This is an ice cream I created specifically to adorn brownies. Even more specifically, the Ancho Chile Brownies found in Robb Walsh’s Texas Eats, our most recent cookbook club pick. The ice cream is sweet and mellow at the start, and then swiftly kicks your throat’s balls with a spiciness that lingers only for a few seconds, keeping your spoon digging for more. It played perfectly with the brownies, but any chocolate pairing would work well.
Pot of chicken liver mousse from the delightful “head-to-tail” restaurant Salty Sow in East Austin.
Topped with apple geleé and served with crostini and pickled onions, this is one heavy-duty appetizer (despite the fact that it melts like butter on your tongue). I think part of the reason I loved it is that it strongly reminded me of our legendary ES Philly food fantasy, duck in a pot.
Pork belly is having a serious moment in Austin. I know it’s been a trend for awhile now (what, the past 3? 5? years…?) and I know I recently gushed over Tacodeli’s pork belly tacos. But seriously! I had never seen SO. MUCH. Pork belly love until I moved down here. This is evident in the popularity of East Side King, Top Chef winner Paul Qui’s Asian fusion food truck with three locations in East Austin. Ask anyone what they like about ESK and the answer is always the same: “oh my god, the pork belly!”And yes, it’s good. Really good.
I’ll happily state that East Side King is one of the best, if not THE best, food trailers in Austin. Their original trailer at The Liberty is my favorite. To be slightly controversial, though, I will say this: I think the ESK pork belly hype unfairly overshadows some of the other delights on their menus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely amazing, but I feel as though most people discount the fried chicken and even some other less obviously delicious options like the tongue buns and beet fries.
Want to see what really, really, REALLY good food from a truck looks like? Of course you do. (I’m really trying hard to restrain myself from making any sort of obvious “food porn lol buns” remarks here.) Photos a the j.
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Need a little inspiration for your next pizza creation? Look no further. This is a pizza topped with jalapeños, soft cooked eggs, and Lil’ Smokies. WHAT? Yup. You could easily recreate this masterpiece at home… the original is from East Side Pies in Austin, TX. You’ll never want another type of pizza again.
So. I’ve been in Austin for just about three months now, and I’m sure y’all are just DYING to ask me this one burning question: Emily, what is the best taco you’ve eaten so far?!
Well, I’ve dutifully done my research. Of course we have the classics: al pastor, barbacoa, chicken tinga. We can’t discount the ATX-ubiquitous breakfast tacos, with their myriad combinations of eggs, beans, cheese, chorizo and potato. Seafood tacos have made an appearance in my meals: grilled fish, spicy scallops, even shrimp katsu. Okay, I’m making myself hungry just by recounting all of these. Let’s cut to the chase. What is THE BEST?!
May I present… the DeliBelly from Tacodeli.
I’m not the only one who carries a torch for these amazingly flavorful pork belly tacos. Yahoo! recently named Tacodeli‘s DeliBelly as one of the ten best tacos in the country. That’s a pretty tall claim in Austin, where a taco stand lurks on every corner, but hey, they were on to something.
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And you thought chicken was boring?
This is a torta from Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon in Austin. Pulled chicken, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, avocado, queso fresco, and chipotle mayo. One of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a long, long time. Just imagine that going into your mouth (what, gross, I didn’t mean it like that).
The folks at Noble Pig in Austin, Texas—home to one of Endless Simmer’s Best New Sandwiches of 2012—wrote in to let us know they’ve upped the ante for the 2013 race by creating a cheese sandwich that makes even our wildest grilled cheeses look downright tired.
Yep, it’s a pimento cheese sandwich, with, you guessed it…bacon. And they were kind enough to share the recipe for the sriracha-spiked pimento cheese that makes this thing golden.