Chefs change the way we eat in Austin and Austin seems to have an influence on the chefs. These are not mutually exclusive. Charles Mayes has a knack for crafting food here. His work at Mother's, Treaty Oak, Gilligan's and the very special Cafe Josie, has laid testament to this fact. From vegetarian specific menus, to championing fresh seafood, his pairings and flavor combinations are wonderful.
Above are two dishes with great contrasts and balance: Mesquite Grilled Shrimp with a Goat Cheese Flauta on Five Spice Mole and Poblano Artichoke Soup.
Sunday : May 24, 2009
Short Video of Me Trying New Baking Technique
Friday : May 22, 2009
Big Bite
Ever wake up wondering why there is a spatula in your hand? Usually, there is a sandwich on the counter that explains a lot. This time, it was chicken, red onion, red bell pepper, Romaine lettuce, bumpy mustard and the rest of the usual suspects.
I usually have leftover mashed potatoes around. That's because my wife thinks they have roughly the same value as uncut diamonds. She may be on to something, because they make a great, quick Potato Latke. Mix with a little onion and egg and you have some million dollar pancakes.
Monday : May 17, 2009
Garden Evacuation
What do you do when you have ten heads of Romaine in the garden that are about ready to burst? Pot Luck lunch. This Sunday, Austin food bloggers got together to share food and thoughts. I made a Caesar Salad for the event: Garlic croutons, Cojita and Parmesan cheese and a creamy anchovy dressing. Did you know the Caesar was created in Tijuana?
Saturday : May 16, 2009
Event: Big Red / Edible / Kennedy
Event this last Friday at Big Red Sun for cookbook author Diana Kennedy. Engaging people, festive setting. My favorite food was Rio's Brazilian's Kibe (beef, tabuli and mint meatballs). Fantastic. Perfect pairing with their spicy original sauce. Honorable mentions: Ecstatic Cuisine's Mac and Cheese with peppers and FINO's ceviche.
Friday : May 15, 2009
Cooking in Austin: Reggie Ferguson
I have been thinking about how the Austin area influences the people living in it (or vice versa). Is there a particular technique, dish or ingredient that illustrates this for a particular person? I headed over to The Grove Wine Bar & Kitchen and asked my friend Reggie Ferguson.
Reggie has been cooking here just about his whole life. Starting over a campfire with his dad and then on to restaurant kitchens like the Granite, Bitter End, 34th Street Cafe, Mars and now The Grove. If you have dined out in Austin in the last fifteen years, you have probably eaten his food.
His cooking is big on regional favorites and ingredients. Chicken fried steak with cracked pepper gravy, fresh Tuna from the gulf coast and the heat of roasted peppers. I love Reggie's cooking and I'm glad he calls Austin home.
Thursday : May 14, 2009
Pizza Bubble
I think I have conquered the whole "why can't I get big, fat, tasty bubbles in my pizza crust" issue. The solution: let it be. Especially if you roll out your dough, letting it rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Bubblicious.
Wednesday : May 13, 2009
2009 Awards
The results are in for the James Beard Foundation's annual awards. No one from Austin!?! What's up with that? A few of my favorites did win: Alinea cookbook by Grant Achatz and a rising star award for Nate Appleman at A16. We will get'm next year.
Tuesday : May 12, 2009
Bread V6.0
Mix, rest, rise and repeat. Making something over and over is sometimes the only way to get consistent at it. My bread is getting better, just need to stop fussing with the ratios.
Friday : May 8, 2009
Fish Sticks
Fish and Chips. I was looking around for a replacement to Atlantic Cod (it's under some pressure at the moment). Pacific Cod's numbers are looking good, but when you can, root for the home team: Grouper from the Gulf. Man, was this a good choice. Sweet, flakey and light. Not unlike my first girlfriend.
Friday : May 8, 2009
Don't You Feel More Like You Do Now Than When You Came?
You can call it an small, local Chili diner, an Austin institution or just a dark place to have six gin and tonics before 2:00 PM. Either way, the Texas Chili Parlor has a past and a future. I just sampled three of their chilies: Frito pie, Black Bean & Elgin Sausage and White bean & pork. All, very good. The White didn't have those tell tale Chili seasonings, so my brain didn't yell 'Chili', but rather 'Stew.' But, I'm cool with stews, so I'll be back.
Thursday : May 7, 2009
Twenty One Left to Go
In an attempt to bake bread in the shape of every one of the 22 human organs, I give to you the pancreas. Don't ask me how to recreate this beauty, it would take way too long for me to explain. At this point, I don't think the Upper Crust Bakery should be worrying about any competition.
Wednesday : May 6, 2009
Local Heros: Supper Clubs
I am not sure how long you can publicize a 'secret' supper club before it is no longer a secret. But, the wise folks over at Garden and Gun (not as violent as you may think) have a great article on the subject. It's great because the article highlights two of ours in Austin: Dai Due and Supper Underground. Nicely written by Sandy Lang and photographed by Peter Frank Edwards.
Wednesday : May 6, 2009
Braised Ligurian Chicken
Roasted chicken and mashed potatoes with a tomatoes, olives, garlic, rosemary and white wine sauce.
Monday : May 4, 2009
Some Continuity
I finally found two cookbooks that have the same pizza dough recipe. A16 Food + Wine and Artisan Baking. 1/4 tsp yeast, 1 1/2 cups water, 3 (or 4) cups four and salt. I know! But, I am still considering it a victory. What's a cup of flour between friends? The variance is probably acceptable, given the differences in humidity, air temperature and the like. I guess a formula will only take you so far. Like most things in life, in the end you just have to eyeball it.
Friday : May 1, 2009
Would Someone Throw This At Me?
A friend of mine told me a story about when he was a short order cook. A customer returned a Cobb Salad by throwing it at him through the kitchen window because he didn't like how it was prepared. I always strive to make mine above that baseline. Any time someone is throwing your food (barring children under two) it is not a good sign.
Thursday : April 30, 2009
Fryalated Arts
Has this ever worked? French fries at home that taste as good or better than a restaurant? I even made these in a dutch oven with a gallon of oil. I checked the temperature. I blanched them, then did a second fry for crispness, dryed them on a rack, and they still were not as good as McDonalds. They didn't have that crisp outer shell. I was reading that older oil works better. Older oil?
Tuesday : April 28, 2009
Raise Your Hand If You Like Rain
If this tomato plant had arms, you would see both of them in the air. What a difference a little rain can make. I think my plants are averaging about a inch a minute. That means that, come July, I will need a tomato cage roughly the size of the U.T. Tower.
Monday : April 27, 2009
Fish Watch
So, the eating more fish thing hasn't been working out as well as I hoped, but I did just bang out some lovely Fish Tacos. Here I have them pan fried with cabbage, green onion and miso dressing.
Monday : April 27, 2009
What the Hay Bale?
Just saw these ladies on the Food Network show Throwdown with Bobby Flay: The Casserole Queens. They prepare down-home meals and deliver them right to your door. Vintage dresses included.
Friday : April 24, 2009
Recession Special
Having just paid your taxes, you're probably looking to conserve a few dollars by making an inexpensive meal. Beans and rice are a classic combination. In Central America it is called Gallo Pinto. Yellow onion, red bell pepper and garlic flavor a mix of white rice and red or black beans. Great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snack, cocktail parties or to throw at auditors.
Friday : April 24, 2009
Garden Party
Apparently, there were some people eating food last weekend. I missed that event, but I did make it to the Umlauf Garden Party. This event has a more graceful pace is set in a perfect location. The highlight for me was Jamie Gutierrez's (III Forks) Asian Strip Steak. A nice balance of smokey and sweet, grilled to order.
Wednesday : April 22, 2009
Are We There Yet?
How long untill you can say your food business is a success? How about at the 70 year mark. Not many in the industry have that kind of record. Joe's Bakery does. Starting as La Oriental Bakery in 1937, they were baking bread before Interstate 35 slashed a line down the center of town. The Statesman has an article on this enduring Austin institution.
Tuesday : April 21, 2009
Re-purposing
Last weeks "Bread V4.0" was re-purposed to French Toast over the weekend. Super easy to make: dip bread in a wash of egg, milk and cinnamon. Then lightly skillet fry. Those French, they think of everything. First, French Fries, now this!
Monday : April 20, 2009
Restrained Saucing
Finishing pasta with the sauce is an easy way to adjust the consistency. If the sauce is too thick, add in some of the pasta water. If it's too wet, keep it on the burner for a minute to let some of the liquid reduce. I like it when the pasta holds the sauce, not when there is a pool on the plate (it will only end up on your shirt).
Thursday : April 16, 2009
Update: Tecolote Farm
Travis County Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt was nice enough to respond to my email about the Tecolote Farm water crisis. (In fact, she was the only one out of the five to do so.) She said that "we are all to blame." This probably has some truth to it: Austinites want inexpensive housing, residential developers descend on outlying areas, utilities are put in place to support new construction. People get cheap homes (good), developers make money (good), Austin increases it's tax base and bills for utilities (good) and Tecolote's well goes dry from increased water table use (bad). There were 10 high-capacity commercial pumps installed in the area, that is why the well went dry. When Sarah said "all to blame", I guess she was wrong on one count. I don't think we can blame Tecolote Farm. That being said, water in Texas has always been a touchy subject. Usually, the one with the deepest well (or fastest pumps) wins.
Thursday : April 16, 2009
Bread V4.0
O.K., it's a little lumpy, but I'm on a new track: cold fermentation. I have been reading about this technique in a few books, but wasn't quite sure about it's significance until I came across Peter Reinhart's chapter in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Cold fermentation for 12 - 24 hours gives time for the sugars to develop (while the yeast is dormant). Then, when you bring the dough to room temperature, the yeast has plenty to feed on and there are residual sugars to help with flavor. Added bonus: I have been using the same recipe for loaves and pizza dough. So far, so good.
Wednesday : April 15, 2009
Meet Your Food: Amador Farms
Susan and Rusty Staub have a good thing growing. She calls it 'stand up gardening'. They produce hydroponic lettuces at their farm in Henly, just a few miles outside of Austin. Year-round, pesticide-free greens including Boston Bibb, a variety of red and green leaf lettuces and a variety of Asian greens such as Tatsoi and Pac Choi. Available at the Sunset Vally Farmers Market, Fresh Plus, Wheatsville and fine dining spots around town.
They have a fascinating set-up. Three large greenhouses, all plumbed with a re-circulating water system that feeds the plants. The system uses only 10% of the water it would take to grow the same plants in the ground. It was incredible to see a field of hundreds of perfect heads of lettuces, four feet off the ground, all tucked into a small greenhouse.
They get their start as seeds in these little cubes. Seven weeks later, they are waiting for you at the farmers market. The left-overs are donated to local food shelters. I'm sold. Stop by the farmers market on Saturday, pick up some of their greens and let me know what you think.
