Recipe from chef and owner Louise Lamensdorf, Bistro Louise, Fort Worth.Grilled Salmon4 teaspoons coarse sea salt 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons black pepper 1 cup fresh mint, chopped 4 six-ounce salmon filetsMix first 4 ingredients, rub on salmon, and marinate 2 to 24 hours. Grill (or sauté) filets for 3
Chef Hervé Glin is a big man. “I love to eat,” he says, wryly surveying his own bulk. He also likes to feed people, which he does at his clubby Cité Grill at 5860 Westheimer in Houston. His fondness for seafood and many of his culinary ideas come from his
Recipe from Z’Tejas Grill, Austin.Black Bean—Mango Relish1/2 cup cooked black beans, rinsed (may use canned) 1 ripe mango, diced 1/2 red bell pepper, diced 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger 2 tablespoons chopped red onion 1 teaspoon chopped fresh jalapeño Juice of 1 limeCombine ingredients and chill.Saffron
Scalloped Tarragon Potatoes1 pound red potatoes, skins on, sliced very thin 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon Salt and white pepper to tasteToss all ingredients together. On a lightly greased sheet pan arrange potatoes in a spiral form, overlapping each slice, to make
A backpacking adventure after college led Michael Bomberg in a different direction. He never intended to make a living as a chef, but a trek through Western Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East gave him food for thought.Now Bomberg is guiding San Antonio’s Anaqua Grill (555 S. Alamo) through
Thierry Burkle’s L’Etoile is a guiding light in French country cooking. The smart neighborhood brasserie succeeds because of a constellation of moderately priced, well-thought-out offerings, including this lemon sole.The mild fish is perfectly suited to a special-occasion dressing up. With a bread-crumb crust as a toasty counterpoint, the moist and
From Austin’s new Coyote Cafe (612 W. Sixth) comes the classiest club sandwich you’ll ever eat, and quite possibly the best. Offered as an occasional special at the Texas spin-off of Santa Fe’s original Coyote Cafe, the sandwich makes some key substitutions: Chile-seasoned grilled swordfish stands in for boring old
Scallops20 large (U-10) 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 lime, sliced 8 sprigs cilantroRinse scallops in cold water and remove small muscle attached to side. Place in medium bowl with olive oil, lime, and cilantro. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours. Just before serving, cook on a very hot grill until
Grilled Pompano in Beurre Rouge With Sea Scallops and Crayfish3 shallots, chopped fine 1/2 pound softened butter plus 3 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup each of red and white wine Juice of 1 lemon 1/2 cup heavy cream Salt and white pepper, to taste 1/2 to 3/4 pound precooked crayfish tail
Spinning in its own distinctive orbit, Austin’s Mars has created a stylishly multicultural menu, with Middle Eastern, Pacific Rim, and Mediterranean cooking styles all getting their due. This grilled salmon in a velvety sauce punched up with Japanese horseradish demonstrates how the small, trendy restaurant makes culinary worlds collide. Owner
1/4 cup pure olive oil 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar juice of one lemon 8 strips lemon peel, about 11/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard salt and pepper to taste 12 shrimp, 10 to 15 per pound size, peeled and deveined
Chef Stephan Pyles grew up in the food business—his parents owned the Big Spring Truck Stop Cafe—and despite a degree in music and the best intentions, he’s still cooking. With two restaurants in Dallas and two in Minneapolis, Pyles and partner John Dayton have enthusiastically spread the word about Southwestern
Crab Cakes2 cups diced Roma tomatoes 1/4 cup each of minced shallots and garlic 1 cup diced onion 2 tablespoons thinly sliced serrano chiles 2 tablespoons each of sugar and lime juice 1/4 pound fresh scallops, muscle removed Salt and white pepper, to taste 1 1/4 cups chopped cilantro 2
With the Four Seasons Hotel’s sweeping view of one of Austin’s most unusual vistas—nightly bat flights snake out from under the Congress Avenue bridge and push east along Town Lake—dinners at the hotel’s Riverside Cafe (98 San Jacinto) are a double feature that’s hard to top. But the food here
Ceviche Veracruzana With Salmon, Capers, and Green Olives1 pound salmon filet, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes 1 cup fresh lemon juice salt to taste 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, minced 7 Roma tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cored 15 green
Recipe from Chef George W. Brown, Jr., Seventeen Seventeen, Dallas.Roasted-Jalapeño Remoulade1/2 shallot, peeled and finely chopped 1/2 cup mayonnaise 20 leaves cilantro, finely chopped 1 medium fresh jalapeño, roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped 1 small red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped juice of 1 Mexican lime
Smoked-Salmon Omelet Servings 4 people
October in Texas doesn’t always mean cool weather, but it does mean the beginning of quail season. At Anthony’s in Houston, chef Bruce McMillian stuffs the small succulent birds with seasoned wild rice and couscous, roasts them to a turn, and finishes them with a garnet-hued blackberry sauce. Hunters may
Austin’s Mezzaluna and its San Antonio sibling, Luna Notte, are high-profile, high-tech Italian eateries where the hungry and the hungry-to-be-seen congregate. Chef Harvey Harris is a former art major who applies his creative temperament to the restaurants’ rustic southern Italian fare. How is it that Italian country food brings out
The bird on your Thanksgiving table this year should be pheasant—specifically, the savory roast pheasant with garlicky sausage jambalaya dressing from Cheryl and Bill Jamison’s new cookbook, Texas Home Cooking (Harvard Common Press). Rubbed with a pungent Tabasco seasoning, this handsome variation on the holiday menu takes an excursion through
Evan Daily wants to improve the environment; so when he opened Evan’s at 3939 Montrose in Houston the week of Earth Day 1990, he took steps beyond using recycled-paper menus and business cards. At Evan’s, organic produce and chemical-free meats are the basis of the meal, not just food for
“We thought about closing Hilltop after we bought it, but we just about had a mutiny on our hands,” says James D. Smith, Jr. He was speaking of the legendary country eating place that Madalene Hill opened 38 years ago in Cleveland, just a few miles from its present incarnation
Dean Fearing, the guitar-strumming executive chef at Dallas’ swanky Mansion on Turtle Creek, hits all the right notes when he’s in the kitchen.The Eastern Kentucky native and graduate of New York’s Culinary Institute came to Texas in 1979 to explore new frontiers in cooking and ended up pioneering Southwestern cuisine.
When Bruce Pike was 16, he was doing chateaubriand and baked Alaska at the University Club in San Antonio. Now at 31—having migrated through some of that city’s fancier restaurants (including La Buca and Biga)—he is doing his own thing at Luna Notte (6402 N. New Braunfels).“I’m going for a
Recipe from Chef Lance Young, The Roaring Fork, Dallas.Spring Chicken1/2 cup lemon juice 1/8 cup honey 2 tablespoons fresh thyme 2 tablespoons fresh chives 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon garlic, minced 1 teaspoon salt 11/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 2 whole chickens (21/2 to 3 pounds each) salt
Fans of Greater Tuna and A Tuna Christmas no longer need to wonder how Aunt Pearl, Bertha Bumiller, waitress Inita Goodwin, Petey Fisk, and the other residents of Tuna, Texas, keep their figures. Aunt Pearl’s Cookbook: A Man’s Cooking (Pearl Productions, $14.95), a new book by Tuna co-creator Joe Sears,
Autumn along San Antonio’s Paseo del Rio is truly a season of change—especially at the Zuni Grill (511 River Walk), where chef David James’s revamped menu creates a casual and innovative bill of fare with an intentional nod to the Southwest. But don’t expect a run-of-the-mill chile relleno at Zuni.James
The cooking of Northern Mexico got its spark from ranching culture, in which food was prepared with indigenous ingredients and cooked over a wood fire; it has long been overshadowed by the more glamorous and complex cuisine of the South. But former restaurateur James W. Peyton of San Antonio redresses
Recipe from chef and restaurateur Robert Del Grande at Houston’s Taco Milagro.
Avner Samuel has been around. Born in Jerusalem, he earned his chef’s toque at the celebrated La Varenne cooking school in Paris and has successfully navigated the tricky culinary waters of London and Dallas. He did stints at the Mansion on Turtle Creek and at the Pyramid in the Fairmont
1/2 pound ground chicken 2 green onions, minced 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger root 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon cornstarch 40 wonton wrappers 1 tablespoon minced shallot 2 tablespoon clarified butter 3 tablespoon flour 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 1/2 cup heavy
Chopped pecans, toasted with a coating of ancho chile, impart a nutty accent to the already wonderful combination of pork and guacamole. This recipe is even better with “twice-cooked pork,” so remember it when you have leftover pork chops or roast.1/4 cup olive oil 11/2 pounds boneless pork loin, thinly
“When people ask what we served in my family’s cafe, I say ‘tacos, enchiladas, and tamales.’ When they ask what I serve today, I say ‘tacos, enchiladas, and tamales.’ ”
Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 pound unpeeled small new potatoes, cut into eighths 3 large cloves garlic, mashed 1 cup water 1/2 lemon 6 to 8 ounces fresh spinach (or chopped Swiss chard), washed and steamed Kosher salt and freshly ground black
Grains, greens, and wild game form a partnership in this power lunch from Dakota’s (600 N. Akard), an urban enclave deep in the heart of downtown Dallas. Dakota’s bills itself as a new American grill, its menu running the gamut from homey to nouvelle.Executive chef Jim Severson is particularly fond
3/4 cup dried cranberries 2 cups white wine (such as Chardonnay) 2 shallots, roughly chopped 1/2 teaspoon roughly chopped garlic 1 1/8-inch slices ginger root 2 to 4 mesquite-smoked jalapeños, seeded, available from Stonewall Chili Pepper Company (800-232-2995) or in specialty stores; or canned chipotle chiles, rinsed and seeded 2
Sweetbreads are a rarity at most restaurants, but executive chef Raymond Tatum has made the rich organ meat his signature dish at Austin’s talked-about 612 West (612 W. Sixth). “People tell me that I make the best sweetbreads,” Tatum says. “And personally I really like them. It’s only human instinct
From Ann Clark, director of La Bonne Cuisine School in Austin.
From Ann Clark, director of La Bonne Cuisine School in Austin.
From Ann Clark, director of La Bonne Cuisine School in Austin.
Don’t judge Cuisine Actuelle by its pictures. The glamorous cookbook, written by Victor Gielisse, the chef at Dallas restaurant Actuelle (the Crescent, 500 Crescent Court), might well daunt the quotidian cook. But, in fact, most of its 150 recipes are as easy as pie. Rich, heavy sauces are conspicuous by
Recipe from Chef Clark McDaniel, Angeluna’s, Fort Worth.Black Vinegar–Soy Dipping Sauce1⁄2 cup black vinegar (available at Asian markets) 1⁄2 cup soy sauce or tamari 1⁄4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon sesame oilPlace first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat
Gird your loins for the tender smoked pork at the Guadalupe River Ranch near Boerne.
Recipe from chef Michael McClure, Guadalupe River Ranch.Stone Wall Potatoes1 tablespoon minced garlic 1⁄4 cup butter 1 pound each of the following potatoes: Peruvian purple, Yukon Gold, red new, and sweet potatoes 1 quart heavy cream or half-and-half 9 large eggs plus 2 yolks 3 teaspoons dill 2 teaspoons thyme
1/2 cup soy sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 to 11/2 pounds pork tenderloin 1/4 cup honey 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, firmly packed 1/4 cup sesame seeds/p>Combine soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil in a large plastic bag. Add
Austin is buzzing about Brio, the latest showcase for the considerable talents of chefs Raymond Tatum and Robert Mayberry. Building on Texans’ love of barbecue, Mexican food, and home cooking, the two have blazed a culinary trail that not only respects the basics but gives them a cosmopolitan twist. This
2 teaspoons instant tamarind Salt and sugar, to taste 2 serrano peppers 2 small new potatoes, cut into chunks 1/2 pound catfish, deboned and cut into chunks 2 tablespoons each of chopped pineapple, bean sprouts, and celery 2 teaspoons chopped garlic 1 tablespoon vegetable oil Nuoc mamIn large saucepan, bring
Tomato and Roquefort Salad1/4 cup red wine 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar 1/8 cup dry sherry 1 cup peanut oil 1/8 cup olive oil kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1 medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced 1 pound Roquefort cheese, less if preferred, crumbled and chopped into
March is the month for lamb—especially the delectable variety served at Monte Carlo in the Grand Kempinski Hotel Dallas. With a solarium, pale peach walls, and trees and potted palms scattered throughout, this light and airy place captures the ambience of restaurants in Italy and the South of France. The
Opposites attract in this fetching dish from Houston’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. A dusting of cajun seasoning and split-second blackening forthrightly support the lamb’s delicate flavor, and an opulent creamy sauce emboldened with jalapeños positions this creation by executive sous-chef Kevin Dimond squarely in the Southwest.Dimond’s mix-and-match technique has found a champion
