Austin Food Journal

Fennel Sausage, Shallots, Green Onions, Whipped Cream and Mozzarella.

Pizza steel. Game changer. Holds 20 times the energy of a pizza stone. It also doubles as a flat top when you put it on your oven burners. You can even put it in your freezer to make a cold top for ice cream production.

Cream on a pizza? Not as shocking as it may seem. Everything starts with milk. That is where we get cheese, butter and cream. Wait a second, butter pizza?

Green and Red onions, I like the contrast in both the flavor and the color. And, as always, New Jersey mozzarella.

Central Market (North Lamar) has three or four different types of live oysters at the moment. They are all wonderful, raw or cooked.

And, CM usually throws in a couple extra with your order (incase you find one of your prized specimens had expired on the way home). The live ones are much more tasty.

Mise en place

Base layer of creamed spinach

Caramelized onions. No need for sugar or balsamic vinegar. Start with high heat, oil, salt and onions. As the edges of the onions brown, keep stirring to break down the onions and release the starch. Reduce the heat as they finish to a golden brown. It’s about time, technique and temperature. This process isn’t about adding more ingredients, it about a process to get to a precise goal: breaking down the ingredient to make a certain flavor and texture (not unlike making risotto rice).

It was lovely

Garnished with diced red onion and cilantro.

Raw, unsalted cashews get the slow roasted treatment.

Under the broiler goes shallot, tomatillo and Serrano

This is my favorite bacon for BLT’s. The texture doesn’t get to a shattering state, so it still has a bit of a chew to it. But, it’s a flavor monster. Great spice rub.

Dehydrated for a couple days then pulverized in a spice grinder. Great sprinkled on top of Thai salads.