Austin Food Journal

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.