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.