Does Bobby Flay know Tex Mex?

...maybe chipotilay sauce or pwoblano chiles but Austin knows where its at.

Flavorful shredded beef barbacoa

South Austin Trailer Park Eatery (Austin loves food served out of trailers)

Tex-Mex breakfast!

Migas (a Tex-Mex version of chilaquiles) - eggs scrambled with corn tortillas, diced onions, chile peppers, cheese, i.e. salty mush heaven


Tamale House, Austin, TX

Chez Panisse

Friture of fish and shellfish with tartar sauce and peppercress salad

Spring vegetable minestrone with creste di gallo pasta and rocket pesto

Grilled rack and loin of Elliott Ranch lamb with new onions, sorrel and potato gratin, and mache

Cheese plate: Mount Tam, some sheep's milk cheddar, some blue cheese similar to Roquefort (possibly Fourme d'Ambert -- I was drunk at this point)

Pink Lady apple feuillete with prune-Armagnac ice cream; Blue Bottle coffee

Coteaux du Languedoc, Vassal de Puech Noble

Thoughts: the friture first course was kind of strange to start with, but I will admit that fried mussels is a fabulous (sorry) idea, especially when you've been drinking cava upstairs in anticipation. The soup was boring, familiar vegetables in a mild broth that muted the exclamation points of the dish (handmade pasta and arugula pesto), but a nice gustatory respite in between courses. The lamb was tender and good -- P nibbled his rib clean and I sopped up every drop of the jus with Acme bread. I briefly wondered if the lamb and the mache (aka "lamb's tongue") together on a plate was clever word/food-play on Alice Waters' part. Dessert was pleasant and balanced (I don't think I've ever thought a dessert was balanced). The strong brandy flavors of the ice cream mitigated the tartness of the feuillete. Overall, delicious. I'm really going to miss California.

Spring is (almost) here!

Arugula and Strawberry Salad

Fresh arugula, strawberries, toasted walnuts, Parmesan drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette. Peppery, sweet, and nutty -- spring is coming!

Superbowl Feast

Veggie Buffalo Chicken with ranch sauce


Black Bean Burger


Buttermilk Biscuits

+ Crab stuffed mushrooms, sweet potato ginger fritters, banana pudding, and strawberries in brandy!

el Mercat de la Boqueria

I was recently in Barcelona and made a stop at this world-famous market in Las Ramblas, la Boqueria. It is tempting, colorful, and odiferous. The merchants were all pretty friendly at 8 am (we went early to avoid the crowds). From what I could tell, shoppers include restauranteurs, residents, and tourists. I'll never forget the image of a butcher throwing an entire pig leg, toes and hairs akimbo, on the scale for someone to buy.

After a big of oggling and sniffing and poking around, I found the magic phrase that would make vendors happily chat up their products and eventually offer me a taste of the goods: "Tiene algo tipico de Barcelona?" (do you have something characteristic of Barcelona?)

The highlight for me was tasting this cured Spanish ham that I can't find the name of (due to my poor Spanish skills and lazy googling efforts)... it was shaved off a huge thigh, deep red in color, and super duper chewy. The butcher instructed me to eat it by pulling it apart into little shreds with my teeth. The taste was heavenly -- meaty, not too salty, a little oily.

The produce was enormous but coming from California (and spoiled by the selection of Berkeley Bowl and Alemany Farmers Market, and the perfect displays of Whole Foods), I wasn't all that impressed. The dried fruit was pretty good, all super sugary. They even had dried strawberries (fresas) which were strangely moist for dried fruit, but good!

Hares and chickens and pheasants, oh my!

Oink.

Enormous emu eggs

More meat stands than you can shake a stick at

Row of squirming sea creatures. The critters next to the lobsters (and approx. the same size!) were enormous prawns famous in Barcelona. The women working the seafood stand were so bad-ass. Cold as ice.

I want to live in this candy hill.

Some "especial" cheese that tasted like cheddar, dragon fruit that tasted like nothing, and some pretty good bread.

Huge ass pear

Ubuntu, I wunt u

beet salad

carrot gnochetti

Cauliflower in a cast iron pot

vegan carrot cupcakes

vanilla bean cheesecake in a jar

Happy Holidayzzz

I made these for my Aunts this year for Christmas since they loved the white chocolate cranberry cookies I made last year but thought they were too much work. The picture doesn't show the colors too well, but it made a pretty package!

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies (from allrecipes.com)
In the jar:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

On the card, I wrote out instructions to mix together 1 egg, 1 tbsp of brandy (optional, add extra vanilla otherwise), 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 cup of butter, softened. Take out all the ingredients from the jar and mix in a separate bowl. Combine wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Drop heaping spoonfuls onto baking sheet 2 inches apart and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool on wire racks. Enjoy!