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December 2009
G’Raj Mahal’s food, decor blur line between trailer, restaurant
At G’Raj Mahal Cafe, tucked a block south of Cesar Chavez Street near the corner of Red River and Davis streets downtown, chefs Sidney and Anthony Fernandes have created one of Austin’s most unique trailer concepts.
Technically, the restaurant, which opened a few weeks ago, is a mobile food truck, but with a half dozen tables set up under a pavilion and a server taking your order and delivering your food, it’s more like and outdoor restaurant. Sheer cloth hanging from the ceiling blows in the wind, strings of white lights help illuminate the seating area and small candles flicker on the tables.
Giant bike-art sculptures from the Austin Bike Zoo lurk outside the dining space, almost as if the butterfly and 80-foot long snake are eying the rich, colorful food being brought to the tables.
Austin native Sidney Fernandes, whose husband was born in India and earned his cooking chops at several upscale hotels there, says the design was inspired by Indian weddings and parties. “I liked the idea of a trailer, but I wanted more of an upscale trailer,” she says. (The name is a play on Taj Mahal and the fact that the site the trailer sits on was a car dealership for many years.)
Inside the decked-out silver bullet is a tandoor oven, which is the key to authentic naan and several of the grilled meats like lamb or chicken tikka. In many Indian restaurants in the U.S., Fernandes says, there’s this idea that “Americans like this and Americans don’t like that,” but she wanted to include dishes like rechard masala ($13), made with fish or shrimp and a fragrant red chili sauce, from her husband’s native state of Goa that you won’t find on many Indian menus in the U.S.
She says customers can also expect fresh instead of frozen spinach in the saag paneer, real butter instead of margarine and no food coloring. “Tandoor doesn’t have to be bright red,” she says.
Just a few days before Christmas, I took my parents, who were visiting from Missouri, to G’Raj Mahal and enjoyed classic onion curry with chicken ($11) and malai kofta ($9), or vegetable dumplings simmered in cream sauce, which were bursting with flavor and just enough of a kick. Garlic naan ($2), fresh from the tandoor oven, didn’t overpower the entrees.
You could make a fine (albeit light) meal out of the less-expensive starters, including samosas, breads, pakoras and soup, but the entrees range from $9 to $14, another reminder that you’re not at just any old food trailer.
If you forget a bottle of wine or beer (like many mobile food vendors, G’Raj is BYOB), try lassi ($4), chai ($3) or, for a real mash-up of cultures, a Mexican Coke or Topo Chico. We didn’t get to try desserts, but I’ve got my eye on the pistachio-cardamom kulfi and lemon sorbet as soon as the weather warms up.
G’Raj Mahal Cafe is only open for dinner (5 p.m. to 3 p.m.), but Sidney Fernandes says she hopes to be able to expand the daytime hours in 2010. Delivery is available downtown during their regular operating hours, and catering orders for at least 15 are available from noon to 8 p.m. (Place catering orders 24 hours ahead of time.)
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Eating locally, Eating out
The Decade in Food: Local is the new black
Heirloom tomatoes have never had it so good.
Back in 2000, most omnivores didn’t know they had a dilemma, much less the extent that Monsanto, Cargill and their well-dressed friends controlled the food supply.
As authors and moviemakers spread awareness of what goes on behind closed doors at factory farms, the perils of genetically modifying seeds and the long-lasting damage caused by pesticides and herbicides, people started to pay closer attention to what went into growing and producing their food.
New farms including Johnson’s Backyard Garden, Green Gate and Rain Lily sell food directly to customers through community-supported agriculture programs, where people buy a share of the farm in exchange for produce.
And because it doesn’t get any more local than from your backyard, victory gardens made popular during World War II are back, empowering a new generation of people, including the First Family (whose garden surely looks much better than my backyard garden, below), to grow their own food.
This is the fifth of a series of five of the top food trends of the past decade. Restaurant critic Mike Sutter blogged his top 5 over on Forklore, and the story will be printed in today’s paper.
Permalink | | Categories: Chewing the fat
The Decade in Food: The world wide cookbook
During the decade of the blog, people who like food and cooking suddenly had a way to connect with each other, to find new places to eat or share favorite recipes. An explosion of food blogs and recipe Web sites meant that you didn’t have to have a shelf full of cookbooks to find a recipe for just about any dish you could conjure up.
In 2008, AllRecipes.com surpassed the Web sites for both the Food Network and various food magazines to be the site with the highest Web traffic, and now home cooks’ biggest challenge isn’t finding a recipe but wading through them all to find one that works and is up to par.
When Gourmet magazine folded this year after nearly 70 years of publication, many with a stake in traditional publishing pointed their flour-covered fingers at food bloggers without realizing that the suddenly powerful and prolific food bloggers were some of Gourmet’s biggest fans.
Cook’s Illustrated and several other publications are having some success charging readers access to online recipes and food content, but the vast majority of users would rather spend money on ingredients instead of recipes.
This is the fourth of a series of five of the top food trends of the past decade. Restaurant critic Mike Sutter’s blogged his top 5 over on Forklore, and the story will be printed in today’s paper.
Cartoon by Married to the Sea.
Permalink | | Categories: Chewing the fat
The Decade in Food: There’s a salmonella in my spinach
Peanut butter, spinach, tomatoes, jalapeños, pistachios, raw beef and even chocolate bars and cookie dough have been pulled from shelves after people have been sickened or even killed by pathogens.
In 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of beef — almost a half pound of meat per person in the country — in one of the largest recalls in U.S. history. The FDA even has a Twitter account dedicated to food recalls.
This is the third of a series of five of the top food trends of the past decade. Restaurant critic Mike Sutter blogged his top 5 over on Forklore, and the story will be printed in Wednesday’s paper.
Photo illustration by Smart Choices.
Permalink | | Categories: Chewing the fat
The Decade in Food: Cupcake mania
Cupcakes are cute, easy and cheap to make and portable, so it’s no surprise that cupcake fever has swept the country in the past 10 years. In an episode of HBO’s “Sex and the City” in 2000, Sarah Jessica Parker’s character eats a retro cupcake outside Magnolia Bakery in New York City, a scene that continues to draw thousands of tourists a year to the Bleecker Street bakery. (In case you missed the scene, here’s a bootleg version on YouTube.)
Just as with the frozen yogurt and doughnuts trends, the cupcake craze was slow to trickle to Austin, but even as we close out the decade, more than a dozen bakeries and cupcake catering companies, including Hey Cupcake and Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop, are still shelling out frosted gems to eager customers.
This is the second of a series of five of the top food trends of the past decade. Restaurant critic Mike Sutter’s blogged his top 5 over on Forklore, and the story will be printed in Wednesday’s paper.
Photos by Ralph Barrera for the Austin American-Statesman, Tim Sharp for the Associated Press.
Permalink | | Categories: Chewing the fat
Brighten up New Year’s with burnt orange punch
“What’s cool about punch is that you’ve got something already prepared to give guests, which frees you up to be with them instead of mixing drinks,” he says. Not only can you make punch ahead of time, punch can also be cheaper than buying bottles of wine or enough spirits to make a variety of drinks.
Punch, which predates the cocktail, was originally made with rum or brandy mixed with citrus juice, tea or spices and was a communal drink at taverns, Alan says. “Instead of ordering a drink at a bar, you walked in and had whatever they were drinking.”
And forget the overly sweet church potluck punch. Skip the sherbet and its cooling properties, Alan says, and instead use an old Jell-O mold or silicon Bundt pan to freeze a block of ice. A big piece of ice is better than smaller pieces because it will melt more slowly.
Also, starting in February, Alan and Boxcar Bar cocktail consultant Lara Nixon are teaching a 12-week course that will cover topics including cocktail horticulture, history, spirits and even molecular mixology. You can take the whole course ($350, $250 for U.S. Bartenders’ Guild members) or individual classes ($35 per class, $25 for members). Alan says registration for the class begins Jan. 1.
Championship Punch
Alan created this burnt orange punch just in time for New Year’s Eve and a certain national championship football game that will be taking place on Jan. 7.
3 or 4 tangerines, Meyer lemons, oranges or lemons
1/2 cup demerara sugar (or white sugar)
6 oz. strong green tea, warm
24 oz. (about one 750 ml. bottle) Flor de Cañ a 4-year Aged Rum (or other aged rum, such as Mount Gay or the Texas-made Railean )
6 oz. fresh squeezed tangerine juice
6 oz. fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice
6-8 dashes Angostura bitters
1 oz. St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram (available at the Austin Wine Merchant and fine liquor stores)
Over a punch bowl or glass pitcher, remove the zests of several tangerines, Meyer lemons, oranges or lemons. Be careful to remove only the outer zest and not the white pith, which is bitter. Leave the zests in the bowl and add sugar and warm green tea. Stir to dissolve sugar and allow to steep a few minutes.
Add rum, fruit juices, bitters and allspice dram. Strain mixture into a punch bowl. Add a large block of ice, which you can make by freezing water in a Jell-O mold, Bundt pan or half of a paper milk carton. Makes about a dozen 4-oz. servings.
—David Alan, TipsyTexan.com
Permalink | | Categories: Drinks
The Decade in Food: Queen Rachael takes her throne
Ten years ago, Rachael Ray and Anthony Bourdain were nobodies, struggling like thousands of other wannabe celebrity chefs to carve out a niche with their quirky personalities and cooking know-how, and the Food Network and PBS still had the monopoly on food-related television shows.
As the highest-paid person in food, Ray now sits at the top of an empire that includes a magazine, daytime television show, a number of other Food Network shows and even a pet food line.
Like Ray and her Food Network brethren including hosts Guy Fieri and Sandra Lee, Bourdain will probably never work in a commercial kitchen again, but that’s where “Top Chef” comes in.
In 2006, Bravo mashed together two American obsessions — chefs and reality shows — to create a hit series about the thrilling drama Bourdain so eloquently introduced in his book. The show, entering its seventh season, is launching the careers of a new wave of celebrity chefs and non-chefs, including red hot host Padma Lakshmi.
This is the first of a series of five of the top food trends of the past decade. Restaurant critic Mike Sutter’s blogged his top 5 over on Forklore, and the story will be printed in Wednesday’s paper.
Photos from Online TV and Links, Bravo and Amazon.
Permalink | | Categories: Chewing the fat
Dulce de leche bars win Statesman Cookie Swap
Anne-Charlotte Patterson, left, won the Statesman Cookie Swap at Stubb’s on Thursday, with her Chocolate Dulce de Leche Bars with Sea-Salt Caramel. Joan Brook, right, tries one of them. Photo by Jay Janner for the Austin American-Statesman.
UPDATE: Here’s a fun photo gallery of the Cookie Swap party from the Austin360 A-List.
Flashy isn’t always better, but at last night’s Statesman Cookie Swap party, Anne-Charlotte Patterson’s Chocolate Dulce de Leche Bars with Sea-Salt Caramel wowed the judges enough to win the holiday contest.
Patterson’s recipe was by far the most complicated and intricate, but the results were impressive: a savory bar topped with chocolate dulce de leche and a sprinkle of salt.
Judges Mark Chapman, Rebecca Rather, Rebecca Wallace Ford, Russell Williams and Anna Ginsberg had some very astute observations about each of the finalists and they each lobbied for their favorite, but when it came down to points on their scorecards, the dulce de leche bars beat out the Coconut Caramel Chews, the Best Gingersnaps You Will Ever Make, Uber Yummy Oatmeal Holiday Cookie and Brown Butter and Pecan Shortbread.
The finalists each got a holiday platter from Cafe Monet with their recipe drawn on it, as well as cookbooks. Patterson won a gift certificate to Central Market and her bar will be on the holiday menu at Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe in Fredericksburg.
It was so much fun to get to meet the finalists and their friends, families and kids while they nibbled on Kevin’s Cookies. Stubb’s inside stage was a cozy setting for the party, which featured a hot boozy drink called the Monte Cristo that kept guests entertained until the judging started.
Thanks to everyone who came to the event and to everyone who participated in the swap! Lots of people were asking if we’re going to revive the swap next year, and after the success of this year’s contest, I can’t see how we won’t.
So, unless you’re as cookie-out as I am, get to work on next year’s entries!
Two more cookie-related items and then I’m done with cookies for the year, I promise:
A highlight for me last night was meeting Randy Rosens, who is with the Austin nonprofit Keep Austin Fed, which distributes leftover food from events to people in need through the Easter Seals of Central Texas.
At the end of the swap party, when where were still a few dozen perfectly good cookies left over, Rosens, a friend of judge Chapman, loaded them up to share with others.
I’m glad to know that there are people like Rosens helping cut down on the amount of food wasted at the hundreds of events like this one that happen every year in Austin.
And lastly, a while back, I promised a random prize to someone who commented on the Cookie Swap recipes in the Austin360 database. If lindagotx would please e-mail me at abroyles@statesman.com, we can arrange pick-up of your prize, a set of some of the year’s best cookbooks.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: 2009 Cookie Swap
Holiday popcorn flavors, tins from Cornucopia
Cornucopia Popcorn is reinventing the longtime holiday gift tradition of the popcorn tin.
“It’s not like grandma’s popcorn tin,” says co-owner Nikki Dugas. “Because grandma would never put dill pickle, cinnamon toast and Madras curry all in one tin.” The company, behind Veggie Heaven on Guadalupe Street near the University of Texas campus, sells more than 45 flavors of popcorn year-round.
But for the holidays this year, they’ve created a line of spirited flavors including white chocolate cranberry and cinnamon roll. “Pumpkin pie didn’t work out too well, but the best one is the peppermint bark,” Dugas says. “We make candied peppermint popcorn and drizzle it with peppermint-infused milk chocolate and sprinkled with bits of real peppermint.”
Dugas, along with longtime friend Nadia Elhaj, opened the store last year, and their popcorn quickly became a cult favorite among Austin foodies. “Our overall best-selling flavor is dill pickle,” Dugas says. Other favorites are pesto, Texas chili and cheddar jalapeño, and each week, Dugas and Elhaj add two or three new flavors to the menu.
The store will be closed on Christmas Eve, but call ahead today or tomorrow and place an order for pickup. You also can order online and schedule a shipment to anywhere in the country. A six-pack sampler costs $30. Holiday tins, which you can customize with up to four flavors, start at $15.
Photos by Alberto Martínez for the Austin American-Statesman.
Permalink | | Categories: Eating locally
Mix 94.7 DJ JB Hager: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Christmas might not be until next week, but today is Mix 94.7 DJ JB Hager’s favorite day of the year.
Today is the day Hager, who is also an avid cyclist and writer for several magazines in town, and co-host Sandy McIlree hand out more than 800 bikes to kids in Central Texas. The popular morning hosts have raised more than $1 million over the years for their annual Bikes for Kids campaign, which culminated in the wee morning hours today at Mellow Johnny’s.
(Sandy showed off his fridge earlier this year.)
What’s the one thing you always have in your fridge? I always have jalapenos. Even as a kid in the Midwest my dad explained the importance of jalapenos.
What’s your go-to post-ride meal? After a long ride on the bike, I try to get protein in asap. I defrost a Omaha steak filet and slap it on the grill outside. Otherwise, I do cashew or soy butter on Ezekiel bread. Oh, and my wife says I always have a beer.
What’s your favorite late-night snack? My late night snack is typically goat cheese (see top drawer!) and pita chips or cashews. My early morning snack is a shot of Nespresso coffee black, a Luna bar, Kind bar or a Lara bar and fresh fruit.
Photo by JB Hager.
Permalink | | Categories: What's in Your Fridge Friday
Más masa, please! Tamal season is here
Photos by Hala Aboudaher for the Austin American-Statesman.
I had no idea when I moved to Austin what a strong affinity Texans have for tamales around Christmas.
People of every color and cultural background serve them at family gatherings and get-togethers, and the best ones come from the weirdest sources. Like many of you, in my office, someone comes around taking tamal orders — yes, the singular of tamales is tamal, not tamale — in the office and then a week or so later delivers them out of a cooler near the vending machines.
(Three years ago, when I was about to give birth to the little one, I bought seven dozen tamales, which I froze and then ate over the next few months while on maternity leave. Since Ian doesn’t like masa (!!), I’m pretty sure I ate all 84 of them.)
If you are without a reliable tamal dealer, get yourself to one of Austin’s many Mexican hotspots and place an order. Nueva Onda, Habanero’s, Curra’s, La Michoacana, Polvo’s, Guero’s Taco Bar, Evita’s Botanitas, Santa Rita and Oaxacan Tamaleo are just a few of the options, but many of them will stop taking orders as Christmas approaches so place yours ASAP. (Tamale House restaurants in Austin doesn’t actually serve tamales. Go figure.)
Have you already ordered your tamales? Donde los compraste and how much did they cost? (I missed my office tamales this year, so I’ll be placing a last minute order, too!)
Last Christmas, Statesman writer Ricardo Gándara wrote about his annual tamal-making, which is a good starting place if you’re considering making your own tamales this holiday season.
It’s always the masa.
Homemade tamales and Christmastime at my home go together like hot dogs and the Fourth of July, but it’s the dough part of the daylong tamal-making process that’s the trickiest. Only cooks who work to perfect a specialty truly understand that some dishes take repetition and modification. That’s how passionate I am about tamales, those delectable wonders of pork drenched with red chile, surrounded by corn masa and wrapped in corn husks. Hot, off-the-stovetop tamales make wonderful gifts to fortunate friends and family members you really like…
(The rest of Ricardo’s story is after the jump)
But mess up the masa and you jeopardize the whole thing. If the masa is too soft or pasty, steamed tamales can taste raw. Too dry or hard and tamales come out, well, dry and hard. After all these years, I’m beginning to get it. And like my mother, I’ve evolved to make masa by feel. I generally follow directions, but I rely on my fingers and hands to tell me if the masa needs more ingredients (small portions at a time) as I go. In simpler terms, if the masa is pasty, I add more corn flour. If it’s too dry, I add more lard and a combination of warm pork broth and water.
I also test the masa’s consistency by spreading it on a wet corn husk using a small spoon. It must spread evenly without much effort, almost with the ease of spreading creamy peanut butter on a slice of bread. If I have to struggle to smother a corn husk, we have a problem.
I’ve been around tamales since I was a boy growing up in New Mexico. I’m thinking that my mother tricked me into being her apprentice. Bright and early on Christmas Eve morning, she’d rouse me out of bed with the promise of a plate loaded with my favorites: pan fries, refried pinto beans, scrambled eggs, chili and plump homemade tortillas.
By 4 a.m., two large Boston pork butt roasts were swimming in boiling water in large ollas (pots) on the gas stove. In another pot, red chile was simmering. Corn husks were soaking in the kitchen sink.
The easiest part was shredding the pork by hand and adding the red chile. Then came the masa. Mom always used Quaker corn flour. One day I asked the stupid question why she chose Quaker. “The man on the label looks honest,” she said. She warned me back then that making the masa was the most important part of making tamales. “If you mess it up,” she said, “don’t bother to brag.” God love her, but she never followed directions. She’d deliver a sermon that if the recipe wasn’t written by an abuelita (grandmother) from a rancho in Mexico, it couldn’t be right.
Mom always dumped two 4-pound bags of Quaker corn flour into two large mixing bowls. Each batch was enough to make 10 dozen plump tamales. She had her own measuring system. She added a puño (full-handed pinch) of baking powder to each bowl. Then a pinch of table salt (it had to be Morton).
Next, she’d dig her right hand into the box of Morrell manteca (lard). She got enough to cover halfway up her fingers. She insisted that it was a good idea to go easy on the lard because you could always add more later. Then came the warm water and broth left over from the pork.
She’d knead it with her bare hands. I swear, she did not know about mixing spoons. “Everything by loving hands is always the best,” she said.
She’d coax me into working the dough, and as a kid it was the fun part. “Make a fist and drive it into the dough over and over,” she said. I wonder now if this method really helped mix the masa or if it was a ploy to get me to help. In those days, I was always punching people.
It was tiring. As I worked the dough, Mom would taste test it for salt. She’d get a small amount in her hand and probe it with her finger. By hand, she’d sprinkle more flour, add more lard or broth or water, small amounts at a time. When it was ready, she’d know. The final ingredient was a cup of New Mexican red chili to give the masa more flavor and color.
Decades later, I think I’ve got the masa part down. This is about my 10th year of making tamales. And like my mom involved me, I bribe my daughters into helping with the hope that someday they will keep the tradition alive with their children. They do seem to enjoy assembling tamales, and the conversation always turns to dumb and funny things in the family.
While the girls are busy building the tamales, I start to steam them in large pots for about two or three hours over low heat, regularly adding water. Several years ago, I learned a shortcut by cooking the tamales in a pressure cooker - a dozen at a time - from an abuelita in Albuquerque, N.M. I place the tamales standing up to form a pyramid, adding an inch of water. The cooker goes on the stove over a high flame. When the jiggler (pressure regulator) starts rocking, I turn the flame down to medium and cook the tamales for 13 minutes. Once I take them out of the cooker, I wrap them tightly in foil so they can finish cooking. Voilà! Tamales ready to eat.
Our tamales are bigger and meatier than the usual Texas tamales. And we don’t dare mess with them by making the filling out of beans or chicken or shrimp. It has to be pork and, if you can find meat from the pig’s head, the better. We cook tamales on Christmas Eve because they give the home a distinct, yummy smell. And the beautiful thing about making tamales is that you earn the right to eat some as you go and sip on a glass of wine or a beer.
There you have it, my jumbled approach to making tamales. Recipes abound in books and the Internet. Please call me if you plan a tamalada (tamale-making party). I charge $50 an hour for my expertise and supervision.
Kidding.
Making tamales is trial and error, and it takes several attempts to get them just right. But don’t let me shoo you away. The end product is a delectable that’s been around since Mesoamerican days, 5,000 to 8,000 B.C., according to Daniel Hoyer in “Tamales,” (Gibbs Smith Press, $19.99). This is a great book with dozens of recipes of tamales made with pork, chicken, veggies and even fruit. Seriously, the best way to learn is to apprentice with an experienced tamal maker. They’re around. Invite yourself, put in the sweat and take notes.
Notes? I have zilch written down. It’s all by sight and feel, like my mother used to do.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Cooking
Even at food bloggers’ swap, it’s not about the cookies
In today’s Relish Austin column, I spilled the beans that cookie swaps, or any kind of holiday baking for that matter, aren’t really about the cookies, but rather the memories and stories behind them.
For the Statesman’s Cookie Swap, which concludes with a free party from 6 to 8 p.m. at Stubb’s on Thursday (click here for more details), it was clear from the start that nostalgia has more to do with holiday treats than anything else.
In almost every one of the cookie recipes exchanged on the Austin360 recipe database in the past few weeks, the person submitting the recipe recalls who first baked the cookie, how it was passed down to them and the reaction of friends and neighbors who get the cookies as a gift.
“I have grown up with this cookie and life as a Southern child wouldn’t be complete without it,” wrote Hattie Hazen of her favorite recipe for cowboy cookies.
One reader shared a story about an ice box cookie recipe her mother got from a friend during World War II, when sugar was rationed. “(Her friend) gave Mother some sugar so she could make the cookies. Our cow and hens provided the butter and eggs.”
The cookies we make with our kids tend to hold the sweetest memories: “When our children were young and at home, we always made these for Christmas,” a reader wrote of these paintbrush cookies. “Times have changed, our children are all away from home. This must have been a good memory for them as I know some of them now do these cookies with their children.”
On Thursday, judges Rebecca Rather (Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe in Fredericksburg), Rebecca Wallace Ford (founder of Word of Mouth Catering), Mark Chapman (Texas Culinary Academy pastry instructor), Anna Ginsberg (Cookie Madness blogger and 2006 Pillsbury Bake-Off winner) and Russell Williams, a tweeting pedicabber who has been known to accept cookies as payment, will try to separate nostalgia from a good recipe to pick the winner of the Statesman’s Holiday Cookie Swap contest.
The Statesman’s virtual cookie swap is one of hundreds of recipe exchanges that will take place this holiday season. On Sunday, I attended a cookie swap with my beloved food blogger friends at the house of Carla Crownover.
Although the bloggers, as you might expect, brought some fantastic cookies, it was most rewarding to hear the stories they shared before the actual swapping began of where the recipe came from and why they made it.
And even though we all went home with more cookies than we could eat in a lifetime, the cookie swap was just a really good excuse to spend time with these dear friends before the holiday rush swept us away from each other.
You wouldn’t believe the variety of cookies Austin’s awesome bloggers brought: Hawaiian snowballs from Lisa is Cooking, Italian wine cookies from co-host Cecilia Nasti, pecan bars and candied fruit and bourbon cookies from Cookie Madness, lemon-lavender shortbread from Fete and Feast, truffles from Rebeccamendations and Austin Farm to Table and bacon chocolate chip cookies from Eat This Lens. (The hosts are working on compiling all the recipes, so I’ll share a link to more recipes when I get them.)
It’s hard to believe that it’s been less than a year since our first food blogger potluck in April. Who would have thought that so many friendships would have come from this group. Cookies or no, I felt so lucky to share Sunday with them.
I hope to spend some time with many of you on Thursday night at Stubb’s, but if not, consider this my holiday wish for you and your families: Enjoy time with your friends and family throughout the year, and remember, it’s not about the cookies.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: 2009 Cookie Swap, Bloggerly love, Cooking
Need a last-minute kid gift? Sew a pint-sized apron
(If your name is Harriet and you are 6 years old, stop reading this blog post or else your Christmas surprise on Wednesday is going to be ruined.)
Whew, now that I know that Harriet, one of the cutest little girls in the history of my son’s day care, isn’t looking, I can tell you about the pint-sized apron I made her for a secret Santa swap party this week.
She’s a frolicking, freckled spirit, and though I can’t be sure she’s as into cooking as I am, I figured that every kid needs a personalized apron to help keep them excited about hanging out in the kitchen.
I leave the crafty blogging to my friend Etienne, who writes the Knittin’ Kitten blog for the Statesman, but I’ve been known to sew a thing or two in my life. Skirts, purses, satchels, dresses: I’ve sewn them all, but after that oh-so-public fashion bashing I got a few years back, I stick to mending and making fun gifts like pillows and this apron.
Harriet is no bigger than a teacup, so I just used a bigger apron as a guide for shape when I cut out the fabric. (And as anyone who sews knows, you almost always have enough extra fabric lying around to make something else. All the fabrics I used are from previous projects.)
What really makes this apron special, of course, is the big letter “H” on the front. Letters are easy to sew on, and they instantly personalize whatever you’re making.
Who knows if Ms. H will actually use this apron in the kitchen — I’d be just as happy if it were covered in paint a year from now — but I hope it brings her as much joy as it did for me to make it.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Chewing the fat, Playing with your food
Pie is the new duct tape
Colleen Sommers will put just about anything in a pie.
The Austin businesswoman started her pie delivery company, Pie Fixes Everything, earlier this year. “If it can go in a pie, I’ll put it in there,” says Sommers, who says she’s even baked chili in a pie pan. Sommers, a painter who grew up working on a farm in Michigan, uses as many local and organic ingredients as possible in her sweet and savory pies.
The established menu features fives quiches and more than 10 sweet treats, and the weekly specials vary depending on “whatever is in season, what looks good and what sounds good,” she says. Sommers says that most of the pies can be made wheat-, gluten- or dairy-free.
Order pies 48 hours ahead of time to pick up at her South Austin kitchen. Deliveries — free in Central Austin, $5 elsewhere — are made on Wednesdays. Order pies ($16-$24) online or by calling 695-6604.
On Thursday, Pie Fixes Everything will be the featured special on the discount site Groupon.
Photo by Dustin Meyer.
Permalink | | Categories: Eating locally
Eat Local Week wraps with KGSR v. KXAN cook-off
Austinites should be proud of Eat Local Week.
Edible Austin has only been around for three years, and its publisher Marla Camp and her staff work incredible hard to not only put out a fantastic magazine but raise tens of thousands of dollars for local organizations.
Camp says this year’s Eat Local Week will raise between $30,000 and $40,000 for Urban Roots, a local nonprofit that helps teens by putting them to work growing and selling produce.
At the finale event on Saturday, Kate Weidaw, who works the morning shift at KXAN News, and KGSR’s Bryan Beck went head to head in a cook-off at the Austin Farmers’ Market.
It was cold and wet, but you couldn’t tell it by the crowd turnout and spirit. As emcee Jack Gilmore, whose new restaurant Jack Allen’s Kitchen will be opening at the end of the week in Oak Hill, peppered the contestants and judges with lively questions while Beck and Weidaw were cooking their dishes.
Beck, whose lovely wife the Fabulous Judy was on hand to help, cooked beef pinwheels — a rolled fajita steak with spinach, onions, herbs, mushroom and goat cheese — and served it with carrots and a citrus salad of fruit, cilantro and nuts.
Weidow’s pork chops from Peach Creek Farm, served with carrots and sauteed spinach and onions, were tender and well flavored, but Beck’s dish, in particular that citrus salad, wowed the judges, which included the esteemed Jim Hightower, Dishola’s Laura Kelso, Austin Farm to Table blogger Kristi Willis and several Urban Roots participants.
It was a delight to see the surprise on Beck’s face when Gilmore told him he won. This cook-off was just one of many successful events this week that showcase the fantastic produce, meat and artisanal products available in Central Texas and the wonderful people behind them.
A few more fun finds at area farmers’ markets lately:
I bought these sweet, juicy pineapple oranges on Saturday from some guys who grow them in the Valley and just started selling at the downtown market. At $5 for 10 pounds, they are just about the best deal to be found at the market right now.
Jim Richardson is selling freshly ground wheat at local markets and through Greenling Organic Delivery and Farmhouse Delivery. The flour costs $2 per pound and is made from wheat grown on his Rockdale farm.
Another grower named Jim Wheat (what a fortunate last name) is also selling freshly ground wheat and cornmeal at the downtown farmers’ market. I bought a bag of cornmeal for $3.
Just goes to show that nowadays in Central Texas, you can get just about anything from a local source.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Eating locally
Cozy up to Sharon Ely’s Holy Posole
It’s always a crowd favorite at parties and events, she says, but now you don’t have to get an invite to enjoy the soup.
Made with green Hatch chiles and red Chimayo chile from New Mexico, Holy Posole is now available in 26-ounce jars at several area stores and by the cup at Jo’s Hot Coffee and Good Food on South Congress Avenue and on Saturdays at the Sunset Valley Farmers’ Market.
It is also sold by the jar at Frank’s, Fresh Plus on West Lynn Street, Bubba’s Country Store and Maverick in Fort Worth and online.
Ely, wearing her signature pigtails and big smile, explained recently that Holy Posole isn’t her first venture in bottling a signature product. In the 1980s, she and her musician husband, Joe Ely, helped their friend and fellow Lubbock native C.B. Stubblefield, aka Stubb, first bottle his now-legendary barbecue sauce.
Stubb died in 1995, but Ely recalls how happy he was to see people fall in love with his product. Now it’s Ely’s turn. “I’m so excited to share my soup with the world,” she says.
Permalink | | Categories: Eating locally
Free beekeeping classes from San Marcos Bee Wranglers
Last week, I wrote about a beekeeping class in Round Rock and Denise Benson of the San Marcos Area Bee Wranglers e-mailed me to tell me about a free four-week course in San Marcos.
From 7 to 9 p.m. on each Wednesday in the month of January, the Wranglers will be teaching a course to aspiring beekeepers at the San Marcos Public Library, 625 E. Hopkins St.
Register for the free class by calling the library at 512-393-8200. Benson says that various materials are provided for the class but that there is a $12 textbook that the recommend students buy at the first class.
If you already have hives in Hays, Comal, Caldwell, Guadalupe or Travis counties, you can join the Bee Wranglers group for free. They meet at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month (February through December) at the San Marcos Public Library. The group teaches this free class every January, Benson says.
Permalink | | Categories: Eating locally
Local duck bacon? Smoked pork belly? Kocureks have you covered
Charcuterie plates, which feature processed meats such as sausage, pate or bacon, are one of the most popular food trends to hit American restaurants in recent years, and a new local company is selling an array of products so you can assemble your own during this season of entertaining.
Larry and Lee Ann Kocurek started Kocurek Family Charcuterie earlier this year, and they are now selling pates, terrines, rillettes, sausages and even some ready-made dishes at the Sunset Valley, HOPE and Triangle farmers’ markets.
Even though they’ve only been at the markets for a few weeks, word of their divine duck bacon and smoked pork belly has spread quickly. Lee Ann Kocurek says that the products they offer each week vary depending on what meat and produce they can buy from local farmers and ranchers. But on any given market day, you can find a wide selection of meats, a few relishes and condiments, as well as dishes such as lamb pie or a build-your-own cassoulet.
Permalink | | Categories: Eating locally
15 Minutes or Less: Bacon-wrapped green beans
File this one under “random”:
Just when I thought the bacon-and-green beans combo couldn’t get any better, a friend of ours made this recipe for bacon-wrapped green beans that is one of those instant classics for entertaining. It’s easy, adaptable (I’ll be making them with fresh green beans soon) and sure to please even the vegetable haters among your guests.
Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans
1 package of bacon
3 cans whole green beans
1 stick of butter
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Slice bacon pieces in half. Gather five or so beans and wrap bacon around them. Secure with a toothpick. Place clusters in a 13-inch by 9-inch glass dish. Melt butter in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients. Pour sauce over clusters and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until bacon is cooked.
—The Maness family
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 15 Minutes or Less, Cooking
Blue Bell R&D director Brenda Valera: What’s in Your Freezer Friday?
As the research and development director of Blue Bell Ice Cream in Brenham, she is part of the team that comes up with the new ice cream flavors the 102-year-old company releases each year.
She can’t divulge which new flavors will come out next year, but they’ll start rolling off the production line at the creamery in the small town two hours east of Austin in early 2010.
As the new flavors hit store shelves, her team will start designing flavors for 2011. So how does Valera, who just celebrated her 29th year with the company, come up with new flavors year after year?
“It becomes a part of you,” she says. “When I go out to eat, I look at the dessert menu, which means I get to claim that I’m ordering it for work.” The Texas A&M graduate follows food trends by looking through food magazines, recipe books and by just being aware as she shops at grocery stores and bakeries.
Even though she always keeps vanilla in her freezer at home, her favorite flavor that she had a hand in developing is triple chocolate.
What three things are always in your freezer? Blue Bell Ice Cream: Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream for me, Dutch Chocolate Ice Cream for my husband and Mini Rainbow Bars for my son. Fruit for smoothies (frozen whole strawberries and banana chunks) and Southside Market Elgin Hot Sausage
What’s your favorite dessert (besides ice cream)? Just about anything chocolate or creme brulee with fresh berries-yum!
If you could live off one frozen food (besides ice cream), what would it be? There are very few homemade cooked or baked items that taste just as good coming out of the freezer as they did when first prepared. One exception for me would be leftover Christmas cookies. If you double-bag them in freezer bags and thaw them in the bags, they can be eaten and enjoyed long after Christmas has passed. Frozen and then prepared Millie’s pierogi are pretty awesome, too.
Photos from Brenda Valera.
Permalink | | Categories: What's in Your Fridge Friday
Lara Nixon beats the boys to win Drink Local Contest
Lara Nixon, who as runs Boxcar Bar, a freelance cocktail and education service, held her own against the competition at this year’s Drink Local Contest at the Palm Door to win the annual Eat Local Week and Tipsy Texan event with her drink, We’re In It For The Corn.
Judges included last year’s winner Bobby Heugel, (above, left) who owns Anvil Bar and Refuge in Houston, Tipsy Texan Joe Eifler (above, right), Louis XIII cognac brand ambassador Sten Lilja, Maker’s Mark distillery diplomat Adam Harris and me.
She beat out Jeff Boley of Paggi House, Bill Norris of Fino, Ben Craven of Perla’s and Garret Mikell of Takoba, an interior Mexican restaurant on East Seventh slated to open in January.
After alternate Nate Wales of La Condesa kicked things off with an apple-pie inspired cocktail rimmed with streusel, Boley got to work on El Escorpion, a cocktail sweetened with kaffir lime syrup (made from a kaffir lime tree at Paggi House) made with juice from grilled pineapples and Treaty Oak rum.
Ben Craven of Perla’s was up next with his cocktail, The Sportswriter, one of the most interesting concoctions of the night: A gastrique made from Alamosa red wine and Meyer lemon, mixed with clove and cardamom turbinado syrup and sloe gin, topped with a garnish of a golf tee wrapped in candied orange.
Lara’s corntastic cocktail, made with sweet corn infused Balcones Baby Blue Corn Whiskey and just three other spirits, was a little heavy on the booze for my palate, but my fellow judges couldn’t get enough of the amped-up whiskey and adorable garnish that looked like a miniature cob of corn.
Fino’s Bill Norris was the most enthusiastic contestant, burning Mezcal-soaked rosemary in a jar and getting the crowd to cheer him on as he shook his cocktail, Texas Campfire Flip, which was one of two drink recipes that called for an egg in the ingredients. (Fellow judge Joe Eifler told me that Norris, one of Austin’s most well-respected cocktail experts, has recently had to alter the way he shakes drinks because he was getting a repetitive stress injury in his shoulder.)
Garret Mikell, who will be behind the bar at Takoba when it opens next month, shook a Hemingway daiquiri-inspired drink called the Hemingway Finn that was both fizzy and easy to drink. He infused Treaty Oak rum with cedar berries, which added depth to the grapefruit and lime juice.
To get a feel for the event, check out this blog post by photographer Dustin Meyer, who has been shooting many of the Eat Local Week events. Meyer’s photographs really capture the fun vibe of the party.
Props to Edible Austin and the Tipsy Texans for putting on such a great event. David Alan will be posting recipes for the drinks on TipsyTexan.com soon.
Top photo by Dustin Meyer.
Permalink | | Categories: Eating locally
The sweet allure of beekeeping
For many of the aspiring apiarists I talked to in writing today’s story about a backyard beekeeping class, a thriving garden was the primary goal of setting up a hive on their property.
Even for Konrad Bouffard, owner of Round Rock Honey (who also blogs about beekeeping here), a better garden was the main attraction when he first got into setting up hives and tending colonies of European honeybees.
In my family, honey has always been the draw.
My great uncle Lee Handy tended hives after decades working his tail end off at a restaurant in Branson, Mo., back when it was a one-stoplight town. He and my aunt Mary put in 15 hour days there until they sold the restaurant, and he eventually established enough hives to have a second career as a honey salesman. (A strapping man in these family photos, Lee grew into the scruffy kind of old man whom I was always too scared to ask why he only had 8 and 3/4 fingers.)
To call him a beekeeper alone wouldn’t suffice. There wasn’t nearly the market for honey that there is now, so he had to persuade a lot of people into buying his product in the first place. He sold it by the quart (a few dollars off if you brought your own jar) to people who followed the “Honey ahead” signs along the road leading to their country house.
Up until their deaths about a decade ago, they had a five gallon vat of honey in their kitchen that, with just a pull of a lever, would ooze the most beautiful golden honey. I can remember eating honey until I was sick in that kitchen. My dad, to this day, won’t drink coffee without honey because that’s the way his uncle taught him how to drink coffee.
I’d never thought about carrying on the tradition until donning a beekeeping suit for the first time for this story.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Eating locally
Defending champ wins Home Slice Pizza contest, year of free pies
After more than 30 hours, Seth Mazow and his fiancée Erin (that’s Seth with his arm around Erin on the left) were the last contestants standing at Home Slice Pizza’s Hands on an Eggplant Sub contest.
Mazow was the defending champion of the contest, whose coveted prize is a year of free pizza from the South Congress Avenue pizza joint, and I split a pizza with him a few weeks before he competed again.
On Saturday, I stopped by Home Slice Pizza’s Carnival O’ Pizza to cheer on the contestants. More than 24 hours later, when it was down to just three of them standing outside Home Slice with hands embedded in the sandwich, I dropped off extra cookies I’d baked for the Cookie Swap. I couldn’t imagine standing there for so long, but when a year of free pizza is on the line, people will do just about anything.
Congrats to Seth and Erin. Can’t wait to see what fun things you do with the Year of the Pizza blog in the next 12 months.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Playing with your food
And the Cookie Swap finalists are…
UPDATE: Anna Ginsberg, the Austin cookie blogger behind Cookie Madness and winner of the 2006 Pillsbury Bake-Off, will join us on the judging panel, and Josh Gauthreaux of Stubb’s has created a special cocktail — The Monte Cristo, made with Kahlua, Grand Marnier, coffee, and hand-whipped cream — for the event. (The party and cookies will be free, but drinks will cost you.)
After countless hours of baking, we’ve narrowed down the 83 entries to the Statesman’s Cookie Swap to five finalists:
Uber Yummy Oatmeal Holiday Cookie, submitted by Dianna Perez
Coconut Caramel Chews, submitted by Mary Haley
Brown Butter and Pecan Shortbread, submitted by Beth Balsam
The Very Best Gingersnaps You Will Ever Make, submitted by Me-Maw and Rhonda
Chocolate Dulce de Leche Bars with Sea-Salt Caramel, submitted by Anne-Charlotte Patterson
Judges Rebecca Rather (author of “Pastry Queen Christmas,” “Pastry Queen Parties” and owner of Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe in Fredericksburg) and Rebecca Wallace Ford (founding partner of Word of Mouth Catering, now the director of special services for the House of Representatives) helped bake the last of the — unofficial — semifinalist recipes this weekend, and we’ll judge the finalists at the Cookie Swap party at 7 p.m. at Stubb’s on Dec. 17.
So what’s up for grabs? Each of the finalists will get a specially designed platter featuring their recipes from Cafe Monet and a baking cookbook. For the winner, in addition to a gift certificate for a Central Market cooking class, Rebecca Rather will feature the top cookie at Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe in Fredericksburg.
Congrats to the finalists, thanks to everyone for participating and I hope to see you at the Cookie Swap!
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: 2009 Cookie Swap
Cookie Swap finalists to be announced on Monday
I’ve been promising that I’d announce the finalists for the Statesman’s Holiday Cookie Swap Contest on Dec. 4, but I wasn’t quite anticipating that we’d get more than 80 delightful recipes.
A big thanks to everyone who has submitted recipes and left ratings and comments in the recipe database.
In order to try out a few more of the recipes, I’m going to wait until Monday to announce the finalists. Sorry for the delay, but my fellow Cookie Swap judges (and baking authorities) Rebecca Rather and Rebecca Wallace Ford and I need just a few more days of baking this weekend to make our final decision.
Come back on Monday to find out whose cookies we’ll be judging at the Cookie Swap party at Stubb’s on Dec. 17. (Yes, you’re invited to the party, so mark your calendars and come enjoy sweet treats and cocktails to warm you up!)
Happy baking this chilly weekend! I’ll be going through the comments on the cookies to help make our decision on the finalists.
Permalink | | Categories: 2009 Cookie Swap
The Cookie Swap Make Me Do It: Pistachio Brownie Cookies
One cup of pistachios is a lot of pistachios to shell.
When I dived into this recipe for Pistachio Brownie Cookies, I set out to shell the pistachios while watching TV because I knew it would take a while. (It took even longer because the family members sitting next to me figured out that it was easier to eat my shelled pistachios instead of shelling their own.)
I’m a big pistachio fan, so I was eager to try this recipe from Lauren Kincke, who says in her blog that she came up with the idea for the brownie cookie after digging through her pantry after an episode of “Top Chef Masters.”
Once I got the pistachios shelled, the recipe was a breeze. I had to rig up a double broiler with two pots, but the melted bittersweet chocolate that resulted was worth the effort. The whipped egg whites turn the dough more of a batter, which makes the cookies have a brownie texture.
To get a feel for the recipes being exchanged in the Statesman’s Virtual Cookie Swap, I’ve started baking recipes that catch my eye. It’s a lot of cookies, but someone’s got to do it. You can leave comments or rate the recipes you try. The deadline to enter to win the title of Austin’s Best Cookie 2009 was Dec. 2. We’ll announce finalists on Dec. 6 and pick a winner at a holiday bash at Stubb’s on Dec. 17. Stay tuned for details.
Permalink | | Categories: 2009 Cookie Swap, Cooking, Desserts
The Cookie Swap Made Me Do It: Cranberry Crunch Cookies
I’ve mentioned that cereal has been a popular ingredient in the cookies swapped in our recipe database, but only one of them called for Kashi, which is definitely one of my top three favorite cereals. (Lucky Charms and Cracklin’ Oat Bran are the other two, in case you were wondering.)
Pamela Wiggins said these Cranberry Crunch Cookies are a version of the classic ranger cookie, but with a few extras like cranberries and pecans.
And one of the best parts of the recipe was that it encourages cooks to use their hands to mix the dough. I never turn down an opportunity to get my hands messy in food.
Plus, I got to eat the exceptionally yummy dough off my fingers.
To get a feel for the recipes being exchanged in the Statesman’s Virtual Cookie Swap, I’ve started baking recipes that catch my eye. It’s a lot of cookies, but someone’s got to do it. You can leave comments or rate the recipes you try. The deadline to enter to win the title of Austin’s Best Cookie 2009 was Dec. 2. We’ll announce finalists on Dec. 6 and pick a winner at a holiday bash at Stubb’s on Dec. 17. Stay tuned for details.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 2009 Cookie Swap, Cooking, Desserts
The Cookie Swap Made Me Do It: Coconut Caramel Chews
Doing this Cookie Swap contest has brought up many interesting questions: Where can I get orange oil? Does the use of cake mixes count against a cookie? What defines a cookie? What’s the difference between a brownie and a cookie? Are truffles and rum balls a cookie?
What about bars? After much contemplation, I’ve decided that bars are cookies, just in another shape. Both are baked sweet doughs, but bars are baked and then cut, while sugar cookies, for example, are cut and then baked.
The Coconut Caramel Chews recipe from Mary Haley caught the eye of Cookie Swap judge Rebecca Wallace Ford earlier this week. We were poring over recipes, and she pulled out this one. “Seventy-five years is a long time,” she said as she pointed to Haley’s description, which explained that the recipe has been in her family for three quarters of a century.
And after I baked these bars and handed them out to the newsroom, I could see why.
The brown sugar, coconut and egg white mixture on top turns into a chewy topping after baking. The sugar cookie-like dough was thick enough to press into the pan, and the topping tasted similar to caramel, without the work of actually having to make caramel.
Lots of “mmms” and “wow, this is good” on these little bars.
To get a feel for the recipes being exchanged in the Statesman’s Virtual Cookie Swap, I’ve started baking recipes that catch my eye. It’s a lot of cookies, but someone’s got to do it. You can leave comments or rate the recipes you try. The deadline to enter to win the title of Austin’s Best Cookie 2009 was Dec. 2. We’ll announce finalists on Dec. 6 and pick a winner at a holiday bash at Stubb’s on Dec. 17. Stay tuned for details.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: 2009 Cookie Swap, Cooking, Desserts
Jenna Noel of Edible Austin: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Associate publisher and art director Jenna Noel has been on board since the beginning, helping publisher and all-around sustainable-food-powerhouse Marla Camp not only put out issues four times a year but host countless events promoting the local food community.
Eat Local Week, which starts with a party from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight at BookPeople, is Edible Austin’s signature event series, which benefits Urban Roots, a local nonprofit that helps teens by getting them involved with growing food and either giving it away or selling it at local farmers’ markets.
Check Edible Austin’s events page for details on the activities, including tomorrow’s Urban Farm Bicycle Tour, a screening of “Fresh” featuring farmer Joel Salatin from “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and Sunday’s Drink Local Contest. There’s something for everyone, from ice skating at Whole Foods to fancy dinners, a coffee festival and even a showing of “Julie and Julia” with Austinite Julie Powell at the Drafthouse.
It’s not surprising that Noel’s fridge is packed with local food gems: Full Quiver raw milk cheese, Dai Due mustard, Kocurek Family charcuterie, satsumas from her parents’ house in Louisiana and a growler of coffee from Coop Coffee. (When she’s not tweeting as @edibleaustin, she’s shaking cappucellos and pouring coffee with Tipsy Texans David Alan and Joe Eifler at their Coop Coffee tent at the Sunset Valley Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings.)
What three things are always in your fridge? Topo Chico, always boudin in the freezer, and coffee
What’s your favorite condiment? Harvest Time Mayhaw Jelly or SASS sesame garlic dressing
What’s your favorite food you wish you could get from a local source? I wish I could get my dad’s cooking fresh in Austin. That’s why I usually have his gumbo, jambalaya or pork chop spaghetti in the freezer. It’s nice to have a taste of home every so often.
Photos by Jenna Noel.
Permalink | | Categories: What's in Your Fridge Friday
Joe’s Bakery matriarch Sophia De La’O: 1907-2009
Sophia De La’O, who along with her husband Florentino started the East Austin bakery that would become Joe’s Bakery, has died at the age of 102.
In 1935, the De La’Os started selling breads out of their East Ninth Street house. Their son, Joe Avila, was 6 years old at the time. By the 1960s, the family had opened Sun Bakery on East Seventh Street, which Avila bought and turned into Joe’s Bakery, now one of the longest-running restaurants in Austin. Many of De La’O’s recipes are still in use in the Joe’s Bakery kitchen.
In April, the families celebrated Sophia and Joe’s 102nd and 65th birthdays with a big party (click here for more photos of the party), complete with a mariachi band and dozens of regulars who’ve become part of the Avila/De La’O family. Five generations were present, including her great granddaughter Regina Estrada, left, and Estrada’s 1-year-old daughter.
The week before Thanksgiving, De La’O fell and broke her hip, Estrada said. She caught pneumonia and died Thursday evening. “It took us by surprise because we didn’t expect it so soon,” Estrada said Friday, because she was recovering so well from the surgery.
The rosary is planned for Sunday evening at Angel Funeral Home.
Photos by Ralph Barrera for the Austin American-Statesman.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Food in the news
Forget burgers: Whata-marketing campaign!
As we all know, the fast food industry is more about marketing than making good food, and Whataburger is on a roll — with sesame seeds, of course — this season.
Not only are they doing a 12 Days of Whataburger promo with coupons for free products for 12 days straight, they are doing a big send-off for their A.1. Thick & Hearty Burger.
When my burger-loving colleague Omar Gallaga pointed me to this A.1. support group Web site, where devoted A.1. Thick & Hearty Burger lovers can record farewell messages and videos and send sympathy cards, my first thought was: “Wow, that must be a really good burger for them to go to all that trouble to say that it’s going away forever.”
So on the way back from Galveston last week, I stopped by a Whataburger in Sealy specifically to see what this A.1. Thick & Hearty burger was all about.
The burger tasted like every other Whataburger I’ve had, but just with A.1. sauce and extra cheese. Decent for fast food, but still nothing I can ever imagine shedding a tear over not being able to get again. And I most certainly won’t be going through the phases of grief that the man in their commercials goes though.
However, it’s a successful social media strategy. I commend them for tapping into the power of connecting people with similar brand loyalties and tastes in mediocre burgers, and for creating a campaign curious enough to make me buy a burger when I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Just like the pumpkin puree and sugar “shortages”, it proves my point that there’s no better way to sell a product — good or bad — than to tell the world it won’t be there for long.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Food in the news
Kitchen Confession: Opting out of Thanksgiving traditions
I skipped the big Thanksgiving this year.
Last week, I wrote a little bit about taking a break from traditional Thanksgiving dishes, but our break from tradition wasn’t just about not serving turkey.
Every year since I moved to Austin, I’ve done the holiday dance, driving 11 hours to Missouri to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with my family there. It’s always a lovely time together, and I really do cherish the whole idea of packing as many relatives into one house as possible for the holidays.
But sometimes you need a break.
I’m lucky to get to see my and my husband’s family several times a year, so this year, I knew our own little family needed a different approach to the holidays.
I could blame it on the fact that we have a 3-year-old who hates spending an entire day in the car as much as we do. I could blame it on the fact that all I think and breathe for the entire months of November and December is holiday food. I could blame my little hail-dented Corolla that needs a visit to a mechanic before another massive road trip.
The truth is, we wanted to do things our way this Thanksgiving.
When I first told my family that we weren’t going to anyone’s Thanksgiving dinner but our own, I don’t think they believed me. But as the end of November got closer and even my San Diego-based uncle, the prodigal son who never came home, said he was flying back for Thanksgiving, the pressure was on for us to change our plans.
But we didn’t. Feelings were hurt, I’m sure, but everyone, even you, dear reader of this blog, shouldn’t have to beg for a get-out-of-jail-free card if you want to opt out of a big family gathering.
The result? The most relaxing, drama-free, expectation-free Thanksgiving vacation I’ve ever had.
I missed being around my extended family, but most of them will be in Austin for Christmas.
I know I’ll be back on the gravy train next year, but stealing last week with Ian and Julian was one of the best decisions we’ve made all year.
Kitchen Confession is a series of blog posts highlighting the bad habits we refuse to break in the kitchen.
What’s your dirty kitchen habit? E-mail me at abroyles@statesman.com. Photos are optional, but encouraged.
Permalink | | Categories: Chewing the fat, Kitchen Confession
Top 5 cookbooks to give this year
Cookbooks are an awesome gift.
In tomorrow’s newspaper, I explain why all these free recipes roaming around on the Internet make a curated book of recipes an even sweeter gift for the cook in your life.
I picked out about 20 books that we hadn’t written about yet this year for the round-up in the paper, but we’ve featured tons of new releases in the paper throughout the year.
So, here’s my pick of top five books to give for Christmas this year:
- “Ratio” by Michael Ruhlman
- “The Pioneer Woman Cooks” by Ree Drummond
- “The Pleasures of Cooking for One” by Judith Jones
- “The Silver Spoon for Children” by Amanda Grant
- “Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It” by Karen Solomon
Ree Drummond’s first cookbook is as charming and appealing as her oh-so-famous blog. Michael Ruhlman’s latest effort has already become a must-have for serious cooks.
Judith Jones, best known for editing Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” wrote a book that tackles the under-appreciated act of cooking for yourself. If you learned how to cook a pasta by using “The Silver Spoon,” now you can grant kids the same pleasure with a fun-to-read, easy-to-use kids’ version of the Italian classic.
And last but not least, Karen Solomon’s book taps into the do-it-yourself wave that has taken over America’s kitchens. Everyone I know is curing bacon, pickling green beans or making their own mustard, and this book is a good guide to get your started on all of it.
Now’s your chance, cookbook geeks, to share your favorite books that came out in 2009. Or, what books do you hope Santa will bring you in a few weeks? Tell me in the comments below.
One of the books that was definitely in my top 20 was from Christopher Kimball’s team at America’s Test Kitchen. Kimball and crew put out several cookbooks a year with recipes from Cook’s Country, Cook’s Illustrated and the PBS television show, which turns 10 this year.
Here’s a make-ahead breakfast recipe from the 10th anniversary book, “The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Cookbook’” that you’ll want to keep on hand for when you’ve got company this month.
Breakfast Strata with Spinach and Gruyère
A classic breakfast dish, strata is easy to prepare, presents a variety of flavors, can feed a crowd, and perhaps best of all, can, and indeed should be made ahead of time. Too often, though, it is overloaded with fillings; we wanted a savory bread pudding with a balanced, well-seasoned filling.
8-10 (1/2-inch-thick) slices supermarket French or Italian bread
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
4 medium shallots, minced (about 1/2 cup)
1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Salt and ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 oz. Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 large eggs
1 3/4 cups half-and-half
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 225 degrees. Arrange the bread in a single layer on a large baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp, about 40 minutes, turning the slices over halfway through the baking time. (Or leave the slices out overnight to dry.) Let the bread cool completely, then spread butter evenly over one side of each bread slice, using 2 Tbsp. of the butter; set aside. Heat 2 Tbsp. more butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and salt and pepper to taste and cook until the spinach is warm, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside. Add the wine to the skillet, increase the heat to medium-high, and simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup, 2 to 3 minutes; set aside.
Butter an 8-inch square baking dish with the remaining 1 Tbsp. butter. Arrange half of the bread slices, buttered-side up, in a single layer in the dish. Sprinkle half of the spinach mixture, then 1/2 cup of the shredded Gruyère, evenly over the bread slices. Arrange the remaining bread slices in a single layer over the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining spinach mixture and 1/2 cup more Gruyère evenly over the bread. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until combined; whisk in the reduced wine, half-and-half, 1 tsp. salt and a pinch of pepper. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread layers.
Wrap the strata tightly with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the surface of the strata with two 1-lb. boxes of sugar, laid side by side, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Remove the dish from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Uncover the strata and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyère evenly over the surface. Bake until both edges and center are puffed and the edges have pulled away slightly from the sides of the dish, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Serves 6. Photo by Daniel J. van Ackere.
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