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by Emily

It’s Fall, Y’all: Persimmon Teacake

Happy first day of fall, y’all! It’s time to cozy up to all things warm, baked, dare I even say… pumpkin–spiced?

But today’s recipe is not about pumpkin at all! (So you’re welcome, PSL detractors.) Today we’re talking about a different P… persimmon. I will be the first to admit that I do not work with this fruit as much as I should, and often ignore this special fruit as I browse the produce section this time of year, msotly because I don’t know WTF to do with it. I feel guilty. I want to change! As luck would have it, I was recently contacted by DEFINE Foods here in Austin, with some creative seasonal recipes.

Co-owner and chef Erin O’Leary Stewart gave me some great pointers on seasonal fall produce and how to integrate it into your recipe planning, including my elusive persimmon!

Erin says:

“My top five favorite fruits and veggies that are in season locally this fall are sweet potatoes, carrots, persimmons, figs, pears, oh and beets… and cauliflower… (Ok, more than 5!).

Persimmon is the most unique and a favorite fruit that you can only get at this time of year that looks like a cross between a peach and a tomato. Its flavor is a blend of apricots, plums and honey. Combined in a moist spice cake, this is the perfect fall weather breakfast or afternoon treat.”

Persimmon Tea Cake

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by Emily

This Exists: Pecan Pie M&Ms

Hot on the heels of my explosive pumpkin spice M&Ms review of Fall 2014, I’m back with my thoughts on Pecan Pie M&Ms. Just call me the Jebidiah Atkinson of the fall novelty candy world.

Just look at that sultry green minx, tempting us with a slice of pie! That’s a snapshot of said Pecan Pie M&Ms in their natural habitat: on the countertop of a shared workspace, free for the tasting. And taste I did. I also tasted the Pumpkin Spice Latte M&Ms, which I first did not realize were different from last year’s Pumpkin Spice M&Ms. More on that later.

Pecan Pie M&Ms, similar to last year’s Pumpkin Spice, actually, really don’t taste that different than regular M&Ms. I was foolishly hoping for pecans inside the M&Ms, but no. No real nuts at all. Just a vague butter flavor infused into the chocolate. If I gave them out in a blind taste-test, I would be shocked if anyone could guess what their flavor was imitating.

Oh, and those aforementioned Pumpkin Spice Latte M&Ms? They can be summed up in one word: barf. They taste like a giant mouthful of dry, powdery allspice and cinnamon. They are an affront to the phrase “pumpkin spice.” There is no pumpkin to be found, just WAY too much spice. Maybe we rename them Old Spice M&Ms. In the battle between Pumpkin Spice M&Ms and Pumpkin Spice Latte M&Ms, the former reigns supreme.

This has been my formal, journalistic review of the new M&Ms fall flavors. In my opinion, you’re better off buying a bag of normal M&Ms (I personally prefer almond and/or peanut butter, but I will allow you to enjoy plain, peanut, crispy, or even pretzel if you’d like) and washing them down with a pumpkin spice latte.

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Rustlin Rob's Fredericksburg, TX Hot Sauce Room

by Emily

The Hot Sauce Store to End All Hot Sauce Stores

I would like to invite you to Rustlin’ Rob’s in a little town called Fredericksburg, Texas…

Fredericksburg is mostly known for its wine (yes, there is a Texas wine country) and I personally consider it “the Las Vegas of the Texas wine world” since you’re allowed to walk around with open containers in the streets/stores. I even got mardi gras beads from one of the tasting lounges, and since I have a real garbage party girl streak, I was super into it.

The most surprising aspect of my carousal through Fredericksburg? Rustlin’ Rob’s, the wonderland of condiments and weird snacks, and unlimited free self-serve samples.

Beneath its glowing red chili lights (seriously, so many novelty chili lights) Rustlin’ Rob’s has quite seriously EVERY kind of jam, jelly, jerky, spread, dip, salsa, and um, quail egg (?) a girl could ask for. The best/worst part? IT’S ALL AVAILABLE TO SAMPLE. ALL OF IT. Every single product has a self-serve sample next to it. Now, I know you’re wondering why I called this the “best/worst” thing when clearly it’s the best thing. But after eating literally 30+ samples of specialty jelly slathered over cream cheese and Wheat Thins, you’ll know when your train turns the corner straight into Worstville.

Probably the most impressive section of RR’s is the hot sauce cave.

I have never seen so much hot sauce in my damn life. For all of you who are forever chasing the dragon when it comes to the hottest hot sauce, Rustlin’ Robs is your heaven.

It was the best of snacks, it was the worst of snacks. It was the heaven of snacks, it was the hell of snacks. Rustlin’ Rob’s contains multitudes. If you are ever in central Texas, I strongly urge you to stop by. And don’t eat lunch beforehand.

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by Emily

Food Porn Champion: The Most Bangin’ Biscuits and Gravy

Rise and shine, ESers! Feast your eyes on this: an insanely epic biscuits & gravy dish I discovered during Sunday brunch at Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden in Austin.

The menu describes it as a “house-made biscuit, milk gravy & your choice of housemade bacon or housemade breakfast sausage” but let’s be real, that bacon is clearly just two huge slabs of pork belly. And just look at that river of gravy. These people are NOT messing around with their breakfasts and next time you’re hungover in Central Texas, you now know where to go.

in Breakfast / Food Travel / Photos / Pig 0 comments

by Emily

Food Porn Champion: The Ultimate Meat Salad

Look at that. Would you call the above photo a salad or a giant pile of assorted meats and cheeses? Turns out, you’d be right either way.

This is the FeedTX Chef Salad (menu description: “chilled greens, cheeses, rotisserie meats, bay shrimp salad, hot smoked salmon, egg, avocado, tomato, cucumber”) at Liberty Kitchen, a popular Houston restaurant that recently opened another location in Austin. They feature all sorts of decadent meat and seafood dishes, and even a salad is not really a salad. I was disgustingly full after about half of this bad boy. I mean, “meats”… okay, there’s pork belly, turkey, chicken, bacon, and not to mention a giant hunk of smoked salmon AND shrimp salad. Talk about some protein.

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by BS

BBQ Bacon Apple Pork Explosion

With August wrapping up and summer temps finally giving us a little bit of relief, that hint of brisk in the air has me dreaming about curling up with winter-warming comfort foods. But it’s a mixed emotion, because that also means grilling season has almost come to a close. Nooooo! Just in time for Labor Day, here’s one last, very pork-y grill-season hurrah that takes some wintery flavors and makes them work for summer.

Inspired by the Internet-classic bacon explosion, I cooked up an easy and outrageous grill dish earlier this month. Here’s how it went down:

Ingredients

1 Smithfield Mesquite Marinated Fresh Pork Loin Filet

1 simple package of good bacon

1 baking apple (I used mutsu; granny smith or any other crisp one should do)

1/2 lemon

Core the apple and cut it into as thin slices as possible. Toss these with the juice of 1/2 lemon.

Arrange the apple slices so that they cover all sides of the pork loin (they should stick right on).

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by Emily

Everything’s Better with Butter

Mmmm… butter. Every cook knows that adding a bit of fat to a dish makes it fuller and more satisfying, and sure butter’s not exactly a health food, but as long as you use it wisely, I think you’re okay. It also depends on the type of butter you use. All butter is not created equal. For example, European butter. Thanks to the fact that it’s churned longer, it has a slightly higher fat content than your average stick of American butter. Sometimes it can be a bit of a hunt to find this rich, ultra-flavorful butter in your average grocery store, but recently Land O’ Lakes caught onto the trend and now they’re starting to offer European sweet cream butter as part of their product line. I’m down with it.

Since European butter is so rich and flavorful, it’s the perfect fat to use when you’re cooking something simple and you just want that touch of luxury. Case in point, this cauliflower recipe from LOL (haha – Land O’ Lakes – do you think they call themselves LOL? Probably not. lol!), you really don’t need much besides the vegetable, the butter, and a few seasonings. Butter!

Cauliflower with Nutmeg Butter

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Michel Schlumberger Wine and Food Pairing | Sonoma Wine Country

by Emily

Summer Food & Wine Pairings with Michel Schlumberger

I recently spent a GLORIOUS long weekend in Sonoma County, California. What was I doing there? WINE TASTING, obviously! I guess some people go to Sonoma to ride bikes or shop or something, but for me it’s 100% wine, 100% of the time. One of the many highlights I enjoyed on this Sonoma wine weekend was an afternoon at Michel-Schlumberger winery, where we toured the grounds and cellars before settling into the best part of the winery: a five-course food and wine pairing in their beautiful back garden.

Before each course, the chef came out and introduced his course, which wine was paired with it, and why. Educational and delicious! I loved every bite and sip. Let’s recap together! You just might find some inspiration for your upcoming summer cookout… there’s so much more to backyard BBQ boozin’ than just beer.

Course 1: Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp Lettuce Cup with Toasted Peanuts paired with NV Brut

Why a sparkling wine with this shrimp course? The crisp brightness of the brut pairs well with the delicate flavors found in both shrimp and Vietnamese seasonings. Sparkling whites can also stand up nicely to spicy food, and this shrimp definitely had a kick to it!

Course 2: Bruschetta with Grilled Peaches, Ricotta, Toasted Pecans, and Estate Olive Oil paired with 2013 Gold Collection Chardonnay

So this might not look like much from the photo, but this bruschetta was phenomenal. Peaches and soft cheese are always a great combo, but the toasted pecans and the kiss of olive oil really added a roundness to the dish. This particular chardonnay boasts a smooth, full, creamy body that can stand up to the richness of the olive oil. The fruity notes of the chardonnay ties in with the light, sweet peaches as well.

in Drinks / Food Travel 0 comments

by BS

The Tastes of August: Summer Salad Stuffed Poblano Peppers

At Endless Simmer we love to do all kinds of muddling, messing around, and wrapping in bacon, but the truth about food is that when you have perfect ingredients you barely need to do anything at all to them before eating. And that’s never more true than in the first week of August.

Friends who were out of town this weekend had me pick up their CSA share, and boy was it the right week to do so. Beautiful fresh basil, multi-colored corn, two kinds of peaches (fleshy orange ones, and white, juicy donut peaches), plus cherry tomatoes about as perfect as they get. Let’s just say those friends won’t see any of their share when they’re back in town this Monday. We mixed them all up in a salad that was just unbelievably perfect.

But…being akin to experimentation, I had to get just a little crazy with said salad. We also had a couple of ripe poblano peppers on hand, so I put a spin on chile rellenos and stuffed those babies with this delicious summer salad.

Summer Salad Stuffed Poblano Peppers

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by Emily

Food Porn Champion: A Drool-worthy Cheeseboard

If there’s anything I love in this life, it’s a cheese board. And this is an especially gorgeous one, the “National Map of Cheeses,” hailing from School House Pub in Austin, Texas. Fancy fromage, local fruit marmalade, Texas honey, whole grain mustard, and fresh herbs. What’s not to LOVE?! This shot even got picked up off my original Instagram and featured on a cheese board Instagram (lol what, yes, there really is such a thing) so apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this is one gorgeous piece of work.

in Cheese / Photos 0 comments

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