Friday, August 14, 2009

A weekend of good eating ... at home

Pretty much every weekend we have at least one meal out. Usually it isn't anything elaborate -- maybe some tacos for lunch or some pho for dinner. Still, our weekend eating usually revolves around meals at home.

More than 9 Saturdays out of 10, we hit the Austin Farmer's Market downtown in the morning. That usually gets us off to a good start. After we pick up a few tasty ingredients, we can plan out what we're going to make both that weekend and later in the week.

Last weekend, we were unusually busy at home. This time of year, the farmer's market is not at its peak, but we did manage to pick up some nice pickling cukes and hot peppers for making spicy pickles. We've made pickles at home pretty regularly using a simple quick dill pickle recipe, but this weekend we tried out something new, and the results were great.



mmm ... delicious, crunchy pickles

Want the recipe? Sure you do!

Spicy Dill Quick Pickles
Total: 20 min plus overnight brining
Makes 2 quarts

12 oz vegetables
- asparagus: blanched 1 min and cooled
- broccoli stems: peeled and cut into sticks
- carrot sticks: blanced 2 min and cooled
- cauliflower florets: blanched 1 min and cooled
- green beans: steamed 2 min and cooled
- kirby cucumbers: quartered or thinly sliced
3 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
2 Tbsp coriander seeds
6 large garlic cloves, halved
4 to 6 long red or green hot chiles, halved lengthwise
16 dill sprigs

Pack vegetables into 2 clean 1-quart glass jars. In another jar, combine salt, sugar, vinegar, coriander and garlic. Shake until salt and sugar dissolve. Add 2 cups water and pour brine over vegetables. Add enough water to keep vegetables submurged. Close jars and refrigerate overnight or forup to 1 month.

Next, anticipating the need for lunch food for the workweek, we soaked some dry chick peas (or garbanzos or ceci, whatever you prefer) and made a big batch of homemade hummus. Still, we were just warming up. After that, Rachel decided that the only good way to satisfy her incredible bagel jones (we live in Texas, remember?) was to make some bagels herself. Working off of a recipe she found on Slate, Rachel made a good batch of cute little bagels. Now we had breakfast for the workweek covered, too.


Bagels in process


Bagels a-boilin'


The end result

To close out the weekend, we decided to make some pizza. Seemed like a good way to deal with our overload of oregano and basil in the garden. I picked up a few pretty sweet peppers at the store and decided to roast them. We put those on one pie and fresh mozzarella and basil on the other. Not quite Pepe's or Sally's, but pretty good for pizza from scratch. Seemed only appropriate to consume along with a bottle of my homemade wine -- a Cabernet-Syrah-Carmenere I made a few years back that seems just to be hitting its prime.


Thems some pretty peppers!


Pies


The C-S-C

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Food. Glorious Food (Update).

Last month, we posted here about the numerous food blogs and websites with an Austin or Texas-wide scope. We mentioned, among other things, the Texas Burger Guy's blog and his best-of list.

Texas Monthly Magazine has thrown its hat into the Texas burger-rating ring. A recent issue included a list of the top 50 burgers throughout the state. Austin shows up a few times, which is good news. Even better is that the number one spot is in Dallas ... and we're going to be there next weekend!

The list (places in Austin in orange/italics - links included):

1. The Grape, Dallas, Classic Cheeseburger
2. Counter Cafe, Austin, Counter Burger
3. Alamo Springs Cafe, Fredericksburg, Cheeseburger (with green chiles on a jalapeno-cheese bun)
4. Toro Burger Bar, El Paso, Toro Burger
5. The Cove, San Antonio, Texas Burger
6. The Porch, Dallas, The Stodg
7. Perini Ranch Steakhouse, Buffalo Gap, Hamburger Steak on a Bun
8. Dutch’s, Fort Worth, Bacon and Bleu Cheese Burger
9. Beck’s Prime, Houston, Bacon Cheeseburger
10. Orlando’s, Lubbock, Cheeseburger in Paradise
11. White Buffalo Bar, Gage Hotel Marathon, Buffalo Burger
12. Cover 3, Austin, Chop-House Burger (with cheese and bacon)
13. Burger Fresh, Conroe, 1/2 Pound Burger
14. Burger Tex II, Austin, Burgogi Burger
15. Twisted Root Burger Co., Dallas, Hamburger
16. Max’s Wine Dive, Austin and Houston, Kobe Beef Burger
17. Love Shack, Fort Worth, Dirty Love Burger
18. Fatty’s Burgers & More, San Antonio, Ref Burger
19. MoMak’s Backyard Malts & Burgers, San Antonio, MoMak Classic Burger
20. Kelly’s Eastside, Plano, Southwestern Burger
21. Big’z Burger Joint, San Antonio, Big’z Famous No. 1
22. Chicken Oil Co., Bryan, Snuffy Burger
23. Cafe Michael Burger, Galveston, Tiki Burger
24. Burgers, Fries and Cherry Pies, Midland, The French Connection Burger
25. Mockingbird Bistro, Houston, American Kobe Beef Burger
26. Parkside, Austin, Cheeseburger
27. Black Sheep Lodge, Austin, Black Buffalo Burger
28. Miss Hattie’s Cafe and Saloon, San Angelo, Miss Hattie Burger
29. Mel’s Country Cafe, Tomball, Double Hamburger
30. Roaring Fork, Austin, Half Ass Burger (also in San Antonio)
31. Gene’s Tasty Burger, Wichita Falls, Frisco Burger
32. Cliff Cafe, Dallas, Brie and Granny Smith Burger
33. Bracken Store Cafe, San Antonio, Bean and Frito Burger
34. Sam’s Deli Diner, Houston, Hamburger
35. Dry Creek Cafe, Houston, The Regular (with asadero cheese)
36. Hamburger Store, Jefferson, Build-Your-Own Burger
37. Mighty Fine, Austin, Hamburger
38. Roadhouse, Bastrop, Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burger
39. Lankford Grocery and Market, Houston, Old-Fashioned Hamburger
40. Classics Burgers and “Moore,” Kerrville, Cheeseburger
41. Koffee Kup Family Restaurant, Hico, Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burger
42. Hruska’s Store and Bakery, Ellinger, Cheeseburger
43. Rosco’s Burger Inn, El Paso, Rosco Burger
44. Port Aransas Brewing Company, Port Aransas, Stopher Burger
45. Goode Company Hamburgers and Taqueria, Houston, Mesquite Burger
46. Snuffer’s Restaurant and Bar, Dallas, Green Chile Swissburger
47. Fred’s Texas Cafe, Fort Worth, Diablo Burger
48. Speedy’s Burger, Houston, Hamburguesa Mexicana
49. Gourmet Burger Grill, San Antonio, Hamburger
50. Jakes, Dallas, #1 Jakes Special

Here's a link to what the folks on the Chowhound Austin forum had to say about the list.

Interestingly, the top four burger places on Texas Burger Guy's list didn't make the Texas Monthly top 50. The only one in his top five that made the list -- Lankford Grocery and Market (number five) -- did show up at number 39.

So this list gives us some good leads on new places to try in the area. Counter Cafe (number two) is a place we frequent for breakfast, but we've never been there for lunch. Not once! That'll have to change soon.

Hopefully, in about a week, we'll let you know whether the burger at The Grape in Dallas lives up to the hype.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Sweet Smackdown

Cupcakes--they aren't just for your kids' elementary school bake sales anymore. Maybe Austin is a bit later to adopt the latest foodie fad than, say, New York City, but what city isn't? Late to the game or not, Austinites have fully embraced the cupcake. Over the last few years, cupcakes places have popped up throughout the city, selling small sweets out of stores and trailers. Search for "cupcake" on a site like Yelp and you'll be surprised at the number of hits you get, some that specialize in cupcakes, others that offer a broader array of goods that include cupcakes. Of the former, you have Sugar Mama's Bakeshop, Polkadots, Delish Cupcakes, Cupprimo Cupcakery and Hey Cupcake!, to name a few.


So say you want a cupcake. Who makes the best? Everyone has their own opinion. To help filter out some of the noise, someone decided to organize Cupcake Smackdown 1.0. A celebration of the cupcake, Cupcake Smackdown featured contests among both professional and amateur cupcake bakers, eating contests for both people and dogs -- yeah, the smackdown is canine-friendly -- cupcakes and samples for sale, and live music on the roofdeck of One 2 One Bar. With little to do this weekend, Rachel and I thought we'd check it out.


Up on the roof at One 2 One

Turns out that we weren't alone. Apparently about 1,000 people showed up. I don't think the organizers were expecting a turnout quite so large. Space was cramped inside and on the roofdeck. We didn't stay for all that long, but did have a chance to check out the beautiful baked bites, sample a tasty chocolate-peanut butter cupcake from Wicked Cakes and see a few silly dogs gearing up for some treats. With competitions in several catogories, the judges had their work cut out for them, but looked to be up to the task.


Judges at "work"


Lots of people and places went home with ribbons. On the pro side, Sugar Mama's took home three. On the amateur side, make sure you invite the Blodgett family to your next party!

Results:

Best Storefront Chocolate - Walton's
Best Storefront Vanilla - Sugar Mama's
Best Storefront Baker's Choice - Sugar Mama's
Best Catered Chocolate - Cowgirl Cupcakes
Best Catered Vanilla - L's
Best Catered Baker's Choice - The Cupcake Bar
Best Amateur Chocolate - Amy Blodgett
Best Amateur Vanilla - Laura Blodgett
Best Amateur Freestyle - Erica Bommarito
Best Storefront - Sugar Mama's
Best Catered - Cowgirl Cupcakes
Best Amateur - Erica Bommarito
Best Overall Chocolate - Amy Blodgett (amateur class)
Best Overall Vanilla - Blake Howard (amateur class)
Best Overall Baker's Choice - The Cupcake Bar (catered class)
Cutest Contest (voted by the public for $1 per vote) - One Last Bite Catering with 151 votes
Most Popular - Walton's
Eating Contest Canine division - Logan owned by Cara - 3 cupackes in 11.4 seconds
Eating Contest Human Division - Chris Floyd 13 cupcakes in 2 minutes




An array of pretty cupcakes


Keeping cool


Mmm, chocolate and peanut butter