Since we're all talking steaks, sandwiches & other food on this forum, just a reminder...

Alton Brown is going to be at the Pink Palace this Saturday afternoon, signing his cookbook for the "Feasting On Asphalt" series.

I think you have to reserve the book with the Pink Palace to participate...I've already reserved mine!

i don't know if walton & the others who mentioned going were there, but the pink palace actually managed that signing pretty well, from what i could tell.

I have a cooking group - 5 girlfriends - and we all try to get together once a month or so and make a dinner involving things that none of us have worked with before - this saturday's "cooking bee" was tamales.

so, i'm standing in line at the pink palace, and in the section about memphis/mississippi, there's a recipe for tamales! i told AB about our group, and our menu for the day, and he assured us we could do it - that it just took time more so than luck.

we wound up using the one from the book, and they were wonderful...we did a cheese & green chile version, a chicken version, and the classic beef/delta version:

tigergreen Wrote:i don't know if walton & the others who mentioned going were there, but the pink palace actually managed that signing pretty well, from what i could tell.

I have a cooking group - 5 girlfriends - and we all try to get together once a month or so and make a dinner involving things that none of us have worked with before - this saturday's "cooking bee" was tamales.

so, i'm standing in line at the pink palace, and in the section about memphis/mississippi, there's a recipe for tamales! i told AB about our group, and our menu for the day, and he assured us we could do it - that it just took time more so than luck.

we wound up using the one from the book, and they were wonderful...we did a cheese & green chile version, a chicken version, and the classic beef/delta version:



I am impressed ! I live in San Antonio, and have never tried this, although I want to. Maybe I finally will sometime this year. Good job !

We went thanks to the reminder posted here. Otherwise I would not have known about it. We had a good time standing in line even though my wife had to sit for a while. The Pink Palace and Alton's staff did a great job. We have cookbooks ready for Christmas for all the kids.

Thanks for the heads up.

I could not go Saturday, but saw him several years ago at Davis Kidd and he was great, really funny, with that weird naive/acerbic bit of his. Good stuff, wish I could have joined ya'll.

kpigout Wrote:

tigergreen Wrote:i don't know if walton & the others who mentioned going were there, but the pink palace actually managed that signing pretty well, from what i could tell.

I have a cooking group - 5 girlfriends - and we all try to get together once a month or so and make a dinner involving things that none of us have worked with before - this saturday's "cooking bee" was tamales.

so, i'm standing in line at the pink palace, and in the section about memphis/mississippi, there's a recipe for tamales! i told AB about our group, and our menu for the day, and he assured us we could do it - that it just took time more so than luck.

we wound up using the one from the book, and they were wonderful...we did a cheese & green chile version, a chicken version, and the classic beef/delta version:



I am impressed ! I live in San Antonio, and have never tried this, although I want to. Maybe I finally will sometime this year. Good job !

thanks! they really weren't hard; just tedious. i suggest getting at least 4 or 5 people together to do it once you have the ingredients ready to assemble...that makes it go MUCH faster!

my wife and I were there and had a great time

I loved his seersucker suit with bowtie, that was classic

he actually passed us in line and stopped to take look at my niece (3 months old)

memphodude Wrote:I loved his seersucker suit with bowtie, that was classic

i know...when i saw his outfit, i asked my husband if we all of a sudden moved to a tom wolfe signing & i missed it.

Question on the Tamales:

Did you steam them or boil them? I have made them in the past and have steamed them. The Delta style is to boil them in broth (as in the book). I was disappointed in the fact that the recipe in AB's book says to boil them in water. He even goes as far to say that no one he came across in his travels would divulge what they use in the "broth".

I'm guessing that a beef broth would be a good start.

Volh8r Wrote:Question on the Tamales:

Did you steam them or boil them? I have made them in the past and have steamed them. The Delta style is to boil them in broth (as in the book). I was disappointed in the fact that the recipe in AB's book says to boil them in water. He even goes as far to say that no one he came across in his travels would divulge what they use in the "broth".

I'm guessing that a beef broth would be a good start.

we steamed the cheese & chicken ones, since those actually were based on a rick bayless recipe.

the "delta" ones, we totally planned on boiling in the water that we boiled the chuck roast in (which wouldn't have given much more taste, since you don't season the meat until after you've cooked & diced it).

but when it came time to do it, we weren't thinking and plopped them in a steamer just like we did the bayless ones...i blame it on the cerveza sol.


the recipe he uses (and that we used) is from a girl who did a documentary on the "tamale trail."

http://www.tamaletrail.com/recipe_howto.shtml

Sounds great, tamales and cervezas will do it every time.

Thanks.