Editor's Table
"A Few Items of Note"
Congratulations to Jennifer Ringer, our third winner of Tour de Champagne tickets. We hope all winners enjoyed the food and champagne event.
In the new June-July issue (#85) of My Table, on page 13, we listed Bob’s Steak & Chop House as closed. They are not. They are in bankruptcy protection and in the process of becoming another concept, Mo’s, A Place For Steaks. However, they intend to remain open during the transition. My Table magazine regrets the error.
A La Carte
"Around Town"
Becks Prime, Houston’s original gourmet cook-to-order burger restaurant, will celebrate the 4th of July with a month long promotion, featuring an Old Fashion Hot Dog, Fresh-Cut Skin-on Fries, and an Apple Pie Shake combo meal for $10.00. For more information on Becks Prime, please visit the website at www.BecksPrime.com, or call 713-963-7553.
Speaking of franks, Frank Crapitto and Frank Butera have announced their latest creation: Frank’s Chop House. How will it stand out from all the others? According to the Franks, locally sourced and grown produce, beef, grass-fed porterhouse veal and gulf coast seafood will be artfully prepared and presented. Seasonal menu changes will reflect the finest regional food influences. The new restaurant opens this summer at 3736 Westheimer, east of the Galleria and Highland Village. For more information, visit www.frankschophouse.com
Morton’s Make a Wish Program will be running every Sunday in July thru September. On Sundays, the Prime Sirloin Burger will be offered for $19.78 with five dollars of each hamburger/fries entree going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
- This isn’t just any hamburger—it’s the burger that started it all at Morton’s. When Morton’s co-founders Klaus Fritsch and Arnie Morton first worked together at the Playboy Club, Fritsch made his signature hamburger and sent it out for Arnie Morton to taste. Morton proclaimed it the best hamburger he’d ever tasted. From that day, they started the business partnership that has become Morton’s The Steakhouse. Now in its 30th year, Morton’s has 79 world-wide restaurants and will be opening its 80th location this June in Coral Gables, Fla.
- Although the sirloin burger is not usually featured on the menu’s of Houston’s Morton’s, it will be for this special fund raiser. Morton’s locations in Houston are at 1001 McKinney at Fannin and at Centre of Post Oak at 5000 Westheimer.
Perry’s Restaurant Group will be hosting receptions at all its Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille locations to debut its new private label wines during the month of June. The public is invited to come experience these custom-made wines, Perry’s Private Label Chardonnay and Perry’s Private Label Cabernet Sauvignon. Each will be paired with Perry’s signature appetizers from 6-8 p.m. on various dates and locations. $20 per person. Please call your favorite Perry’s for dates and to make your reservation.
Culinary Calendar
"Don't Miss These"
Messina Hof Winery and Resort is hosting a “Hawaiian Luau” cooking class with Executive Chef Kenneth Ruud on Thursday, June 12, at 6:30 pm at The Vintage House Restaurant. Price is $65++ per person. For more details or to make reservations, call 800-736-9463 ext. 34. Location if 4545 Old Reliance Road in Bryan, TX.
Bistro Calais (2811 Bammel Lane) is featuring The Sharon Montgomery Cabaret on Wednesdays from 7-10 p.m. during June. On Friday, June 20th, there will be a special French and Cabaret performance featuring Debbie Boily and Jerry Atwood from 7-10 p.m. And new menus are featured starting June 2. So if you like Continental cuisine and entertainment, check it out. And don’t forget that on Tuesday evenings, there’s a 15% discount off meals, including wine. Call 713-529-1314 for reservations and more information.
Messina Hof also is celebrating its Harvest from July 18 to August 17 at the facility located in Bryan, Texas. Harvest is a time when guests can experience the century-old tradition of making wine by picking and stomping grapes. Wine lovers, including special guests and local celebrities, will roll up their sleeves and pants and partake in the first phase of wine making with the Messina Hof Family.
- After guests hand-pick the grapes straight from the vine, the fun of squashing begins. Not only will they get their feet wet, they will be rewarded for their hard work with a Harvest Cuisine Dinner prepared by the award-winning culinary team of Messina Hof’s The Vintage House restaurant.
- For more information or to register to be a part of this unforgettable experience, please call (800) 736-9463 ext. 34. To choose your Harvest Festival package now, please visit http://www.messinahof.com/docs/MH_%20Harvest_Reg_Form_08.pdf. For information or reservations for the Villa Bed & Breakfast at Messina Hof, please call (800) 736-9463 ext. 22.
Kitchen Stuff
"The BeerTender"
Do you need less than a full keg or half-keg of beer for your next party? Would you like a small keg at home just for personal use?
Check out the BeerTender by Krups. Based on a connection between Krups and Heinekin, use can put a 5-liter mini-keg of Heinekin in the BeerTender and it will keep your draft beer cold and fresh for up to 30 days. The device has its own tapper and an LCD control panel that shows beer level, freshness indicator, temperature control, and temperature indicator. The temperature adjusts from 38-43 degrees F, with optimum drinking temperature at 41 degrees. The cooling mechanism runs silently.
Although the device currently only works with Heinekin mini-kegs, we are told by Terri King, manager of Hollandaze Gourmet in Georgetown, Texas, that future models should accommodate other mini-kegs. You may find the BeerTender at Hollandaze Gourmet (512-864-0076) and at other fine kitchen shops. Estimated price is a penny under $300.
My Recipe
"Shrimp Scampi Linguine"
5-16/20 shrimp
½ cup diced tomatoes
3 tab fresh chopped basil
2 tab chopped shallots
2 tab chopped garlic
½ cup chardonnay
3 tab cold butter
2 tab lemon juice
s & p
linguine
shredded parm
chopped parsley
2 oz oil
heat oil in sauté pan
add shallots and garlic sauté until garlic begin to brown
add shrimp and tomatoes sauté for a few min.
add basil, wine and lemon juice
cook until shrimp is cooked through
add basil, salt and pepper to taste
mound with cold butter, toss with linguine and top with parm and parsley
Serves one
Something Sweet
"Espresso Yourself"
There’s only a sliver of spring left before it is officially swimsuit season, so now is the time to try Tiny Boxwood’s “Espresso Self” dessert. Celebrate a small occasion—like the arrival of homegrown tomatoes—with this vanilla ice cream sundae amped up with an espresso shot, homemade whipped cream, sinfully silky dark chocolate sauce and crushed walnuts. It is only $5, so dig in! Open daily 7am – 5pm. (Thompson & Hanson, 3614 West Alabama, 713-622-4224, www.tinyboxwoods.com)
From the Wine List
"Green Wines"
Let’s talk about green wines. No, not Vinho Verde from Portugal, but wines that are made with little or no external intervention. This entails minimal or no use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or other chemicals such as sulfur compounds to control mold and rot in the field, and careful and minimal handling of the grapes and resulting wine in the winery.
Some folks call this type of wine growing “organic” viticulture. To carry the “certified organic” label requires a lengthy and expensive process with U.S. regulatory agencies, so many organic wines (as well as other foods) don’t carry this certification on their label. Some don’t carry the certification because of the stigma of poor quality organic wines from years ago. Nevertheless, the practices utilized may meet the standards required for use of the term “organic.” Often, which wineries are doing “green” grape growing and wine making is found out via word of mouth as few do any advertising. To find out those that are “green” or “organic,” search online.
The mantra of organic farming seems to be “use no pesticides or chemicals, the earth will be healthier, and any fruit grown will be better tasting and better for you.” Some organic wines taste as good as or better than some non-organic wines, but not always. However, there is a strong movement in the wine industry to find out just how good “natural” wines can be. Many wineries are using sustainable (stewardship of both natural and human resources for future generations), organic (avoiding or largely excluding the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides), and biodynamic (interesting, but strange procedures, that some call voodoo organic) farming practices because they feel that nature has it right, and using man-made products cannot be good for the land in the long run. Bear in mind that if there are no preservatives added (no sulfites added) to organic wines, the shelf life may not be as long as for other wines.
If one uses no herbicides to keep down weeds in the vineyard, what is one to do? Obviously, backbreaking hoeing and clearing is an option. Use of a tractor is another possibility, but with today’s high fuel prices, that adds a lot of cost. So what if you want to take it easy and save money to boot? Here’s one of the most interesting techniques I’ve heard of, being used by Navarro Vineyards in Mendocino County, California.
At Navarro, they are raising a flock of babydoll sheep that are less than 24 inches high at the shoulder. Their miniature size allows them to graze on weeds and grasses under the vines during the dry season. As Navarro is replanting or modifying its vineyards, it is designing the trellis system to be tall enough to be compatible with the miniature sheep. Full sized sheep won’t work in the vineyard when the vines are growing as they are tall enough to eat the leaves and fruit.
Subscription options
Your subscriptions options are below.
To unsubscribe,
You are subscribed as [email]
Disclaimer
Copyright My Table magazine, 2008
Protected by U.S. Copyright Law {Title 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq., Title 18 U.S.C. Section 2319}: Infringements can be punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
If you'd like to suggest SideDish to a friend, please point them to: http://www.my-table.com/sidedish/
To BECOME A SIDEDISH MEMBER, please visit: http://www.my-table.com/sidedish/ or email sidedish@my-table.com
NOTE: If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser.