Since I am fairly new to the world of Texas gardening and growing some of our own fruits, veggies and herbs, there seems to be a new discovery for me every season. Some are pleasant surprises, like my over flowing out of control basil “bush” leading me to the Local Savour Texas Pesto recipe or the juicy sweet 100′s that came back to life in two fold this year but others like our beautiful, lush, giant tomato plant that didn’t produce a single tomato well, that’s was just depressing but … we learned from it and I think the problem got fixed – too much nitrogen in the soil it seems? Growing fresh herbs is a must for me and if you can swing it, either in the house or in the garden, I highly recommend it. What a great way to add a little something special to a dish – freshly picked by you. Right now cilantro, parsley, thyme and dill are growing wildly and since I am a big fan of fresh cilantro dinner became – Local Savour Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops With Cilantro Cream Sauce. I think to this day pork chops might still have a bad wrap as something like a dried up hockey puck (thanks in part to the Shake-N-Bake generation) but fresh, juicy and hot out of the oven pork chops with a light and zesty cilantro sauce just might change ones mind about the other white meat.

My ears always perk up when I hear the words brown butter, and I believe this is the first time I’ve noticed those words followed by vinaigrette. Yes, brown butter was the oil for this vinaigrette, and it was pureed with sherry vinegar and marcona almonds which gave it a thick, creamy texture. Not only did the vinaigrette in question sound enticing in this dish, there were also marinated carrots that were then grilled, and that marinade included smoked paprika, ground fennel, ground coriander,...

This is just a summary. Visit my site for the complete post with photos and links. (http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com)

Traditionally, if you want quality Vietnamese food in Austin you have to be in the part of town where it’s hard to tell if you are in Pflugerville, Round Rock, or Austin. In South Austin we mostly have the standard Chinese-takeout-style Vietnamese places where you can get a ton of edible food for five dollars. When LuLu B’s trailer opened I loved that I could get a vegetarian bánh mì for 4 and I have long been obsessed with their 6 dollar bún. When the prices on each went up a while back, I stopped going so much. So at first I wasn’t so sure about how often I would go to the even more expensive Elizabeth St. Cafe which is even getting flack from foodies about the 22 dollar pho. But, unlike Lulu B’s it is open at night, has excellent service and has a super cute ambiance so I can see myself returning. It is kind of mind boggling that they could have made the old Bouldin Creek, certainly the cafe I have spent the most time in probably in my life, into such a elegant little place. Someone should make a “Where Have all the Hippies Gone” parody video. Or not.

The menu is definitely happy meat focused but I was gladdened to see that vegan options abound as well. We started with the Ginger Marinated Tofu Spring rolls. Since the peanut sauce wasn’t vegan we stuck with just the sweet chile vinegar and ginger jalapeno for dipping. Even with those sauces, I thought the spring rolls were a little dry, too heavy on the noodles and without enough herbs and vegetables. 

I think that the reason I was most excited to try the Elizabeth St. Cafe was in anticipation of their pho. I kind of became obsessed with pho when I lived in Washington and for years I was disappointed by every version in Austin that I tried. Recently I tried a recipe from Terry Hope Romero’s upcoming internationally themed cookbook and I it reawakened all the pho desire inside me. Elizabeth St has two different pho varieties and we went with the miso cauliflower version. It was delicious and I think would be perfect for someone that like the idea of pho but maybe not the Vietnamese version. We’ll call them fusion pho lovers. Next time I will try the tofu, mushroom, radish traditional version for sure. One thing I loved about this version was that it was completely packed with tofu and vegetables. A lot of times it seems like places skimp on all that stuff and just give you a ton of sprouts and herbs.

We skipped the bánh mì since they didn’t have vegan mayo and went onwards to the bún. The grilled tofu was a highlight for sure and there was plenty of vegetables in the bowl, in fact I think there were more vegetables than vermicelli. Everything was fresh and delicious and the vegan fish sauce was good enough, maybe a little tame. 

My favorite part of the meal was undoubtedly the bánh xèo (aka the Vietnamese crêpe) even thought it wasn’t on the menu and we had to special order it. Don’t you just love when restaurants are accommodating? The service, overall was great, our waitress was easily able to tell us what was vegan and what we could do special and when she wasn’t sure about the crêpe she checked with the kitchen staff. When the waitress returned to tell us they would make a special vegan version I was, in a word, stoked. This is the best bánh xèo I have ever had, although truthfully it was also only the second. It was coconutty, light and delicious and definitely what I will return for. 

We rounded out the meal with a delicious Lemongrass tea, although they do have a wide assortment of wine, saki, Vietnamese coffee, and drinks. 

It is a fantastic little spot, more expensive, no doubt then, a standard Vietnamese restaurant but with a charming atmosphere and excellent service.

Tagged: austin, austin restaurants, Elizabeth St. Cafe, restaurant, south austin, vegan austin, Vietnamese

Preserving Texas food culture is a big part of the mission of Foodways Texas, so it makes sense that the group’s second symposium (the first in Austin) is dedicated to just that: preservation.

The nonprofit is hosting a three-day conference March 23 through 25 at various locations around Austin to talk about all the ways that we are preserving — both figuratively and literally — the bounty of Texas food. “We’ll talk about preservation in our pastures, on our farms, in our kitchens, and in the stories we tell around the dinner table,” the website says. Last year, the group’s inaugural symposium took place in Galveston.

Panels will bring together a number of farmers, food artisans, craft brewers, chefs and food historians to talk about the state of food in Texas today, as well as the efforts to record the stories of the people who make Texas food what it is.

Also part of the symposium are a number of interactive dining experiences, including a chuck wagon brunch with Tom Perini of Perini Ranch Steakhouse, a seafood dinner with Justin Yu of Oxheart Restaurant in Houston and an 1840s farm dinner at Boggy Creek Farm with Sonya Cote of East Side Showroom.

Symposium tickets, which go on sale at 10 a.m. today for members and on Monday for nonmembers, cost $225 for members and $250 for the general public. You can also buy an $85 pass that will get you into the panels but none of the events with meals. (Don’t dillydally on those tickets. The group’s second annual barbecue camp in June is already sold out.)

You can find out about joining the group by going to its membership page.

Photos from FoodwaysTexas.com.

When I first posted about pickling gherkins I never expected it to be the biggest draw of the website.  I get more visits from people googling “pickled gherkins” than pretty much anything else on the site.  People have even been so kind as to post regional recipes for making gherkins and pickles, and I’d be a fool not to highlight them with their own entry.

If you’d like to share your version of pickled gherkins, feel free to post it in the comments and I’ll gladly add it with proper credit.

 

In New Zealand we just use white vinegar, always have. I don’t know where she got that recipe from, but it isn’t here. I’ve never even seen that acid stuff you mentioned as being part of a Kiwi recipe.
The recipe I’ve had for the past 20 years and use is:

750mls white vinegar
small tbsp pickling spice (in mesh bag)
4 cups sugar
2 tsp salt

Boil all together with pickling spice in a bag.

Cover the gherkins (I use sliced and chopped cucumbers too) with boiling water, leave to cool and drain x 4.

Pack the gherkins into jars, cover with boiled vinegar solution, cap and store in the dark.

Mixture can be reboiled after 4 days if desired but it’s optional.

Thank you very much Tish!

And while George Freuden’s recipe isn’t for a pickled gherkin, it’s too wonderful not to share.

There are days in life when you just NEED cake and today was one of those days. Cranky kids and a l-o-n-g day make one desperate for a good slice of cake in my book. Sure, it’s January and some of us have made “healthy resolution goals” but this little number is filled with sweet potatoes – so that’s balancing out the rest, right? Either way I am still going to enjoy it because like I said, I NEED this cake today. There’s something about even just saying the words “sweet potatoes” that’s comforting and soothing to my day. SO … why not throw them into a cake with a little whiskey (I used Balcones Baby Blue Corn Whiskey – one of my favorites, remember this!)? Since these heavy duty, fleshy, orange root veggies are in their peek of the season I happen to have several on hand begging to be eaten up in the Local Savour Sweet Potato Whiskey Cake With Brown Sugar Pecan Crumble. I am not certain if it’s right (or wrong) given that there IS whiskey in the cake but … I happen to know a little (almost) 3 year old, one of my toughest critics, gobbled up a slice in minutes. Let them eat cake, I say, while I sneak a moment of silence (and perhaps a second slice) at the end of this day.

Ouch.

After hearing months of chatter about Austin restaurant El Greco’s appearance on Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” the episode finally debuted last Friday night and it was everything I’d hoped it wouldn’t be.

The family that owned the business didn’t look like much of a family at all, with son/chef Jake Konstantinidis cussing at his mom, Athina, and aunt all the way up until the “make nice” segment, which even Ramsay said he wasn’t sure was going to happen. We find out that Athina and the rest of the family had poured $800,000 into the restaurant since opening it in 2007 and that Jake, who only showed up a few hours a day, was insisting that the food be reheated in the microwave.

After much yelling and name-calling (often times in Greek, with subtitles), the family appeared to have reconciled, and all the way until 35 seconds before the end of the episode, the production team led us to believe that things were looking up for both the family and the restaurant. “In the months that followed, El Greco received positive feedback from the community, and it appeared as though the restaurant was going to be turned around,” the narrator tells us. “But Jake and Athina’s insurmountable debt was too much to overcome and the mother and son were forced to close El Greco.”

No one in Austin had been able to confirm with the El Greco folks that they’d closed the restaurant for good, but customers had been reporting since mid-December that the restaurant hasn’t been open.

Julio-Cesar Florez, the chef behind the newly opened Gusto Italian Kitchen and Wine Bar, says that Anthony, one of El Greco’s primary cooks, is now “doing well” as a cook at his restaurant.

Although it’s interesting to read the back-and-forth on the restaurant’s Facebook page and on a few of the Chowhound boards about who is to blame for the restaurant’s closure and how much Ramsay’s intervention either helped or hurt the restaurant, all we know for sure is that an Austin family has closed a restaurant that they put a lot of money and emotional and physical effort into.

I haven’t been able to get a hold of the Konstantinidis family or any of the other staff to find out how they are doing, but I wish them well. If it was hard for us to watch, I can’t imagine how hard it was for them to see themselves through the lens of a national production team that won’t ever have a lack of struggling restaurants who want to be featured.

Photos from Fox.com.

Are you ready for a taco cook-off, cereal milk ice cream and a deluge of foodies in Austin?

Tickets — and by that, I mean passes — for the Austin Food & Wine Festival, April 27-29, went on sale today on the festival’s website, and a $250 or $850 pass is the only way you’ll be able to get in on the Andrew Zimmern, Gail Simmons, Jonathan Waxman and Masaharu Morimoto action when they come to town in a few months.

The new festival is a pretty big change from years past, but I have a feeling that they won’t have a hard time selling passes, especially to out-of-town foodies looking for a non-SXSW excuse to come to Austin before the triple digit weather sets in.

A quick update on the Austin Food & Wine Alliance, the beneficiary of the festival that plans to give the money back to the community in the form of grants to culinary innovators:

At a meeting last week, I found out a couple of things of note about the alliance, which will also host a number of fundraiser events on its own throughout the year, starting with a Live Fire event on April 26. First, the board hopes to start taking grant applications sometime this summer, and alliance president Cathy Cochran-Lewis said she hopes that the grants will at least be in the neighborhood of $5,000 each. Second, just like any of the other food nonprofits in Austin, the Food & Wine Alliance is happy to be the beneficiary of the money you or your organization raise at your supper club/bake sale/salsa competition.

Now that you’ve had some time to process the news about the festival, what do you think of the changes from its predecessor, the Hill Country Wine and Food Festival? If you plan on going, whom are you most excited to see?

Valentine’s Day is on a Tuesday this year, which is bad news for lovers who have a hard time fitting a date night like Valentine’s in the middle of the week but good news for restaurant owners who always see a rush on weekend nights but rarely one of the caliber that Valentine’s Day will bring in the middle of the week. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be rounding up the Valentine’s specials, both the weekend before and the night of. Have a special dinner to submit? Send the details in an email to Austin360.com producer LeeAnn Pendley.

• Alamo Drafthouse (Ritz 320 E 6th Street, 476-1320, Village 2700 W Anderson Lane, 476-1320, South Lamar 1120 S Lamar Blvd, 476-1320, Lake Creek 13729 Research Blvd, 219-5408, drafthouse.com): ‘Princess Bride’ quote-along and feast. 7 p.m.

• Austin Cake Ball Kitchen & Bar(3401 Esperanza Crossing Suite #104, 215-3633, www.austincakeball.com/kitchenandbar): Three-course prix fixe dinner menu. Feb. 10-14. $45 per person. $75 per couple.

• Aviary (2110 S. Lamar Blvd., 916-4445, verdesupperclub.com): Verde Supper Club presents ‘Intercourses: A Night of Aphrodisiacs’ on Feb. 14. Six course meal. $90 per person.

• Bistrot Mirabelle (8127 Mesa Drive Ste A100, 346-7900, www.bistrotmirabelle.com): Three-course dinner, including a complimentary glass of champagne. Feb. 14. $37.95.

• Braise (2121 E. Sixth St., 478-8700, www.braiseaustin.com): Four-course fixed-price menu Tuesday, Feb. 14. $49.95 per person, $99.95 per couple.

• The Carillon (AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, 1900 University Ave., 404-1900, www.thecarillonrestaurant.com): Seven-course dinner with wine pairings. Feb. 10-11 and Feb. 14. $120 per person. $80 without wine.

• Fabi + Rosi (509 Hearn Street, 236-0642, www.fabiandrosi.com/): Four-course dinner. Includes wine pairings. Feb 14. 7 p.m. $75 per person.

• Fall Creek Vineyards (1820 County Road 222, Tow, 325-379-5361, www.fcv.com): Three course lunch with Fall Creek wine pairings at 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Feb. 11. $34.

• The Grille at Rough Hollow (103 Yacht Club Cove, Lakeway, 261-3444, www.roughhollowclub.com/grille.php): Special Valentine’s tasting menu. Feb. 10 - 14.

• Hotel Saint Cecilia (, www.hotelstcecilia.com/): Feb. 14 6 to 10 p.m. $150 per person includes cocktails and wine pairings.

• Hudson’s on the Bend (3509 RM 620 N., 266-1369, www.hudsonsonthebend.com): Seven-course dinner with wine parings. Feb. 8. 7 p.m. $150

• MAX’s Wine Dive (207 San Jacinto Boulevard, 904-0111, www.maxswinedive.com): A special evening of French cuisine on Sunday, Feb. 12th. Tickets include dinner for two with wine pairings. $150 plus tax and gratuity. Tickets purchased after Feb. 1 $199.

• Messina Hof Winery (9996 US Hwy 290 East, Fredericksburg, 830-990-4653, www.messinahof.com): Five course dinner paired with five different Messina Hof wines. Feb. 11 & Feb. 14. $80 per person.

• Paggi House (200 Lee Barton Drive, 473-3700, www.paggihouse.com): Four-course dinner. Feb. 14. $85 per person. Wine pairings available. Limited à la carte menu available.

• Restaurant Jezebel (Address disclosed upon payment. www.jezebeldining.com): Four-course intimate dinner held in chef Parind Vora’s East Austin dining room. Feb. 14 7:30 p.m. $120 per person.

• Sagra (1610 San Antonio St., 535-5988, sagraaustin.net/): Four-course traditional Italian dinner. Feb. 14. $45 per person, $20 for wine pairings.

• Trace (200 Lavaca St. at the W Hotel, 542-3660, www.traceaustin.com): Two three-course menus will be featured on Feb. 14th, including a vegetarian option. $65 per person (with wine parings for $90). 5:30 to 10 p.m.

• TRIO at Four Seasons Hotel (98 San Jacinto Blvd., 685-8300, www.trioaustin.com): Three-course prix fixe pre-Valentine’s menu Feb. 10-13. $55 per person. Four-course prix fixe Valentine’s menu. Feb. 14. $95 per person.

• Zed’s (501 Canyon Ridge Drive, 339-9337, www.zeds.bz): Special prix fixe menu with champagne toast. $40 for single, $75 per couple.

Rodolfo Gonzalez for the Austin American-Statesman.

Anita Lo believes “there are no true borders in food.” Cuisines are constantly changing and being influenced by different cultures. And, her food is pushing that evolution another step forward. Her new book is Cooking Without Borders, and I received a review copy. In it, she describes her approach to building dishes with multiple points of reference. With a multicultural upbringing and world travels from a young age, she draws on various influences for her cooking style. After first learning...

This is just a summary. Visit my site for the complete post with photos and links. (http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com)

Forget the mac 'n cheese, leave the french toast behind and jettison the baked goodies.  Wow, that sounds pretty scary doesn't it?  Well, truth be told once you get away from  legumes, dairy, grains and sugars you go through some withdrawal, and then as Whole9's Robin Strathdee says, you grieve. After the grieving and the withdrawal the first time I did this I went down the path of trying to paleo-ify everything....yea another bad idea.  If you want to understand why that's a bad idea, again I'd direct you to the smart smart folks at Whole9/Whole30, they are definitely opinionated on the subject.

So this time, as I wander back down the path of another Paleo Challenge with Milestone Crossfit I am fighting some serious desires to lapse, go get a block of cheese and say forget it!  Instead of doing that I'm trying to find ways to keep making tasty and diverse meals (yes, I get bored easily).  Thank God I've got a lot of other folks around to lean on when I'm struggling, and truth is, it's early to be struggling, I'm only in day 4 of an 8 week stint!  So last night, coming out of a WOD that beat me up pretty good (yes, I'm slow like a 90 year old today) I was looking for a little good old fashioned comfort food, what's more comforting and meat stuffed with goodies, baked sweet potato and stuffing?  Nothing, that's right, nothing!

Paleo Stuffed Pork with Mushroom Stuffing

1lb Pork Cutlet, pounded until thin
1 Granny Smith Apple, chopped
1/2 Large Sweet Onion, chopped
12-14oz Whole Roasted Chestnuts, packed in water (if canned)
1/2 Cup Dried Cherries, chopped
3/4 Cup Dried Apricots, chopped
4 Portobella Mushrooms, chopped
4 Tsp Dried Garlic
4 Tsp Dried Rosemary
5 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
Salt & Pepper to Taste

1. Mix apple, chestnuts, cherries, apricots, 2 teaspoons of the garlic and rosemary together in a medium sized bowl.  Lay pork on a cutting board and put about 1 cup of fruit/herb/chestnut mixture inside pork and wrap pork up to look like a tenderloin.  Once pork is wrapped, it's best to tie it up with twine/kitchen string.  I'm not super fancy with this step, I tie it so it won't all come out as it's cooking but there are great videos, like this one, that show you how to tie it up all pretty.
2. Place pork in an oven safe baking dish.  Drizzle remaining garlic, rosemary and 2 tsp olive oil over the top of the pork and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 until cooked and brown (30-45 minutes).
3. While pork is baking, saute onion with 1 tsp olive oil until begins to caramelize, add remaining fruit/chestnut/herb mixture to pan and saute for about five minutes.  Add mushrooms and broth to pan and cook until broth has reduced to almost nothing.  Stir regularly.
4. When pork is cooked remove from pan and let it rest for a few minutes, slice and serve with stuffing and baked sweet potato.

The day after Thanksgiving, a wonderful thing happened. The Noble Pig, a favorite local eatery of ours, opened their deli counter and began serving charcuterie. Shortly before that, we were fortunate to be invited to a preview event where we were able to sample a wide variety of these offerings for free.

Our normal habit is to drive up to Noble Pig once in a while early in the afternoon on a Saturday or Sunday. Their dining menu is uncomplicated, but extremely well executed. My two very favorite sandwiches are the seared beef tongue and the duck pastrami. They're both rich, incredibly flavorful, and perfect with TNP's excellent house pickles served alongside. We've had their breakfast as well, and it is also very much worth the trip.

On this fine fall evening though, it was (mostly) charcuterie we were sampling. Everything we tried was good, but my favorite was probably the pork terrine. It was soft and fatty and wonderfully porky and very well seasoned.

The linguisa terrine was very nice as well, and many might find its spicy undercurrent more appealing.

Glistening slices of rosy duck prosciutto were another favorite. I attempted to make duck prosciutto at one point. TNP's version is so much better. I need to practice!

The rest of our sampling is shown below, in no particular order.

Pate with Blueberry / Apple Compote

Duck Pastrami and Beef Pastrami

Duck Pate

Bratwurst and Italian Sausage

Over the weekend I was so happy to attend the Vegans Rock Austin sponsored ice cream social at the new vegan ice cream parlor Sweet Ritual. I had such a hard time deciding what to get you would think it was going to be my last meal on earth. They have so many fun toppings like wasabi peanuts and vegan marshmallows that I kind of started to panic. I really wanted a waffle cone, because hello waffle cone, but I knew Kristen was specially making brownies for Brownie sundaes. Should I get Amelia and Valerie to shove a brownie into the cone? I started to think I should go with one of the ready made sundae combinations on the menu to make the decision easier and go with something well planned out. They have a butterfinger style sundae with chocolate sauce and chick-o-sticks that sounded so fabulous. Then I saw Marie order the Affogato and I immediately changed my mind because, I too wanted to pour hot espresso on my cold ice cream. Then I noticed the Glitterbeast which has salted caramel sauce, strawberry sauce, edible glitter which sounded super awesome but I knew that my friend Nanette would have to get that one and I could try it because she is a glitter lover if there ever was one. The next thing I knew it was my turn! I just started saying things and when they brought my sundae to me a few minutes later I didn’t even know if it was mine! It sure sounded like something I would order. I figured I could have my waffle cone and brownie too when I noticed that waffle cones were one of the toppings. Then I topped it with chocolate ice cream and peanut butter sauce. It was fantastic.

I was so happy with my decision until I looked directly to my left and saw the Almond Joy Sundae, in a waffle cone.

When I saw Wes with his Not-Tella milkshake a minute later I made him give me some and then I knew I would be back up to Hyde Park soon enough for some hazelnut goodness. I’ll probably still be overwhelmed with the decision of what to get.

If you haven’t tried it yet, get down there! They even have a scoutmob deal for 50% off! And if you are just visiting Austin for a day I recommend you look at the menu ahead of time and ponder your options although probably anything you get is going to be delicious.

Tagged: Almond Joy Sundae, austin, Glitterbeast, ice cream, Not-Tella milkshake, vegan ice cream, vegan soft serve