whys and wherefores of great pizza.

BACK ON THE BUS
Well, OK, more like a luxury RV, actually. That’s what Fred Noe of Jim Beam and its higher-end bourbon brethren was doing when he poured through Houston recently. He was celebrating National Bourbon Month, naturally, but also paying homage to the fact that Texans buy more of his best stuff than anybody else in America. With a bit of a tasting, as is our habit in the Grape & Grain segment, we get Fred to tell us all about what makes a great bourbon – and just why bourbon from his neck of the woods in Kentucky is the Great American Spirit.

“INTER” AND SIGN IN, PLEASE
Most people know William Shakespeare wrote some really famous plays, and quite a few people have heard whisperings that maybe things were not always what they seemed – that maybe somebody else wrote those plays, etc. Yet not too many of us know or understand The Bard well enough to concoct a “Da Vinci Code”-style thriller around the mysteries – called “secrets” by the marketing department, of course - that have attached themselves to Hamlet, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and the rest. Our final guest today is the author of the terrific new mystery “Interred With Their Bones.”

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
SMOKED SAUSAGE QUESO

3/4 pound Texas smoked sausage
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup finely chopped red onion
½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
3 cups heavy cream
2 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack
2 ½ cups shredded Pepper Jack
2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
½ cup chopped green onions
Tortilla chips

In a food processor, pulse the sausage into a fine crumble. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and brown the sausage over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, stirring until caramelized, 4-5 minutes. Add the cream, reduce heat to medium and whisk to incorporate. Gradually add in the cheese, stirring until melted and incorporated. Thicken with the dissolved cornstarch. Garnish with green onion. Serve in a bowl with tortilla chops. Serves 10-12.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR OCT. 20

COWBOY MAGIC WITH BEEF
In cowboy-crazed Abilene (in fact, in the tiny village of Buffalo Gap just outside it), Tom Perini has been cooking true to his roots as long as anybody can remember. And in addition to his destination Perini Ranch Steakhouse – a “real joint,” he calls it - Tom has a peculiar habit of catering dinner parties as far away as Washington and even in Europe. We sit down with this master of the modern chuckwagon and hear all about what it takes to cook Texas food both downhome and a few thousand miles removed from it.

NEW BOOK OF VINEYARD CUISINE
Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo have been two of the icons of the Texas wine industry from the beginning. Their Messina Hof label (the name combines their family hometowns in Sicily and Germany) is likely to show up in any setting that welcomes wine from the Lone Star State – and to hear Paul and Merrill tell it, there’s more such settings all the time. In today’s Grape and Grain segment, they report not only on the state of Texas wines but on their brand-new cookbook from Bright Sky Press.

ONLY IN AMERICA
Around Texas towns like Albany and Abilene, there is the standard-issue presumption of a rugged all-Americanism going back generations. Indeed, several local ranch family histories show precisely that. But one of the area’s most beloved restaurant families actually left Iran when the Ayatollah-types took over and started on the long road to – well, West Texas. Today, two generations of the Esfandiarys cook and serve some of the best chicken fried steak and all its culinary kin you’ll ever lift to your lips.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipes…
BRISKET-STUFFED 1015 ONIONS

10 large Texas 1015 onions
1 pound smoked beef brisket, shredded
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sage
½ teaspoon ground red pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs

Peel the onions and boil in salted water about 10 minutes, then drain reserving the water. Cut the centers from the onions to create shells. Heat the shredded brisket in a sauté pan, adding the garlic and seasonings. Stir over medium heat about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the bread crumbs. Spoon the brisket stuffing into the onions and set in a shallow baking dish. Add enough of the reserved onion water to cover the bottom of the dish. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until onions are tender, about 45 minutes. Serves 10.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR OCT. 13

Delicious Mischief is broadcasting this week from New Orleans…

GALATOIRE’S IN A NEW AGE
In all of tradition-heavy New Orleans, there is perhaps no other restaurant so tradition-heavy, from its recipes to its service style to its table-visiting clientele, as Galatoire’s in the French Quarter. But in the two-plus years since Hurricane Katrina, even an institution like Galatoire’s has been forced to reinvent itself.

MEMORIES OF GRAND ISLE
For many who grew up in New Orleans, especially in those simpler times between the end of World War II and the Kennedy assassination, there are few memories as warm as those of summers at Grand Isle. Restaurateur Joel Dondis has made that the name of his newest eatery, and he has adapted and adopted the recipes to make the nostalgia stick.

TROPICAL LATITUDES
Chef Dominique Macquet grew up in the tropics – the isle of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. So a few years back, when he felt the need for fresh inspiration at his French Quarter restaurant called Dominique’s, he found it in memories of blue water and white sand. His new cookbook “Dominique’s Tropical Latitudes” is all about looking back in order to move forward.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
DOMINIQUE’S LEMONGRASS PANNA COTTA
WITH PASSION FRUIT PUREE

1 quart heavy cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
½ cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
2-3 stalks lemongrass
4-5 sheets unflavored gelatin
½ cup prepared passion fruit puree

Lemon Filling:
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ¾ sticks unsalted butter
8 egg yolks, beaten
1/3 cup cornstarch

Bring the cream and milk to a boil with the sugar, vanilla bean and lemongrass, then remove from heat and let flavors infuse for 1 hour. Bring back to a boil. Soften the relatin in 2 cups cool water and stir into the hot mixture until completely dissolved. Strain into a container with a pouring spout, and then pour into martini glasses. Refrigerate until set, 4-5 hours.

Meanwhile, make the Lemon Filling by heating ½ the sugar with all the lemon juice and butter until the butter melts. In a bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks with the cornstarch and remaining sugar. Add this to the mixture over heat, stirring continually until thickened. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator. Use to fill cleaned egg shells and serve alongside the panna cotta. Top the panna cotta with passion fruit puree. Serves 6.

OUR REVIEW OF VIN

Bayou Place in downtown Houston is very popular with film buffs, who often vote the Angelica their favorite set of screens. And the development sits in the middle of prime real estate for the performing arts, just about equidistant from the Alley, the Wortham, Jones Hall and the Hobby Center. Sadly, unless you count Hard Rock Café as your favorite dining destination, Bayou Place hasn’t rung many culinary bells lately. All that is in the process of changing, however, and we think the new restaurant and wine bar spelled Vin is a major part of the change.

If you want to pronounce Vin correctly, just pretend there’s an “e” at the end – for yes, it is pronounced “vine.” That’s a pretty cool name for a wine bar, unless people walk about all day rhyming it with “sin,” or more appropriately, with “zin.” Zinfandel is only one of many well-chosen and often-quirky wines sold by the bottle or, better still, by the glass at Vin. If you’re really in a hurry to make the start of a show, you might drop in for a glass of wine and one or two of the appetizers. The kitchen can react quickly to requests placed under deadline – and they’ll be honest if this or that dish can’t be done. On the other hand, get downtown early enough for a full dinner and you’ll have to park only once. You’ll find yourselves in a stylish, sexy, tending-toward-Asian dining room, gazing at a menu with more than its share of curiosities and surprises.

Tucked away within all the great bottles and Chef Jared Estes’ sprightly New American-with-splashes-of-Deep-South menu, Houston has a business reason to be proud of this place. The developers of Bayou Place are looking at Vin as a “test case” for their multi-use projects in other American downtowns. As Houston eats, therefore, so eats the nation. Based on one recent fly-by before a movie and then a full-bore, multi-course dinner experience, downtown America may await a splashy red-and-black evening-out at its very own Vin in the near future.

As though knowing there would be “fly-bys” on the way to this or that performance, Estes has served up an unusually long and varied list of appetizers, including some things that (based on similar chefs we know) are probably among his personal favorites. There’s a foie gras starter (not described in detail because it’s “today’s interpretation”) and another made with the current chef’s rage, pork belly. The later is a hot-sweet delight that’s chile-crusted then balanced with figs, dates and pistachios. Still, what we like best about Vin’s menu starts to crop as early as the appetizers: a passionate effort to incorporate comfort foods from the South among dishes that seem to hail resolutely from someplace resembling California.

Best bets from among these delightfully “upscale redneck” classics include shrimp and grits, the single most beloved dish of the Carolina Low Country, and a very nice quail – sitting there in all its Texas hunting-season glory but given twists by roasted sweet Walla Walla onions (try to get the Texas 10/15s, chef), gorgonzola and local honey comb. The list of must-try starters doesn’t stop there, though. Check out the glorious agnolotti – bigger, plumper versions of ravioli in a parmesan broth with thankfully-not-too-much black truffle oil – and the grilled (not batter-fried) calamari, taking the strange form of the Tuscan bread salad called panzanella. Lastly, you shouldn’t leave without the “Hot Pot,” a loving spin on those Chinese dumplings, in a kind of consommé with several crispy tempura shiitake lying about.

When it comes time for a main courses, seafood lovers might go with our recommendation: oat-crusted scallops with truffled corn orzo and what Estes is billing as “miso mostarda.” We have no idea what that name means here, but the addition of a pungent mustard sauce is as delicious as it is unexpected. The mandatory salmon comes creatively outfitted, from its oyster mushrooms to its Jerusalem artichokes to its light, mildly Cajunized tasso broth. Diners on a red meat-quest at Vin should go for either the filet, which tastes lightly smoked in addition to perfectly broiled, and sits beneath a smoked rock shrimp with a side of (enjoy the quotation marks) “mashed potatoes and gravy,” or perhaps the lamb strip loin. These last tender strips would be wonderful enough by themselves, but they’re even better sprinkled with Mexican cotija cheese and the crunch of pickled jicama.

On the night we went to Vin, there were six desserts available – and we did a tasting of all six, as can you. Dessert portions are smallish, perhaps an issue in side-of-cake-loving Houston; but the pleasures can be pretty intense. Our favorites included the unusual-sounding gingered strawberry and apricot goat cheese crisp (don’t argue, just enjoy) and the bittersweet chocolate and Grand Marnier “cobbler” with butter brittle. Some of the language seems invented to sell, but the tastes and textures of dessert at Vin are often marvelous. You know, maybe if you can’t make it in before your show, you can still swing by for dessert and a glass of wine after. It’s a thought!

SHOW & RECIPE FOR OCT. 6

DINNER WITH TEQUILA
When wine dinners started opening the door to “cognac dinners” and then Scotch or bourbon dinners, we knew the door would not be closing again. It was only a matter of time before the finer Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in our area started experimenting with tequila dinners. While hardly the first event of its kind, the upcoming dinner at Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen does allow us to taste tequilas again with our friend Carlos Camarena of El Tesoro. Sylvia should join us in the studio as well, to talk about pairing foods with top-shelf tequilas.

A HEALTHY FALL
With the start of autumn, we might actually get some cooler weather one of these days. But we’ve already seen the debut of another cultural and social season, and that means more dining out. We’ll be checking in, therefore, with our favorite healthy chef, Marcela Perez, to see what she’s got on the stove as an alternative to the buttery-creamy dishes our nights out tend to provide. And we’ll hear too, from fellow radio host Cleverley Stone and our friends at End Hunger Network, about Houston Restaurant Week. It’s a welcome reminder of the many who can’t even get enough to eat, even when we are eating too much.

CLASSIC FROM THE CELLAR
There’s a new food and wine event in town, this one pairing up not only some interesting wines but a colorful collection of local and national celebrity chefs, sommelier competitions, a farmers market and live music. We’ll hear all about the Houston Cellar Classic from chef Jonathan Jones of Max’s Wine Dive, who’s been known to serve us very large portions when the mood strikes him. We’re always happy to welcome another chance for Houstonians to eat and drink.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
CRAWFISH KACAL
Brennan’s of Houston

Sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ pound andouille or other spicy smoked sausage, sliced ¼-inch thick and cut into half-moons
2 pounds crawfish tail meat
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup brandy
½ cup whipping cream
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped tomato
1 pound angel hair pasta, cooked
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
Boiled whole crawfish for garnish

Prepare the sauce by heating the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, adding sausage and cooking until fat is rendered. Add crawfish rails and sauté 2-3 minutes, then add Creole seasoning and hot sauce, Worcestershire and brandy. Reduce heat to medium and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add cream and reduce until liquid is reduced by half. Reduce heat to medium-low and add butter a cube ot two at a time, stirring each addition to incorporate. Heat half the 6 tablespoons of butter in another large skillet. Saute the tomato, then stir in the pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the remaining butter. To serve, spiral the pasta (using a fork or tongs) into the center on individual bowls. Spoon the sauce around the pasta. Garnish with green onion and whole crawfish. Serves 6.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR SEPT. 29

OF COURSE IT’S GREEK TO ME
One of our favorite weekends of this or any other year, the first one in October, is right around the corner. For today’s show, we go into the kitchen with Houston’s own Greek community, perhaps even lending a hand in their Herculean effort to feed the multitudes during the annual Greek Festival. There is this notion going around that if you attend the wonderful fest filled with food, wine, music and art, you too can be Greek for the day. That sounds good, naturally, but we think it’s even better that our own very real Greek-Americans work hard all year to make this festival their gift to the community.

WINES FROM THE ANCIENTS
In honor of this year’s Greek Festival, we sit down for a tasting with Greek wine importer Konstantine Drougos. Most people who like wine can guess the ancient Greeks pioneered a lot of techniques for making the stuff 2,000 or even 3,000 years ago. On the other hand, says Konstantine, in recent years the reputation of wines from Greece has suffered from cheap imports and a lot of confusion with things like retsina and ouzo. Our guy is a man with a mission: share some of the best wines now being produced in Greece with a world unlikely to know they exist.

THE ROOM THAT FRED BUILT
Our friend Kevin Simon, who teaches courses in wine at the University of Houston’s hotel and restaurant management program, takes us into his building’s brand-new boardroom filled with wines you just don’t see very often. Thanks to the bequest of Houston attorney (and wine lover) Fred Parks, there’s a new meeting space available to the public, blending wines 50, 75 or even 100 years old with all the latest audio and video technology. We‘ll make it clear to Kevin, however, that lifting a glass may be about as technical as we are likely to get.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
COUSCOUS MARRAKESH

1 pound uncooked couscous
1 cup cold water
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon ground saffron
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup peanut oil
2 ½ pounds boneless lamb, cut in 2-inch cubes
2 quarts water
1 (3-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces
2 green bell peppers, cut in ½-inch strips
1 pound tomatoes, cut in 1-inch wedges
1 pound yellow squash, peeled and cut in 2-inch slices
12 ounces frozen string beans (regular cut)
1 cup chickpeas (garbanzos)
½ pound black raisins
Salt and black pepper
Parsley sprigs

Moisten the couscous in a 3-quart bowl with the 1 cup of water, to which 1 tablespoon of salt has been added. Stir up with a fork and allow to stand 10 minutes to swell. Spread the couscous out in a colander lined with cheese cloth (or in the top of a couscousiere). Place the colander over a pan that fits it and is half filled with water. Cover with aluminum foil and allow to steam for 10 minutes. In a 6-quart kettle (or bottom of couscousiere), sauté the onions, coriander, salt, crushed red pepper, saffron and cumin in the oil until soft but not brown. Add the lamb and 2 quarts water. Fit the colander (or top of couscousiere) with the steamed couscous over the meat, cover it with foil, and allow mixture to simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Add the chicken to the stew and continue cooking for 30 minutes longer. Stir the couscous from time to time to make sure the grains are separated. Add the carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, squash, string beans, chickpeas and raisins. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until vegetables are soft but still slightly crisp. Pour the couscous into a large (15- to 18-inch) round serving platter. Make a large hole in the center, pushing the couscous to the edge of platter. Arrange meat and vegetables attractively in center, pouring the sauce over all. Garnish with the parsley sprigs. Serves 8.

Note: A couscousiere is a large double boiler with holes in the bottom of the upper pot that allow its contents to steam. A couscousiere may be improvised by lining a metal colander with cheese cloth and placing the colander in a 6- or 8-quart pot so that the handles rest on the rim. A piece of heavy-duty foil can serve as a lid.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR SEPT. 22

A GROOVY KIND OF SUSHI
Lovers of sushi bars often feel quite at home in places they’ve never been – such is the traditional, almost classical nature of the sushi chef’s art. Still, and happily for those a little less sold on the whole idea, some sushi places go gunning for hip by creating new tastes and textures within the basic genre. RA Sushi in Highland Village would be one of Houston’s most likely sushi places to find something new – and Chef Jerry Jan joins us in studio to show exactly what intriguing creations he and his mates in the kitchen have recently added to the menu.

FROM HOUSTON TO BURGUNDY
Melba Allen was born in Galveston and grew up in Houston, neither place particularly likely to ever produce some of the world’s finest wines. That certainly can’t be said of the place she lives and works now, the legendary French wine region of Burgundy. During a visit to see her family and friends in Houston, Melba (now Melba Allen-Buillard) talks about the changes in life that have taken her from a modeling career to teaching “wine science” at a French university. She also shares details of a product she and her “oenologue” husband are marketing.

MIXING AND MATCHING ASIA
We have to admit an ongoing fascination with the very idea of “pan Asian” cuisine. Several restaurants talk about it, but a new place called Rattan actually puts the words in its name. Thank goodness, they’re not touting “fusion” as well, since there’s an idea who’s marketing moment has come and gone. The fusion of many cuisines goes on around the world, of course; it’s just not a saleable gimmick anymore. We speak with the owners of Rattan about exactly what they have in mind and in the kitchen.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
RAINBOW TOWER SALAD
Randy Chou, Café le Jadeite

Dressing:
2 tablespoons prepared apricot glaze
2 teaspoons hot mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup finely chopped mango
½ cup finely chopped avocado
½ cup finely chopped tomato

Prepare the dressing by whisking together all ingredients. Prepare the tower by setting a small cylinder mold on a plate and creating a bottom layer with about half the mango, followed by half the avocado and half the tomato. Gently press the layers down using the bottom of a cordial glass. Invert the tower onto a salad plate and generously spoon the dressing over the top and around the sides. Repeat for an additional salad. Serves 2.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR SEPT. 15

WHAT AM I BID FOR…?
There are wine dinners nearly every week around Houston, and some blessed weeks indulge in more than one. Still, it is a rarity when one of the city’s most innovative chefs teams up with the tradition-laden auction house called Sotheby’s to produce a great menu and a wine collection worthy of it. That’s what Chef Ryan Pera of 17 at the Hotel Alden joins us in the studio to talk about, both the wines that will be poured and the creative dishes he has come up with to showcase them.

RUNNING WITH WINE BOTTLES
The fact that Washington State produces some of America’s best wines shouldn’t be “new news” to anyone who’s been paying attention, but like every other wine region, Washington has its ups and downs – starting with the fact that everybody not there thinks only of Seattle and imagines the place rains all the time. Not so, says winemaker Kerry Norton of Covey Run: the main producing area is east of the mountains, away from the ocean, and likely as not to be dry. In today’s Grape & Grain segment, we taste our way through the wines Norton makes, learning every sip of the way.

WEEKEND OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE
Those listeners who enjoy both traditional ballet and contemporary “modern dance” must be aware we live in a city with much to offer. Between the big productions staged by Houston Ballet and the dozen or so smaller groups worthy of our attention, dance lovers are seldom all dressed up (or not) with no place to go. We chat with the principals involved in the upcoming Weekend of Contemporary Dance, a gathering place for creativity that culminates with free performances at Miller Outdoor Theater. The interview, like dance itself, should be lively.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
OPEN-FACED HOT MUFFALETTA

Olive Salad:
1 cup coarsely chopped, pitted, large green Greek olives
1 cup coarsely chopped queen size Manzanilla olives with pimentos
1 (15.5 ounce) jar Italian giardiniera vegetables, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon Roasted Garlic Puree
2 teaspoons capers, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 15-inch loaf French bread
¼ pound sliced Genoa salami
¾ pound sliced provolone cheese
¼ pound sliced baked ham
¼ pound sliced mortadella

Prepare the Olive Salad by combining all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before using. Slice French bread in half lengthwise. Lay open halves on a baking sheet and spread the tops with olive salad, using about 1 cup and reserving the remainder in the refrigerator. Divide the salami over the sandwiches, followed by half the cheese, the ham and the mortadella. Top with the remaining provolone. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil from the Olive Salad, if desired. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted, then broil for 2-3 minutes to turn the top golden brown. Slice each open-faced sandwich into 8 pieces and serve. Makes 16 pieces.

OUR REVIEW OF POLO'S SIGNATURE

Strategically positioned between River Oaks and Tanglewood, Post Oak Grill turned out to be quite the home run for Chef Polo Becerra. The Mexico City native poured ample flair into the mostly traditional cuisine there, but also never lost sight of his restaurant’s true mission as upscale watering hole and really classy pickup bar. When Post Oak Grill was having a good night, you could probably spot the decrease in recently and soon-to-be divorced traffic at the Palm.

Still, when Becerra decided to open a restaurant more devoted to food – and a newer, more youthful version of food at that – he was smart enough to gather the best help money could buy. To run the kitchen at what he called Polo’s Signature, he raided the kitchen at Mark’s and came away with Adam Puskorius as his executive chef. And to run the dining room, he lucked into the near-legendary Jon Paul, a household word among the well-heeled for his years at Brennan’s of Houston and especially at tony’s. The fact that Paul had recently extricated himself from an ill-fated entrepreneurial venture called Sabor on Montrose nailed the biblical adage that all things work for the good. Doing a bit of prospecting himself, Paul brought along his right-hand guy from tony’s, Cesar Ebora, to serve as wine manager.

It goes without saying that the phrase “New American Cuisine” is as meaningless as can be. Initially, it probably meant something – like when Jeremiah Tower was cooking it for Alice Waters at Chez Panisse. In the decades since then, however, the vague grasp the phrase exerted on meaning has been pressed aside by the service of almost anything alongside almost anything else. And since “American cuisine” can arguably include anything our nation can include, no one had quite the clout to make a useful definition stick. At Polo’s Signature, New American Cuisine apparently refers to the melting-pot bag of tricks that a chef can draw from. At their best, we’re totally happy to let chefs Polo and Adam keep drawing, based on their own inclinations, and totally ready to forget those chefs who didn’t draw so well or so wisely.

Among the appetizers at Polo’s Signature, you might follow your normal Texas inclinations to anything that sounds the least bit Tex-Mex. The shrimp empanadas with roasted avocado salsa are extraordinary, as are the beef tenderloin tostadas with smoked jalapeno avocado sauce and even the weirder goat cheese lamb enchiladas with roasted pacilla sauce and toasted pumpkin seeds. Starters shine, however, even removed from Tex-Mex. Check out the light but satisfying Tuscan soup with pulled chicken, cous cous (more Sicilian than Tuscan, honestly) and spinach, or any from the dazzling collection of salads. Best bet from these is probably the fried oyster in warm pancetta vinaigrette, our beloved Italian bacon working its sweet-smoky magic on spinach, frisee and arugula. If it’s offered as a special, be sure to order the lobster salad with fresh tropical fruits, candied pecans and tequila-lime vinaigrette.

From a practical standpoint, the list of entrees is ambitious – 13 selections of seafood and meat, plus six more items described as Steaks and Chops. Our favorite seafoods here are the pan-seared sushi-grade Hawaiian tuna, paired with jasmine fried rice and ginger sake sauce plus those slices of pickled ginger we all love from sushi bars, and the hyper-fresh roasted Chilean sea bass with braised fennel, saffron sauce and some deliriously good whipped potatoes. Among the meats, we love the tender grilled lamb loin with roasted garlic rosemary sauce. Of course, we might love anything that came with the confusingly described but dead-on comfort food “Gouhda cured Ham Mac and Cheese.” Whatever language that’s attempting to be, we intend to become fluent.

Desserts change day to day, with no “menu” except a tray that shows up when appropriate. Still, in the months Polo’s Signature has been open, a certain sizzle has attached itself to the three-layer chocolate mousse cake, the carrot cake with coconut-cream cheese icing, and the banana-pineapple bread pudding with chocolate-cognac sauce. Best of all, if you ask, Cesar Ebora might splash the bread pudding with some extra Pierre Ferrand cognac – one more example, if one more were needed, of Polo’s Signature getting it right.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR SEPT. 8

ARMANDO’S REDUX
It wasn’t too long ago that one of the hottest restaurants in Houston was called Armando’s – a place that blended the joys of our beloved Tex-Mex cuisine with the joys of seeing and being seen, a social gathering place by way of upscale watering hole. That era at Armando’s ended, leaving its owner to concentrate on founding a museum for Latin American art. Now, Armando Palacios is back in the food business, and he joins us in the studio to tell us what’s old – and of course, what’s new, starting with a brand-new location.

THE CODE OF DA VINCI
Before Da Vinci came to be understood as Leonardo’s last name, it was the town from which he hailed in the Tuscany region of Italy. And some of the greatest things Leonardo DIDN’T invent were the wines of this lovely area, including world-famous Chianti. Today, for our Grape & Grain segment, we sit down at the Tuscan winery that markets its wines as “Da Vinci” in the United States. We speak with the marketing director, along with the woman who leads increasing numbers of tours of the winery and the chef who cooks every day in its incredible restaurant.

A TALE OF TWO MUSEUMS
Houston is a city of intriguing museums, and quite often there’s more than one exciting museum event at a time. In our studio, we chat with the curator of the show at the Houston Museum of Natural Science inspired by the 3-million-year-old Ethiopian fossil of a girl named Lucy – and also with a curator from the Museum of Fine Arts, talking about the current cinema retrospective honoring the recently deceased Italian master Michelangelo Antonioni. By coincidence, we’ll be focusing on the cultures of Ethiopia and Italy, two countries in bitter conflict in the days before World War II.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
PASTEL DE TRES LECHES

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces evaporated milk

Topping:
¾ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, mixing until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool. Pierce the cake with a fork in about 10 places. In a bowl, combine the milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk and pour over the cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. To make the topping, whip together all ingredients until thick and spread over the top of the chilled cake. Serves 6-8.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR SEPT. 1

PICO’S TOURS MEXICO
Everybody talks about “regional Mexican cuisine” – or perhaps the plural “cuisines” is more appropriate – but generally speaking, no one does anything about it. Or them. Until now. Chef-owner Arnaldo Richards of Pico’s Mex-Mex (the name itself is a hoot, here in Tex-Mexville) has a special dinner coming up in which each course will hail from a different region of Mexico. Arnaldo will join us in the studio with a tasting of some of those dishes, plus talk about the perfect wine, or more likely margarita, to accompany them.

NEW COCKTAIL CONCEPT
These days, making a cocktail has become de rigeur again for millions of Americans – after a lot of years in which wine and beer pretty much ruled the roost. Thanks to boosts from a lot of directions, including the revival of the martini and a host of other great American classics, the cocktail as once enjoyed on movie screens by Nick and Nora Charles is stylish once again. And speaking of stylish… we welcome our suave French old friend Jean-Francois Bonnette back into our studio to talk about some fresh ideas in cocktails he is working with these days.

THE ECONOMIST OF FOOD
Tyler Cowen is an author and a professor of economics at George Mason University. Which means he’s hardly the most likely guest on Delicious Mischief. But we couldn’t help noticing a host of fascinating topics in his new book called “Discover Your Inner Economist.” Among the notions we’ll discuss with our new favorite prof are: How to choose the right restaurant in a foreign city, how to get the best dish at a fancy restaurant, why appetizers are better than main courses (we have some thoughts on that one!), and why you should ask yourself “What sounds the least appetizing?”

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
SALMON TARTARE WITH MEXICAN AVOCADOS
Chef Jason Gould, Gravitas

1 pound fresh salmon, finely minced
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
3 ounces finely cut chives
Juice of 3 lemons
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 avocados
½ cup of buttermilk
Salt and white pepper
4 large shallots
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ cup rice wine vinegar
1 English cucumber, thinly shaved
1 head frisse lettuce

Mix salmon, onions and chive together in a bowl and keep refrigerated. Mix 1/2 lemon juice and olive oil together and season with salt and pepper to make a dressing. Puree avocados with butter milk, remainder of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Slice shallots into rings. Mix sugar and vinegar together and bring to boil. Add sliced shallot and let cool.Combine the salmon mixture with the dressing. Place a large spoonful of avocado mix on plate. Carefully place salmon mix in the center of avocado mix. In a separate bowl, mix frisee with cucumbers and pickled shallots. Garnish salmon with salad. Serves 4.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR AUG. 25

This special broadcast of Delicious Mischief comes to you from the Italian region of Tuscany. From the wine area known as Chianti, to be precise. And from the ancient wine estate of Badia a Coltibuono, to be more precise than that.

LEARNING TO COOK ITALIAN
Guido Stucchi learned to cook his country’s many regional cuisines growing up around his mother, a cookbook author and famed instructor. In fact, he saw her at her culinary best almost every day, teaching Italian techniques to students from around the world at the cooking school she founded on her family’s wine estate, Badia a Coltibuono. The name means something like Estate of the Good Harvest, and as Guido makes clear to students in his cooking classes, that applies to food every bit as much as wine.

TUSCANY EQUALS CHIANTI
Chianti is a very specific place within Tuscany – and along the lines of wine laws in France, the name also brings with it a long history of hoops for producers to jump through. Still, sitting in the garden sipping wine at Badia a Coltibuono, it’s impossible to consider those regulations such a bad thing. We taste the wines of Badia a Coltibuono in today’s Grape and Grain segment, and talk about them with Guido’s sister, Emanuela Stucchi. On this fabled estate, winemaking like cooking remains a family affair.

A CHAT WITH THE CHEF
One of the best parts about visiting Badia a Coltibuono, other than having instant access to some of the best wines in Tuscany and cooking classes in the local cuisine, is getting to spend one or more nights at the inn and enjoy lunch or dinner in the restaurant. The menu isn’t cold-hearted enough to limit itself to uniquely Tuscan specialties, but it does offer most of the signature seasonal dishes. We visit with the chef about some of his favorites – not to mention, since we’ve now dined here once in the winter and once in the summer, some of ours.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
JOHN’S TUSCAN PORK AND MUSHROOM STEW

1 pound Italian pork sausage, hot or mild
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crushed red pepper to taste
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped tomato
¾ cup dry red wine

Brown the sausage in the olive oil till almost cooked through, then add the pork cubes. Cook stirring occasionally till dark brown, 5-7 minutes, over high heat. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. When meat is starting to stick to pan, stir in the garlic, carrot, celery and onion. Season again with salt, pepper and crushed pepper, cooking until vegetables turn golden and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook till they start to wilt, about 5 minutes, then incorporate the tomato and red wine. Cover and cook until the meat is tender, the flavors are combined and the liquid thickens almost into gravy. Serve spooned over polenta, or with penne or other pasta. Serves 6-8.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR AUG. 18

HOUSTON’S CURIOUS GEORGES
Among Houston chefs, few are as respected across the board as Georges Guy. In a host of different ventures over the years, Georges and his wife Monique have been the traditional French restaurant couple in France – except they’ve done it in America. They made Chez Georges a haven for diners who wanted a hand-picked, hand-cooked meal they way they might get in the Old Country, while also creating Bistro Provence. Now in what they keep calling “retirement,” Georges and Monique are doing great things with food and wine on lower Westheimer in the charming old house that long was home to Aldo’s. As the French love to say, vive la difference!

DANIEL IN THE LION’S DEN
To read each of Daniel Silva’s thrilling novels, the lion’s den is where he seems to keep putting himself – right along with his fictional hero, Israeli agent (and brilliant Italian art restorer!) Gabriel Allon. Though Allon became an agent and assassin against his will, after the Munich Olympic massacre of 1972, even that original verve has changed to something verging on troubled sadness. But the world (and western Europe in particular) just might need Allon more than ever. We caught up with Silva recently at Houston’s Murder by the Book to talk about his breathless new novel, “The Secret Servant.”

GETTING PONTIUS ABOUT PILATES
After a summer traveling around Europe and eating and drinking way too much – OK, I was taping radio segments too, thus I never called it “vacation” – I felt the need to turn to our finest fitness friend, Melody Morton. As the owner and inspiration of The Good Space Pilates and Yoga Studio on Woodway, Melody has the unenviable task of fixing me after my many, many excesses. We talk to Melody in the studio about what pain and suffering she has in mind for me: all for my own good, naturally. And if anybody can get me moving, it’s Melody Morton!

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
TARTA DE SANTIAGO

We recently returned from the region called Galicia in northwest Spain, docking in tuna-crazed Vigo for a trip inland to the medieval pilgrimage destination Santiago de Compostella. This lovely almost tart is will always remind us of this lush, spiritual place with its soaring cathedral spires.

Pastry shell:
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
½ stick butter softened
1 whole egg
2 drops vanilla extract
Extra butter for a loose-bottomed fluted tart pan

Filling:
4 whole eggs
2 ½ cups finely ground almonds
1 ¼ cups sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
Zest from one lemon

Preheat the oven to 375°. Sift the flour on to a work surface and make a well in the center, add the sugar, egg, vanilla extract and butter, knead to make smooth dough. Wrap in wax paper and set aside for ½ hour. To prepare the filling, beat together the eggs, lemon zest and sugar until creamy. Fold in the ground almonds, and cinnamon. With a wooden spoon beat the filling until all the ingredients are well mixed together. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and line the pie tart with the pastry dough, prick it all over with a fork and spoon the filling on top. Bake in the middle shelf in the oven for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Leave the almond tart to cool in the pan. Once cool, transfer it to a serving plate and dust with confectioners sugar before serving. Yield: 1 9-inch tart.

OUR REVIEW OF BOB'S STEAK & CHOP HOUSE

No... with all due respect to food gurus of the ‘70s and ‘80s, America is not living healthily on a seafood-based diet patterned (as one genius predicted) on a cross between the Japanese and the Eskimo. Personally, I was none too happy to describe that future in news stories back in the day, and pleased as can be each time I get to report that it never happened. I love a good steak now and again, and since I define such steak nights as special occasions, I’m at peace with the high cost of placing such pleasures in my life.

In this space, I have chronicled the Houston arrivals of classy imports like Strip House, Fleming’s and Morton’s, as well as the success of homegrown concepts like Perry’s and Tilman Fertitta’s over-the-top Vic and Anthony’s. This month, there’s a third type of genesis to report: a place born in Texas (as in Dallas) that tested the waters out in San Francisco before looking south. Loyal Houstonians would say Bob’s Steak & Chop House wanted to practice on San Francisco’s worldly diners till they were good enough to open here.

And open here Bob’s did, finagling its way into a beloved landmark, no less. The space on Post Oak long occupied by Tony Vallone’s magical tony’s had been declared a “no restaurant zone,” primarily to avoid parking problems that had scared off upscale retail shoppers during lunch. Even at tony’s, it seems, food and drink couldn’t bring in as much revenue as jewelry, furs and fashion. Still, once the last vestige of Vallone’s culinary xanadu had decamped to its new Greenway Plaza location, lawyer Ed Toles talked the landlords into letting him bring in Bob’s. After all, the lawyer argued, Bob’s would open only for dinner, when all those high-end boutiques were closed. Even during the holidays, he pointed out persuasively - ever the lawyer. Bob’s was in.

Happily, for diners fearing not so much the old catering division called “tony’s at home” but something we’ll dub “tony’s all over again,” the fact that the space had been scrubbed clean for a hoped-for retail meant that Toles and Co. had little to tear down. Just as tony’s itself was overdue the fresh, chic, lighter and more youthful look its new location delivered, Bob’s was able to reconfigure and redecorate those regal old rooms into the traditional dark wood of the modern upscale beefery. Beyond that, quite frankly, the project verged on paint-by-the-numbers. Short, simple menu printed on card stock. Classic American steakhouse fare, with only the occasional dollop of innovation.

Enticing bar. Super wine list. With those things in place, Bob’s Steak & Chop House was ready for Houston. And according to the crowds shaking hands, slapping backs, kissing cheeks and visiting table to table on any given evening, the Houston that remembered tony’s best was more than a little bit ready for Bob’s.

With a few exceptions, success as a modern steakhouse isn’t about what you invent but how you serve it. It would be difficult to point to a single selection on Bob’s menu that was “invented” here, or even at the mother ship in Dallas. On the other hand, many things are done exceedingly well, and that’s more what we the people are looking for. Portions of things tend toward the large, as do those things themselves: both the light, fluffy onion rings and the “Maryland-style” crabcakes were bigger than found in nature, and the shrimp appetizer is best enjoyed as a shareable trio of spicy cocktail, pungent remoulade and crisp batter-fried. There’s a soup of the day – often lobster bisque, the epitome of a heavy French cream soup – and some wonderful if cheese-crazed salads. As someone observed, the bleu cheese salad gives you only enough lettuce to shovel lots of bleu cheese into your mouth, while even the usually light tomato and red onion came with a generous snowfall of – more bleu cheese. The dairy industry must be very proud.

Once you steer (get it?) past the filet mignon in three increasing ounce counts, you reach the serious steaks, several of which arrive bone-in, which makes for much better flavor and a more thrilling presentation built on Flintstones déjà vu. Best bets include the Kansas City strip in 18 or 22 ounces (some of that being bone, remember?) and the 22-ounce “cote de boeuf,” a pumped-up rendition of ribeye. There’s a nifty rack of lamb at Bob’s, plus the now-mandatory and thankfully not-overcooked chops of pork and veal. Seafood lovers, a class once alleged to include Japanese and Eskimos, have to get by on crabcakes, two kinds of shrimp, broiled salmon and a fish of the day, often the overly familiar and occasionally over-fished Chilean sea bass. If you really want to eat seafood in a steakhouse, I’d recommend instead Bob’s broiled lobster tail from south Australia.

In a welcome touch, exemplary potatoes are included with your entrée - letting that intolerable $6 to $9 upcharge be spent on your dessert. Beware, though: the brownie as wide as a roof shingle (OK, so it WAS a double portion!) topped with Reese’s peanut butter cup ice cream, and the moist, flavorful side of carrot cake might remind you of the Flintstones as well. It’s a little-known historical fact that dinosaurs, like Houstonians, had quite the sweet tooth!

SHOW & RECIPE FOR AUG. 11

DOUG’S FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
It’s a Deep South favorite that didn’t really become famous until a few years ago, and that thanks less to a specific preparation than to a bestselling book and popular movie. Now, happily, fried green tomatoes are here to stay. And when you go looking for a Deep South (or even better, Deep Texas) classic, one of the best places to go is Chef Doug Atkinson’s Latigo Café in Beeville. Chef Doug is bringing fried green tomatoes and whatever else he feels like cooking to our studio for what we hope will be a rather fattening conversation.

UP FROM FINGER SANDWICHES
He’s cooked in northern California alongside Thomas Keller at The French Laundry and Michael Mena at Aqua – an impressive resume indeed for turning his culinary art and craft to wedding food. But that’s exactly what Chef Jose Rivera of Ashton Gardens has done with his move to Houston. Actually, this chef and the European-style wedding venue both fit perfectly with the general trend toward more sophisticated and more ethnically diverse foods turning up after the couple says “I do.” He’ll be joining us to talk all about these intriguing trends.

DINING ON THE CHEAP
Mike Riccetti is a bit of a cheapskate – but at least we’re not telling you anything he and you don’t already know, especially if you’ve read, enjoyed and relied upon his wonderful guidebook “Houston Dining on the Cheap.” Now, as the brand-new third edition makes its penny-pinching rounds, Mike joins us to talk about how Houston is holding the line: struggling to preserve its status as one of the very best dining values in all of America. And maybe we’ll figure out how this guy researches these books without weighing 750 pounds.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
GAZPACHO ANDALUZ

3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, cut in half, seeded (reserve ½ tomato for garnish
1 green bell pepper, cut in half, seeded (reserve ¼ for garnish)
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded (reserve 2 inch slices for garnish)
2 stalks celery
1 onion
1 (12-ounce) can tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
4 tablespoons tomato purée
¼ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon savory
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 drops Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 boiled eggs, chopped

Wash and dry the vegetables, chop them and place them in a blender with enough tomato juice to partially cover. Add garlic, tomato purée, savory, thyme, pepper, salt vinegar, oil and Tabasco sauce and purée until smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the remainder of the tomato juice. Chill for two hours. Serve the gazpacho in individual soup cups. Dice the remaining bits of tomato, green bell peppers, and cucumber separately and sprinkle them separately with the chopped parsley and boiled eggs on top of the soup. Serves 6.

OUR REVIEW OF YATRA BRASSERIE

Just over a year ago, Sonu Lalvani was another of those numberless London success stories from the huge colonial expanse divided in 1947 into India and Pakistan. He had a successful restaurant called Yatra in the stylish Mayfair district, with an attached nightclub flying the colors of ‘60s Carnaby Street called Butterfly High. Then a friend told Lalvani about Houston, and all bets were off.

These days, that established restaurant-club in Mayfair is having to look after itself a bit, while the entrepreneur focuses his energies on doing what many have tried and failed to do: making sense of Houston’s on-again, off-again, maybe-again downtown. Lunches at his new Yatra Brasserie have caught on bigtime among business people looking for curry in a hurry. At night, though, when the bulk of those people trek home to River Oaks and Tanglewood, not to mention Katy, Sugar Land and the Woodlands, it’s a brave new world fronting the Metrorail on Main Street. Happily, Lalvani has not only duplicated Butterfly High to grab some of the late-night, youth-driven club business but two other connected lounge concepts. The place is a by-god stately pleasure dome, as another Brit once said of Xanadu – the city, not the movie.

Yatra Brasserie is the creation of a man with polish, a man whose schooling took place in England, and a man who understood how to bring that country’s favorite “cheap food” – chicken tikka masala is now considered the UK’s “national dish” – to one of London’s poshest neighborhoods. In Houston, considerable amounts of style have made the crossing, though happily for us, Lalvani understands the need for reasonable prices to attract office workers in the day and young club-goers at night. The cuisine, again happily for us, is largely traditional and familiar to lovers of Indian food, all prepared very well and tasting of fresh ingredients. In short, at Yatra, Indian food is neither some nouvelle gourmet craze or the latest immigrant broken-English buffet in the ‘burbs. It’s a grand and ancient cooking style that we, like so many Londoners before us, will want to eat again and again and again.

Some of the dishes served here blend Indian and Pakistani origins, as befits a land long intermingled but then separated geographically on the basis of its two main religions, Hindu and Muslim. Even one of the naans (those terrific breads cooked in the clay tandoor) hails from the often-troubled border, but the mildly sweet bread studded with raisins is way too wonderful for religion or politics. There really is chicken tikka masala at Yatra, so everyone should be happy. And a wonderful version it is too, reminding us why so many people love a “good curry” when the concept and certainly the word usage were hard to find in India before the British started simplifying the names on things.

The appetizer list shows a few signs of reaching out to Houston diners. Traditional ground beef samosas show up under a far more familiar name in these parts, empanadas; there is virtually no difference in the construction. And you can almost feel the young people coming in to club stopping off for starters like spicy calamari, spicy chicken wings (cooked in the tandoor, not in Buffalo) and Goan-style crab cakes with a nifty lemon butter sauce. Oddly, Yatra sidesteps the omnipresent mulligatawny soup of London (another, we’re told, British colonial invention) for a pleasant cream of spinach and pea. Other favorites more in keeping with tradition include the samosa chaat – pastry stuffed with potatoes and peas, with curried chickpeas, tamarind and mint sauce – and chicken harra kabab, a kind of white-meat tandoori chicken nugget with yogurt and mint.

With deference to its customers base, some entrees are what we of the West would call “curries” – meats or seafoods cooked in a lush, spicy sauce that verges on being gravy, and other proteins are more simply grilled. We have many loves from that first collection, in addition to England’s national dish: the very-hot shrimp vindaloo (if you don’t like hot, avoid anything called vindaloo), the creamer-than-cream chicken korma, and the best lamb rogan josh we’ve ever tasted. While many of these dishes taste like curry, they are made traditionally not with anything called “curry powder” but with specific and varied blends of spices. And since many Indians are vegetarians, there is a larger-than-usual list of these items, including the popular ssag panir of spinach and cheese, the bhindi masala of cut okra with onions and tomatoes, and two kinds of dal made with two colors of lentil, black or yellow. Sided with some of Yatra’s flaky but filling naan and a bowl of aromatic basmati rice, this is the only vegetarian cuisine on earth in which a meat-lover might be happy.

Traditional Indian desserts are wildly unimpressive to Americans raised on anything from bread pudding to pecan pie to chocolate cake, so Lalvani and Co. have rejiggered the old-time recipes a bit. Gulab jamun, for instance, a kind of fried dough ball soaked in too-sweet-too-floral syrup, gets “born again” at Yatra flamed in cognac. Much improved, thank you! And take it from a London veteran: after the traffic jam of spices that is this bedazzling cuisine, any dessert that’s cold, clean and made with fresh mango is a salvation.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR AUG. 4

LA VISTA SPREADS ITS QUIRKY WINGS
Around Houston, a little restaurant called La Vista first attracted attention as one of the only places that wasn’t trying to sell you wine – or for matter, wasn’t going to hit you up with a big “corkage fee” if you brought in your own bottle. Since they weren’t licensed to sell the stuff, they saw no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy it. In fact, everything about Greg Gordon’s La Vista seemed a little bit off, starting with people drinking their own wines while waiting outside for a table. Greg joins us to tell us how the place became such a big success, he’s had to open a second location.

CAPT. SPARROW’S BEVERAGE OF CHOICE
Most of us grow up, at one time of another, singing that pirate song with the refrain, “Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!” These days, with Disney’s ride Pirates of the Caribbean spawning not one but three hit movies, the song and all it implies are more a part of pop culture than ever. And that means rum is part of it too. Our good friend Jean-Francois Bonnette, always welcome to bring us tasting portions of Pierre Ferrand cognac, this time shows up with his company’s Plantation Rum. Arrgh, we can’t wait – yo-ho!

TUNA LIVES – IN VEGAS
Some years back, when we first heard about a Texas-inspired, Texas-built comedy show called “Greater Tuna,” we wondered what on earth the name could mean – but didn’t expect to hear about it again. We were so wrong: not only has “Greater Tuna” been produced again and agin, but its creators have enjoyed immense success with the various sequels. Now, with the premiere run of “Tuna Does Vegas” in Galveston, creators (and stars) Jaston Williams and Joe Sears take the colorful characters of Tuna, Texas, on the road to Sin City. And they’ll be in our Sin Studio to tell us all about it.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
CHILLED TOMATO AND PEANUT SOUP

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
½ cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon celery salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cups tomato juice

Heat the oil and sauté the onions until softened but not brown, then stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from heat. In a bowl, stir the milk gradually into the peanut butter until the mixture is smooth, then add the celery salt and pepper. Add this slowly to the onion mixture. Return the pan to the heat and simmer, stirring often, until soup thickens. Stir in the tomato juice. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving in a tureen or in individual soup bowls. Serves 6.