SHOW & RECIPE FOR FEB. 23

FISHING THE RIGHT REEF
Like a lot of other Houstonians, we first met Chef Bryan Caswell when he was cooking Jean-Georges-style at the Hotel Icon’s posh dining room called Bank. When Bryan left, it was to work toward opening his own upscale seafood restaurant, which as Reef has emerged as one of the city’s finest dining destinations. We sit down for a multi-ethnic seafood tasting with this talented chef – and ask him too about his sea-foam green Midtown restaurant’s impressive “wall of wine.”

PRESENT AT THE CREATION
These days, most of the major bourbon producers have nudged beyond their best-known traditional products to offer a higher-priced, smaller-batch variation for those consumers who insist upon it. But there was a time, only a generation ago, when anyone around a distillery even suggesting such a thing would have been dismissed as crazy. In today’s Grape & Grain segment, we taste and talk with Bill Samuels of Maker’s Mark, widely viewed as one of the true visionaries who made today’s small-batch bourbons a reality.

NIGHT AT THE OPERA
If all you know about opera comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons or Marx Brothers movies, Jake Heggie would like to think he and HGO have a new opera for you. The San Francisco-based composer joins us for a discussion of his new work “Last Acts,” enjoying its world premiere here in Houston with a cast led by international legend Frederica von Stade. Plus, as a young guy, Jake talks about the long, winding and unexpected road to hanging the “opera composer” sign above his door.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
RODEO BAKED BEANS

2 (15-ounce) cans pork and beans
2/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup prepared ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 slices bacon, chopped

Combine the pork and beans with the brown sugar, onion, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire and vinegar in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the chopped bacon and set dish in a preheated 35-degree oven. (You can also set the dish in the smoker, as many barbecue places do). Cook until the sauce is thickened, about 1 hour. Serves 8.