How lovely! I sampled this Bleu Des Basques Panna Cotta at an event called the Official Drink of Austin here last Thursday. There were more creative cocktails and bar bites than one stomach could handle, but this flowery creation from Austin restaurant The Carillon wins my personal prize for the prettiest dish. It tasted as good as it looked, too. (You can check out the full recap of Official Drink of Austin here!)
Big news! We finally made the leap into signing up for our own CSA box! This is something my bf Rob has wanted to do for awhile, and the rest of the roommates and I quickly got on board.
The natural choice was Johnson’s Backyard Garden, an Austin favorite. If you’re not familiar with CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), here’s an explanation from JBG:
Community Supported Agriculture is much different than going to the local grocery and buying your vegetables. It is a direct partnership between you the consumer, and our farm. CSA members pay in advance for a share of the upcoming harvest and are ensured access to truly nourishing food, food that is grown locally, organically and is delivered when most nutritious and fresh. What’s more, the shareholder cultivates a relationship with their farmer, the land, and with other shareholders. CSA is an opportunity to use your money to support valuable causes: responsible land stewardship, a vibrant local food economy, a healthy community, and the success of local farmers.
Can’t argue with that. Especially considering the amount of vegetables I eat on a weekly basis. We’re getting a medium box every two weeks, plus a half-dozen farm fresh eggs. Our first box, which was delivered last Tuesday, held delights such as sweet potatoes, rainbow carrots (absolutely gorgeous!), kale, spinach, parsley, and even daikon. The fun thing about getting a CSA box is it’s kind of like being on Chopped, except for instead of crazy ingredients it’s a bunch of super fresh, organic produce. You still have to figure out ways to cook it at its peak before it starts going bad, though!
Last Saturday morning I wanted to use up some of our beautiful vegetables and, obviously, try out some of those eggs in our morning meal. I decided to go the hash route. I’ve never put carrots in a hash before, but their crisp sweetness was great with the sweet potatoes. I added some leftover chopped organic chicken breast to bulk up the protein, plus some leftover red and green onion (not from JBG, but duh, gotta have some onion). The result? A gorgeous rainbow of colors, flavors, and texture. Adding a runny-yolked egg was really just gilding the lily.
Tacos: what CAN”T they do? These are two of the most delicious varieties from the beloved Texas taco purveyor Torchy”s. The Brush Fire, on the right, is especially Vi har listet mange pokerrum og andre hjemmesider for poker, spillemaskiner online og betting, og de skifter deres kampagner, regler og regulativer. exciting: Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapeños, mango, sour cream, cilantro, and a mysterious condiment known as “diablo sauce.” It”s sweet, spicy, citrus-y, and amazing.
I’ve always loved sushi, but ever since I worked for a sushi restaurant during college in my early 20s and got used to eating it on a daily basis, I’ve been even more obsessed. I crave raw fish. One thing I don’t really like? All that rice. I usually pick off most of it, to the disgust of my dining companions.
Anyway, this leads me to search for rolls with little to no rice so I can pack in the protein. I found my new favorite sushi roll at Pirhana Killer Sushi in downtown Austin. It’s the Vietnamese Summer Roll: salmon, tuna, crab, greens, mango, and asparagus wrapped with rice paper. Tons of fish, tons of fruit and vegetables, and no rice! Sushi heaven.
If you drank too much champagne on NYE, you’ll need a serious remedy, preferably something deep-fried. Take some inspiration from this meaty morsel spotted at Frank restaurant in Austin.
This isn’t just any chicken-fried steak. Oh no, this is the Pig and Eggs: Chicken-fried wild boar with jackalope cream gravy. Served with two runny-yolk eggs and perhaps best of all, not just potatoes, but a creamy-crispy hashbrown casserole. And yes, of course it tastes as awesome as it looks.
I’m not usually the world’s #1 pizza craver but when I’m in the mood I’m IN THE MOOD, and lately I’ve been in the mood thanks to the discovery of my boy Macaulay Culkin’s pizza-themed Velvet Underground cover band. (WHAT? Yes. Culkin will always hold a special place in my heart and VU is my all-time favorite band, so this bit of breaking news is extremely relevant to my interests.)
A few days ago I fulfilled my cravings with a funky pizza party and I just had to share it with everyone. This combination is truly a Christmas miracle that I think everyone should try for themselves immediately:
Jerk chicken, pineapple, red onion, jalapeño, habanero, and avocado. AVOCADO. Its cool creaminess is the perfect foil for all that heat. I got this sucker from East Side Pies here in Austin. I wrote about their lil smokies & egg creation last year, but I figured this revelation of flavors deserves another mention. Macaulay should write a song about this.
Sliders aren’t bad for you, right? I mean, they’re teensy versions of sandwiches/burgers. Or, in this case, not-so-teensy. The good people at RIO Rooftop Bar in Austin took a giant chunk of white meat chicken, deep fried it, then stuck it on a fresh, ultra-buttery slider bun slathered with bacon jam and topped with roasted garlic aioli. They also stuck some arugula salad in there, but let’s be real. Fried chicken is clearly the star of the show here.
I couldn’t even open my jaw wide enough to get everything in one bite. But they called it a slider on their menu, so that’s the story and I’m stickin’ to it! I mean, this isn’t a fullsize sandwich, so it’s basically health food.