Monday : November 19, 2007

Holiday Preview

I hit this one out of the park. I don't like to brag, but I was patting myself on the back so hard, I think I knocked the air out of my lungs. It might not look like much, but it is 100% Bœuf Bourguignon. Beef soaked in red wine! You can't get any better than that.

The flat-top haircut item above is a Portabella mushroom that accompanied the beef. Along with pearl onions baked in cream and mashed potatoes.

A slow braise: beef, onions and carrots in wine.

Friday : November 16, 2007

Ham, Uncured

We love Pederson's apple smoked, uncured bacon. We get it at Central Market. Their sausage is also excellent. We first had it at Kirby Lane and have been hooked ever since.

Thursday : November 15, 2007

Tomatillo Chicken Casserole

This was waiting for me upon my return to town last week. My wife whipped up this tasty little dish.

Wednesday : November 14, 2007

Bread V2.0

I think I might be getting a hang of this bread thing. I think the trick might be to let it rise the full 12 hours (like the recipe says), instead of 3 hours (that I arbitrarily chose to do). What a difference! Who would have thought!

This batch rose three times the size of the other that I had done.

Tuesday : November 13, 2007

Deconstructed Chicken Parmesan

The idea was to see if I could freshen up Chicken Parmesan. I make it often, it is one of my favorite comfort dishes. My angle here was to do a Croque Monsieur/Napoleon stacked thing. I hammered out the chicken, cut it into small triangles, breaded and fried as usual, then stacked the pieces with a little sauce and mozzarella between the slices. Then, I put it in the oven to melt the cheese and get everything up to temperature. Immediately, all the stacks fell over! A quick rescue with some vertical toothpick support and I was back in business. All in all a fun variation.

Monday : November 12, 2007

Restaurant: Alto (New York)

After reading an article in the Times, I wanted to try Alto while I was in New York on business. Wonderful dinner. NYC is absolutely the undisputed heavy weight of restaurant towns. Four Course Prefix: Puree of Wild Mushrooms Soup (fantastic flavor and presentation), Sea Scallops with Citrus Oil (the orange flavor was a perfect pairing), Rack of Lamb (two, double cut, massive loin chops). The front of the house was just as impressive as the back. The interior was beautiful and the service
was immaculate.

Tuesday : November 6, 2007

Protein and Two Sides

Wonderful Buffalo Tenderloin with potato gratin and green beans. For the sauce, I did a quick pan sauce: deglased with some stock, then added Shitaki mushrooms and butter.

To me, green beans always look disheveled on the plate. So, I decided to tie them up. I poached a leak and sliced it into ribbons. Gathered up a few green beans and trussed them into nice organized bundles. They are even stackable! Sauce them with a vinaigrette and you are ready to go.

This is always a hit. Thinly sliced potatoes, baked down with parmesan and cream.

Monday : November 5, 2007

Baking Frightens Me

I know...it looks flat. I am good at a lot of things. Many of those things, in the kitchen. But, baking, til this point, has not been one of them. I am on a quest to clear up these short comings. So you see before you my first loaf. Humble may it be (not a quite a focaccia, as it should have been), it received high marks from the tasting crew. A good start I think.

Sunday : November 4, 2007

Sardinia Skillet Fest

We had a wonderful time at the Texas Book Festival this weekend. On our way to see Paula Disbrowe and Robb Walsh we stopped by a book tent and chatted with Efisio Farris. He has a few restaurants around Texas serving traditional Sardinian food. Above is one of the recipes from his book, Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey. Polenta with Sausage and Tomato Sauce. I juiced up the polenta with our chicken stock and bought two types of Central Market sausage. Mix it up with our tomato sauce, caramelized onions and Pecorino cheese and you have a piping hot skillet of goodness.

Thursday : November 1, 2007

Chicken and the Salad

This fell together well. Pan roasted chicken with a warm salad of apples and goat cheese mixed with a mustard vinaigrette.

Wednesday : October 31, 2007

Book'em Barbara

Turn on the reading lamp. Once again, Barbara Bush's book show is coming to town. We had a great time last year grabbing some cookbooks and read them on the grass in front of the Capital (in the best weather you can hope for this time of year). On Saturday this year, Paula Disbrowe and Robb Walsh are 'cooking off' with cast iron at noon. On Sunday at 2:00, our first lady of cheese, Paula Lambert will be speaking about her perfect mozzarella.

Wednesday : October 31, 2007

A Plain Loaf

This bread looks like it is about to sprout. But, it actually tastes pretty good. We decided to try and see if we could find a bread without high-fructose corn syrup. It was a lot harder than we thought. You would think flour, water and yeast would be a little more discriminate.

Tuesday : October 30, 2007

Materials At Hand

It's nice having supplies on hand. This soup started with a quart of frozen chicken stock that I made a few weeks ago. Having the chicken stock ready to go made this too easy. I added potatoes, carrots, celery, thyme and a rue to thicken it up. An hour later we were eating scratch built goodness.

Monday : October 29, 2007

Leek Lover

At the moment, it is safe to say, I am nuts for leeks. Not sure where they were hiding during the last few decades, but they have surfaced with a vengeance.

Over the years Julia had me use them in soups and stocks, but Suzanne Goin's preparation, in her book Sunday Suppers at Lucques, made me a believer. I paired them with roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and a white wine pan sauce.

Sunday : October 28, 2007

Book Review: GRUB

Anna Lappe spoke at the Austin Museum on Thursday night about her new book, GRUB. Anna's book is a pretty good read, but sometimes I get a little leery of statistics. They seem to be so easily skewed to make a point. Towards the back of the book, there is a great resource guide. All and all, worth the money. (Food and drink were also provided at the event. All excellent. Especially the green beans.)

Friday : October 26, 2007

Nerf Sandwiches

Well, UT plays football tomorrow and you know what that means, miniature sandwiches. The trick is to make them small enough so they can be consumed in those brief moments in between screaming at the television set. Pictured above are ham and swiss cheese on Central Market mini wheat buns.

Thursday : October 25, 2007

Harvest From Above

The good thing about having the top of your pecan tree break and hang precariously in the tree top (not knowing when it will fall and destroy your roof) is that the nuts have plenty of time to dry to a crunchty goodness. All you need is a strong wind to bring said dried harvest to earth. Just make sure to pick them up before the squirrels do.

Wednesday : October 24, 2007

Thunder Balls

Traditional meatballs are made with veal, pork and beef. Why do that when we can use 100% Thunder Heart Bison! I mix mine with parmesan, parsley, garlic, red pepper flakes, egg and bread crumbs.

A quick fry and them let them stew in some tomato sauce. I try to make as many at one time as I can. Because, if I only make a few, I will eat them all while I am cooking.

Tuesday October 23, 2007

Roasted Bird

The temperature dropped into the 40's, so it officially roasting season. It seems everyone has their own way to roast a chicken. After experimenting, I have fallen back to the basics. Salt, pepper and olive oil. Keep checking while it cooks. That way you will know when it is done.

Sunday : October 21, 2007

Food Rally

We went to the Green Corn Project benefit. They help build organic vegetable gardens for people in need. Some of our favorite restaurants signed on to serve food: Cafe Jose, Asti, Wink and Aquarelle (to name a few). The big surprise was Cissi's Market. We think they had the best looking and tasting food at the event.

Monday : October 15, 2007

I Just Lost Seven Hours of My Life

But, my wife said it was worth it. Cooking from scratch takes forever when you are actually 'cooking from scratch'. I made vegetable lasagna with yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, purple eggplant. I started the sauce and pasta from scratch. Thank goodness I didn't have to grow the vegetables. I'll leave that to the locals.

The sauce was made with San Marzano canned tomatoes, red wine, garlic, oregano and honey.

The pasta is hard to work with in sheets this big. I boiled them in a low roasting pan to keep them from sticking together. All-in-all it came out pretty good.

Monday : October 15, 2007

St. Edward's Gets It

Great article in the local paper about St. Edward's University in South Austin. Twenty percent of its food budget is spent on local ingredients. And every Fall, beginning in 2005, it designates a day for its Eat Local Challenge. Good for them. Makes me want to go back to school.

Sunday : October 14, 2007

Q: Who Cares About Farmers Markets?

A: I think I just fell in love with a head of lettuce. I don't even know what kind it was, you would have to ask Carol Ann. The thing was perfect.

I know what cooks mean when they say that they found one ingredient and they built a meal around it. I think I even said out loud, "I guess we are having a salad tonight". Honey Dijon vinaigrette, Pure Luck Feta, Apple and backyard Pecans.

Saturday : October 13, 2007

Small Dice

Flavor is in small packets. The lowly carrot. The overlooked onion. The forgotten celery. The French nailed this; Merepoix. You can add it to about anything and jack up the flavor.

Wednesday : October 10, 2007

The People We Eat With

Austin has a dinner club, Dai Due. They are of note because they serve local, wonderfully prepared food. I have been looking into attending one of their events. I love the idea that they serve local food, but I realized that there is another reason I want to go. The idea that I can share a meal with people in my community that have the same ideas about food that I have. I think 'people' might be the ultimate missing ingredient.

Tuesday : October 9, 2007

Finger Sandwiches

How happy can cheese get? I think it might just have found it's home, between tomato and pesto. Mini tomato and mozzarella sandwiches with home made mayo and pesto.

Tuesday : October 9, 2007

Chip It

Man, Oh, man. Tasty. Go out and get some local tortillas, drop them in hot oil and you have golden, inexpensive, tasty, tasty (yes twice), goodness. Go ahead and hit them with a little salt when they are hot.

Monday : October 8, 2007

Grilled Sea Trout, Mixed Squash with Chipotle Sauce

I have been pan-frying the Trout I caught at the coast, but since I was grilling a mix of squashes that we bought at the farmers market, I thought I would try grilling the fish as well. I did a semi-blackened treatment to the fish. The dinner received 'two thumbs-up' from my official taster.

Monday : October 8, 2007

Restaurant: Les Halles (New York)

Traveling for work last week to NYC, I went by Les Halles. This is Anthony Bourdain's restaurant. He is the tall, wiry guy, who has the food show about traveling the word and tasting it's culinary cultures (while continuously smoking and drinking). The restaurant was busy on a Tuesday night, but I got a quick seat at a two-top in the front window (must have been my slick big-city duds). I didn't expect to be blown away by the food, being that this is a touristy, celeb-chef place, but was pleasantly surprised. The food is French bistro and it lived up to that. I had the Frisée aux Lardons (frisée, bacon, roquefort, croûtons) and the Onglet à l’Échalote (hanger steak, shallot sauce).

Tuesday : October 2, 2007

By The Book

I have been making pizza dough for a while now. And, for some reason, I decided to look up a few recipes and try how other people are making it. Well, the dough sucked. Not sure what the moral of this story would be besides, "don't mess with a good thing".