EATS

Thanks to Sur La Table for pointing out that Maria Simmons' class on Friday will be "Tools of the Global Kitchen," not, um, risotto as, um, I reported earlier here. Ms. Simmons is going to show how to use the stovetop smoker, cataplana, cocotte, paella pan and mandoline.

A stovetop smoker is pretty much what it says; I have one, and I love the way foods come out. A cataplana is a special Portuguese copper cooking vessel; it's also the name of the dish. A cocotte is like a Dutch oven. A paella pan should be self-explanatory, and a mandoline is a slicer that yields all kinds of wonderful, thin shapes, like julienne veggies and wafer-thin slices.

The menu includes Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp, Clam Pork Sausage and Bacon Stew, Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Moroccan Spices, Chicken Shrimp and Chorizo Paella, and Jicama and Carrot Slaw with Fresh Pineapple and Cilantro. It's $59, starts at 6:30 p.m. and you can sign up here.

We aren't quite sure what to make of our pal T.G.'s report today on PegasusNews.com.

Hawaiian barbecue? Spam, grilled?

I am just a simple Texas girl brought up on Texas barbecue, iced tea and Mexican food. This is all new and strange to me, fellow Eatsians. I need enlightenment.

Has anyone reading this already been to L&L, in the Vista Ridge area of Lewisville? If so, please report in and let Eats know what it's all about, before we die of unsatisfied curiosity.

Word has come that Scott and Gina Gottlich, the owners of Bijoux in Inwood Village, are developing a restaurant concept for the Westin Galleria Dallas. No name yet, but it's hoped that the new restaurant will open in late 2008, joining the Westin's other choice dining option, Oceanaire.

Under the guidance of the Gottliches (executive chef Scott and sommelier Gina), Bijoux has become one of Dallas' best-reviewed fine-dining restaurants, with Bon Appetit naming it among the 10 hottest new restaurants in America for 2006.

Scott Farwell reports that rice prices are up because of export restrictions in India and Vietnam. Costco Wholesale and Sam's Club in Dallas have limited the amount of rice you can buy at one time, but customers are circumventing the rules by buying the limit, taking it to the car and going back inside for more.
Read more about the rising price of rice here.

Photo: Sadek Chowdhury, manager of the International Market in Plano sits on small pile of rice that is usually much higher. Photo by Rex C. Curry.

Now I know how Buttercrunch and red romaine lettuce taste. You may think you know what red romaine is - that wimpy romaine in stores with slightly purplish end leaves. Oh, no.

Organic red romaine, grown in Grand Saline, is nearly the color of purple basil. And the head isn't tight the way we think of for romaine. Organic Buttercrunch has sturdy outer leaves that give way to buttery-soft inner leaves like Boston or butter lettuce. I bought them both last Saturday morning at the Dallas Farmers Market in Shed No. 1 from the Farmer Rancher Network Co-op.

These and other early season crops should be available at the Dallas Farmers Market, Coppell Farmers Market and Eden's Organic Garden Center in Balch Springs from the same supplier next Saturday morning.

I tossed the two lettuces together with my signature vinaigrette.