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.