SHOW & RECIPE FOR APRIL 5

RETURN OF CHEF PHILIPPE
Many Houstonians were shocked and/or heartbroken when Bistro Moderne closed its doors at the Hotel Derek last fall – most expected Chef Philippe Schmit would return to New York where he first made his name or perhaps to his native France. As corporate chef for Legacy Brands, Philippe will tell us what he’s got in mind for such unexpected Houston landmark’s as Antone’s and even Ninfa’s on Navigation.

WINES OF LLANO ESTACADO
Even as the reputation of wines from Texas has grown over the past decade or so, so has the reputation of wines from Llano Estacado, with most of its best juice hailing from the High Plains around Lubbock. Still, if some people still think you’re crazy recommending a Texas wine, just think what winemaker Greg Bruni’s compadres in California thought when he told them he was moving here.

NEW, IMPROVED MAX’S WINE DIVE
Chef Michael Dei Maggi cut his teeth cooking Italian in the Italian-savvy Northeast, but he came to Houston as part of Bice Restaurant – a genuine Italian fine-dining restaurant chain that’s actually based in Italy. For the last few months, Michael’s been working on his first men for Max’s Wine Dive, and now he’s ready to tell us all about it.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
Sautéed Sirloin Steak with Peppercorns

6 well trimmed sirloin steaks, about 1 inch thick (8 oz each)
1 tablespoon salt
5 tablespoons wholes black pepper, coarsely crushed
3 tablespoons clarified butter
¾ cup cognac
1 ½ cup beef broth, fresh or canned
2 bay leaves
¼ stick butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch cubes
¼ cup heavy cream.
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved with two tablespoon cold water

Season the steaks generously with salt. One side at a time sprinkles each steak with the crushed black peppercorns, pushing them firmly into the meat with your hands. In a 12-inch cast iron or heavy-duty skillet, heat the clarified butter over high heat. Place the steaks in the pan (3 at the time) and sauté them 4 minutes on each side, or until they are done to your taste. Transfer the steaks to a heated platter and set them aside while preparing the sauce.

Remove the pan from the stove, add the cognac, let warm for a minute, then ignite with a match. Pour in the beef broth, bay leaves and cream. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, whisk in the cornstarch and blend well. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the chilled butter bits one at a time. Strain the sauce with sieve over the steaks, and serve at once. Serves 6.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR MARCH 29

COOKING ON THE RIVERWALK
We start today’s show from San Antonio with Chef Chip McMullin, who’s doing some wonderful things with fresh and local ingredients in a very high-profile location. To Chip, Caleza Grill at the Westin Riverwalk offers a perfect opportunity to wow visitors to San Antonio from all over the world, while sharing with locals his own adventures in culture and cuisine.

AN AMAZING DEVELOPMENT
We all know some beers have a “born on” date, but so few of us know how a beer is actually born. So we check in with good friend Jaime Jurado. In his work with Gambrinus Corp., which counts among its brands the ever-iconic Shiner, Jaime oversees the kind of experimentation that produces seasonal and other special beers. We sit down with Jaime in his “development brewery” to sip away at brews we may well we tasting soon.

CLAIMING MI TIERRA
Like a lot of cities, San Antonio has had its ups and downs – especially the downs over the decades when it comes to downtown. Yet long before the Riverwalk was built for the 1964 World’s Fair, a Mexican-American family was dreaming big. That family started cooking what it cooked best in a tiny location near the old open marketplace – and within a few years, as family members tell us, that tiny space called Mi Tierra had become one of the biggest restaurants you’ll ever see.

This Week's Delicious Mischief Recipe...
TORTILLA SOUP
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying
2 large onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 tsp. coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
12 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
Juice of 2 limes
1 package (8 oz.) small corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-in.-thick strips (see Notes)
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/4-in.-thick strips
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Sliced avocado, sour cream, grated Monterey jack cheese, additional chopped cilantro, and/or sliced green onions for topping

Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a large pot (at least 5 qts.) over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in two-thirds of the garlic, 1 tbsp. salt, cumin, and chile flakes and cook 2 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, and half the lime juice and increase heat to a gentle simmer; cook 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour about 1 in. of vegetable oil into a small frying pan set over medium-high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, add one-third of the tortilla strips and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer strips to a paper towel-lined baking pan. Repeat with remaining tortilla strips in two batches. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Set aside.
Purée soup in batches in a blender. Return soup to pot and resume simmering. In a small bowl, toss chicken with remaining lime juice, garlic, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes, then add to soup and simmer 5 minutes, until chicken is just cooked through. Stir in cilantro. Serve hot with tortilla strips and your choice of toppings. Serves 8-10.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR MARCH 22

A WINE AND FOOD MINGLE
In our first-ever Delicious Mischief broadcast from the lovely hills and lakes of Marble Falls, we report on a remarkable phenomenon. After years of relying on barbecue and chicken fried steak, the town has gone stylish. And that means chic wine bars like The Falls can hope to stay in business a good long time.

BLAST FROM THE PAST
Before we get too giddy about the future, though, let’s enjoy a heapin’ helpin’ of where Marble Falls has come from. We sit down at a table with the owner of the Bluebonnet Café, a place that’s been serving delicious diner-style Texas food for something like 80 years. What’s not to like about a place that does “Pie Happy Hour”?

909 IS MORE THAN A SONG
The Beatles did a song about “the one after 909,” whatever that meant to them at the time. But in Marble Falls, Café 909 is a stylish restaurant dishing up some stylish and innovative cuisine. We chat with the chef-owner about the challenges of doing food worthy of a new generation.

GENERAL PATTON’S STARS
We end today’s show where many think the “new food” movement in Marble Falls began: at a restaurant called Patton’s on Main. The chef-owner here cut his teeth in Oxford, Miss., after attending Ole Miss and refined his craft under Wolfgang Puck in Las Vegas. But as so often happens when Texans start having a family somewhere else, it seems like time to come home.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
CATFISH CAKES

1 pound fresh catfish fillets
Water
4 teaspoons oil, for sautéing
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green pepper, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
4 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
½ cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoon s Dijon mustard
1 cup dried bread crumbs
2 teaspoons freshly-squeezed lime juice
4 teaspoons Creole seasoning
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoon s dried basil, crumbled
Oil for frying
2 cups all-purpose flour

Poach catfish in a large pot of boiling water for about 15 or 20 minutes, or until the fish begins to flake with a fork. Drain poached fish in a colander, and place it on a baking sheet to cool. In a large skillet, sauté onions and peppers in oil for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft, and set aside. Take the cooled catfish and crumble it by hand in a large bowl. Add beaten eggs to the bowl of crumbled fish. Add cooked onions and peppers to the fish and eggs. Add remaining ingredients to fish and mix well by hand to create a cake-like mixture.

Form mixture into 6 to 10 equal-sized rounds and place on a baking sheet until ready to fry. In a cast-iron skillet or deep fryer, heat oil to about 350 degrees. Just before frying, thoroughly dust each catfish cake with flour. Fry the cakes in the hot oil until they are golden brown all over, rolling them frequently. Depending on your frying apparatus, this should take about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the cooked catfish cakes on paper towels. Best when served immediately, but you can reserve them in baking dish in a warm oven until ready to serve. Serve with your favorite tartar sauce. Makes 8-10 cakes.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR MARCH 15

RUNNING WITH THE FOODS
For this show, we travel to New York City – but the traveling hardy stops there. In our opening segment, we visit from Chef Alex Urena of the restaurant called Pamplona. Yes, it’s named after the city in northern Spain famous for the annual “running of the bulls.” Yet after working with David Bouley New York and Feran Adria in Spain, Chef Alex is introducing us to some exciting new flavors indeed.

WINES FROM DOWN UNDER
For starters, long before David Mayger was sommelier at the chic NYC eatery called Telepan, he was an Aussie. And in both those hats, he has watched Australian wines truly come of age – moving from solid craftsmanship at great value to some extraordinary experiences in the bottle. In today’s Grape & Grain segment, David teaches us about these wines from far away, as well as about the things he teaches chefs about pairing them with great food.

AND NOW, OFF TO GREECE
Every since we first visited Greece 30-plus years ago, it has remained one of our favorite countries for food, for wine, for music, for history, for people, for – well, for anything! Yet we’ve discovered the best Greek meal of our lives in a none-to-busy corner of Manhattan, at a stylish little place called Pylos. We’ll visit with the owner and the chef, chat about cuisine while sipping examples from their remarkable all-Greek wine list.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
TAPAS-STYLE MINI-TORTILLAS (SPANISH OMELETS)

· 6 eggs
· 2 tablespoons half-and-half
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
· 1 pinch powdered saffron
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 tablespoon butter
· 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh mushrooms
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· 2 cups frozen loose-pack diced hash brown potatoes with onions and peppers
· 1/4 cup snipped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs; half-and-half, cream, or milk; salt; pepper; and saffron. Set aside. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Add mushrooms and garlic; cook for 1 minute. Stir in potatoes. Cover and cook over medium-low heat about 10 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in chives or parsley.

Spread potato mixture evenly into prepared baking pan. Pour egg mixture evenly over potato mixture, pressing down lightly with the back of a spoon to completely cover potatoes. Bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until set and top is golden (center may puff during baking, but will fall during standing time). Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 1-inch squares. Serve warm. Makes about 4 dozen squares.