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December 2008
Guest blogger: Taco Journalism
Central Texas food bloggers are taking over Relish Austin this week to answer one question: Food-wise, what are you looking forward to in 2009? I chimed in with my thoughts in today’s Relish Austin print column. Today’s guest blog is from the three taquitos behind Taco Journalism:
When Addie asked us to guest blog about what we were looking forward to in 2009 it got me thinking, what am I looking forward to 2009? Without hesitation I assembled the Taco Journalists at an undisclosed taqueria and got to work. After an hour of sweat, tears and tacos we came up with the following lists:
From El Mundo de Mando:
“09 is gonna be fine, 09 is gonna be fine;” That’s what I keep telling myself as I think about everything that is going on with our economy; these times also bring lots of opportunities (I am a glass full type of person)! And so here are my opportunities and what I look forward to in 2009:
- Authentic Food — We’re tired of 2nd class tacos and over priced taquerias. Let’s bring authenticity!
- Argentina’s Veggie Tacos — I’m bringin’ them back and this it’s for keeps.
- No Whammies — That’s our family motto for 09!
- Home Cookin’ — Lots of it + more recipes on Taco Journalism.
- El Mundo de Mando Tacos - -Yeah, that’s my cook to order taco catering biz!
- Taco-Eating Contest with Open Door Preschools — We’re bringing it back (from the 70s) and doing it for a good cause.
- Más Good Causes — Taco Journalism helped out a few causes this year and we’re looking forward to helping more in 09!
From Jarod:
- Exploring my new neighborhood’s restaurants — I’m looking at you, San Juanita’s!
- Taco Journalism’s move into print. We are going to be cross posting at FearlessCritic.com, and our reviews will be in the Fearless Critic’s 3rd Edition!
- My wife’s “Tacos a la Andrea” for New Year’s Eve!
- More Taco Journalizing! Exploring Austin’s Taco scene is a full-time job and there are new tacos out there every day. We look forward to putting more people in touch with more tacos all year.
From Cornbiter Deluxe:
Things I’m looking forward to in 2009:
- Eating more meals at Thahn nhi. I have never been so consistently blown away by a restaurant. I’ve eaten there 30 times in the last year, and I can’t wait for my next opportunity. Their Pork Paste Spring Roll is possibly the single most delightful thing you can put in your mouth.
- Working on my cocktail craft. I’ve been experimenting with some classic mixology, and am looking forward to expanding my repertoire in this dept. The fancy new Twin Liquor location that opened right next to my office will certainly help.
- Eating food (and blogging about it) while in Hong Kong and Vietnam. My wife and I are taking a three week Asian vacation, and the food is the number one thing on my mind.
- Eating my birthday dinner at Austin Land and Cattle Company. I look forward to this all year every year.
- Learning to make my Mom’s Caldo de Pollo recipe. Sometimes a hearty but healthy bowl of soup is just what the Dr. ordered.
- Talking about tacos and such on our new twitter channel.
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Guest blogger: Maggie Hoffman of Maggie’s Austin
While I’m on holiday in Missouri, hopelessly awaiting snow in my pajamas, Central Texas food bloggers are taking over Relish Austin to answer one question: Food-wise, what are you looking forward to in 2009? Today’s guest blog is from Maggie Hoffman of MaggiesAustin:
At MaggiesAustin, we celebrate all things that are Austin, especially food and music — and more food! With a tough economic forecast for 2009 you could argue that there is nothing to look forward to in the New Year other than saving money and getting by. Well, stop right there. 2009 is going to be a great year and we’ve got a few tips for making it super cheap while still going out and having fun.
So, drop your half empty glass of expensive and pick up a half-full glass of MaggiesAustin on the affordable.
Breakfast:
Two important words: breakfast tacos. They are cheap and pack in all the nutrients that you need to get your day started. The variety of ingredients in the breakfast taco can make it different each time. Eggs and sausage, black beans and cheese, the list goes on. Start the day at Maudie’s Tex Mex for some $1.50 breakfast tacos at the original Lake Austin Boulevard location. Free chips and salsa while you are waiting? Yes, please. The service is great and the food is fantastic. What a great way to start your day and you can fill your tummy for $3.85
Exercise:
You’ve filled up on tacos and you are feeling like getting in a little exercise? Cancel your gym membership and go run on the hike-and-bike trail on Lady Bird Lake. Ten mile, 7 mile, 5 mile, 4 mile and 3 mile loops include free water stations, thanks to RunTex.
Lunch:
Relaxation:
Dinner and late night:
Cost of the entire day: $30.
Cost of living like a true Austinite: priceless.
For those whose pockets will be more full in 2009, there are some great new spots opening in 2009. I am most anticipating Houston import, Max’s Wine Dive, set to open this April. (You aren’t supposed to believe everything you read, but when Texas Monthly names Max’s as one of the top ten restaurants in Texas in 2008, I take their word for it!)
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Guest blogger: Rachel and Logan of Boots in the Oven
While I’m with my family in Missouri this week, stuffing my face with Oreo cream cheese balls, breakfast casseroles and cashew chicken, Central Texas food bloggers are taking over Relish Austin to answer one question: Food-wise, what are you looking forward to in 2009? Today’s guest blog is from Rachel and Logan of Boots in the Oven:
Hi, from your friendly neighborhood bloggers at Boots in the Oven! Since Addie is on a family-friendly tour of hopefully snow-riddled Missouri, she’s given us the opportunity to pontificate on what food trends we’re looking forward to in 2009. I’m hoping for levitating magnet-powered robot cookery, but I’ll probably have to wait until 2011 for that. Meanwhile, here’s some food stuffs we wanna see in the next year — let’s check back in December ’09 and see how much of our face we fell on.
Happy Holidays, and thanks again for the platform, Addie!
Mobile Meal Diversification
Austin currently hosts food trucks of a wide variety. We have your requisite hot dog and pizza vendors, Middle Eastern fare, burgers, and lord knows some of the best Mexican food in town comes from those little trailers. We even have seafood and Vietnamese sandwiches. I don’t think the trend has peaked though. With the low overhead and relatively minor start-up costs, I look forward to seeing some real yummy and possibly cutting-edge cuisine coming out of more tiny mobile kitchens in the very near future.
The Great Cupcake Bust
Don’t get me wrong. I love a delicious cupcake as much as the next frosting whore, but I think “cupcakes” as a business scheme has reached critical mass. Hey Cupcake!, Cupprimo Cupcakery, Blue Cupcake, Hill Country Cupcake, Babycakes, Polkadots Cupcake Factory… the list goes on and on. Next year, I hope to see a thinning of the herd. Only the moistest most scrumptious will survive, leaving the rest to collapse in a hail of sprinkles and cutesy paper linings.
The Milkman Returns
For a few years now, farm fresh eggs have been all the rage. People realized that locally raised, free-roaming chickens produce a noticeably tastier product. Farmers responded, and now it’s super easy to pick up a dozen multihued eggs at the market (and for practically the same price as the industro-carton at the corner store.) The next staple to make the leap is good ol’ fashioned milk.
If all goes well, folks will start joining little milk co-ops, and uber-fresh milk from pastured, grass fed cows will be every bit as common as farm eggs are today. I mention co-op because there are some silly laws about pasteurization and sales. A few wily farmers have circumvented the regulations by basically selling off “shares” of their milk cows. If you own a piece of the cow, you’re not actually paying for the milk, you’re just collecting your part of the output. Currently, a few vendors are selling low temperature pasteurized milk at the markets, and I highly recommend supporting them. However, I’m also excited about the imminent prospect of undisrupted cow to doorstep service that I know is on the way.
and Brings His Yolky Sidekick
Since I mentioned eggs I’ll throw in a little bonus that I’m also a bit tingly about. Next year should bring an egg diversity like we’ve never seen. Sure, we all know chicken eggs — duck and quail eggs pop up occasionally — but are you ready for ostrich, goose, turkey, emu, gull, and pheasant eggs? It’s going to be a veritable egg arms race. These unique and underutilized products haven’t had a market mainly because of their sheer exoticness. But consumers are ready. Our palates have reached full adventure throttle- if they can lay it we’re ready to try it.
Lox cured in my very own Frigidaire
Doing It Yourself in a Way Your Mother Can Approve Of
My final eeeeh! for next year relies exclusively on you people (and possibly your friends and neighbors). I’m really excited about the continuing reclaiming of food processing by the home cook. There’s nothing better than showing up at a friend’s house for breakfast and being served fig preserves from her tree outside and some salty home-cured bacon.
More and more people are realizing how simple and amazing it is to preserve your own fruits, vegetables, and meats. Once you wrestle back a few staples from Hormel and Green Giant, the pickling/canning/smoking/curing fever only spreads. The re-personalizing of processing won’t just bring folks closer to what they eat, it’ll also bring a taste variety explosion. There won’t just be a couple of brands to choose from but instead hundreds in every neighborhood. That’s the kind of potluck I’m dreaming about.
Well, happy holidays from your friends over at Boots in the Oven. We hope that the season finds you well-fed and among friends. And one last big woot to Addie of Relish Austin — thanks so much for letting us highjack your site for some hot guest action!
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Tammy, the rat: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
As the queen rodent, she gets nightly treats from his fridge, in addition to her regular diet of rat food and grains. No more pasta for this fat rat, though. Doctor’s orders.
What three things are always in your fridge? Beer, pitcher of Brita water, Central Market organic eggs.
What’s your favorite condiment? Salsa.
What’s Tammy’s favorite late-night snacks? Broccoli, homemade hummus, various beans, carrots. Sometimes she’ll get a special treat of salmon or eggs or a homemade fruit smoothie.
(This will likely be the last What’s in Your Fridge Friday — or in the case of this week, Wednesday — this year. If you have a fridge you’d like to feature, shoot me an e-mail at abroyles@statesman.com. I’d love to feature more reader fridges next year…)
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Note to self: Check out Backyard BBQ in Morgan’s Point
I’d never heard of The Backyard BBQ, nor its location — Morgan’s Point, west of Temple — but Clay says it’s the best in Texas. I randomly drew his name as the winner of last week’s book giveaway.
Thanks to all of your for your comments and participation in this streak of holiday cookbook giveaways! Should be fun to do again in 2009.
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Screw recipes; I have a slow cooker
I imagine there are thousands of slow cookers in the bottom of pantries across Central Texas that are just sitting there collecting dust (or other pantry dandruff including onion peels and orphan rice grains).
But since October, we’ve been trying to use it more, aided by a slow cooker recipe book — with 1,001 recipes, no more no less — I received in the mail awhile back. But the problem is, when you flip through it, it seems to include every slow cooker recipe imaginable, except the one you want.
This weekend, for instance, I was inspired by a recipe in the book to make a curried beef with lentils, potatoes and onions, which ended up tasting pretty good. (I should have added more of the traditional Indian spices I’ve stocked up on since profiling Indian chef Chaya Rao in November.)
However, the final product only had a few of the ingredients of the original recipe, which has led me to believe that recipes for slow cookers are mere suggestions because the point is to use what you have, not make a special trip for a few ingredients. It is a slow cooker for God’s sake.
So, here are a few tips that will help you get some use — without a cookbook — out of that Crock Pot that’s just taking up space:
- Check out the grocery inserts, found inside your trusty newspaper just about every day of the week, for sale items. Or, the next time you’re in the store, look around for meats that are selling for $1-$3 a pound. Roasts, chucks, chicken thighs and pork butts are good examples of cheap meats made tastier when cooked on low heat over time.
- Two pounds of meat will serve at least four people, but you can stretch a pound of meat to serve 8 if you have extra vegetables and grains.
- Eat your vegetables! Onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, peppers, greens, green beans, corn and the like. Chop ‘em up and throw ‘em in. For some veggies that overcook easily, such as broccoli or cauliflower, toss them in a few hours into the cooking process.
- Eat your beans! Use those dry beans that are also taking up room in your pantry. Beans and lentils of every color have a home in a slow cooker. No need to presoak, either. Talk about a cheap protein…
- Rice and other grains, such as quinoa and couscous, are perfect for slow cookers. Just add them in about 20-30 minutes (longer for brown rice) before you want to eat.
- Use less liquid than you would in a traditional recipe. Vegetables release liquid as they cook, so you probably won’t need more than 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of broth or water.
- Season with all the spices and herbs you like at the beginning, but save the salt and pepper for the end.
- Some of the stoneware inserts these days can be heated on the stove, which means you can brown onions or ground beef (strain the fat off the ground beef, though) in the same dish you cook them in. Check the user’s manual, which if your cooker is truly unused, is probably still sitting in the pot.
- Said user’s manual’s be damned when it comes to lifting the lid to check on your dinner. I usually lift the lid and stir a couple of times to make sure the heat is being distributed and to see how it’s tasting.
- Slow cookers don’t produce the most visually pleasing foods. Chopped herbs (ie, cilantro, parsley, chives), grated cheese, toasted sesame seeds, toasted nuts or avocado slices will brighten just about any stew, soup or chili.
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Texas Monthly editor-in-chief Evan Smith: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Evan Smith has caught a lot of good-hearted flak for being a New Yorker — and a longtime vegetarian — at the helm of Texas Monthly magazine, most recently from Calvin Trillin in that New Yorker article about Snow’s BBQ in Lexington. (Yes, the same Snow’s I blogged about earlier this week.)
Meat-eating debates aside, Smith is a foodie. He and his wife, Julia, bring their two kids along to nice restaurants and have been teaching them the value of fruits, vegetables and good food since they were toddlers (his daughter’s second word was “taco” and his son has been a pad thai fan since age 3).
Smith’s devotion to nonprofits and do-good organizations, such as the Austin Film Society and the Texas Film Hall of Fame, is well known in Austin. A few months ago, he was recruited to be on the Sustainable Food Center’s capital campaign steering committee, which is helping raise money and awareness for the new facility to be built in a few years on donated land off MLK Boulevard in East Austin.
“When you get to know what the Sustainable Food Center stands for, you can’t not support it,” he said earlier this week. Along with friend and filmmaker Richard Linklater, Smith made a call for donations earlier this month through a letter sent to thousands of SFC supporters. (If you’d like to donate, visit the SFC Web site.)
“We have all become much more aware of the crap that’s in our food,” he says. The best thing we can do is to try to bring the best of what’s available into our homes, he says. Many times that means looking to our Central Texas farmers. “The work we do to support local growers ensures that more of what they produce will be available,” he says.
What three things are always in your fridge? Diet Coke, which I know is not terribly good for me in terms of Sustainable Food Center principles, but they sustain me. Some kind of salsa and fruits and vegetables. We’re a big fruit and vegetable family. I credit my wife more than anybody. My kids have grown up eating a fruit at every meal and a vegetable at lunch and dinner. Now at 12 and 8, they don’t know differently. From basic carrots and apples, to the more elaborate, like Brussels sprouts or pomegranates.
What’s your favorite condiment? Salsa. “Hurt me, but don’t kill me” is my motto about salsa. We are defined by the environment in which we live, so we eat a lot of Mexican food.
What local foods or food products do you show off to out-of-towners who visit Austin? Jaime’s Red and Green salsa, which I buy at Central Market.
By the looks of his fridge, he’s not lying about the salsa.
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Review a dish online, donate a hot meal
The Austin-based site Dishola.com, which allows users to review food by the dish instead of by the restaurant, is doing a dish-for-dish campaign through the holidays to donate meals to Meals on Wheels and More.
For every dish reviewed on the site through Jan. 11, Dishola and Whole Foods will donate a hot meal to people in need. This is the second year for the project, which last year results in 600 donated meals last year. The goal this year is 1,000 meals.
From Dishola.com:
For most of us, food is the centerpiece of our holiday celebrations. We relish the meals we share with friends and family at our favorite restaurants, and we savor the holiday recipes we make at home. But we also know that some in our community are not as lucky. The elderly, the working poor, and too many children are not always able to enjoy great food whenever they wish… With so many people in precarious straits, non-profits like Meals on Wheels have never needed our support as much as they do now. That’s why this holiday season, Dishola and Whole Foods Market have partnered with Meals on Wheels and More to bring warm, nutritious dishes to the hands of those less fortunate.
Click here to get started reviewing. I just wrote up the enchiladas de mole at Manuel’s. (If you write one up, share the link the comments.)
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Live chat with Anna Ginsberg of Cookie Madness
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Win a book: Where is the best BBQ in Texas?
Congratulations, Russell! You won a copy of Rebecca Rather’s “Pastry Queen Christmas.” Thanks for sharing your holiday tradition of hanging out in Salado and eating at the Stagecoach Inn. Hope you get to do that this year!
We’ve been suffering from barbecue fever over here at Austin360.com in the past few weeks. Matthew Odam, the wit and wisdom behind The M.O. blog, took a group over to Snow’s BBQ in Lexington and has a piece in this week’s XL. Snow’s was named by Texas Monthly as the No. 1 barbecue in the state earlier this year, and Calvin Trillin wrote about it in a recent New Yorker issue. As part of December’s Appetizers with Addie, a monthly food meet-up I organize, a few of us went on Saturday to see what the hype was about.
Pit master (and full-time janitor) Tootsie Tomanetz knows her meats and without a doubt is serving some of the finest barbecue in the state, which means some of the finest in the country. One of my dining companions said he still preferred City Market in Luling. John DeMers, the Houston writer who published “Follow the Smoke: 14783 Miles of Great Texas Barbecue” a few months ago and spoke at the Texas Book Festival in November, didn’t include Snow’s, but offers short profiles of 119 other noteworthy barbecue joints.It’s a good book, one I’ve actually used on a trip or two this fall, but if you want to own it, tell me: Where is your favorite barbecue in Texas?
Update: Here is that video we shot last weekend at Snow’s.
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Houston bartender sweeps Austin Drink Local Night
Bobby Heugel of the new Houston restaurant Anvil won the Edible Austin/Tipsy Texan Drink Local Contest last week. Heugel, who also pens the mixology blog Drink Dogma, was the only out-of-towner, up against local mixologists Will Earls of Gypsy, Billy Hanky of the Good Knight, Ben Craven of Starlite and Bill Norris of FINO, who won second in the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup earlier this year.
Heugel impressed the judges — which included Dai Due chef Jesse Griffiths, cocktail writer Moxy Castro, L Style/G Style editor Chantal Outon, “Tipsy” of TipsyTexan.com Joe Eifler and Driskill hotel food and beverage director Tom Beatywith — his False Dichotomy cocktail.
Here is the recipe for the winning drink: (You can find the rest of the contestants’ drinks on this Tipsy Texan post.)
False Dichotomy
2 oz Railean XO Texas Rum
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
.75 oz. Honey-Lavender Syrup
1 egg white
2 dashes Angostura bittersShake all ingredients except for the bitters in a shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and mist the bitters on top, over half of the surface. Garnish with a lemon twist.
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Cancer-fighting jam will keep the Grinch away
If you’re into canning, you’ve probably already made a few jams for gifts this year (A friend of mine in San Francisco was making jam for presents in September!). Here’s another recipe, created by Texas Oncology, full of cancer-fighting ingredients including cranberries, orange juice and jalapeños. They’ve even posted a how-to video if you want to see how it’s made.
I’ve tasted the jam and can vouch that is has a little bit of a kick, just enough to remind you the glory of jalapeños but not enough to overpower your morning cup of coffee. Texas Oncology also suggests using the jam as a glaze for pork loin or as a spread for a turkey sandwich.Jingle Jam
6 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed and picked over
3 cups sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
1/4 cup jalapeñ os, minced with seeds removed
1 tablespoon orange zestCombine all of the ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. While jam is on stove, prepare half pint jars and lids according to manufacturer’s directions.
When jam is ready, ladle into prepared jars, allowing 1/8-inch headspace before sealing. Follow manufacturer’s directions for processing in a hot water bath for 5 minutes. Remove carefully and do not disturb jars for 12 to 24 hours. Makes five half pints.
If you’re not into canning, here are a few other things you can do this holiday season to give holiday recipes and food choices a flavor-forward nutritional makeover:
- Use healthy oils, such as olive, canola, or other vegetable oils instead of butter or lard.
- Add chopped nuts, such as pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts for added fiber, crunch, flavor, “good” fats, and a host of phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
- Make salads colorful, using dark, leafy greens and a variety of seasonal fruits and veggies.
- Serve whole grain bread with meals.
- Incorporate seasonal fruits into desserts.
- Choose dark chocolate with at least 60 percent cocoa, which contains antioxidant polyphenols.
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Chocolates begging for a stocking to call home
Holidays are a great time to indulge, but if you’re going to indulge in something sweet like chocolate, why not go for gorgeous chocolate treats made right here in Austin?
Local chocolate company Arte y Chocolate was started in 2005 by Krystal Craig and Lila Browne, who wanted to use top-quality ingredients to make fine chocolates found in Europe and New York City.At less than $20, their delightful bon bons (the one with peanut butter is my favorite) and beautiful chocolate bars, which Lila informs me are called barks, are perfect for stocking stuffers. The chocolate-coated graham cracker is also a favorite for either vegans (it is both vegan and nondairy) or kids (there is no paraffin, a type of wax, in any of their products).
Lila, who moved to Austin from New York, has a master’s degree in education, but fell in love with the art of chocolate making. “It was a way to be creative, but I’ve had a passion for my food for my whole life. “It’s like the French word ‘bijou,’ each piece is a little jewel,” she says. They keep it simple, using organic honey, cream, butter and coffee and local products when possible. For example, the filling for the peanut butter bon bon is simply honey, salt and peanut butter. “It’s what a Reese’s should taste like,” she says. “Chocolate doesn’t have to be this mystified thing.”
You can buy their chocolates at the Blue Genie Art Bazaar, Primadora on South Congress Avenue, Cafe Medici in Clarksville and Thom’s Market on Barton Springs Road.
“Fine things are made in Austin,” Lila says. “When I moved here there was this attitude that you have to go to New York to find fine chocolate. But beautiful things are made here and it’s a food renaissance.”
I couldn’t agree more.
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BlueAvocado founders: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
You’re not the only one who can’t remember reusable bags when you go to the grocery store. Three hip, enlightened Austinites — Paige Davis, Amy George and Melissa Nathan — realized about a year ago that one way to help shoppers remember bags is to make them small enough to fit into a purse or glove compartment and cool enough to want to show off in the store. BlueAvocado reusable bags were born.
Paige, in the pink shirt at right, says the bags made out of recycled materials have only been on the market for a month, but already they are grabbing the spotlight. You can either buy kits (they start at $24.99) or individual bags ($7.99 for produce bags up to $19.99 for insulated or carry-all bags), which fit inside each other and condense down into about a wallet-size roll. “Each bag has its own function, but they all fit together,” she says. You can buy them at several H-E-Bs around Central Texas and on their Web site, www.blueavocado.com.As the singleton of the group whose refrigerator is hypothetically the most photogenic, Paige was picked to show off her fridge.
What three things are always in your fridge?
Paige: hummus, soymilk, peanut butter (creamy)
Amy: Austin Farmers’ Market seasonal veggies, Feta cheese, apple juice
Missy: lactose free milk, watermelon, organic cheeses sticksWhat’s your favorite condiment?
Paige: tamari soy sauce
Amy: Ranch dressing
Missy: Taco Bell mild sauce (guilty pleasure)What’s your favorite thing to do with avocados?
Paige: sprinkled with balsamic vinegar or a facial mask:-)
Amy: inside my husband Bill’s homemade guacamole (or fresh cut on top
of a bed of mixed salad greens)
Missy: We call it a “taco de nana” - black beans and cheese on a warmed tortilla with sliced avocados on top
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Live chat: Food and dining out in Central Texas
Join Statesman food writer Addie Broyles and restaurant critic Mike Sutter to discuss cooking and dining out in Central Texas.
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Win a copy of Rebecca Rather’s ‘Pastry Queen Christmas’
Congratulations, Jennifer! For sharing your love of Mrs. “Buttah” Paula Deen, you are the winner of “Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book.”
For next week’s giveaway, I have a copy of Rebecca Rather’s “Pastry Queen Christmas.” Rather is the pastry chef behind Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe and Rebecca’s Table in Fredericksburg. Next year, Rather Sweet will celebrate 10 years of serving the finest pastries in the Hill Country. Rebecca’s Table has been offering locally sourced dinners since 2007.
Rather has been busy this year. In addition to working on a new book about how Texans entertain, which is set to come out next fall, she’s been teaching classes at Central Market (imagine it, learning how to make pies from the Pastry Queen herself!) and traveling the country for book signings.
She also recently judged a throwdown with Bobby Flay for the Food Network where the Casserole Queens went head to head Flay at Speakeasy. No word yet on the air date.
To win her holiday book, tell me about your favorite Central Texas holiday tradition.
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Olives from Manor will spruce up your martinis
It’s probably too late to get Bill Kemp’s olives into tonight’s Drink Local Contest, but I might bring a bag just in case one of the local bartenders wants to take that local martini up a notch.
Kemp has about 1,000 olive trees in Manor, which makes it too small a farm to invest in a $40,000 press for olive oil, he says. So what to do with all the olives? Stick them in a brine and sell them to eat (or put in drinks if you’re a martini-lover).The olives, which are arbequinos processed in apple cider, sit in a brine solution for 2-3 months before they are ready to eat. “It took several years to figure out how to do that,” he says of the various ways they attempted to prepare them. “The simplest way was the best way.”
The trees are just a side project; Kemp also runs Southern Style Spices, which supplies spices to places like Central Market, Whole Foods, Headliner’s Club to Torchy’s Tacos. His is the only commercial olive farm in Travis County and, as of Tuesday, the only way you can enjoy some of his olives is by e-mailing him at bbkemp@bbkemp.com. (He’s looking into several retail outlets in Austin.)
He’ll fill your mason jar or whatever you’ve got for $5 a pound, which is about a Ziploc bag full, he says, or by the gallon. Five bucks a pound is incredibly cheap. They might be small, but they are tasty and come from Austin’s backyard.
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From leftover rotisserie to chicken and dumplings
Rotisserie chickens are a cheap, hearty staple of just about every busy family household. Most grocery stores sell them for about $5, and there are a million things to do with the chicken. (There are so many things, in fact, that Janet K. Keeler, food editor of The St. Petersburg Times, has a weekly “Rotisserie Chicken Wednesday” post on her blog, Stir Crazy.)
You can turn one cheap meal into another with this easy chicken and dumpling recipe I created this weekend.
Chicken and dumplings
for chicken soup:
1 leftover rotisserie chicken
1 onion
1 carrot or a handful of baby carrots
1 celery stock
chicken bullion cubes to taste
enough water to cover chicken
for dumplings:
1 cup Bisquick (see note below about making your own)
3 Tbsp. milk
salt and pepper to taste
Cut off all the meat you can from the leftover chicken. Pull apart into bite-size pieces and set aside. In a large pot, cover the chicken carcass with water and add onion, carrots and celery. Simmer, but do not boil, for at least an hour. Strain bones and vegetables through a colander and put the stock back in the pot. You can cut up onion, carrots and celery and put back in the pot if you want. As the stock cools, remove some of the fat that rises to the top. Taste the stock, and if it isn’t strong enough, dilute a few cubes of bullion in a cup of water or add commercial chicken stock.
In a bowl, mix the Bisquick or flour mixture with a little milk at a time, mixing in the eggs halfway through, until it reaches desired consistency. (see note below about knife-cut versus drop dumplings)
Add the chicken pieces back into the pot and bring to a rolling boil. Drop dumplings into pot, season with salt and pepper, cover and reduce heat. Do not lift the lid or stir. Simmer for 7-10 minutes.
Serve with a big glass of milk and saltine crackers.My grandmother is the queen of dumplings in our family and, like most cooks from a certain generation, she uses neither a recipe nor measuring devices. I called her up for dumpling guidance and, as you can see from my notes, there are several ways of doing it:
She uses Bisquick, which I didn’t have, but it’s easy to recreate the mix at home with a cup of flour mixed with a teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt and sugar.
If you want knife-cut noodles instead of drop dumplings, add less milk and roll out the dough on a powdered surface and then cut into pieces. The cut noodles look nicer but take up more time and dishes, two things I rarely have to spare.
The drop dumplings don’t look as pretty, but just think of them as rustic, not ugly. Try to get the Bisquick/flour and milk mixture the consistency of mashed potatoes and then, using a spoon, drop into boiling stock. The dumplings expand a little, so aim for quarter-size drops.
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Do you take sugar with that?
When was the last time you went to a bonafide tea party?
Tomorrow is your chance. On Saturday, as part of Edible Austin’s Eat Local Week, Zhi Tea is hosting the Austin Tea Party, where you can sample teas from 10 local tea companies, including Sesa Tea, The Tea Embassy, Jade Leaves Tea House, Keria Tea, The Steeping Room (the owners of which were profiled in this month’s L Style G Style by editor Chantal Outon), Texas Medicinals, Barefoot Botanicals, Sweet Leaf Tea and Formosa Art Tea House.
Local chefs will be offering food tastings paired with the tea and there will be live traditional music to accompany a tea ceremony.
The tea party is from noon to 5 p.m. and is one of the stops on the Urban Farm Bicycle Tour.
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Paula of Paula’s Texas Orange: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Imagine a world without booze.
Paula Angerstein certainly doesn’t want to. On today, the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, Paula, the owner of Paula’s Texas Orange liquor, is quite happy the government changed its mind about banning the sale of alcohol for consumption. Her spirit, which is made from real oranges, has become a staple for any Austin bar in the four years since it was released. The UT graduate wanted an orange liquor reminiscent of the limoncello she enjoyed in Italy, which is where she witnessed the respect people had for well-made local products.
Both Paula’s Texas Orange and Paula’s Texas Lemon are favorites of the best bartenders in the state, some of whom will be competing on Tuesday in the Drink Local Contest at the Monarch from 6 to 9 p.m. The event, whose proceeds will go to Urban Roots as part of Edible Austin’s Eat Local Week, will features Bobby Heugel of Anvil in Houston and of Austin, Billy Hanky of the Good Knight, Ben Craven of Starlite, Bill Norris of FINO and Gypsy’s Will Earls.Paula will be there to watch her spirits in competition, a thrill she must be getting used to. Ranch 616’s Ring of Fire, the winner of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Official Drink of Austin contest in August, was made with Paula Texas Orange.
Which makes you think: Who would have thought, 75 years ago, a city would sponsor a drink contest?
What three things are always in your fridge? Paula’s Texas Orange and Lemon, of course! And club soda, tonic, fruit juices, limes, and lemons for testing drink ideas. Fresh veggies, from our garden or the farmer’s market if possible—right now we’ve got swiss chard. Mozzarella cheese and olives for making homemade pizza every Sunday evening.
What’s your favorite condiment? My husband Paul’s jalapeno relish. Just last week he picked all the peppers off the plant in the garden and blended it up with sauteed garlic, onions, carrots, and bay leaf (from the back yard). A little goes a long way!
What’s your go-to drink with PTO or PTL to make for guests? Most of the year, it’s the margarita, of course, but right now with a little bit of a cold spell, we love the Apples ‘n’ Oranges with PTO, Calvados, apple juice, and lemon juice. And everyone gets Paula’s Lemon after dinner.
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Your A-List: Best Chinese
Contrary to popular belief, all Chinese restaurants are not created equal, and Suzi’s China Grill, with its three locations in Austin, rose above the rest in the A-List poll for Best Chinese, receiving 31 percent of the votes this week.
Suzi’s on South Lamar Boulevard has long been a Statesman newsroom favorite, especially those night-siders who crave a big Styrofoam container full of sesame chicken or basil shrimp ‘round the 8 o’clock hour when things really start to get busy. The Shoal Creek Boulevard and Bee Cave Road locations also serve sushi, which doesn’t exactly qualify as Chinese food, but I don’t hear any complaints. Y’all must be too busy chowing down.
Others receiving votes:
- Chinatown, 17 percent
- T & S Seafood, 7 percent
- Mama Fu’s, 7 percent
- Wan Fu, 6 percent
- China Cafe, 6 percent
- Pao’s, 5 percent
- Snow Pea, 4 percent
- Hunan Lion, 4 percent
- Twin Lions, 3 percent
- Asia Market Cafe, 1 percent (write-in)
- Hong Kong, 1 percent
- Peony, < 1 percent
- Nanking, < 1 percent
- Din Ho, < 1 percent (write-in)
Write-ins: Thomas Super Buffet, Buffet Palace, First Wok, Hunan Ranch (2), Hao Hao, China Dragon
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Eat local tonight at Cipollina
Eat Local Week is next week, but you can get a head start by either shopping at the farmers’ market tonight at The Triangle or by checking out the new Farm to Table dinners at Cipollina.
The monthly dinners, on the first Wednesday of the month, feature a locally sourced meal created by chef Parker White. One of the farmers whose hard work went into the dinner will be on hand to talk with diners. The three-course meal costs $35 and wine pairings are available.
I ran into some of the Cipollina folks at Boggy Creek Farm this morning — they were picking up some greens and veggies for tonight’s meal — and they said Loncito Cartwright of Loncito’s will be there tonight.
The first Wednesday of the month might be the official local dinner at Cipollina, but Chef White told me a few weeks ago that 80 percent of their everyday produce is from the area. Only a couple of other restaurants in the area are regularly using that much local food.
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What’s Dale Rice up to?
In addition to teaching political blogging at Texas A&M, the former Statesman restaurant critic if, of course, still finding plenty of time for wine and food. Sharon Roberts, head of the Statesman’s design staff, had this to report from a recent fundraiser he attended:
Dale Rice, Texas A&M professor and former Austin American-Statesman food writer and restaurant critic, served as “wine guide” recently at the “Texas Wines, Texas Stars” U-Bar-U fundraiser. The event was organized by Rose Ann Reeser and a small group of folks from First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Austin. It was held at the U-Bar-U Retreat & Conference Center, a religious and educational facility on 142 acres near Kerrville. Rice told behind-the-scenes, gossipy and informative stories about the Texas wine industry in the authoritative, always-entertaining voice that Statesman readers enjoyed for many years. Wines from Becker, Haak and Brennan vineyards and Stonehouse Cellars were included in the tasting throughout a dinner prepared by Lynda West.
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Win a copy of Rachael Ray’s new book
Congrats, Leslie! You’re the winner of Jose Andres’ “Made in Spain” cookbook! (Pad Thai has always given me troubles, too.)
I have a fresh copy of “Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book” for next week’s giveaway. In tomorrow’s Food Matters, you can read more about my chat with Ray last week. We talked about her book signing in Austin on Sunday and what plans she has for SXSW next year (Last year she threw a big ol’ party. Maybe I’ll get an invite to the ‘09 shin dig :).
But mainly we talked about how the heck she keeps up with this busy schedule of hers. With the magazine, the cookbooks, the nonprofit and, of course, the television shows, she’s got to be exhausted.She sure sounded like it.
When she called en route to one of her Manhattan studios, I made the mistake of asking her if she was sick. (I didn’t even recognize her voice she sounded so hoarse.) She bristled but eventually warmed up. She, too, sounded conflicted about working 80-100 hour weeks, at times defensive and at others self-deprecating. Work is affecting her health; she’s having vocal surgery in a few weeks to remove a benign cyst. “It’s a bummer that I have to be hospitalized to stop working,” she says.
I’m sure the crowd on Sunday will be strong. I just hope her voice holds up to greet everyone.
So, for next week’s question: What food person — cookbook author, chef, restaurant owner, food writer, etc. — would you wait in line for hours to meet?
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Martinis and massages for a cause
On Mondays, Oilcan Harry’s has been hosting “Martinis and Massages” nights, where if you buy a martini, you get a free chair massage.
Tonight, in support of World AIDS Day today, the club is offering the same deal, but with a cause in mind. The (wonderful and very talented) massage therapist, Scot Maitland, is donating his tips to the Wright House Wellness Center, and 42 Below Vodka, the sponsoring spirit, will match the donation. So, grab a Red Ribbon Martini from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight, have Scot massage away that holiday stress and help local AIDS/HIV support programs.
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34 things to do with leftover turkey
In case you still have plastic containers overflowing with turkey in your fridge, here are some ideas for what to do with it from the folks at McCormick & Schmick’s.
- Use it in lasagna for a healthy alternative to ground beef or sausage.
- Hide it in chili.
- Make a good old-fashioned comfort-food hot dish, complete with cream of something soup.
- Make a turkey pot pie.
- Boil the bones to make a delicious turkey stock to use later for soups and stews.
- Use the turkey stock for turkey soup.
- Create turkey omelets.
- Use it as a topping on bruschetta.
- Turkey sandwiches for bagged lunches.
- Try it in tacos.
- Give your dog or cat a special treat.
- Have a post-Thanksgiving party and ask your friend to come up with creative turkey recipes that they bring to the party; award a prize.
- Turkey jerky.
- Doggie bags for friends, neighbors and extended family.
- Make turkey tetrazzini or any pasta for that matter.
- Don’t forget to break the wishbone and make a wish.
- Serve open-faced hot turkey and gravy sandwiches.
- Send the leftovers with your son who lives in a fraternity.
- Slice it and freeze it for a wonderful warm up supper in January.
- Turkey pizza with sundried tomatoes and lots of cheese.
- Toss turkey into a salad.
- Make turkey curry.
- Host a leftover turkey eating contest.
- Top it with your favorite sauce - cheese, Hollandaise, ketchup, barbecue, etc.
- Make turkey hash for a day after turkey breakfast, lunch or dinner.
- Create Mexican inspired turkey enchiladas that won’t remind everyone of the turkey dinner the night before (recipe below).
- Turkey noodle soup.
- Instead of chicken salad sandwiches, opt for turkey salad.
- Leftover holiday turkey gumbo.
- Stuff peppers or zucchini with turkey.
- Turkey nachos for game day.
- Make a delicious and easy creamy turkey melt (recipe below).
- Try an Asian or Chinese inspired dish such as turkey chow mein.
- Make one of these delicious turkey dishes and bring it to a neighbor.
Turkey Enchiladas
1/2 pound turkey
1 cup mild “thick” salsa
1/2 cup sliced olives
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
One 8 oz container soft cream cheese (with chives/onions recommended)
Six 6-inch flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheeseIn one quarter casserole dish, heat turkey, salsa, olives and garlic powder. Spread 2 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture on each tortilla, top with 1/3 cup turkey/salsa mixture in center of each tortilla. Roll up, place seam side down in greased baking dish. Cook on high for 4 to 6 minutes or until heated through, rotating dish once during cooking. Top with cheese and cook 1 to 2 minutes until cheese is melted.
Creamy Turkey Melt
1/2 cup chopped red onion
5 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened, divided
3 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1/3 cup sour cream
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
8 slices dark rye or pumpernickel bread
4 slices Swiss cheeseIn a saucepan over medium heat, sauté onion in 1 tablespoon of butter until tender. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and sour cream; cook and stir until smooth. Add turkey; cook until heated through (do not boil). Spoon 1/2 cup filling onto four slices of bred; top with a slice of cheese. Spread outside of bread with remaining butter. In a skillet over medium heat, cook sandwiches until lightly browned on both sides.
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Thanksgiving on the move
This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for a new house, a new yard and all the people who helped us move.
And the fireplace.
Our landlord failed to tell us last week that the gas wasn’t turned on, which has left us without heat, hot water and, possibly worst of all, a stove or oven.
It feels a little like camping with a microwave.
Since Wednesday, everything we’ve eaten has been cooked or reheated in a microwave, slow cooker or toaster. We’ve even used the coffeepot to heat up water to wash dishes, and because the child cannot go another day without a bath, I’m sure we’ll be getting creative tonight to warm enough water to bathe him.
Good thing for all those Thanksgiving leftovers to keep us fed. One non-turkey-day highlight was the meatballs I picked up on the requisite post-move trip to IKEA over the weekend. (In case you were wondering, you can make gravy from a packet in the microwave. Stuffing, which we also made in the zapper, wasn’t as good as in the oven, but it went well with the store-bought rotisserie chicken and canned green beans.)I’m also thankful for a few extra days off work to piddle in the kitchen, dusting off and organizing the spices and figuring out what to do with the extra space in the pantry and cabinets. (As you can see, I haven’t quite organized the pantry yet.)
I’ve also been torturing myself by flipping through magazines and cookbooks, marking the first recipes I want to make as soon as I can fire up the gas stove, which, God willing, should be tomorrow.Until then, it’s cereal, toast, cheese quesadillas, microwaved pasta and whatever else we conjure up. I know there are entire cookbooks written about microwave cooking, but after four days of it, I’ll be thrilled to have my good old stove back.
Not to mention a shower.
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