Pat’s Pick
Pat's Pick
Oceanaire Seafood Room, Dallas.
Photograph by Ron Blunt
Pat's Pick
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PHOTO BY RON BLUNT |
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MAKING WAVES When the Oceanaire Seafood Room steamed into port in Dallas last November, I felt like standing on the dock and waving hello—the only things missing were a sea breeze, paper streamers, and a brass band. Although the place is the third national location of a high-end Minneapolis chain, Texas seafood lovers aren't holding that against it. They've been pouring in to check out the catch, and finding a lot to like (and a lot to eat). My salad of sliced tomato and red onion came with an Everest of Roquefort crumbles, a pitcher of blue cheese dressing, and cruets of oil and vinegar. An entrée of rare ahi tuna proved to be a gargantuan ruby-red slab that would have stocked a sushi bar, thoughtfully served with twin hillocks of wasabi and pickled ginger. (Was it good? It was perfect.) And so it went with the bigger-is-better routine: sumo-size shrimp in the seafood cocktail, a bounty of raw oysters from around the world at the seafood bar (above), a slice of Key lime pie the size of a first-class cabin. Eat at Oceanaire and, to paraphrase Scarlett O'Hara, you'll never be hungry again.
PATRICIA SHARPE
Primary Flavors
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PHOTO BY MORRIS GOEN |
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GREEN WITH ENVY Thanks to a memorable movie, just about everyone has heard of fried green tomatoes. But how many people have ever tasted one? Supposedly, green tomatoes are tart—not sweet, like red ones. So why would anyone want to eat the fruit when it isn't ripe yet? "For starters, green tomatoes are actually flavorful," says Cora Lamar, the owner of Oak Hill Farms, in Poteet, a wholesaler whose customers include Central Market. To prove just how tasty, we asked five chefs to share their favorite way to prepare fried green tomatoes. Scott Cohen, the executive chef at San Antonio's Las Canarias (La Mansión del Rio Hotel, 112 College; 210-518-1000), likes to offer them as croutons for his lusty red tomato soup. At Hoover's Cooking, in Austin (2002 Manor Road; 512-479-5006), Hoover Alexander favors the classic home-style version, while Chad and Amber Burns, the husband-and-wife team that heads up the kitchen at Ocotillo, in Lajitas (Lajitas Resort, FM 170; 915-424-5035), add nuts and sesame seeds as well as a green-chile-and-lime tartar sauce for extra punch. Chef Gilbert Garza, of Suze, in Dallas (4345 W. Northwest Hwy.; 214-350-6135), devised a starter of fried green tomatoes glazed with marinara and topped with manchego cheese. (According to Garza, the appetizer is a bit like a crab cake, but lighter and more imaginative.) Let the tastings begin.
PATRICIA BUSA MCCONNICO
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Fried Green Tomatoes
Five great fried-green tomato recipes from Ocotillo Restaurant, Lajitas; Suze, Dallas; La Mansión del Rio Hotel, San Antonio; Hoover's Cooking, Austin; and Texas Monthly staffer Brandi Nance. |
Best Fests
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BERRY BLISS Sweet on strawberries? Join the club. Legend has it that an eighteenth-century French socialite was so fond of the luscious fruit that she would have twenty pounds of berries crushed just to bathe in their fragrant juices. (Do you suppose she rinsed off with cream?) In the Bavarian countryside, superstitious folks are said to hang baskets of springtime berries from the horns of their cattle as a please-let-our-bovines-prosper-and-bring-us-much-milk offering to elves—yes, elves, strawberry-loving elves. So maybe your affection for the strawberry is a little more restrained, but you can still satisfy any craving at the Poteet Strawberry Festival. The fifty-sixth annual affair runs April 11-13 in the aptly designated Strawberry Capital of Texas, thirty minutes south of San Antonio. On tap for the pastoral pastime: a top-berry contest (the winners will wear ribbons like those pictured above), a berry auction, performances by country crooners Darryl Worley and Mark Wills, plus your standard festival attractions, including an arts and crafts show, a rodeo, and a carnival (for information, go to strawberryfestival.com). Can't wait until then for your fruit fix?
STACY HOLLISTER
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Strawberry Shortcake Recipes
Two delicious strawberry-shortcake recipes from The Best from Helen Corbitt's Kitchens and Cooking Texas Style: A Heritage of Traditional Recipes. |
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