links for 2011-04-10
April 11th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Dimos
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The best restaurant in Ann Arbor gets some pub.
Food Truck Paradise at SxSW
April 8th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Brian
Food trucks!! Food trucks everywhere!! SxSW continued to roll on with music from the 16-20th but lets not forgot about all the delectable goodness parked on four wheels. This is my first time to SxSW and Austin and I was just as excited to check out the next big band as to fulfill my foodie desires with the barrage of BBQ, fusion, traditional, sweet and salty foods. Having too many choices is never a bad thing, and with food truck prices relatively low, there is room for a lot sampling. Food trucking in Austin has been established for quite some time, quite different from just the warm cookie truck occasionally meandering around in Ann Arbor. Both being college towns however…it makes sense. Low overhead, small start-up cost compared to a restaurant resulting in cheaper prices to the consumer, which usually is many hungry cash-strapped college kids. Combine this with the onslaught of of social apps such as facebook, foursquare and twitter to spread the word and you have a powerful mobile force to produce some serious coin. But what makes a food truck so unique? Are they not suppose to serve mediocre cheap food all because there are too few good restaurants that are all packed at the moment and you couldn’t wait to eat anywhere else desirable. Aren’t they really associated with the podunk mobile circus that rolls into town and parks in strip mall parking lots . Nope! not in Austin…these trucks are a different breed altogether finding their own niche of customers by serving up esoteric culinary creations.
With my taste buds salivating, I’ve never been good a making decisions when it comes to food and being hungry. You would be mistaken if you thought stumbling upon one lonely food truck to satisfy your hunger- not in Austin. The norm seems to be at least half dozen varieties at any given location. First stop…short bus subs. A blatantly obvious bright yellow bus with its name in colorful writing serving up nothing short of amazingly tasty baked subs. Different is what you get, and different is good! Sandwich names reminiscent of grade school like the “Class Clown” sub with Genoa salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, parmesan, mushrooms, pepperoncini, and a lil bit of crushed red pepper. I was hot for teacher myself trying the “Teacher’s Pet” with smoked turkey, cream cheese, avocado, bacon, onions, lettuce, tomato, and salsa. I’ll be naughty and she can put me in the corner any time to sneak a bite of this sub!!. A mobile Quiznos, you might say?? From from it, in my opinion, the company prides itself on being locally sustainable by making their own sub buns, sourcing from local suppliers and even running the bus on bio-diesel. Short Bus Subs
Day2 heading to the FIAT Fader fort event tent we made a detour back to a food truck area from the previous day. An area displaying a cornucopia of mobile goodness in one lot. Traditional southern BBQ, kogi BBQ, artisan pizzas, homemade ice (for after..or before, whatever) but the one we came back for….chicken and waffles. Lucky J’s chicken and waffles in fact, apparently a staple in Austin. Perfectly cooked crispy fried chicken tenderloins encased in a sweet soft delicious waffle. Not making too many trips to the area, I’ve never had this southern treat before and would have to say that trying it from one of Austins most famous food truck spots is definitely a must. I slathered some Valintinas over the crispy chicken to give it that extra kick. Lucky J’s will be opening up a restaurant soon in downtown Austin, but for the time being, I will be headed to the east side location for my fix of chicken and waffles. Chicken for strength and waffles for speed!…so goes the saying. Lucky J’s
That Friday in Sx was a pretty epic day, a lot of big acts, fader fort was packed as Matt and Kim where playing at 7:30. We were just vagabonding around, going with the flow, we got there late only to be turned away since fader was a capacity…free booze would have to wait. Staying on the east side around 6th we found a place called Shangri-La…this set us up to discover from a local apparently one of the best food trucks in Austin. The signature item that everyone bragged about…fried Brussels Sprout salad. Yes, in a land all things beef, one of the best food trucking items served up is a vegetable that most people won’t come within 5ft from. Ridiculously good $3 Sailor Jerrys spiced rum and ginger ale drinks were going down like water we wanted to stay at Shangri-La, but because the belly rules the mind, we set off to find East Side King. Tucked back on the patio of Liberty Bar the joint was rockin with a pretty good band. Another great surprise, having a couple of craft brews from the Left Hand Beer tent. The smell coming from the tiny food truck was intoxicating. Chattin up the girl at the window I was able to finagle my way around to the side and snap a couple of pics of freshly made pork belly buns. Our order: Fried Brussels Sprout salad, Thai Chicken Karaage and Beet Home Fries. First off, Thai Chicken Karaage. The taste was amazing as the chicken was cooked to perfection and was smothered in probably a house secret sweet and spicy sauce. Add in the crunch of onions, jalapenos, a hint of cilantro and just as you thought your taste buds couldn’t be any happier the mint finishes creating kaleidoscope of flavors in your mouth. It was phenomenal, simple ingredients yet so much flavor…and have yet to try the “signature dish”. Brussels sprout salad-replace the crispy chicken as a veggie option. I’ve always like brussels sprouts and the slightly soft outside texture matched perfectly with the crunchiness of the Asian inspired cabbage. Last, but certainly not least, Beet home fries…I mean, why not!? Personally, I love beets but again a vegetable that you would expect at food truck…I think not. This dish is so unique that I googled beet home fries and google quickly wanted to correct me with “best home fries”. A unique dish indeed. My taste buds determined The Beet Home Fries ousted the Brussels sprout salad as second best item on the menu. So tender and flavorful as East Side King looked to its Japanese roots by using shichimi – a seven flavored chili spice coat the tender beets. I use shichimi routinely dousing my rice to give it that extra kick. East Side King was so good that we decided to go their the next day for round no.2. No change from the Thai chicken or Brussels sprout salad but replace the Beet Home Fries with some more meat…Beef Tongue buns! Sticking with sweet and spicy, a homemade peanut butter curry is added to thick cut beef tongue, which was the most tender I have ever tried. In my short visit, East Side King is a must visit when coming to Austin. No reservations needed! East Side King
Our last day was approaching and searching for the next best meal was super seeding my desire for a good sleep. Another place called Chilantro a Korean/Mexican fusion joint serving up unique Kimchi fries with your choice of bulgogi…I would recommend the beef. We saved a couple of other occasions to visit places like Stubbs and Chuy’s..far and away both excellent choices but the week was all about the food truck. SxSW has quickly skyrocketed to the top for me as one of the best music festivals I will probably ever attend. I have yet to make my way to Coachella and Glastonbury, certainly worthy of that recognition but I felt Sx still had the underground feel to it, even though the number of attendees grows every year. Its the combination of the laid back people of Austin, the chance to discover the next big name, and of course…the parallel combination of unique food to match the unique music.
More pics of SxSW here!
links for 2011-03-26
March 27th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Dimos
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About to make this…and pretty much everything else in that cookbook.
links for 2011-03-23
March 24th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Dimos
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PW never ceases to make me hungry. Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork. Wow.
links for 2011-03-21
March 22nd, 2011 / No Comments » / by Dimos
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Whoa…I think they stole this from @frydaddyfrank !
Thai Inspired Meatballs in Green Curry
March 15th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Dimos
And yes, it is served with spam and kimchee fried rice, but that’s a recipe for another day.
This recipe was done in tandem with a thai breakfast sausage recipe (the reason for the multiple bowls in some of the pics), and both were adapted from a thai sausage / meatloaf recipe in Clean Eating magazine…even though I can’t find a link to it on the internet I swear that’s where it came from.
Please note…this makes a shit ton of balls and curry.
Ingredients:
2.5 pounds of ground turkey
2 toasted whole grain English muffins
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 medium pears, diced
1 cup of diced scallions
3 seeded and diced jalapeño peppers
3 Tbsp ginger
1 Tbsp seasoned salt
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup Prik Khing curry paste
4 Tbsp of “Better than Bouillon” mushroom base, separated
1/4 cup of green curry paste
20 oz water
4 cups of misc stir fry vegetables (or any vegetables for that matter)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
4 medium carrots, sliced
4-5 Tbsp of sesame oil for sautéing the meatballs
Procedure:
Put the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add in the cilantro (I gave mine a couple pulses in the mini-chopper). Process the English muffins (again, I used mini-chopper…BTW that’s just a small food processor) to make bread crumbs, and add to the ground turkey.
Add in pears, scallions, jalapeños, ginger, seasoned salt, garlic, curry paste, and mushroom base.
Get your hands in there and mix it up. Be gentle. Then make a bunch of meatballs…size should be somewhere between a golf ball and a racquetball.
Put about a tablespoon of sesame oil in the bottom of a medium-high heated large cast iron pot (or just a big pot), and begin to brown the meatballs on all sides (there’s six sides). You’ve got to get them close to cooked completely through. This is turkey. We don’t do medium-rare turkey around here. And don’t do them all at once. Do like 5 or 6 at a time…it helps with the crust….it helps with the flipping and monitoring… Yes, this is going to take some time. If it was easy, everybody would do it.
Remove the meatballs to a bowl, but leave behind the bits and meatcrumbs and the oil. And while it’s a poor use of the word, “deglaze” the pan with onions.
Add in a green curry paste.
Add mushrooms, carrots, stir fry veggies, the rest of the mushroom base, and the water.
Add can of coconut milk, and bring to a simmer.
And yes, I neglected to add the stir fry veggies before adding the coconut milk. Do as I say and not as I do.
Add back the meatballs.
Let it simmer until you feel really comfortable with the doneness of the meatballs. Serve, store in fridge for a week, store in freezer for a while. This dish is amazing reheated…the flavors really meld well overnight. Serve with fried rice (like I said, another day) and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Pocket Omelettes
March 11th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Dimos
…or mini crust-less quiches, or omelette mini-muffins. Whatever. It’s an absolute layup (as long as you lube up you mini muffin pan enough to avoid caked on egg and cheese) to make and reheats and stores very well in fridge and freezer..
I like to set up breakfast for the work week on Sundays. Actually, I like to do the bulk of my cooking for the week on Sundays. As I’ve said before, it’s to avoid the pre-office McMuffin run that has become such a regular part of my life over the past couple of years. Eating breakfast at home before work is cost effective, and helps avoid the unconscious eating that occurs when you run through a drive-thru on the way to work.
Makes 24…good for refriderating / freezing and reheating later
Ingredients:
1 large onion diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp seasoned salt
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
5 slices bacon
2 cups diced mushrooms
1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 dozen eggs, beaten
Special equipment:
2 12-well muffin pans…greased
Process:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat pan and olive oil on medium-high heat. When oil begins to shimmer, add onions and half the seasoned salt. Cook onions for about 5 minutes, lighting caramelizing/browning the onions, then add red and yellow peppers, cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove onions and peppers from pan, reserve for later.
Return pan to medium high heat. Cut up bacon into 1/2 inch dice and fry until crisp. Remove bacon and add to reserved peppers and onions, leaving behind drippings, still on medium-high heat, and add in mushrooms, the rest of the seasoned salt, and the thyme. Cook for about 5 minutes, lightly browning the mushrooms. Remove and add to reserved onions/peppers/bacon mixture.
Toss this mixture around to combine, then divide evenly into the 24 cups of 2 greased muffin pans.
Divide feta over the 24 cups as well, just a small sprinkle into each. Then fill the cups the rest of the way with beaten eggs.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.
Bag ‘em and tag ‘em. Keep in the fridge up to 5 days…in the freezer for 2 months.
