No. 20
速
Cooks!
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Second Bar + Kitchen & Congress
Chef David Bull
Barley Swine & Odd Duck Farm to Trailer
Chef Bryce Gilmore
Chef Zack Northcutt
Chef Sibby Barrett
Chef Will Packwood
Chef Jesse Griffiths
Onion Creek Kitchens
Terry Thompson-Anderson
chef & author, Texas on the Plate
Hardie’s Fruit & Vegetable Co.
Meaty Monday Madness
Dai Due
La Cocina Alegre
Cooking class with Sustainable Food Center
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12-3: Urban Farm Bicycle Tour • Pig Roast & Harvest Dinner 12-4: Coffee & Chocolate Festival • An Evening with Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson (see page 6 for details) 12-5: Moonstruck Benefeast • 12-7: Local Holiday Gift Fair 12-8: Drink Local Night • 12-10: Farm Breakfast at the SFC Farmers Market Downtown • Local Brew Fest
Participating Restaurants ASTI Trattoria Buenos Aires Cafe Chez Nous East Side Showroom Eastside Cafe Fabi + Rosi FINO Food For Fitness Cafe Green Pastures Guero’s Taco Bar Home Slice Pizza Judges’ Hill Restaurant Kerbey Lane Cafe
Manuels Olivia Sagra Snack Bar The Leaning Pear TRACE Uchi Uchiko Urban an American Grill Wink check our website for updated list!
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COOKS! 2011
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CONTents 19 at home DINING
Sunset Canyon Pottery Form meets function on the table.
22 Cooks toolbox
Must-Have Kitchen Tools Top picks from two top chefs.
34 Eco kitchens
Every Little Thing Small changes make a big difference.
38 Eco housekeeping Green Your Clean
DIY cleaning products for fabrics and clothing.
40 place settings
Setting the Season, with Recipes Prepare your table for dining with the seasons.
64 Texas Wine
Holiday Gift Guide Choose Texas wine for your holiday gift giving.
78 Kitchen wisdom
By the Book Why our cookbook collections matter.
81 Smart food Clever solutions for storing cherished recipes. Welcome to our second annual edition of Edible Austin COOKS! We hope you enjoy reading it with as much pleasure as we had in its creation. We’d like to thank our contributors as well as our story subjects for their hard work and talents shared. You can find full bios and contact information for our contributors, plus many additional recipes and resources online at edibleaustin.com. And please support our advertisers, who make this all possible. — Marla Camp, publisher Cover: Photograph of Owen Egerton with son Oscar, by Marc Brown.
Cooks at home 10 12 14 16 54 56 58 60 62
John Besh Liz Lambert Jack and Bryce Gilmore Shontae Moeller Mason Arnold Eliza Gilkyson Graham Reynolds Owen Egerton Will Packwood
cooking basics 26 28 30 32
How How How How
to to to to
Make Sauce Scramble Eggs Break Down a Chicken Sharpen a Knife
SOCIAL cooking 48 Cooking Club: Around the Island 69 Cookie Exchange 72 Fast Foraging 75 Memoir with Recipes: Remembering Molly Ivins
Publisher Marla Camp
Associate PUBLISHER Jenna Noel
EDITOR Kim Lane
presents
PROJECT AND EVENTS MANAGER Jen Lester
An Evening with
Copy Editor Christine Whalen
Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson
Editorial Assistants Melinda Barsales, Dena Garcia, Cari Marshall, Michelle Moore
with special musical guest Eliza Gilkyson
Advertising Sales Curah Beard
SUNDAY
Distribution Manager
December 4 • 8 PM
Jude Diallo
Contributors
STATESIDE AT THE PARAMOUNT
Full listing, bios and contact information online at edibleaustin.com
Join us for an unforgettable evening of wit, wisdom and conversation with two of the most influential architects of the sustainable food movement. American philosopher, poet, farmer and novelist Wendell Berry has been the inspiration for local food activists from Alice Waters to Michael Pollan for more than half a century. Wes Jackson is president of The Land Institute and is a widely recognized leader in the sustainable agriculture movement.
ADVISORY GROUP Terry Thompson-Anderson, Dorsey Barger, Cathryn Dorsey, Jim Hightower Toni Tipton-Martin, Mary Sanger Suzanne Santos, Carol Ann Sayle
CONTACT US
Benefitting Sustainable Food Center and Urban Roots Tickets start at $35 and are available at the Paramount Theatre Box Office, 512-474-1221 or online at austintheatre.org VIP Tickets! Meet Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry and enjoy locally sourced, seasonal tastings from Chef Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due), Chef Matthew Buchanan (Leaning Pear), Chef Joel Welch (Kerbey Lane Cafe) and Chef Jason Donoho (ASTI, FINO), Texas Hill Country Wineries, Tipsy Texan and Paula’s Texas Spirits, Houndstooth Coffee and more during a special VIP reception before the show. $120. 6–7pm.
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
ThirdCoastActivist.org Third Coast Activist Resource Center
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Edible Austin 1415 Newning Avenue Austin, TX 78704-2532 512-441-3971 info@edibleaustin.com edibleaustin.com Edible Austin is published quarterly by Edible Austin L.L.C. All rights reserved. Subscription rate is $35 annually. No part of this publication may be used without written permission of the publisher. © 2011. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us.
SUNSET CANYON POTTERY ... handmade ... functional ... affordable
90 different items in 12 unique patterns!
4002 E. Hwy 290, Dripping Springs, TX 78620 SunsetCanyonPottery.com 512.894.0938
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COOKS! 2011
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F
Lone Star Eats
A Gathering of Recipes from Great Texas Cookbooks Edited by Terry Thompson-Anderson
Published by Shearer Publishing Fredericksburg, TX
This collection of over 500 recipes from favorite Texas cookbooks characterizes Texas cooking from down-home comfort foods to dishes of urban inspiration. Available at your favorite bookseller .
Eat Fresh...
Uptown Blanco Restaurant
Soup, Salads, Sandwiches, Local Beer & Wine Featuring 8 of Blanco’s Real Ale beers on tap including seasonal releases
Local and Seasonal Specials Mon. - Thur. 10:30 am - 3:00 pm Fri. - Sat. 10:30 am - 9:00 pm Our food is made fresh using premium products, local and organic whenever possible.
On the Blanco town square, next to Brieger Pottery 830-833-0202 / www.redbud-cafe.com
Mark your calendars for Christmas in Blanco! November 25 thru January 2 ~ Take a stroll through the path of lights and Christmas scenery in Bindseil Park November 25 ~ Annual town lighting ~ 6:00pm November 28 ~ Sweethearts In Carhartts Christmas Concert at the Buggy Barn Museum. Food and music all FREE to the public ~ 6pm December 3 ~ Enjoy an evening of music & sit beneath the lights on the Square ~ 6:30pm December 10 ~ Annual Christmas Market Day around the square and evening Christmas Parade beginning ~ 6:30pm
Chef Nathan Stevens creates exciting culinary specials daily using many of the local ingredients found throughout the Hill Country. These include cheeses, olive oil, produce and meats. Our private dining room is available for any, festive or intimate gathering.
On the Town Square in Blanco www.UptownBlanco.com . 830 833-1579
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Culinary “Zauber” that goes far beyond Bier und Brats.
If you come to Fredericksburg anticipating authentic German cuisine, we will not disappoint. But further exploration will reveal restaurateurs that offer decidedly more diverse menus. Escolar and lobster. Seared duck breast with ginger/orange glaze. Tender steaks. And very naughty desserts. All complemented by award-winning cabs, zins, chards, rieslings and merlots from our numerous vineyards and wineries. Incidentally, “Zauber” is the German word for “magic”. Guten Appetit. H Wunderbar new website
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8/22/11 12:41 PM9 COOKS! 2011
Photography of John Besh and son Drew by Andrews McMeel, 2011 for My Family Table
JOHN BESH’S VIETNAMESE NOODLE SOUP Serves 6 “On almost any night, we love nothing more than a big, hot bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup—pho. Don’t worry about the number of ingredients in this recipe. Pho is nothing more than a flavorful broth, often perfumed with star anise. Since that’s not easy to find, we use Chinese five-spice powder (which has star anise in it).” 1 T. sesame oil 4 green onions, chopped 2 T. peeled and minced fresh ginger 2 cloves garlic, sliced 2 t. Chinese five-spice powder 3 qt. chicken broth Salt and freshly ground black pepper ½ lb. rice vermicelli noodles, cooked
1 lb. sliced cooked meat 1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves only 1 bunch fresh basil, leaves only 2 limes, quartered 2 handfuls bean sprouts Hoisin sauce Sambal chili paste
Heat the sesame oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the green onions, ginger, garlic and five-spice powder and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Taste and season with salt and pepper, and cover the pot. Divide the cooked rice noodles among 6 soup bowls. Over each bowl of noodles, scatter equal portions of sliced meat, then pour the hot broth over the noodles so that the meat is barely covered. In the center of the table, put plates of the fresh herbs, limes and bean sprouts. Each person can add his own fresh herbs and bean sprouts to the soup. Squeeze limes over the top, season with hoisin and chili, stir well and start slurping. From My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking, by John Besh
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JOHN BESH b y R o b in C h o t z in o f f
Lüke on the River Walk in San Antonio. He appears regularly on the Today Show and the Food Network, was a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters and even played himself on Treme. But he doesn’t trust his own publicity. “I worry that the more cooking becomes entertainment and a spectator sport (instead of a family activity), and the more we fetishize celebrity chefs, the awful result is that we discourage folks from even setting foot in their kitchens,” he writes. Compared to all that, My Family Table’s message is simple: you don’t have to settle for drive-through. Not on a school night, not for Sunday supper, not even when you’ve worked so late in a restaurant kitchen that no one’s awake to greet you when you get home. “I’ve been drinking iced tea out of quart containers all night, and I’m high on caffeine,” he says. “But we usually have cooked udon, ramen or spaghetti in the fridge. I’ll make some variation of a pho, with stock, star anise or some 5-spice powder, maybe a touch of ginger, always basil or cilantro, chop up some protein and drizzle some sambal or sriracha. All of a sudden, you’ve got a meal.” Besh loves to drink wine and eat noodles, late at night, with only a 1930s safari novel or Mark Twain for company. “I’m usually gnawing my way through a book,” he says. “If we're not careful, we forget about the importance of Tom Sawyer.”
Photography by Andrews McMeel, 2011 for My Family Table
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ew Orleans chef John Besh’s new cookbook, My Family Table, is loaded with pictures of him, his wife, Jenifer, and their four sons cooking and eating in beautiful Louisiana settings. There’s a jazz brunch, complete with photogenic friends, and a Christmas dinner with goose liver pâté and gourmet latkes. What you won’t find on the pages though, are photos of American family evenings, frazzled with homework disasters, afterschool car shuffles, an empty fridge and no time to cook food even if it were there. You’d think the Besh family dinners cook themselves—until you found out the truth. “A few years back, I made the mistake of asking my wife about what she was feeding our children,” Besh writes in the book. “She replied that if I was half as concerned about feeding my family as I was about serving my customers, I’d do a better job of helping her with menu ideas that were easy for her to prepare and… something the lads might actually eat. What she said hit me like a ton of bricks.” “It’s not that I didn’t cook at home,” he says. “I’d make these epic ‘me meals.’ I was showing off.” My Family Table is the result of Besh’s repentance—an easygoing homage to Southern home cooking, with some Asian, Spanish and eclectic touches thrown in. This means not one, but two fried chicken recipes, as well as ways to turn one chicken into several meals. “In parts, a chicken might feed six to eight people, but you can get more out of a whole chicken,” Besh says. “Not just the meat, but this great carcass. In the restaurant business, we do not throw out carcasses. Turn that carcass into stock. Freeze the stock in ice-cube trays. Use the roasted meat in chicken noodle panfry or incorporate it into curried anything.” It’s not all school-night food, either. Chapters are devoted to barbecue wisdom, cooking with cast iron and how to cook a fish, among other subjects. “It isn’t very romantic, but I don’t care,” Besh says. “Most chef ’s books—even my first book [My New Orleans]— look good on a coffee table, but I want you to take this one into the kitchen and use it. I hope it ends up looking like my old River Road cookbook [River Road Recipes: The Textbook of Louisiana Cuisine]. I cooked my way from one end of that book to the other.” The thought of making breakfast for buddies during deer season still makes his eyes light up, and the new book contains “a doozy of a pain perdu,” but it’s hard to find the time. Besh runs a seven-restaurant culinary empire—including the recently opened
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COOKS at home
LIZ LAMBERT b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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oming home after a three-week vacation at her West Texas ranch, Liz Lambert decides to take another day off. This isn’t her usual style. You don’t make an unmistakable imprint on Austin real-estate development by staying home with your honey and letting Bunkhouse Management manage itself. But summer 2011 has contained one 105-degree day too many. “We’re going to huddle in the house,” Liz says. “It’ll be like a snow day.” “We’re calling it a snug-in,” says her partner, the singer-songwriter Amy Cook. “We’re going to watch movies and have candles at the ready in case there’s a blackout. We’re making sure there’s plenty of food in the larder. We already got our box from Farmhouse Delivery and I bought good bread, salami, cheeses….” The last items came from Whole Foods Market, where Liz has been known to stop mid-aisle to call her brother Lou, a Culinary Institute of Americatrained chef and owner of Lambert’s Downtown Barbecue in Austin and Lambert’s Steaks, Seafood and Whiskey in Fort Worth. “It’s Dial-A-Chef!” she says. “I’ll say ‘Hey, how much chicken do I need?’ or ‘Help, the roux isn’t thickening!’” In a gumbo-raised family, this qualifies as a true emergency. “You have to go far enough down the road that the roux gets brown, and it takes a good 45 minutes,” Liz says. “Even then, you could burn it and have to throw the whole thing out. Lou taught me how to hold a knife, make an emulsion for vinaigrette, how to chop an onion. More than I’ll ever know.” Big Ranch, Big City, Lou’s just-published cookbook, contains some of that advice and more. “I read the whole thing last night,” Liz says. “These are the foods we grew up with! Louis says my mother’s repertoire was six casseroles and two restaurants, but I say it’s amazing she managed to keep food on the table, because I had three brothers who played football and there were people in the kitchen all the time.” Sometimes these guests had the kitchen all to themselves, she recalls, because the Lamberts had gotten tired and gone to bed.
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“We always had beef, of course,” she says. “I grew up in Odessa, and my parents were in ranching. We’d get taken out of school for roundups. There was a cook wagon with a guy named Lalo, bird hunting and deer hunting, and that’s where my dad stepped in to cook. He was from Port Arthur, so he made gumbo. Good gumbo.” He passed this skill on to Lou and perhaps, to Liz, who may or may not be ready for an ultimate gumbo family smackdown. Not that she feels competitive, but she’s known to gravitate toward “big risks, crazy risks.” “You have to take them,” she says. In life, sure—but in food? “You know what? The other day I made an insane gumbo.” A pause ensues. “But I will never surpass their gumbo. Now, I do cook a lot of pinto beans. Really good pinto beans. That’s Violamore’s recipe. We grew up with her—she was more than a housekeeper. And her fried chicken! It was insane. And her silverdollar pancakes! She was a great cook.” A lot of excellent food has been served to Liz Lambert, some of it in the hip, even rarefied, hotels and restaurants she developed herself. Yet there’s nothing highfalutin about her enthusiasm for a good meal, or the style she brings to her patently un-snooty kitchen—a red-checked, pearl-snap shirt, blatantly slept-in hairdo, big smile, too-small 1920s kitchen with original pine floors. Liz bought her then-decrepit house for a dollar from a Hill Country church and had it moved to its current lot in Travis Heights, where she had it stripped to the bone, salvaged the plank flooring and concocted a homier version of the Hotel San Jose look—a spare landscape, concrete countertops, sculptural antlers on white walls. Liz calls herself a neat freak, and not much is out of place. But the repurposed frontier atmosphere doesn’t take itself too seriously. A photograph on the wall next to the magnetic knife strip shows Allen Ginsberg, naked from the waist up, eating Grape-Nuts in someone else’s kitchen, maybe his own. “I’m the daily cook around here,” Liz says. “It relaxes me. You know what I do? A really good, easy-to-cook chicken. You make a mirepoix, you put in stock—you could use water, but this is so much richer. From there you can make anything—posole with red chili paste, tortilla lime soup with onions, sliced avocado. With Victoria beer. I’ve been loving that lately.” In the face of an Austin summer, who wouldn’t? Outside the kitchen’s artificial cool is the brutal weather that inspired Liz and Amy’s snug-in. It turns out to be another brilliant idea. With a bowl of hot soup and the air conditioner blasting, you could almost imagine snow.
LIZ LAMBERT’S SNUG-IN SOUP 2 T. olive oil 1 large yellow onion, finely diced 3 carrots, diced 3 stalks celery, diced 1 whole chicken, skinned 1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf 1 t. oregano 2 t. kosher salt 1 t. freshly ground pepper 4 c. chicken stock
Heat a heavy soup pot on medium-high. Add the oil, then add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken, garlic, bay leaf, oregano, salt and pepper, and then add the chicken stock to the pot to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil and cover, then turn off the heat and leave on the stove for 30 to 45 minutes. When the chicken is easily pulled off the bone, take it out of the pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, bone the chicken and shred the meat into bite-size pieces. Add the meat back to the soup. This is a basic chicken soup. You can transform the basic chicken soup into any of the variations below. But when making any of them, don’t add the chicken back to the pot until you are almost ready to serve, for just enough time to bring the chicken to the temperature of the soup. If you boil the chicken too long it will become tough. VARIATIONS: Chicken Noodle: add your favorite cooked pasta. Chicken Vegetable: add squash, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes—whatever is in the farm basket. Chicken Posole: add chili puree (see recipe below) and canned white hominy.
LIZ LAMBERT'S CHILI PUREE 2 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped 1 tomato, coarsely chopped ½ small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic Pinch of salt 1 t. ground cumin 1 T. cider vinegar 1 c. chicken stock
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook at a low simmer for 2 minutes, then cover, turn off heat and allow chilies to steep for 15 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.
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JACK GILMORE’S EVERYTHINGWE-NEED-RIGHT-HERE CARNITAS
4–5 lbs. pork butt, cut into 2-in. chunks, excess fat removed 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped 1 c. orange juice ½ c. pineapple juice 4–5 dried ancho chiles 1 bottle of your favorite Mexican beer 1 T. kosher salt 1 T. black pepper 10 garlic cloves
Mix all ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a large Dutch oven, cover and cook on a medium fire (directly on the coals) for approximately 4 hours.
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Jack and Bryce Gilmore b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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n the 20th anniversary of his job as executive chef for the Z’Tejas restaurant chain, Jack Gilmore politely quit. “I believed in what we did, but it became too corporate,” he says. “My philosophy was to keep it local, keep it fun.” Jack was ready to live that philosophy. In December 2009, he opened Jack Allen’s Kitchen, which is local and fun, but also a 65-minute commute from his Marble Falls home to its Oak Hill address. “I don’t mind, actually,” Jack says. “It gives me time to wind up and wind back down again.” The final minutes of the homeward drive take him down a dirt road to the lakeside home he and his wife, LuAnn, outfitted with everything two Texans could possibly need for the immediate enjoyment of life. More often than not, Jack will fire up one of his many outdoor cooking devices, like the grill, the spit or the fire pit—or all three, if a few dozen more Texans drop by. But if these amenities—and the various hillside decks, tequila-sipping stations, the beer-can wind chimes and rusty, beverage-themed signs—were to disappear, the party would go on as long as two essentials remained: fire and cast iron. Dutch ovens and frying pans of all sizes and vintages are everywhere in the Gilmore house, inside and out. One recent drought-stricken day, with the lake bone-dry and the heat almost unbearable, Jack hovers over his outdoor fireplace—tending a pork shoulder on its way to becoming carnitas, the Gilmore family’s meal of choice. “You only need about a four-hour braise,” Jack says, as he nudges the pot farther into the fireplace. “Then you get ’em crispy in a cast-iron pan, and that’s carnitas. Boy, just the smell of it! You get a cold beer, and some tortillas on the grill, and that’s all you need.” You have to wait for it, though. You can’t rush carnitas. “The best thing is to make a whole day of it,” says Jack’s son Bryce, a talented local chef in his own right. “We drink beers, swim in the lake, listen to country music. Dad does pinto or borracho beans, and it’s a take on barbecue and Mexican at the same time. Honestly, I don’t eat a whole lot of meat unless I know where it’s from, but I like carnitas and I like to cook with fire. It’s the most primitive way and it adds the most flavor, especially if you know how to manage the heat.” Bryce learned that from his father at an early age, and, drawn to the family business, he ended up graduating from the California Culinary Academy, returning to Central Texas for his first restaurant jobs, then moving on to high-profile restaurants in San Francisco and Aspen before returning again to Austin. With his
father’s help—and in his father’s barn—he built the Odd Duck Farm to Trailer food cart, which opened on South Lamar in December, 2009, just in time for the trailer-food craze. Last spring, he turned Odd Duck’s day-to-day operations over to his brother Dylan and opened Barley Swine, a tiny restaurant with an outsize reputation even before Food & Wine magazine named Bryce one of the Best New Chefs of 2011. But the acclaim comes with a price. One way or another, Bryce ends up cooking for everyone but himself. He might make himself a late-night fried-egg sandwich using eggs from his backyard chickens, but for home cooking, he depends on casual afternoons with his father. Best of all, he says, is football season. Jack’s outdoor kitchen has everything—including a big-screen TV. With the game on, cold beer at hand and carnitas in the final sizzling stage, complete R and R is actually possible. “We live pretty far out, so I want people to feel comfortable staying around for a while,” Jack says. “If you want to spend the night, we’ve got room. If you drop a glass of red wine on the floor, so what? It’s kid friendly…and adult friendly…and dog friendly. We have everything we need right here.”
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LUCILLE'S COLLARD GREENS Adapted by Shontae Moeller Bacon fat or coconut oil 5 cloves garlic, chopped 4 bunches collards, cleaned, stemmed and torn (Shontae likes the collards from Green Gate Farms.) Salt and white pepper to taste Pat of butter (or 2 or 3) Louisiana Hot Sauce
Heat the bacon fat in a sauté pan on medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden, but not burnt. Add the collards and a few tablespoons of water to help cook them down, and add salt and white pepper to taste. Cover the sauté pan and steam until tender. Serve with butter and Louisiana Hot Sauce, like my grandmamma, or go local with Dai Due’s Serrano Hot Sauce. 16
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Shontae Moeller b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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hontae Moeller learned many things from her mother. Cooking wasn’t one of them. “I caught her once, poking a hole in a plastic bag of vegetables and throwing it in the microwave,” says the backyard-chicken wrangler, mother of three and professional chef. With 15 years of line-cook and sous-chef experience in Austin, Shontae recently founded Salon du Peasant, a roaming supper club serving eclectic, homemade dishes from her East Side kitchen. She uses local ingredients, but no plastic bags or microwaves. Business has been good, and she’s been plenty busy in the kitchen. But right now, her kids are underfoot, her husband— Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Johnny Moeller—is home between tours and today’s meal is meant for family. The small house fills with the smell of pork belly, grits and slow-simmered collard greens. Lunch will be served when it’s good and ready, because that’s the kind of food this is. “Everyone loves soul food,” Shontae says. “It may not be known for its fine-dining qualities, but it can be taken very seriously.” Shontae didn’t understand this right away, even though her first cooking instructor was her grandmother Lucille, a venerable soulfood practitioner from Pampa, Texas, whose table was always packed to capacity. “She ran a kind of a hostel for musicians, and she’d let me help,” Shontae remembers. “She’d send me out to the yard to grab a chicken and break its neck and get it ready to eat. Those were happy times, cooking and eating with my grandmother.” Coming back from Lucille’s was like passing through a time warp. One minute Shontae was feeding itinerant black musicians in not-very-desegregated Pampa, and the next she was back in Round Rock, going to work with her mother at a sophisticated cosmetics counter—and meeting actual French people! From France! Where food is king! Compared to these disparate stomping grounds, high school was dull, and Shontae had little interest in attending. Besides, she’d managed to get hired at the Lone Star Cafe, and she didn’t want to miss work. “I was only fourteen,” she remembers, “but I did everything: hostessing, waiting tables, even some cooking shifts. It was hard. I liked it.” Her parents did not, but Shontae pacified them by enrolling in a high-school work program that freed up her schedule enough to allow for jobs at a host of Austin restaurants that eventually included Mezzaluna, Jean-Pierre’s Upstairs, Chez Zee, Siena Ristorante, Fabi + Rosi and many others. And then there was the unofficial job at Antone’s, which mostly
involved hanging out, getting to see her favorite bands and joining Clifford Antone for breakfasts at Katz’s Deli. The best part was meeting an older man—18-year-old musician Johnny Moeller, who was already sitting in with his idols onstage at Antone’s. The Moellers have now been together 15 years. He’s still playing music, and she’s still cooking, often for musicians—most recently at a Haiti earthquake relief dinner at Antone’s. A two-time culinary-school dropout, she found she’d spent too much time cooking for a living to justify formal classes in techniques she’d known for years. The education she wanted was less about fine French cuisine and more about the soul of food. “Like a lot of African American chefs, I was on a quest to figure out my signature as a chef,” she says. “It took me a long time to recognize the cultural significance of food.” The food she serves her supper club guests may be both cultural and significant, but it’s also down-home—if home is somewhere between Africa, the Caribbean, New Orleans and the American South. Even in her own house, where the guests eat for free, those flavors hum in the background, and there’s always a little extra in the pot. “Bring the guys home for lunch,” Shontae tells Johnny as he heads out the door to KUT for a live taping. “I’ll have food.”
SHONTAE MOELLER’S JERKED PORK BELLY 1 pork belly from Richardson Farms For the rub: 2 T. coconut oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 2 jalapeños, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped 1 T. allspice 1 T. cinnamon 1 T. cayenne pepper
2 T. brown sugar 1 tsp. white pepper 1 tsp. dried thyme 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground ginger 4 scallions, trimmed and chopped ¹/³ c. fresh lime juice ½ c. red wine vinegar
Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and jalapeños and sauté until the garlic just starts to color—about 1½ minutes. Add the allspice, cinnamon, cayenne and brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and the mixture starts to clump. Remove from the heat. Transfer the mixture to a blender. Add the white pepper, thyme, salt, ginger, scallions, lime juice and vinegar, and blend until smooth. Coat the pork belly with jerk mixture, place in a covered pan and cook in a preheated oven at 450° for about 45 minutes. Allow the pork belly to cool, then cut into portions and panfry until crispy on both sides. Serve with collards and enjoy. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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at home Dining
Sunset Canyon Pottery
Bridget and Bill Houser in their Sunset Canyon Pottery studio
b y C a r i M a r s h a l l • P h o t o g r a p h y b y K NO X Y
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few special friends are coming over for a dinner party. An array of seasonal dishes are bubbling away on the stovetop, the chilled bottle of wine is open, even the rarely used linen napkins are ironed. But when it’s time to serve the meal, the plates are…cracked, chipped and altogether very un-special. Screech! It’s time your dinnerware receives the same loving attention as the meals it cradles. And you’re in luck—just as Austin celebrates extraordinary seasonal and handmade foods, there’s also a place nearby spotlighting local, artisanal dinnerware to befit those delightful morsels: Sunset Canyon Pottery in Dripping Springs. Bridget and Bill Hauser are the visionaries behind Sunset Canyon, founded in 1997 as a venue for Bridget to create and showcase her pottery and the works of other local ceramic artists. Part gallery and part artisan studio, Sunset Canyon’s
building—a green-built straw-bale structure with a rainwatercollection system—is itself one enormous clay pot. “As I worked on stuccoing the building,” says Bridget, “I saw it as the largest piece of pottery I ever worked on.” For Bridget, a dinner plate should be as special as the meal it presents. “Homegrown or locally grown food has become important for its role in sustaining not only our bodies, but our families and communities as well,” she says. “This food, presented on beautiful, handcrafted ware, frames not only that which the food represents, but what that moment shared with family and friends represents.” The gallery offers a dizzying selection of one-of-a-kind ceramics: bakeware (pie plates, tortilla warmers, casserole dishes); serving ware (chip-and-dip servers, gravy boats, condiment dishes, soup tureens, wine decanters); dinnerware (plates, goblets, tumblers, salad bowls) and accessories (luminaries, candlesticks, EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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Pieces (left) feature Sunset Canyon Pottery’s Sedona glazes; pieces (right) feature Aurora glazes.
Potters Terre Peters (left) and Kym Owens (right) in Sunset Canyon Pottery studio.
Sunset Canyon’s building —a green-built straw-bale structure with a rainwatercollection system—is itself one enormous clay pot. “As I worked on stuccoing the building,” says Bridget, “I saw it as the largest piece of pottery I ever worked on.” vases, honey pots, soap pumps). Shoppers can customize their dinner set—choosing from a rainbow of luscious glazes with names like Aurora, Seafoam, Evening Shade and Woodland. Customers can also choose to either purchase a single work of art or piece together an entire collection, as many couples have done as a very special wedding registry. All of the dinnerware and bakeware is safe in the microwave, dishwasher and oven (as long as it’s not preheated). Seven artisans work in the vast studio behind the retail space: Bridget, plus six ceramic artists who help produce the studio’s line. They build each unique piece by hand, one at a time, then fire it in one of several hand-built kilns. The artisans also work on their own projects, many of which are represented in the gallery along with works from several other local, regional and national artists. David and Kathi Sherby are perhaps the store’s number-one fans—having bought a full set several years ago. The set, created by Bridget and with a barrel-cactus motif, has proven to be durable both physically and stylistically, and it still makes for great conversation at dinner parties. “Guests always seem to ask about them, due to their one-of-a-kind, handmade nature and glazing,” Kathi says. “Each one is a piece of original handmade art. There’s nothing else like it out there.” Sunset Canyon Pottery 4002 E. U.S. Hwy 290 Dripping Springs 512-894-0938 sunsetcanyonpottery.com
May we introduce a little food for thought? — Reclaimed wood flooring; cabinets from sustainably managed forests; countertops of recycled glass and concrete; non-toxic paints, stains, and earthen plasters; colorful natural wallpapers and recycled glass tile; insulation from recycled blue jeans — if you’re as selective about how you live as what you eat, you should get a taste of House+Earth. Ours is a store created by Austinites for Austinites, full of materials that not only meet strict standards for indoor air quality, but are just the thing for the home you live in and the home you live on. Which, of course, is a recipe everyone can enjoy.
1214 West 6th St. • Austin, TX 78703 (3 blocks west of Lamar, behind Julian Gold) 512-300-0484 • www.houseandearth.com
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Cooks toolbox
Must-Have Kitchen Tools b y I l i a n a de l a Veg a a nd E r ne s t o T o r r e a l b a
Iliana de la Vega and Ernesto Torrealba are the co-owners and chefs at El Naranjo, the popular Rainey Street District eatery specializing in authentic Oaxacan cuisine.
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ight? Just eight? That seems a rather short list of musthave cooking utensils when you’re a cook! To whittle our favorites to eight, Ernesto and I went for the bare essentials, but we had some issues over making separate lists because we both wanted to talk about some of the same tools. In order to keep peace in the kitchen and our marriage, we decided to make the list together. Since we specialize in Mexican food, our must-have list is a
specific, cuisine-driven one. The most iconic dishes of Mexican cuisine, and ones that we are best known for at El Naranjo, are moles. Indeed, they’re labor-intensive dishes, but they’re made much easier when you’re using the right tools. Let’s look at the steps involved in preparing a mole, and Ernesto and I will describe how having the right utensils will make your life easier. Of course, all of these tools can be used to prepare dishes from other cuisines as well—not just Mexican.
1.
comal for roasting. Since pre-Hispanic times in Mexico, comales have been made out of clay—which is great, but breaks easily. The good news is that some of the best comales are now made of thin metal, which transfers the heat perfectly and evenly (over medium heat) for dry roasting chiles (fresh or dried), tomatoes, onions, garlic and other ingredients. This method causes the sugars in the vegetables to caramelize and develops many layers of intense flavor. You can also use the comal to make the perfect quesadilla.
2.
Pinzas for gripping. To be able to turn vegetables and dry roast ingredients on the
comal, yet not burn your hands, a pair of tongs is needed. I prefer the OXO brand tongs with a soft grip and stainless steel tips. Tongs can be used for many other cooking purposes as well.
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3.
licuadora for blending. Ernesto and I fought over this one! If you ask me to choose just one must-have tool, this is it. In ancient times, the people of our country used a metate—a rectangular volcanic rock and rolling pin. Honestly, it’s a great tool, but a good blender does the same job in less time and without arm pain. After many trials, our favorite licuadora is a professional Vitamix that features low and high speeds and pulse motion. Seriously, we can’t live without it.
4.
chino for straining. Now that all of the mole ingredients are pureed, we want to make sure to avoid any small pieces of chile skin or seeds. A conical strainer, also known as a “China cap,” with small mesh is the perfect tool. Once you have one, you will never go back to a simple strainer.
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cazuela for simmering. A clay pot is traditional for mole, but over the years we have developed a real love for the Le Creuset line of pots. A 7¼-quart pot works perfectly for making a mole, but the uses of this pot, of course, are endless. Though heavy and pricey, Le Creuset pots, pans and Dutch ovens are worth the weight and the expense. We used to have many while we lived in Mexico, but they are so heavy that we left them behind with great sorrow. But we are starting our collection again. We find the 7¼-quart size to be the most versatile. The color is up to you; all are beautiful.
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Cooks toolbox
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pala de Madera for stirring.
It’s basically a wooden spoon, but it needs to be a specific one. The perfect spoon has a rounded handle to make it ergonomic, and the tip has to be flat—not rounded—so you can scratch the bottom of the cazulea and prevent scorching. This shape is also useful for flipping.
7.
tortilla press. Tortillas are essential when eating mole, as the mole is the sauce, not the meat. There’s not a better vehicle than a freshly made tortilla, hand cut into fourths to scoop. We like the Victoria brand press, as it has a perfect balance and weight.
MOLE COLORADITO Serves 8 For the chicken: ½ medium onion, unchopped 3 garlic cloves, peeled 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces, skin left on For the mole: 4 large Roma tomatoes 4 medium garlic cloves, unpeeled 10 dried ancho chiles 1 dried pasilla Mexicano chile
3 T. vegetable oil, divided 2 slices day-old bread (plain) 15 blanched almonds ½ c. sesame seeds 1 T. dried Oaxacan oregano 10 black peppercorns 3 whole cloves 1-in. piece of Mexican canela 1 c. reserved chicken broth Salt to taste 2 T. sugar
Cook the chicken: In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, then add the onion, garlic cloves and chicken pieces. Reduce the flame to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Remove the skin from the chicken and discard. Strain and reserve the broth. Make the mole: On a comal, dry roast the tomatoes and the unpeeled garlic cloves. Remove the garlic when brown spots appear, but let the tomatoes roast until they are soft and blistered before removing to a plate. Peel the garlic and reserve. Discard the seeds and stems from the chiles and lightly dry roast them on the comal until a few dark spots appear, or until they become a little softer—just a few seconds on each side. Transfer the chiles to a pot of hot water and let them soak for no more than 20 minutes. Add 1½ tablespoons of the oil to a skillet and fry the bread until pale gold. Add the almonds, sesame seeds, oregano, peppercorns and cloves, and cook until the almonds and sesame seeds turn a pale gold color. Remove to a plate. Dry roast the canela and reserve separately. Meanwhile, heat the rest of the oil in a large Dutch oven or cazuela over medium heat. Drain the chiles and discard the soaking water, then toss them into a blender with about 1½ cups of fresh water. Pass the mixture through a small-mesh strainer and add to the pot. Let the chiles fry and thicken for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until you can see the bottom of the pan when stirring with a wooden spoon. In a blender, combine the reserved nuts and spices, along with the tomatoes, garlic and 1 cup of water and add to the cooking pot. Blend the canela with ¼ cup of water and pass the mixture through a sieve over the mole. Let the mixture simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes, then add the chicken broth and return to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, then add salt and sugar to taste. Shred and add the poached chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. When finished, the mole should coat the back of a wooden spoon. Serve with white rice and tortillas.
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8.
Resources molcajete. This is the Mexican mortar and
pestle, perfect for making delicious salsas. It gives the perfect homemade texture and shows all of the love and dedication you can put into a simple salsa to make it exceptional. At El Naranjo, we also use it for grinding all of the spices that go into a mole.
Buen provecho!
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General Store
501 Bastrop Hwy, Austin 512-385-3452 Monday-Saturday 8am to 6pm
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cooking Basics
how to make sauce b y wi l l Pa c k w o o d
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hen I think of tomato sauce, I think of a crimson pool speckled with green, orange and off-white flecks of herbs and aromatics; a savory, slightly acidic—with the insinuated suggestion of sweetness—and hearty yet sophisticated base for an infinite number of soul-pleasing meals. Of course, tomato is the star of this show—anything added to the pot after or before is merely acting in a supporting role. The first thing to consider when making tomato sauce then, is what kind of tomato to use. Despite our love of fresh, homegrown tomatoes in salads, heavily seasoned with black pepper and sandwiched between two slices of buttered bread or drowning in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, canned tomatoes are actually the go-to guy for sauce. Canned tomatoes are picked at their ripest, high in sugars and full of tomato flavor. But brand matters. Buy the best quality canned tomato available—I prefer San Marzano tomatoes that were packed in Italy. For the supporting characters, I start with a full-flavored, buttery extra-virgin olive oil, then add onion and carrot for sweetness, garlic and chilies for a piquant bite, basil and oregano for fresh-
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ness and oil-packed anchovy for that deep, dark, secret umami. This isn’t an anchovy article, but let’s take a minute to air out the anchovy issue. I’ve been teaching cooking classes and hosting food talks to mixed groups for more than 10 years, and when I mention anchovies an overwhelming number of people curl their faces and stick out their tongues as if the suggestion of eating an anchovy turned them inside out. I’m not suggesting you cover the next delivery pizza with cheap, salty, fishy little swimmers (although when handled properly, anchovies can make an incredible addition to a pie) or toss a few in your cereal. I’m talking about adding a few very high-quality anchovies packed in high-quality olive oil to a dish that sits over the slightest flame and slowly simmers for hours— producing flavors with an indescribable combination and balance. I always add a couple anchovies to braises and ragouts, or to almost any slow, low and long-cooking dish, to impart a deep, rich complexity without adding a fishy or briny smell. Okay, back to tomato sauce. In the past few years, I’ve tried to focus on the positive and avoid even talking about what not to do. Yet, in this instance, we need to discuss what not to add. Never add
sugar to your tomato sauce! If you want a sweeter tomato sauce, use a sweeter onion, more carrots or a better-quality tomato. Don’t use dried onion or garlic powder, as they’ll contribute an acrid flavor and cover up the freshness of the other ingredients. And don’t use dried basil—it’s flavorless and is a waste of money. You can, however, get away with dried oregano. As far as equipment goes, the most important thing to consider is the cooking pot. Always use nonreactive cookware when preparing dishes heavy in tomato or other high-acid foods. Using aluminum or copper-lined pots will impart a metallic flavor and tarnish the color of acidic foods. I prefer using an enamel-coated Dutch oven, and I always use the same scarred and discolored wooden spoon—I believe it contributes a distinctive and desirable flavor. Once the sauce is complete, use it to dress boiled pasta, or to sauce grilled fish or chicken—or easily transform it into countless variations by the addition of a few ingredients. Heat two to three cups of Basic Tomato Sauce in a pot, add a handful of chopped and pitted green and black olives, a tablespoon or two of capers, some extra chopped garlic, a seeded and chopped Fresno or serrano chili and a couple of minced anchovies, and you have a quick and easy puttanesca sauce. Or roughly chop a couple slices of pancetta or guanciale, render it in a large pan and add one small sliced onion and two cloves of sliced garlic. Cook the onion until translucent, then add two to three cups of tomato sauce. Bring to a simmer, toss with some cooked penne and top with a generous amount of grated pecorino for penne all’Amatriciana. Or bring two to three cups of tomato sauce to a low simmer in a large pan, crack four to six eggs into the simmering tomato sauce (evenly spaced), season each egg with a little salt and pepper, cover the pan with a lid and allow the eggs to poach to desired doneness. Serve two to three eggs per person with grated Parmesan and some thick slices of heavily toasted bruschetta. Or heat a few cups of tomato sauce in a small pot, puree until smooth, add a little cream and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Make some crispy, grilled cheese sandwiches, and enjoy them with your homemade cream of tomato soup—truly mm, mm good!
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BASIC TOMATO SAUCE ½ c. good-quality extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely minced 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 1 Fresno or other small chili, seeded and finely diced 2 28-oz. cans of tomatoes 12–15 fresh basil leaves 3–4 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves only 1–2 anchovy fillets, mashed to a paste Salt and pepper to taste
Place a large pot over medium-high heat and add the oil, onion and carrot. Season with a small amount of salt and pepper and allow the mixture to sweat until translucent. Add the garlic and chili and season with a small amount of salt and pepper. Continue cooking for 3 to 5 minutes. Using your hands, crush the tomatoes and add them to the pot. Add the herbs and anchovies and stir to combine. Adjust the heat to a very low simmer and allow the tomato sauce to simmer for 1½ to 2 hours. Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve as desired. Store any unused sauce in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
hyde park, austin 4220 Duval Street (512) 531-9610
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cooking Basics
how to scramble eggs b y T e r ry T h o m p s o n - Ande r s o n
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s a new bride, many, many years ago, I did not know how to scramble an egg—even imperfectly. Nor did I know how to make coffee in the shiny, new electric percolator that we’d received as a wedding gift. It wasn’t until my fine Southern cook of a mother-in-law took me under her well-floured wing that I learned these and many other culinary skills. It was a gift that eventually made cooking a consuming passion and led me back to school—not to the hallowed halls of academia though, but to culinary school. However, even culinary school didn’t teach me how to perfectly scramble an egg. I didn’t learn that skill until I met the inimitable Julia Child. In St. Louis in 1978, the Association of Cooking Schools (now named the International Association of Culinary Professionals to better reflect the diversity of its membership) had just been founded by 18 of America’s culinary luminaries. They saw the need for an organization through which they could connect with others in the various and expanding genres of the food business for their mutual benefit. I joined as a charter member, attending my first annual conference in San Francisco at the
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elegant, old St. Francis Hotel. It was still a small group at the time; we all fit in one smallish banquet room where you could most likely have hollered at someone across the room, although I don’t recall anyone doing so. It was the era when omelet stations had become de rigueur at hotel banquet breakfasts, so at our breakfasts there were omelet stations. One morning, Julia entered the room with her husband, Paul, and proceeded to an omelet station where she asked the young man behind the butane burner, “Might I get just a perfectly scrambled egg instead of an omelet?” Now, although Julia could have had anything she wished, it was when she asked him, “So, young man, do you know how to perfectly scramble an egg?” that he began to stammer, eventually admitting that he probably did not. Julia said she would teach him, and strode behind the table to his station, commandeered his sauté pan, three fresh eggs and an inordinate amount of butter and asked for some tepid water and a whisk. Seizing an opportunity that we’d most likely never have again, several of us fledgling chefs oozed into a space close
Even culinary school didn’t teach me how to perfectly scramble an egg. I didn’t learn that skill until I met the inimitable Julia Child. enough to see and hear her mini-seminar. She broke the eggs into a mixing bowl and added some of the water and a little salt—emphasizing that the salt should be added while whisking the eggs, never after they were cooked! Then, in her vigorous, exaggerated style, she whisked the eggs into a frenzy, with bits of yolk and white flying out of the bowl at every angle. When she was satisfied that the eggs had a full head of froth, she added some of the butter to the nonstick sauté pan, then added just a bit more. When the buttery foam subsided, she poured in the beaten eggs and began to stir them over medium-low heat. Patiently, she stirred—bending her six-foot-plus frame over the low table and telling the cook the eggs could not be rushed. As she stirred—making sure that she scraped the sides of the pan with every pass of the spoon, then the center, ever so slowly, ever so diligently—the eggs began to coagulate and form little yellow, puffy mounds. She stirred for almost 10 minutes and admonished all of us watching to notice how the eggs began to change. Then she announced that they were done. We all craned our necks to look at Julia’s perfectly scrambled eggs as she lifted the pan from the burner. They were, in fact, the most beautiful, perfectly scrambled eggs I had ever seen. They had reached the point of just being completely coagulated, but you could see that they were soft, almost cloud-like. I was salivating for a bite and I just had to ask about all that butter. Julia explained that in the process of the slow cooking, the
eggs actually form an emulsion with the butter—like eggs and butter do when you make hollandaise sauce. The butter, in all its delicious golden goodness, was now an integral part of the puff of scrambled eggs that she slid effortlessly onto the plate that Paul held out for her. I’ve never forgotten that chance lesson in scrambling eggs, and I’ve never scrambled one since without thinking of Julia. Of course, the perfect pairing for perfectly scrambled eggs is perfectly cooked bacon. I did not learn this skill from Julia, but rather from culinary school and many years of cooking bacon in restaurant kitchens—where it’s always baked, a process which does, indeed, result in perfectly cooked bacon. So, for your next breakfast of scrambled eggs with a side of bacon, make it perfect.
PERFECTLY SCRAMBLED EGGS FOR TWO
PERFECTLY COOKED BACON FOR TWO
4 T. (half a stick) unsalted butter 6 eggs, preferably pastured or yard eggs ¹/³ c. tepid water ½ t. salt
Melt the butter in a 10-inch, nontoxic, nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, break the eggs into a fairly large mixing bowl and whisk them until the whites and yolks are well blended. Add the water and salt, and vigorously whisk them until frothy. When the butter foam subsides, pour the eggs into the pan, lower the heat to medium-low and begin to stir—making sure to stir all parts of the pan to keep the eggs from sticking. Be patient and stir just until the point when the eggs have coagulated and no liquid egg is visible— about 10 minutes. Stir for another few seconds, just to be sure, then slide the eggs onto 2 serving plates and feast, courtesy of Julia Child.
6 slices bacon, such as flavorful applewood smoked
Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with foil—tucking it under the outside rim of the pan. Arrange the bacon slices in a single layer on the foil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your bacon. (25 minutes will give you perfectly crisp bacon.) Meanwhile, arrange 2 layers of paper towels on a second baking sheet. Using tongs, remove the cooked bacon to the paper towels to drain. Turn the slices to blot both sides. Perfectly cooked straight slices of bacon with no humps and curlicues, and no splattered stovetop! Simply remove the foil from the baking sheet and toss it away. (But do keep the bacon drippings for cooking perfect mustard greens.) To take the whole experience way over the top, add a couple handmade buttermilk biscuits and homemade jam.
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cooking Basics
breaking down a chicken b y Z a ck N o rt h c u t t • P h o t o g r a p h y b y J e n n a N o e l
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good knife is always the best start to any kitchen project. For breaking down a chicken, my first choice would be a flexible boning knife, but a six-inch utility knife will work just fine. Make sure the knife is sharp, then get a large plastic cutting board (plastic absorbs less moisture than wood and is better suited for raw meats of any type, especially chicken). Make sure the bird is dry; place it on a clean kitchen towel if it still slips around on the board.
1. Place the chicken on its back. 2. Cut the skin between the breast and the thighs on both sides of the chicken—cutting up from the tail at a 45-degree angle all the way toward the back, freeing up the legs.
3. Grab a leg with one hand and hold the body with the other. Grasp the leg at the top, near the hip, and pull the leg up and away from the bird—popping the leg from the hip socket so that the legs will lie flat. Now the chicken will be well-seated on the cutting board. 30
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4. Now remove the breasts. A tip to getting a few extra ounces of breast meat is to remove the wishbone first. Find the bone on top of the breast, right in the middle of the muscle, and make two small, shallow cuts on either side of the neck cavity. Follow the bone with your blade up and in, toward the breastplate, or keel. Grab the bone firmly with your fingers, and pry it out.
5. Make the first cut down from the top of the bird, a bit off-center from the keel. Get the knife to scrape as close to the breastbone as possible, then slide the blade to the bottom of the breast— freeing it from the bone. Keep slicing toward the tail of the bird—removing the breast from the ribs. Return to the top of the bird where the breast is attached, right above the wing. Cut up from the tail toward the wing joint—staying as close to the bone as possible—and remove the breast meat. Repeat the same process on the other side of the bird to produce two skin-on breasts with tenders in place.
ROASTED AND BRAISED CHICKEN WITH ROOT VEGETABLES
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For the stock: 1 whole chicken rib cage and back, roughly chopped 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped 4 stalks celery, roughly chopped 2 large carrots, roughly chopped ½ c. white wine 2 bay leaves 1 stem rosemary 1 stem thyme 2 t. black pepper
On a rimmed baking sheet, roast the rib cage and back with the aromatic vegetables for at least 20 minutes at 400°, until evenly browned. Take out the pan and deglaze it with the wine—scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add this to a small stock pot with the herbs and pepper and just enough water to cover the bones. Simmer for at least an hour, then carefully strain through a fine-mesh strainer or a double layer of cheesecloth laid over a bowl. Discard the solids and set the stock aside.
6. The wings come off easily from the shoulder, and a quick cut at the elbow joint will separate the wings from the drumettes (these are great for quick-fried snacks while the larger pieces are cooking).
7. The legs are tricky, and you want to keep as much of the “oyster,” or back meat, on as possible. Flip the bird over, breast-side down, place the knife in the hip joint and cut down toward the tail. Angle the knife toward the center of the back to keep it as close to the backbone as possible. Repeat on the other side to have two whole legs.
8. If you want to separate the legs from the thighs, look for the fat line on the skin at the knee joint. This is a good guideline to cut through the joint and avoid having to chop through the bones. A few things to keep in mind: always try to move in purposeful, long knife strokes—only use small cuts when maneuvering around tight joints. Whenever you can, cut as close to the bone as possible to yield the most meat. And most of all, watch your fingers!
For the legs and thighs: 2 chicken thighs 2 chicken legs Salt and pepper to taste Vegetable oil, as needed 4 mustard green leaves, julienned 4 new potatoes, quartered 4 radishes, quartered Chicken stock, as needed
Preheat a deep roasting pan in the oven on medium heat, and let it get hot before adding anything to it. Season the legs and thighs well with salt and pepper. Add enough oil to coat the hot pan, and put the meat in—letting it render for a while so that it gets golden brown. Turn and repeat on the other side. Remove the meat when it is ready and add in the mustard greens. Stir until wilted, then add the meat back in and place the potatoes and radishes in the pan in a single layer. Cover the meat and vegetables with the stock and place in a 275° oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. For the breasts (start when the thighs are just finishing): 2 chicken breasts 1 t. butter Salt and pepper to taste Vegetable oil, as needed
Place a sauté pan on the stove on medium heat and let it get hot. Season the breasts well with salt and pepper, place skin-side down in the pan, wait 5 minutes then add the butter. Turn the oven, with the leg meat and vegetables inside, up to 375°. After another 5 minutes, turn the breasts skin-side up in the pan and place the pan in the oven. After 10 minutes in the oven, remove the leg meat and breasts and serve. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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cooking Basics
How to SHARPEN A KNIFE by Todd Duplechan • Photography by Andy Sams
2.
1.
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won’t lie to you. Sharpening a knife on a stone takes a bit of practice and a whole lot of patience—and the skill doesn’t develop overnight. It’s the sort of process you have to love or it will frustrate you to no end. But the practice is worth all the effort, because sharpening your own knives saves money and makes cooking more efficient and enjoyable. Ask 10 people how to sharpen a knife, and they’ll probably give 10 different answers. Whetstone, oilstone, left to right, up and back, little circles—everyone has their own tool of choice and technique. I prefer a whetstone for sharpening, and I try to retain the original shape of the blade by applying equal pressure to each part of it, section by section. Unlike honing a knife on a steel, which takes off the burrs and straightens the edge, sharpening will shave away part of the blade and help maintain its edge for a longer period of time. I’ve tried several methods and this is the one that works best for me.
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What you’ll need: • A dull knife • 1000/4000 grit whetstone (available at Breed & Co.) • An old kitchen towel •A rectangular container that the stone will fit into, filled with water • A flat surface, counter height •P atience. Estimate 30 minutes of effort per knife (it gets faster with practice) The 1000-grit side of the stone shaves off the steel, and the 4000-grit side takes off the rough burrs left from sharpening and polishes the edge to a razor. If you’re sharpening a large knife, work on it in four to five sections, working heel to tip. For a small knife, three to four sections should do it. Before starting, soak the stone in water for at least five minutes.
1. Start
with the 1000-grit side of the stone face up on top of the towel, perpendicular to your body, in front of you. With the handle of the knife in your dominant hand and the blade facing toward your body, place three fingers from your other hand at the heel of the knife just above the edge.
3.
4.
2. Create a 20-degree angle between the blade and the stone (about the same angle as a matchbook). Apply gentle pressure through your three fingers as you push the knife away from your body.
3. Drizzle a layer of water on top of the stone regularly, and pay attention to your fingertips—only apply pressure when pushing away (if you are pushing down and pulling the knife back toward you, you might shave a little off your fingertips—not recommended). Repeat the strokes on the same section of the knife three to four times, then move up to the next section of blade. Continue to the tip of the knife.
4. Now
turn the blade away from your body and use your non-dominant hand to maintain the 20-degree angle. Apply pressure to the section of blade to be sharpened. Repeat on both sides of the blade four to five times, or until an edge begins to develop (the edge can be felt by just barely flicking your thumb over it several times, working your way up the blade). If there is an area that’s less sharp than the rest, repeat sharpening in that section. When you’re satisfied with the edge (I always test mine by shaving the hair off a bit of my forearm), turn the stone over to the smoother 4000-grit side and continue through the same steps.
Yoda: “Sharp, it is?” Skywalker: “I don’t know; I can’t tell.” Yoda: “If tell you can’t, sharp it is not.” Skywalker: “What do I do?” Yoda: “Keep sharpening.”
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ECO kitchens
Every Little thing b y K r i s ti W i l l i s
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he kitchen is the heart of most homes, and many of us want to make that hub as healthy and safe as possible. Transforming the kitchen into an environmental haven doesn’t necessarily require a remodel, though.
It can be as simple as exchanging appliances or adding a few handy pieces of equipment. Following the principle “reduce, reuse, recycle,” a few key changes can help us greatly reduce our carbon footprint. Store, encourages customers to consider other cooking methods. “Using a pressure cooker is a good way to use less energy because the food cooks faster than traditional stove-top cooking.” She also recommends switching out a few electric appliances. “The new hand [operated] can openers work just as well as the electric models, and they don’t waste energy.”
Herb-Savor pods
Reduce For Erin Krenek, an associate in the kitchen and dining department at Breed & Co., greening the kitchen is first about preserving food and having less waste. “I want to keep the food fresh as long as I can and throw out as little as possible,” she says. Erin recommends a few tools that help keep produce fresh longer, like Herb-Savor pods from Prepara. With a refillable water-well base, the pods prevent fresh herbs from drying out in the refrigerator and extend their freshness for up to three weeks. “Green bags also help maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables,” she notes. “I was skeptical at first, but I’ve been able to stretch my produce much further using the bags. You can reuse each bag eight to ten times—just rinse them out between uses.” Food dehydrators let you preserve food before it spoils and enjoy it out of season. Dried fruit is a tasty addition to snack mixes, cereals and baked goods, and dried vegetables can be a healthy substitute for salty, crunchy snacks like potato chips. Reducing the energy used in the kitchen is another key focus area. Start by switching out old light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and replacing dated appliances with new models that have an Energy Star rating. Marla Dial, doyenne of kitchenware at Callahan’s General 34
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ReUSE Bottled water is expensive, and the plastic piles up quickly even if recycled. Home filtration systems provide clean, refreshing water from the tap and can range from the basic filtering pitchers, like Brita, to more complex reverse-osmosis systems installed under the sink. A faucet filter is a practical, inexpensive compromise as it can be easily installed without the assistance of a plumber. Stock up on refillable stainless steel or BPA-free plastic bottles as terrific replacements for water on the go. If you prefer carbonated beverages, make some homemade ones using reusable bottles and gadgets like the SodaStream system. One carbon dioxide cartridge yields 60 liters of carbonated water, fruit juice or soda, and the company offers a canister-exchange program for the empties. Disposable kitchen tools can be convenient, but they also create a great deal of waste. Simple solutions include switching from paper towels to fabric kitchen towels and replacing plastic storage containers with a glass alternative that can easily go from refrigerator or freezer to microwave. Silicone food loops are a reusable alternative for trussing or binding food instead of using twine, and Fire Wire can be used
Silicone food loops
Exceptional green kitchens, baths, closets and eco furniture.
GARDEN • DESIGN • BUILD D AV I S G A R D E N D E S I G N . C OM
www.greenaward.com | 512-323-6633
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Use an oil mister to lightly coat cookware and food with the oil of your choosing.
prepara oil mister
PROteak cutTing board
in place of bamboo skewers for grilling and provide the added benefit of no splinters in the main course! Wood cutting boards made from sustainably forested trees are a healthy substitute to plastic boards that have to be replaced with wear. Proteak, based in Wimberley, has reclaimed ranch land on Mexico's Pacific coast and has become one of the largest teak growers in the Western Hemisphere using responsible forestry and harvesting techniques. Their sturdy teak cutting boards are bacteria- and moisture-resistant and perfect for serious chefs or home cooks. Instead of buying disposable cans of aerosol cooking spray, use an oil mister to lightly coat cookware and food with the oil of your choosing. Misters also help control the amount of oil used for those watching their fat intake. And don’t forget to evaluate cleaning tools. Patti Faucheaux of Breed & Co.’s cleaning products section recommends swapping out your cleaning brushes and sponges. “Full Circle offers a line of brushes with bamboo handles and replaceable heads,” she says. “They are sturdy, and you only have to replace the bristles or sponge—the part that gets worn out.”
ReCYCLE Many of us recycle, but the bulk of too many recyclables can quickly lead to overflowing bins. Tools like the Crusher and Easy Crush reduce the size of aluminum cans safely so that more can fit in the bins. Composting recycles food scraps for the garden and house plants. Formerly reserved for those with big backyards, new composting receptacles and technology make it easy to compost, even in a small space. Kitchen compost pails outfitted with charcoal filters eliminate the odor of decomposing kitchen scraps, and the half- or one-gallon bins easily fit under the sink or on the counter of the smallest kitchen. Bokashi bins offer an alternative indoor-composting method that uses an anaerobic fermentation process to break down food scraps. The compost starter contains microorganisms that decompose the waste quickly without producing a stench. The process creates a liquid fertilizer or “tea,” to be diluted and fed to plants. Creating a greener kitchen doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. A few small changes can make a big difference.
Full Circle cleaning brushes with replaceable heads
Bokashi bins
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Eating healthy begins with Miele’s steam oven.
Explore this and the complete collection of Miele cooking appliances at:
2118 S. Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78704 &512.442.5562 8longsvacuum.com FOREVER BETTER
Austin’s informed choice in Boutique catering. Mindful, Happy, Delicious food & Service!
spoonandco.com info@spoonandco.com 512.912.6784
HalF yum. HalF wow.
All good.
Everyone likes their coffee their way, but great organic taste is universal. With Organic Valley Half & Half that taste comes from two—count ‘em, two—organic ingredients: milk and cream. That’s it. Nothing less, nothing more. And it comes from pastured cows on organic family farms. So it’s creamier. It’s better for your earth. And, oh yeah, it’s better for your coffee! Also try our new organic non-dairy creamers. The world’s first!
©Organic Valley 2011-11018
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Eco housekeeping
Green your Clean b y C h a r l ene C . P r ice i l l u s t r ati o n b y L u c y E nge l m a n
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e are surrounded by fibers and fabrics, and just like everything else, they get dirty. Soiled by sticky children, hairy pets, everyday spills and environmental pollutants like dust and smog, they need to be cleaned. But how can we get our fabrics and non-washable textiles and rugs looking new again, yet still stick to our green routines? The Laundry Laundry is the chore that is never completed. According to Project Laundry List, a nonprofit organization that promotes cold-water washing and air-drying, the United States washes 35 billion loads a year, and all of this work can result in cleaner, brighter and softer clothes with just a few changes to the routine. Since most of the labor is done by water and agitation instead of detergent, it’s time to bust the myth of the full-cap load. All detergents loosen dirt and “grab” it, but using too much detergent actually prevents a full rinse and leaves dirt on the clothing to “cook” in the dryer. For normal loads with normal soil, use half of the manufacturer’s suggested quantity of detergent. For hard water, add borax to the wash cycle—it breaks down the minerals that interfere with detergent. For soft and fluffy clothes, add half a cup of distilled white vinegar to the wash or rinse cycle. Vinegar
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breaks up trapped grease and oil and dissolves uric acid, making it perfect for baby clothes. And to make homemade dryer sheets, sprinkle 3 to 5 (never more than 5) drops of your favorite essential oil on a small cloth and toss it in. You can reuse your cloth again and again—just wash and add more fragrance. And remember that cold water is just as effective as warm or hot, so save the energy and stick with cold-water washing cycles. Carpet and Household Fibers For a greener floor, avoid buying pretreated, stain-resistant fibers. These chemical applications can emit gases for months, so when possible, let a treated carpet “rest” in the garage or shed before installation. The best way to clean your carpet is by steaming it. There are eco-friendly cleaners available, but a combination of two tablespoons of vegetable-based Castile liquid soap and a tablespoon of borax in the carpet cleaner’s tank will do the job equally
well. Pre-treat and blot with the same formula. For blood and other protein stains, put several drops of eucalyptus oil in a small bottle of club soda (small bottles keep their fizz longer), apply and blot. Sprinkle a fresh, still-damp stain with cornmeal, baking soda or cornstarch, let sit for 30 minutes, then vacuum and blot. Salt and baking soda work equally well on fresh mud. Remember, never rub a stain! It drives the staining agent deeper into the pile. And always do a patch test before cleaning the whole carpet. Upholstery For upholstery, steaming is again the best. There are several handheld appliances available on the market, and smaller carpetcleaning units come with hand attachments. Check the tag (the scary one that says “Don’t Remove!”) for fabric-care instructions. Look for the letter “S” or “W,” or both. “S” indicates that a drycleaning method should be used, and “W” means that water can be used. Unless the fabric is silk or a natural fiber that may shrink with heat, it’s still possible to test-patch dry-clean-only fabrics in a hidden spot. As with fabric, too much soap can cause the dirt to cling to upholstery fibers. For fruit or wine spills on washable upholstery, sprinkle the stain with salt, remove the salt with a warm, wet cloth, soak in milk and launder. Fabrics with ink stains can be soaked in milk or hydrogen peroxide before laundering. (Hydrogen peroxide should be color-safe for most fabrics, but test first to be sure.) For a coffee spill on the couch, mix egg yolk with warm water (not hot, unless you want an omelet), apply, then remove with more warm water. Dry Cleaning Up to a third of a dry-cleaning chamber is filled with the solvent perchloroethylene, or “perc.” Perc’s toxic effects are well documented and caution should be used not only by homeowners with dry cleaning hanging in their closets, but also drycleaning shop workers and surrounding neighborhoods. Home kits are perc free, but contain chemical fragrances and softeners. Many fabrics that recommend dry cleaning can actually be laundered at home. Acetate and rayon can be hand-washed with mild detergent (no vinegar or other acid), cashmere and wool can be hand-washed with a low-pH detergent (vinegar is great on these fabrics to rinse out residue) and silk can be washed in a Castile baby (mild) liquid soap. For items that must be dry-cleaned, locate a retailer who uses the “wet cleaning” process. Your clothes will be brighter, fluffier and— best of all—smell like clothes again!
“Best place to cure what ails you”
Explore our Oasis of Earthly Delights We have a comprehensive assortment of tinctures, soaps, essential oils, gifts, books and much more! Store hours: Mon.–Sat. 10–6:30 or visit us online.
theherbbar.com 200 W. Mary St. 512.444.6251
Lettuce Deliver. Real food. Free delivery. Best selection of local & organic in town Support local farms... and still have time to make dinner!
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Place settings
Setting the season b y e l i z a b e t h w i n s l o w • P h o t o g r a p h y b y J o d y H o rt o n
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ccording to artistic master Leonardo da Vinci, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Simple food is indeed an art—calling for pristine local ingredients at the peak of ripe perfection. The best cooks know not to overwork them, but to simply highlight the quality and flavor already present. Such artfully simple food calls for an equally uncomplicated and elegant setting—one that enhances rather that overwhelms what’s
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on the plate. And just as you comb the farmers market for the best of the local harvest, also visit thrift stores and consignment shops with an eye for hidden gems. Vintage finds integrate well with newly acquired collections for timeless appeal. Classic pieces that echo the seasons, loose and lovely floral arrangements and a spot of whimsy are all that are needed to create the perfect backdrop for rustic, farm-fresh dinners.
SPRING
SAAG PANEER WITH FRESH SPINACH Serves 6 2–4 T. butter (or ghee) 2 bunches spinach (or substitute chard or kale) washed, dried and torn into large pieces 8 oz. paneer, cut into ½-in. cubes 1 onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1-in. piece of ginger, finely grated 2–3 fresh hot chilies, minced, or 2 dried hot chilies, crumbled 4 t. turmeric ¼ c. cream ¼ c. thick Greek yogurt (preferably whole milk or 2 percent) Salt to taste
In a large skillet with high sides, heat the butter over high heat and quickly sauté the spinach just until it starts to wilt (do this in batches if necessary). Remove to a plate and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium-high, and heat more butter in the same skillet. Add the paneer, sprinkle with salt and fry until browned on one side. Toss and sauté for a few moments longer, then remove to a bowl and set aside. Add a little more butter to the skillet and add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies. Sauté until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the turmeric and sauté 1 to 2 minutes longer. Stir the cream into the onion mixture, then add the yogurt and cook until the mixture comes together and is heated through. Return the spinach (leaving accumulated liquid behind) and paneer to the skillet and toss until incorporated with sauce. Taste and correct seasoning with salt. Serve with grilled naan or hot basmati rice.
SPRING SETTINGS: Arrangement of ranunculus, iris, sweet pea and dusty miller (Loretta Flower); Chilewich flax/white reversible napkin, Saro linen tablecloth, Jars Tourron jade dinner plate, Jars Vuelta white pearl salad plate (Breed & Co.); vintage brass and wood silverware (St. David’s Next-ToNew Shop); Vintage bird salt and pepper shakers, Japanese bottle opener (Spartan).
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SUMMER
BUCKWHEAT NOODLES WITH GREEN BEANS AND TOASTED SESAME-LIME VINAIGRETTE Serves 6–8 Dressing ¹/³ c. freshly squeezed lime juice 3 T. fish sauce 2 T. sriracha, or to taste 1 T. sugar 2 T. tamari 3 T. toasted sesame oil Salad 1 package buckwheat soba noodles, cooked al dente, drained and rinsed ½ pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 1-in. lengths and blanched 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into ½-in. pieces 1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved 1–2 spring onions, cut into paper-thin slices 1 c. cooked chicken or tofu, cut into ½-inch pieces Small handful cilantro leaves ¹/³ c. coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
For the dressing: place the lime juice, fish sauce, sriracha, sugar and tamari in a small bowl. Whisk in the sesame oil until well blended. Place all the other salad ingredients together in a large bowl—reserving a small amount of peanuts and cilantro for garnish. Add the dressing, toss well, garnish and serve.
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Place settings
SUMMER SETTINGS: Arrangement of echinacea, nigella, lupine and dusty miller (Loretta Flower); Vietri Incanto Scallop dinner plate, Vietri Incanto Mare Aqua salad plate, Saro linen napkin, Simon Pearce Woodbury knife, fork and spoon (Breed & Co.); Japanese bottle opener, Jen Pearson Matchstick bottle (Spartan).
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Place settings
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FALL
THAI RED CURRY WITH PUMPKIN AND GREEN TOMATO Serves 6 1 T. neutral-flavored oil, such as peanut or grape seed 3 T. red curry paste 2 cans coconut milk, unshaken 1 butternut squash or small pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes 2–3 green tomatoes, cut into large cubes 3 T. fish sauce, or to taste Pinch sugar Juice of 1 lime Handful of fresh cilantro 1 package flat rice noodles, soaked in warm water until al dente and drained Limes for serving
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the curry paste and fry briefly, until fragrant. Open the cans of coconut milk without shaking them. There will be a layer of thicker coconut cream on top and more watery coconut juice on the bottom. Scoop the coconut cream off the top and add to the pot. Continue to fry over medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes—whisking to combine. Add the remaining coconut milk to the pot and heat to a simmer. Add the squash and green tomatoes. Simmer until the squash is tender. Balance the flavors with fish sauce, sugar and lime juice to taste. Coarsely chop half the cilantro and add to the curry. Place the rice noodles in serving bowls and ladle the hot curry over the top. Serve with handfuls of fresh cilantro on top and extra lime wedges for squeezing at the table.
FALL SETTINGS: Arrangement of roses, silver brunia, chocolate cosmos and seeded eucalyptus (Loretta Flower); Arte Italica salad plate, Vietri Crema dinner plate, Fresco Fabrics napkin, Saro linen tablecloth, Jan Barboglio flower napkin ring (Breed & Co.); Vintage silverware (St. David’s Next-To-New Shop); Spanish wine glass (Spartan).
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WINTER
SICILIAN CAULIFLOWER SALAD Serves 4–6 ¼ c. currants ½ loaf ciabatta ¼ c. pine nuts 1 head large cauliflower 2 T. olive oil (plus more, up to ½ c.) 2 anchovy fillets, chopped to a paste 2 cloves garlic, sliced paper thin Pinch red pepper flakes 4 T. white balsamic vinegar ½ c. Italian parsley leaves ¼ c. balsamic vinegar
Cover the currants with boiling water and set aside. Tear the bread into bite-size pieces and set aside. Toast the pine nuts at 350° until golden and set aside. Cut the cauliflower into florets, blanch them briefly in boiling water then drain, plunge into ice water and dry thoroughly. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Sear the cauliflower over moderately high heat until blackened in spots but still crunchy. Pour into a large bowl. Heat more oil in the skillet and sauté the bread until golden and crunchy. Add to the bowl with the cauliflower. Add a little more oil to the pan and sauté the anchovy paste and garlic until the garlic just begins to turn golden. Scrape the skillet contents into a small bowl and add the red pepper flakes and white balsamic. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the ½ cup of olive oil, until the mixture is emulsified. Drain the currants and add to the cauliflower and croutons along with the pine nuts and parsley. Toss with the vinaigrette. Pour the balsamic into a small skillet and reduce over medium heat and reduce to 2 tablespoons. Place the salad on a serving platter and drizzle with the balsamic syrup.
RESOURCES:
Breed & Co. 718 W. 29th St. 512-474-6679 3663 Bee Cave Rd. 512-328-3960 breedandco.com
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Loretta Flower lorettaflower.com 512-825-4789
Next-to-new shop 5435 Burnet Rd. 512-459-1288 next2new.org
Spartan 215 S. Lamar, Ste. D 512-579-0303 spartan-shop.com
Place settings
WINTER SETTINGS: Arrangement of anemone, juniper, tallow berry and ming fern (Loretta Flower); Simon Pearce Woodbury knife, fork and spoon, Match Convivio dinner plate, Vietri Rosso Vecchio salad plate, Fresco Fabrics napkin, Saro linen tablecloth, Jan Barboglio bird napkin ring (Breed & Co.); salt and pepper cellars, Spanish wine glass (Spartan).
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Though practiced in our own personal disciplines, our group… convenes to embark on cooking something new—something that, attempted alone, might feel arduous or challenging.
Lois Kim, Elizabeth Winslow. Elizabeth Chapin and Sarah Bork (not in photo) convene their social cooking club in Elizabeth Chapin’s kitchen to tackle making Thai street food (recipes on following pages).
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SOCIAL cooking
Around the Island b y E l i z a b e t h W i n s l o w • P h o t o g r a p h y b y J o d y H o rt o n
O
nce a month, I get together with a group of friends—Lois, Sarah and another Elizabeth—to cook. Though practiced in our own personal disciplines, our group, which includes a painter, a photographer, an entrepreneur and an intellectual, convenes to embark on cooking something new—something that, attempted alone, might feel arduous or challenging. It started with tamales. One afternoon, amidst a tumble of children, during a stolen conversation we had little time for, we discovered that none of us knew how to make them. We’re all really good cooks, so this came as a funny surprise. “I’ve always wanted to make tamales,” I admitted. “But they always seemed like such a process. And who has the time for a big project like that?” “A little overwhelming,” my friend Lois agreed. “I’ve always wanted to make the sunflower-seed tamales they serve at Mr. Natural,” Sarah added. “I think they’d be even better with roasted poblanos.” “Why don’t we all get together in my kitchen and try it?” Elizabeth offered. “I have that huge island, and we can just make an assembly line. Y’all come over after the kids have gone to bed.” And that was that. We divvied up the procurement of ingredients, and each of us made a filling: Sarah made the sunflower filling she’d been pining for, I made pork in red chili, Lois made bean and cheese and Elizabeth made chicken in green chili. We brought masa from El Milagro and freshly rendered lard from Dai Due Butcher Shop, soaked corn husks and banana leaves then spent hours rolling and folding, steaming, tasting and tweaking. The tamales were rich and moist, imperfect and maybe a little lumpy, but delicious and deeply flavorful. We also spent a considerable amount of time solving the world’s problems, talking about our children and our mothers, good books and films, universal truths and innocent gossip and, before long, what we wanted to cook next time. We all knew there must be a next time. We always meet at Elizabeth’s house because her kitchen is the perfect space for our work—a huge room, bright and cheerful, with a giant stainless worktable surrounded by stools. Copper pots, colanders, skillets, perfectly seasoned cast-iron and all manner of All-Clad pans hang from the world’s largest pot rack above. After the tamales, we practiced fresh pasta—something none of us had ever had enough time to play around with. Elizabeth found a Jamie Oliver recipe for caramelle—an adorable little pasta, shaped like candies and stuffed with minted ricotta. In a giant stainless bowl, we heaped all-purpose flour and semolina, made a well in the center and cracked in Rain Lily Farm eggs with yolks more orange than yellow. We took turns slowly working the flour into the eggs,
judging the texture with our fingers and then kneading until the dough felt silky and smooth. With two pasta rollers clamped to the worktable, we rolled out impossibly long ribbons of beautiful saffron-colored sheets—talking and laughing all the while. You really do make pasta by feel, and such an immersion gave us the foundation we needed to try again at home, now undaunted by something that had before seemed ridiculously ambitious. After the pasta, we tried our hands at French macarons, Thai street food and flatbreads. We have a long list of other recipes we want to try—handmade sausage, cheese, preserves, puff pastry. We each bring to the table a bit of knowledge here, a little technique there—the whole much greater than the sum of the parts. Our voices and our hands find a rhythm together and the cooking becomes intuitive rather than intimidating. What we’re really cooking up is a sense of communal pleasure around the act of learning how to feed ourselves and our families better. Our conversation is sometimes about what we’re working on, but more often than not, it’s a timeless and rich stew of stories, psychology, sociology, folk wisdom, urban myth and pragmatism. We cook for hours, then wash dishes together—our spirits fed and our appetites refreshed.
THAI STREET FOOD COOKING CLUB Recipes MANGO LASSI Serves 4 Courtesy of Sarah Bork 3–4 mangos 1 c. plain yogurt ½ c. plain kefir ½ c. milk 1–2 T. sugar ½ t. of cardamom Pinch of salt
Blend all ingredients until smooth, chill and serve.
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THAI MADTARBARK WITH BEEF Adapted from Thai Street Food by David Thompson Serves 4 For the dough: 4 oz. self-rising flour ½ egg, lightly beaten ¼ t. salt dissolved in ¼ c. water ½ oz. butter, broken into small pieces ½ c. oil For the filling: 2 T. chopped red shallots Good pinch of salt 1 T. chopped garlic
1 T. chopped ginger 1 heaping T. curry powder 3 oz. minced beef 2 T. fish sauce, or to taste Pinch of sugar 1 small white onion, sliced 3 T. chopped spring onions 2 T. chopped cilantro 1 egg, beaten 1 handful Thai basil, chopped
Make the dough. Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the egg, stirring to form a crumbly dough, then gradually work in the salted water. Knead for about 15 minutes, until the dough is smooth and soft. Transfer to a bowl that has been rubbed with a little of the butter and leave to rest for about an hour. Roll the dough between cupped hands, then divide into 3 equal-size balls and roll a little to smooth their surfaces. Return them to the bowl, cover in the oil and dot with the butter pieces. Cover and leave for at least 3 hours or overnight.
CUCUMBER RELISH ¼ c. white vinegar ¼ c. sugar ½ t. salt 3 T. water
1 small cucumber, quartered and sliced 3 red shallots, coarsely sliced ½ long red chili, chopped 1 T. chopped cilantro
Simmer the vinegar, sugar and salt with the water until the sugar dissolves. Take off of the heat and allow to cool. (This syrup can be made in advance and kept in the fridge indefinitely.) Just before serving, stir in the cucumber, shallot, chili and chopped cilantro.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the shallots with the salt, then add the garlic and ginger. Pound to a fine paste. Stir in the curry powder. Fry the paste in a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of the oil covering the dough balls until fragrant, then add the minced beef and cook for 4 minutes—stirring to prevent it from clumping. Season with the fish sauce and sugar. Allow to cool, then stir in the onions, spring onions, cilantro and egg. Oil the work surface and your hands well. Take out one of the dough balls and press it against the work surface with two or three fingers— spreading the dough to make a disk about 4 inches in diameter. Now, cast the dough by holding one edge of the disk and, using a throwing motion, stretch it until it is really thin and transparent. If you want, you can also use a rolling pin. Heat a large frying pan and melt a smear of the oil from the dough balls in it, then carefully lay the pastry in the pan. Let it cook for a moment, then place a third of the filling in the center, pressing down to flatten and spread it. Fold opposite sides of the pastry into the center, then repeat with the other two sides to make a square. Make sure that the flaps overlap to secure the filling inside. Flip, and continue to cook until both sides are golden brown. Allow to cool slightly, then cut into squares. Serve warm with cucumber relish.
LARB GAI Courtesy of Chanda Chapin Serves 4 1 lb. ground chicken ½ c. lime juice 2 T. fish sauce ½ t. minced fresh ginger 6 shallots, finely chopped
½–1 c. chopped scallions ½ c. chopped cilantro leaves 15 mint leaves 2 T. roasted rice powder Lettuce or endive leaves, for serving
Sauté the ground chicken, lime juice, fish sauce, ginger and shallots in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the chicken is cooked through. Toss with the remaining ingredients and serve cool or at room temperature with butter lettuce or endive leaves. Note: To make roasted rice powder, dry roast uncooked rice in a small skillet until golden, then pulverize to a fine powder in a spice grinder. (It can also be found in Thai grocery stores and online.) 50
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Broken Arrow Ranch An artisanal purveyor of high quality, free-range venison, antelope and wild boar meat from truly wild animals.
Enjoy meat as Mother Nature makes it! • Free-ranging animals humanely field-harvested on local ranches • Extremely low in fat; hormone- and antibiotics-free • The finest, most natural game meat available • Acclaimed nationally, available locally • Order online or visit our store in Ingram 3296 Junction Hwy., Ingram, TX 78025
800-962-4263 • brokenarrowranch.com EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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EGGPLANT AND TOFU CURRY Adapted from Tender by Nigel Slater Serves 6 2 large eggplants 3 medium onions 2 T. peanut oil 8 cardamom pods 2 T. coriander pods 2 t. black peppercorns 4 cloves garlic Thumb-size piece of ginger 2 t. turmeric 10 medium-size tomatoes 8 oz. extra-firm tofu, cut into cubes 2 cans coconut milk 4 small, hot red chilies Salt to taste Small bunch of mint Small bunch of cilantro
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Cut the eggplant into fat chunks. Put them in a colander and sprinkle heavily with salt. Leave them to sweat and drain for 30 minutes or longer. Peel and roughly chop the onions, then cook them with the oil in a large pan over moderate heat until they are soft, translucent and sweet.
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Meanwhile, crush the cardamom pods with the flat blade of a knife or a rolling pin, and shake out the little black seeds into a mortar or spice grinder. Add the coriander seeds and peppercorns and grind them into a coarse powder. Thinly slice the garlic. Peel the ginger and cut it into thin matchsticks. Stir the garlic and ginger into the onions along with the turmeric and ground spices. Peel and seed the tomatoes and add them to the pan. Rinse the eggplant and pat it dry. Without oiling, grill on a ridged cast-iron grill pan until they start to soften and have dark grill lines across them. Turn them as you go, so they are cooked on both sides and remove them as they are ready—replacing them with another batch. Add them, along with the tofu, to the onions, then pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the chilies and a little salt and continue cooking at a simmer for about 45 minutes. The eggplant should be soft and silky but not falling apart. Lift out the eggplant pieces, tofu, tomatoes and some of the onions with a slotted spoon. Reduce the sauce in the pan by boiling hard for 5 minutes or so. Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce to a smooth consistency. Return the vegetables and tofu to the pot, then chop the mint and cilantro and stir them in, with a final seasoning of salt and pepper.
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“Mason’s really good at stirring.” —Mylie Arnold
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Mason Arnold b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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ason and Mylie Arnold were introduced the old fashioned way: by a friend who thought they might enjoy each other’s company. Both had found entrepreneurial success before turning 30—he as king of the Greenling local-food delivery service; she as a ballroom-dancing queen and studio owner. Both had been raised by former flower children in all-natural homes. And yet, when they finally decided to tie the knot, they eloped to Las Vegas. “It was the last thing anyone expected,” Mylie says. “We were married by this huge Hawaiian guy who kept stopping the ceremony to tell us to kiss. Then we came back and threw a huge party with a very local meal. We drove the caterer nuts.” Now they’re raising their young son according to the values they grew up with. By inviting Mason’s parents to share their South Austin home, they’ve deliberately created a three-generational family. Powerful tribal systems seem to be at work here, not to mention business skills and time management. But it turns out the Arnolds organize their full lives around something pretty simple: dinner. You can care passionately about dinner, he points out, without actually cooking it. “Mason’s really good at stirring,” Mylie says, as she chops her way through a bunch of basil. “If there’s any electrical tool involved, he’s all about it. Other than that…” “I tried cooking once,” Mason protests. “I made cookies from the back of the Tollhouse bag. I followed the recipe exactly. It took two-and-a-half hours, and they tasted exactly like the ready-to-bake ones. It was discouraging. I’m an engineer. I’m too exact for cooking.” Still, he probably wasn’t exact enough to tolerate the chemical engineering jobs he’d prepared for in college. Shortly after graduation, he formed an environmentally responsible landscaping company, but grew discouraged when he found himself doing too much lawn mowing and not enough planet saving. “I started to feel like people shouldn’t have lawns in the first place,” he remembers. “So I sold that company and dug into the three primary challenges: energy, water and food.” Brainstorming sessions with old college friends helped Mason narrow the focus. “We talked about modernizing the food chain. Then we stumbled into a better overall model.” Greenling became the first Austin company to not only offer weekly deliveries of local, sustainable food, but to allow customers to customize their baskets online. Today, Mason presides over eight delivery trucks and three times that many employees, including the one who introduced him to his future wife. Soon after leaving small-town Northern California for Austin, Mylie happened to see the Gap’s famous swing-dance commercial
on TV—an ad often credited with starting the swing-dance revival in the late ’90s. She kept her waitressing job just long enough to pay for her first dance lessons. “Within a month,” she says, “I was in a teacher-training program.” By the time she met Mason, Mylie owned and ran Go Dance studio. Her drive made an impression on Mason, as did the organic shampoo in her shower. And she took note of the organic eggs in his fridge. The icebox continues to play a big role in their married life. Mason still brings home the eggs and Mylie still cooks them—counting on her mother-in-law, Cindy, to help her wrangle five diners who sometimes require five different dinners. Gluten-, or dairy- or meat-free though they might be at any given moment, each Arnold will find a way to eat pizza on homemade pizza night. By comparison, tonight’s dinner is a breeze. “Sort of a knockoff of the Amazing Green Beans at Madam Mam’s,” Mylie says. “I make it with whatever we have on hand—in winter, it’s greens, root vegetables and kale, but it adapts to anything. The only constant is some kind of ground meat, jalapeños and fish sauce.” As Mylie spoons the one-dish meal into bowls, 14-month-old Daxton wakes up from his nap, Mason goes to get him and the rest of the extended family pulls up in the driveway. Dinner, anyone?
MASON AND MYLIE’S AMAZING ANY-NIGHT VEGGIES Serves 4–6 1 lb. Richardson Farms ground pork Coconut oil, for frying 4 T. fish sauce, divided 1 onion, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 3 small carrots, chopped
2 c. chopped okra 1 yellow summer squash, chopped 2 c. purple-hull peas 1 bunch purple (or other) basil, chopped 1 jalapeño, cut into rings
Over medium-low heat, sauté the pork in the coconut oil in a deep, enameled saucepan until it begins to lose its pinkness. Stir in half of the fish sauce. Turn the heat to medium and add the onions and bell pepper, stirring occasionally until they soften. About 5 minutes later, add the carrots. About 5 minutes later, add the okra. About 5 minutes later, add the squash and peas. Add the rest of the fish sauce. Stir in the basil and cook until wilted. Garnish with the jalapeños. Note: Feel free to substitute about 8 cups of any seasonal vegetables you have on hand, but don’t leave out the basil. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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Eliza Gilkyson b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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niversity of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen deals in big political themes: gender and race inequality, American imperialism, white male supremacy…and food. “There are no meaningful politics that don’t deal with the food system,” he says. “Food and water are the basic issues of our time.” Jensen can talk at length about American poet and agrarian Wendell Berry, the perils of processed food and the current threats to biological diversity. But does this translate to something as elemental as dinner? Does Jensen actually get out in the kitchen and rattle them pots and pans? In fact, yes. His wife, singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson, says she depends on Jensen’s cooking to reset her body and mind when she gets home from a tour. Road food is a notoriously mixed blessing. On one hand, it’s ready when you need it and someone else cooked it. On the other, Gilkyson says, “everything has sugar or fructose, and I’m overly sensitive to so many kinds of food. Avoiding soy, wheat, eggs, tree nuts and garlic can be exhausting. At home, I want to spend days reading and talking and using my body. I want to eat two or three basic things.” One is rice and greens—a base of sautéed onions, cooked rice, cheese and at least an armful of greens that can be augmented, or not, with anything from olives to cumin to fresh herbs. “I check what’s there, and then I cook with it,” Jensen says. “I have a frugality streak.” Nevertheless, lush flavors emerge from his kitchen, and that kitchen is where he belongs. Gilkyson prefers growing food to cooking it—this is the basis of the Jensen-Gilkyson domestic arrangement. Neither is the type to leave the complex subject they refer to as “the equality thing” to chance. The couple met at a rally marking the second anniversary of the Iraq invasion. She’d come to play the protest song “Tender Mercies,” and he was speaking—in a way that struck an immediate chord. “I asked [fellow musician] Slaid Cleaves, ‘who the hell is that?’ and then I was shoving through the crowd to meet Robert,” says Gilkyson. She may have been a little starstruck, but so was he. Jensen began spending time at Gilkyson’s home, a brightly painted oasis that refuses to blend in with the rest of the suburban cul-de-sac. She’d collected fruit trees and folk art, but her inner homemaker only went so far. “She was fussing in the kitchen, and I was getting in her way,” Jensen remembers. “Finally I asked her if she liked any part of cooking…if she even liked doing the dishes.” Good question. While raising two children in rural New Mexico during her “back-to-the-land hippie days,” Gilkyson had cooked plenty of healthy meals, but now she wanted to be out in the garden tinkering with her rainwater systems, picking tomatoes,
encouraging toads to move up the hill from Williamson Creek and trying to outwit squirrels. (“You can’t shoot a BB gun in town,” she says regretfully.) “If I never cook another meal,” she told Jensen, “it’s fine with me.” It was fine with Jensen, too. Raised on “classically awful American processed food,” he’d become a vegetarian, then discovered “you can eat crap as a vegetarian, too. I had to overcome this idea that cooking was what other people did. It’s not an art or a science, but a craft. I don’t like recipes. I’m a slob cook,” he says cheerfully. Gilkyson disagrees. “Everything he cooks comes from scratch,” she says. “I come off the road, he cooks for me and I feel good enough to go back out.”
ROBERT JENSEN’S BACK-FROM-THEROAD RICE AND GREENS Sauté chopped onions—enough to make a single layer in the bottom of a regular-size sauté pan—and a bit of garlic in some olive oil until soft. Season depending on mood—a combination of basil, oregano and thyme or cardamom, cumin, garam masala and curry powder. Add salt and pepper. Add a layer of cooked rice— white, brown or a combination of the two. Optional: add a layer of tofu, previously marinated in tamari and fried. Add a layer of grated cheese—basic Cheddar, Asiago, most anything would work. Finally, add a layer of greens—kale is best, but anything works. Cover the pan, increase heat and cook until the greens are wilted and the onions are starting to caramelize. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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Graham Reynolds b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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or Graham Reynolds, something is always under construction, being deconstructed, simmering or being served. It happens on paper, in his recording studio, in his brain. It might mean working on his live-action graphic novel, writing a score for Richard Linklater or composing music for dancing sanitation trucks. Or it could mean slowly stirring a pot of homemade marinara, because even famous composers need to eat. “I work at home, making recordings and scoring, so I can put something on the stove and keep working,” he says. “Or my helper, Buzz Moran, might be mixing, and I can be in the kitchen making us lunch.” Reynolds doesn’t throw meals together, though. He admits to being “pretty nerdy about just about everything.” Not to mention obsessive. “I explore tomato sauce, for instance,” he says. “I’ve made hundreds of different recipes. I make fifteen recipes pretty regularly. I like to have people over and cook multiple sauces.” When the votes are tallied, one usually wins, but that doesn’t mean Reynolds will stop experimenting, or that tomato sauce will eclipse his fascination with other foods. Cooking has preoccupied him for as long as he can remember. “My mom and dad had a big garden, and my father had a passion for tomatoes,” he remembers. “He gave us the option of cooking for the family or weeding. Given the option, my brother and I cooked. My mom would let us make up recipes. We’d choose all kinds of kid food and mix it together and come up with menus. It was all inedible! I don’t know how she dealt with it.” Probably with patience and optimism, both of which paid off. In college, Reynolds served as family cook during summer breaks. Someone else, presumably, pulled weeds. The kitchen became his territory, at home and abroad. “On the road, food is a major focus,” he says. “It’s not about eating at the closest McDonald’s. Every city has a food destination. In New York or L.A. we try to eat regional or ethnic. I look for sub-Saharan food, from Ghana or Senegal. Or a particular region of China—there’s plenty of Szechuan and Hunan, but I’m still looking for Yunnan.” Reynolds has been vegan for years, but nowhere in his extensive travels has this cramped his style. He’s the kind of guy who reads cookbooks in bed—most recently a bartender’s guide
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first published in 1876, in the hope of finding the perfect OldFashioned recipe. Or three. “For years and years I didn’t drink, so it was water or homemade lemonade,” he says. “Now I’ve been experimenting with quite a bit of Italian wine.” That led him to the art of pairing, which may or may not even involve wine. “Nothing makes pizza taste better than Coca-Cola,” he states. “Not beer, not goodquality soda. Coke makes pizza taste better, and pizza makes Coke taste better. That’s the genius.” Pairing can be easy—salty peanuts to set the stage for booze at a bar, for example—or more elusive, as in wine and tomato sauce. “Chianti has the reputation for being the tomato wine, but I like wines from Campagna, and amarone. In general, I look for an aggressive, heavy red.” And yet, as previously established, there is no one tomato sauce. For that matter, there’s no single tomato. Reynolds works with fresh, uncooked paste tomatoes; expensive, imported canned tomatoes; and cheap, domestic canned tomatoes. Each has its application, but if pressed, Reynolds will narrow his choices for tomato sauce—from hundreds of recipes, to fifteen and finally to one. “The recipe I’ve made the most was when I had the least money,” he says. “It’s very simple, but the flavor is extremely rich.” Considering the research that went into it, you should probably give it a try.
GRAHAM REYNOLDS’S GO-TO MARINARA Chop one decent-size onion into half-inch squares. Sauté it in 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil (the nicer you can afford, the better) until soft. Don’t use a cast-iron pan. You’ll regret it. Crush 3 cloves of garlic with the blade of a knife and add to the pan. Grind black pepper into your hand—about 1 to 2 teaspoons. Add that. Open one 28-ounce can of cheap tomatoes. Stick a cooking spoon into the can and break the tomatoes up somewhat. Add them, juice and all, to the pan. Cook on high heat— as high as you can without burning—for 20 to 25 minutes. Keep an eye on it. After 15 minutes, start turning down the heat. You don’t want the sauce to turn into paste. When it’s thick—not sticking to the pan, but thick—remove the sauce from the heat and put it through a food mill—omitting some of the onions to add back in for a subtle chunkiness. Put the sauce back into the pan, heat and add salt to taste. Serve over spaghetti or linguine.
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OWEN EGERTON’S FAMILY-GUY FRY-UP Throw 3 slices of bacon and 1 sausage* per person into a pan. Heat a can of baked beans (the Heinz blue can**), in its “deliciously rich tomato sauce.” Cut up a handful of mushrooms and a handful of tomatoes per person. When the bacon and sausage are about halfway cooked, add the vegetables to the grease. Crack in one egg per person and fry slowly, basting occasionally with bacon grease. Don’t crank the heat too high—this should take a while. Toast one slice of bread per person. Or, if you’re feeling sassy, push aside the bacon and fry the bread in the bacon grease. Serve all on one big plate. * Owen likes the spiced bison sausage from Whole Foods Market, but feel free to substitute. ** Campfire-style beans, not brown sugar beans. 60
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Owen Egerton b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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hen Owen Egerton “cooks,” it’s usually something like cheese, bread and olives retrieved from the pantry and placed within reach. Everyone in the house likes the spread, but it isn’t exactly fine dining. “I love the idea of being a careful cook,” Owen says, “but I’m not.” His wife, Jodi, agrees. “Our meals tend to be haphazard. He’s often coming and going from a show,” she says. The Egertons and their two young children don’t always sit down at the same time, or even at the same table, but right now Owen is doing something in his kitchen that could be described as bustling about. He’s using three out of four burners. Jodi watches him with interest. “It’s so awesome that you’re making dinner,” she says. “I’m primarily the breakfast guy,” Owen says, “but this is a traditional British fry-up, and it is not breakfast for dinner! It’s what you eat when you come home from the pub or you’re hung over. It’s perfect solo-guy food.” If you quadruple the recipe however, it’s perfect weekday dinner food for a family like the Egertons, who’ve just come back from a long trip and haven’t quite unpacked. (Owen was relieved to find a can of baked beans, without which he can’t make this meal properly, in his luggage.) The family had moved to Los Angeles for seven months so that Owen—a screen and fiction writer, actor, monologist and high-profile improv guy—could work on scripts and promote his movie ideas in their native habitat. It went well. He took meetings, wrote a lot, garnered industry attention and came home feeling optimistic. “We actually could have stayed longer,” he says. “We loved the beach, the Santa Monica Farmers Market, the weather.” “But,” Jodi cuts in (and this “but” is significant), “we found there was no equivalent to a breakfast taco! They have something called a ‘breakfast burrito’…I walked into this obviously hip coffee shop, looking for something delicious, and that’s what they had! Nine bucks!” That was a bargain compared to the eatery of the moment she went to with an old friend who’d become a successful TV writer. “He took me to a foam restaurant, where all the food is foamed,” she says. “He kept saying ‘you’ve got to try the organic egg. You must have it.’ Yes. It was a foamed egg. It made me worry about moving there.” “The food’s different,” Owen agrees. “There’s no Kerbey Lane.
There’s a lack of sincerity. There’s a soul to Austin food.” Not coincidentally, his courtship with Jodi began with food in Austin. It was 1999. He was doing improv comedy and living in a Volkswagen bus. She had just joined the same comedy troupe, and late-night platonic bonding ensued. “We were not dating at all,” he remembers. “But one night, I called her at 3 a.m. and said, ‘I’m going to Jim’s for steak and eggs. You want to go?’ And she did.” For a man who admits to an obsession with Waffle House restaurants (“they’re sort of holy”), a woman who was not only as funny as he was, but also just as open to late-night snacking, constituted the marital jackpot. Owen felt empowered to share the foodways he’d learned from his British parents, who’d raised him in Houston. A touch of British accent emerges as Owen tells a harsh tale of childhood meals. “My mother wasn’t keen on packing lunch for four kids,” he says. “So she’d take all the leftovers—there was always lamb—and put them in the Cuisinart and make this sort of lamb paste. She and my dad would spread it on sandwiches and throw them all in the freezer, and that’s what we packed for lunch. At school, I’d take my sandwich out and discover this semi-thawed lamb paste. Overcome with guilt, I’d take a nibble and throw the rest away. It turned out none of us could stand the icy center of a damp lambmush sandwich—which, at our house, we called lunch.” But this isn’t a referendum on British food. Owen loves most of it: chips, crisps, pub meals, Guinness. Whether living in his van or in a Santa Monica sublet, he gravitates toward canned baked beans on toast, a very British snack. “Or bacon buddies, like my dad used to make,” he says. “It’s toast, buttered on both sides…and bacon. Plus extra bacon. I’m a big believer in making sure you don’t waste bacon. Or bacon grease.” Which explains the snap, crackle, pop emanating from the stove, Owen’s near certainty that the smoke detector is about to go off and the fact that Arden (age 6) and Oscar (age 3) are moving ever closer to the kitchen. The fry-up—a hedonistic mélange of British and American late-night comfort foods and aromatic tomatoes and mushrooms—is nearing completion. All that’s lacking is one egg per person. Fried in bacon grease. Sunny side up. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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WILL PACKWOOD b y R o b i n C h o t z i n o f f • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a rc Br o w n
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omehow, Will Packwood managed to achieve stardom as a classic Italian chef without developing a classic Italian chef ’s ego. Food & Wine magazine named him one of the Best New Chefs of 2001, but you’d probably only know that if you saw the shadowbox hanging in his dark hallway. Inside the shadowbox rests the official Food & Wine trophy: a miniature chef ’s coat, starched flat. “They also gave me a knife, and I have it around here somewhere,” he says. “I don’t use it. I’m in love with Wüsthof, and she might get jealous.” In any case, Ms. Wüsthof ’s only true competition comes in what appears to be a plastic bag of Moretti white polenta, but is really a gastronomic shrine. This is the real imported Italian stuff—the basis of the cuisine imprinted on Packwood’s DNA when he was a child. Though he sounds Texan, his mother is Italian and he lived in Italy his first 10 years. “My mother grew up as one of four children, literally of sharecroppers,” he says. “They went to the garden to eat, killed a pig every year, ate polenta every day. When we moved here in the late ’70s, she didn’t know what to do—there was no polenta in the grocery stores.” It’s easier to find now, especially for Packwood, who works as a chef and gourmet specialist at Hardie’s Fruit and Vegetable Co. But, as so many travelers to Italy have discovered, imported ingredients don’t always taste the same on American soil. “People get sort of hysterical about it, but it’s true,” Packwood says. “In Italy, food looks better, tastes better—the vegetables are fresher, the animals are all grassfed, the cheese is fresh or semi-fresh and unpasteurized. Even ketchup made in Milan is different—it just tastes different.” If you think it’s difficult to acquire this kind of food, try learning to cook it. People in the Veneto region eat simple, unpretentious fare, right? How hard could it be? “I like simple flavor combinations, not too many in one dish,” Packwood says. “But unless you grew up in a culture, I don’t think you can do it the way they do it.” Even then, you have to put in some serious kitchen time. In between culinary school and his various restaurant jobs, Packwood returned to Italy many times to live—working at restaurants and immersing himself in the culture. Back in Austin, he served as executive chef at Mezzaluna Gateway, Emelia’s and 7. In 2006, he opened Cibo and watched it become a local sensation—receiving uniformly rave reviews. Purism however, got in his way. Customers sometimes balked 62
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“There’s an old saying that eighty-five percent of a good dish is shopping…. I just go to the market and buy real food. Fresh, real food.” at paying $30 for a simple, if perfectly executed, entrée—even when they had no problem shelling out for a tiny portion of molecular gastronomy at someone else’s restaurant. Cibo closed in 2008, and other than a monthly cooking class at his condo complex, Packwood now cooks mostly for himself and his girlfriend, Sarah Odgers, who trained as a chef herself—but leaves the cooking to Packwood. “I can’t do what he does,” she says, and she’s not exaggerating. Working without a menu or even a recipe, Packwood trolls several markets each week. “There’s an old saying that eighty-five percent of a good dish is shopping,” he says. “If so, why wouldn’t you want to taste those expensive flavors you just bought? I just go to the market and buy real food. Fresh, real food.” One recent Friday night, he prepared pasta e fasioi, the traditional Venetian pasta-and-bean soup. Then came eggplant with anchovies, mint and heirloom tomatoes; chicken with porcini; and, of course, polenta. Later that evening, Packwood offered his guests homemade biscotti with passito-style dessert wine for dipping. And finally, a real Italian maraschino cherry, which bore no more resemblance to the bright red bartender’s garnish than cornmeal mush does to polenta. Thus, the “simple” Italian meal ended—with a swashbuckling pop. The guests felt like cashing in their 401(k)s and moving to Italy to become kitchen apprentices; but even if they did, they knew they’d never be able to do this at home. Packwood can, so he does—with or without guests—just about every night. “I walk through that door, set my keys down and start cooking.”
WILL PACKWOOD’S PASTA E FASIOI Venetian Pasta-and-Bean Soup 2 c. borlotti beans (soaked in water 24 to 48 hours) 2 T. extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for drizzling at service) 3 oz. pancetta, diced 1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced 1 carrot, peeled and diced 1 celery rib, diced 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced ¼ bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves only, minced
1 small sprig rosemary 3 sage leaves 6 c. brodo (mild meat broth, usually chicken and beef, preferably homemade), plus more if needed 2-in. x 2-in. piece Parmesan rind Salt and pepper to taste 1 c. dry pasta (small macaroni shape) Parmesan cheese, grated, for serving
Drain and rinse the soaked beans. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over a medium flame. Add the pancetta and render until golden brown. Add the diced vegetables, garlic and herbs and stir to combine. Allow the vegetables to cook until tender and the onion is translucent. Add the drained beans and stir to combine. Add the brodo and Parmesan rind, stir and allow the soup to come to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the beans until tender—about 90 minutes. Transfer two-thirds of the cooked beans along with a cup of the cooking liquid to a blender and puree. Transfer the pureed beans back to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Add the pasta and continue cooking until the pasta is fully cooked. Add a small amount of cooking liquid to desired consistency and adjust the seasoning. Ladle the soup into individual bowls and garnish with grated Parmesan, freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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Texas WIne holiday gift guide b y te r ry T h o m p s o n - Ande r s o n
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his year, when shopping for the perfect wines to serve at holiday get-togethers or give as hostess gifts at parties, think TEXAS. There’s a stunning array of fine wines being produced here, from sparkling wines to big reds, new styles of white varietals to dessert wines and everything in between. In the past few years, as Texas winemakers have focused on those grapes best suited to the Texas terroir, they’ve produced wines from a myriad of varietals that have never been grown in the state before. Now more than ever, Texas has a portfolio of varietals that spans the globe. And Texas winemakers are using more native grapes and native hybrids to make wines of a quality that no one—especially the wine snobs—would’ve believed possible five years ago. Since many Texas wineries have small production, beverage distributors don’t carry their wines. Ask your independent wine store to assist in getting wines from those smaller wineries. If all else fails, Texas wineries will be delighted to ship their wines to you. Call the individual winery for further information. Becker vineyards 2010 Clementine Viognier is one of the fabulous French Rhône varietals that seems to love Texas dirt. Several Texas wineries are now producing very good wines from the viognier grape, or are using it in blends. Becker Vineyards first produced this excellent dessert wine, made from lateharvested viognier grapes, a few years back. It proved to be popular with wine drinkers, and now has a solid niche in the Becker portfolio. The wine was produced from grapes grown at Cliff Bingham’s Bingham Family Vineyards in the Texas High Plains, near Lubbock. It has aromatics reminiscent of a fresh fruit salad, with flavors of lime and grapefruit on the palate. There’s a delightful finish with a hint of vanilla, a drop of honey and a nuance of date. Pair the wine with fresh fruit or crème brûlée. It also makes a great aperitif. A unique serving method is to place shooter glasses in the freezer until well chilled and frosty. Fill with Clementine and serve from a silver tray— impressive! 830-644-2681 Bending Branch Winery 2009 Tannat, EM 1840 Established in 2007, Bending Branch is one of Texas’s newer wineries. Owner Bob Young and his son-in-law John Rivenburgh, a Texas Tech viticulture management program student, carefully investigated European varietals that would thrive in their vineyard in Comfort. They ended up planting twelve varietals that are fairly new to Texas—among them tannat, a slow-ripening grape from the Pyrenees foothills south of Bordeaux that’s quickly establishing itself as a New World classic. Bending Branch’s 2009 Tannat was given extended maceration, which soothes the sometimes harsh tannins of this
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grape. It’s inky purple in color with a nose of intense fruit. On the palate, lush notes of black cherry, dark chocolate and cola precede the unfolding layers of anisette, mint leaves, cedar and violets. This very full-bodied wine is for the serious red wine drinker on your holiday gift list. Awarded a gold medal and best of show at the 2010 Lonestar International Wine Competition, this powerhouse will complement the boldest cuisines, the wildest game meats, a nice Texas rib eye or just good company. It’s also a wine that should age well and gracefully. Although the current prototype for this wine was using fruit from a small Paso Robles, California vineyard which Bob personally selected during on-site visits, the winery will begin producing the wine using their estate-grown grapes or those sourced from other Texas vineyards in 2012. The entire Bending Branch team is dedicated to producing Texas terroir wines. 830-995-2948
Brushy Creek Vineyards Sparkling Blanc du Bois 2009 If pressed to name the official grape of Texas, those in the know would probably say it was the native hybrid blanc du bois. It’s a varietal that grows anywhere in Texas and is not subject to the vagaries of Vitis vinifera grapes. Many Texas wineries have extensive plantings of blanc du bois grapes and are turning out fabulous wines—from sweet dessert, to off-dry, to Madeira-style wines. In fact, Texas has more acreage devoted to blanc du bois grapes than any other region on the planet! So it’s not surprising that Les Constable at Brushy Creek Vineyards in Alvord, just north of Fort Worth, released a sparkling wine made from the grape. Texas winemakers are learning how to treat this hardy grape to make a large variety of wine styles. Constable’s sparkling wine is semisweet and fruity, with a nice head of effervescence. It’s the perfect wine for a party and would be a great match for those spicy finger foods we love so much in Texas! 940-427-4747. Duchman Family Winery 2009 Dolcetto (Mandola label) The dolcetto varietal is a grape that hails from the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. A few Texas grape growers decided the growing conditions were similar in the Texas High Plains and put in some dolcetto acreage. The resulting wines have proven to be excellent, and the grape seems to be destined for a permanent place in Texas. Dolcetto is ideally meant to be enjoyed one to two years after its release. Duchman’s 2009 Dolcetto began its life in the bottle as a mediumbodied wine exhibiting crisp red-fruit character with high tannins and low acidity. Russ Kane, wine authority and publisher of the popular wine blog Vintage Texas, believes this is a wine to be reckoned with, and one that’s becoming better with bottle aging—integrating its fruit and tannic qualities. In 2010, the wine won a Double Gold Medal at the prestigious San Francisco International Wine Competition—certainly a coup for the Duchmans, and another nod to the emerging quality of Texas wines. Dolcetto is a food-friendly wine, best with the robust dishes of its origin: pasta with red sauces and hearty pizzas. 512-858-1470
ers have jumped on this varietal as it’s proven capable of thriving in the Texas terroir and heat. Perissos owner and winemaker Seth Martin coaxes the very best qualities from this noble grape, then blends it with touriga to add a bright, acidic backbone and some well-balanced tannins to make a stellar full-bodied wine with characteristic earthy nuances. In this wine, you’ll find the classic notes of sweet tobacco, smoke and herbs and a rich cranberry finish. And though tempranillo is one of the most food-friendly wines on the planet, think of the grape’s origin of Spain for the perfect food pairings. Try it with tapas, pork and other grilled or roasted red meats and game. 512-820-2950 Sandstone Cellars Winery 2006 IV Vintage Port Style Dessert Wine (photo at left) Sandstone Cellars is a small winery in Mason, but being small hasn’t kept the dynamic trio of owners Scott Haupert, Manny Silerio and winemaker Don Pullum from producing some of the most noteworthy wines in Texas. With its iron-infused quartzite sand mixed with a little granite, the soil in Mason County drains well and has a pH that is neutral or just slightly acidic, which makes for great grape growing. Pullum believes the soil results in the grapes having bigger bouquets, and one swirl of their 2006 IV Port Style wine made a believer out of me. When the Sandstone team produced this wine, they made it BIG, with alcohol at 19.5 percent, 12 percent residual sugar, strong tannins and heavy fruit extraction. They were hoping for aging potential, and now, five years later, the wine has proven that potential. Its profile has changed— showing great port maturity. It’s taken on a very traditional mulberry character on both the nose and the palate, but it still retains its sassy spiciness, along with notes of chocolate, lico-
Perissos Vineyard and Winery 2009 Tempranillo Blend Six-year-old Perissos is another of Texas’s newer wineries, but they’ve come out of the chute galloping—producing a large portfolio of varietals, all of which are good to very good to excellent. Their 2009 Tempranillo falls into the latter class. Tempranillo is a thick-skinned black grape that’s widely grown in Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions and used to make full-bodied wines, and Texas winemakEDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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Now more than ever, Texas has a portfolio of varietals that spans the globe. And Texas winemakers are using more native grapes and native hybrids to make wines of a quality that no one… would’ve believed possible five years ago. rice, orange peel, crème brûlée and wintergreen. The wine has received critical acclaim—winning top honors in the Red WineSweet Division at a 2009 DrinkLocalWine.com competition at Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Dallas, and won Texas Class Champion at the 2009 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition as well as a bronze at the 2011 San Francisco International Wine Competition. Port is a celebratory wine, and certainly one that’s perfect for the winter holiday season. Pullum agrees. “Port is a wonderful tradition during the fall and winter holidays, and the Sandstone Cellars 2006 IV has become a tradition for Scott, Manny and me. It warms the heart, encourages conversation and, along with a slice of chocolate cake, pecan pie or port-poached pear, the IV completes a festive meal.” 325-347-9463
Sister Creek Vineyards 2010 Muscat Canelli Sister Creek Vineyards, east of Luckenbach in the sleepy town of Sisterdale, is no newcomer to the Texas wine industry. Winemaker Danny Hernandez has been making some outstanding wines there for 22 years, but the muscat canelli is probably one of their best known. The grape yields a hugely floral wine that’s been produced in various forms all over Europe. In Italy, it’s the grape that is used to produce Asti spumante and moscato d’Asti. In Texas, the grape is grown by a plethora of wineries and has proven to thrive in the Texas terroir. What makes Hernandez’s a favorite is the slight carbonation, added to the wine in the Italian style, which adds crispness along with a little spritz. Sister Creek Muscat Canelli is fermented and aged in stainless-steel tanks, chilled and filtered to retain about 7 percent residual sugar, giving it an elegant but not overpoweringly sweet profile. The sweetness is balanced with intense fruity (mainly peach), floral and honey aromas, and pleasing on the palate where the combination of sweet, fruit and spritz make for a delightful experience. It has a crisp, lingering finish and is perfect with a dessert course or served in icy shooter glasses as dessert—perhaps alongside a lemony shortbread cookie. 830-324-6704 Torre Di Pietra 2010 Petite Syrah (Estate) The petite syrah grape was developed in the Rhône region of France in 1870. The fruit is small with a high skin-to-juice-ratio, meaning it produces wines with high acidity and high tannin levels—two musts in order for a wine to age well. Wine lovers in Texas are fortunate that the grape seems to be doing quite well in our Texas terroir, as are most of the Rhône varietals. One of the best is produced by Ken Maxwell at his Torre di Pietra winery in Fredericksburg. The 2010 Torre di Pietra Petite Syrah was produced from the first petite syrah vines planted in Texas in 2001. The wine is brilliant purple in color with a delightful note of oak on the nose and nice notes of black cherry and red plum that follow through on the palate. There’s also a nice little note of black pepper, making it a red-meat-friendly wine. The finish is smooth with a lingering cherry creaminess wrapped around mature, gripping tannins. It is a good candidate for aging. This is a big wine that will be the perfect pairing to a succulent rare-roasted prime rib. 830-644-2829
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SOCIAL cooking
Cookie exchange by Jessica Maher • Photography by andy sams
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n my family, baking cookies for the holidays is a competitive sport. Outside of a professional bakery, I don’t know anyone else who buys butter by the pallet like my Aunt Ronnie does. The cookie gene has been passed along through many generations, so it seems throwing a cookie/recipe exchange party would come naturally to me…but not so! The first holiday Cookies and Cocktails party we hosted at home was messy, disorganized and crazy—albeit fun and memorable. I thought it was a good idea to have guests bring their own cookie dough and bake their cookies at our house to serve them warm. I thought the kids would love to decorate sugar cookies
to take home. Ugh, I thought wrong. It was a tornado of dirty dishes, flour and sugar-crazed kids chasing my dog. I’ve since discovered that the keys to cookie-party success are simplicity, organization and learning how to be a guest at your own soiree. Don’t be a slave to your oven, and definitely don’t take yourself—or your cookies—too seriously. It’s best to pick a theme that your guests will enjoy without too much effort. And if you take a little extra time to map out everything needed in advance, all you’ll have to worry about on the day of the party is whether or not your Champagne flute is full enough or you have crumbs all over your face. (Also consider dropping the dog off at the neighbor’s house.)
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Tips for Success • Pick a fun theme (like favorite chocolate cookies) to set parameters for your guests, and ask everyone to bring about 3 to 4 dozen cookies. Also, don’t limit your cookie-exchange parties just to the holiday season, when everyone has full dance cards. Consider hosting a party in the months leading up to the holidays, so that guests will have some cookie gift ideas. • Ask guests to e-mail their cookie recipes beforehand and print out little recipe packets to give as party favors (along with boxes of cookies). Alternatively, make a pdf version of the collected recipes that includes any photos you take of the cookies, then e-mail the file to everyone after the party. • Start your party in the afternoon to allow everyone time to burn off some of the sugar. It’s also a great idea to have activities available to keep it fun—like magnetic darts, bocce ball or croquet. • Provide savory and healthful snacks, beverages and adult libations to offset the sugar overload your guests are sure to experience. Keep a fresh pitcher of water available to encourage guests to reset their palates. •U nleash the kids on some cookie “painting.” Be sure to designate a table for it and prepare yourself for the cleanup. For our party, we put an adjustable-height table in the garage and left the garage door halfway open. Place an easy-to-clean cloth or outdoor throw rug under the table, and provide moist towels to wipe down sticky hands and faces. Get everything ready ahead of time—the sugar cookies, royal icing, food coloring (make your own with veggie and fruit juice, or try India Tree natural food coloring), sparkling sugar and tools of the trade like a pastry bag or sandwich bag and tips, palette knife and spoons. A supply of fun aprons makes an instant costume party! • Hold a secret-ballot poll for favorite cookie of the day. The winner can take home a fancy cookie cutter, a bag of King Arthur flour and the respect of the crowd as ultimate cookie maker of the year. • Make sure your guests load up on cookies for home before they leave. They can reuse plates they’ve brought with them, or you can provide cookie boxes, available at Make It Sweet (formerly All In One Bake Shop) or the Container Store. 70
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Clockwise from left: Chloe de Valpine and Sorcha Wilson paint their cookies. Jessica Maher sets the stage for hosting. Chloe enjoys the fruits of her labor.
PECAN KIPFERL (CRESCENT BUTTER COOKIES) Makes about 4 dozen cookies 4¾ c. all-purpose flour 1 c. plus 1 T. confectioners’ sugar (plus ¼ c. for dusting) 2½ c. pecan flour 1 whole egg ½ t. vanilla extract 1¼ lb. unsalted butter, cubed and very cold
Preheat the oven to 350°. Using a paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until just combined. Add in the cubed butter—piece by piece—until the dough just comes together. Don’t overmix or the cookies will be too dense! Pat the dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic or parchment paper and chill for at least 2 hours.
Hill Country Autumn Harvest Party Menu Cookies Pecan Kipferl (Crescent Cookies) Fig Bars Meyer Lemon Shortbread Snacks (recipes on edibleaustin.com) Marinated Mushrooms White Bean and Rosemary Dip with Whole Wheat Flatbread Indian Summer Salad with Tomatoes and Peppers Beverages Sparkling Gingerade Pomegranate Kir Royale Live Oak Oaktoberfest
MEYER LEMON SHORTBREAD Makes 4 dozen cookies 4 c. all-purpose flour 1 t. baking powder 1 t. salt ¾ lb. unsalted butter, softened 2 c. sugar 2 eggs Zest of 2 Meyer lemons, finely chopped Juice of 2 Meyer lemons Egg wash for brushing Meyer lemon sugar (finely chopped Meyer lemon zest combined with sugar), for rolling
Preheat the oven to 350°. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, zest and juice and mix until well combined. Add in the flour mixture in two parts, mixing to combine after each addition. Form the dough into two 12-inch logs, then wrap the logs in parchment paper and chill for at least 2 hours. When ready to bake, brush the logs with the egg wash and roll in the Meyer lemon sugar. Slice the logs into half-inch rounds and bake for 11 minutes on parchment-lined baking sheet—rotating the sheet halfway through baking. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then cut each cookie in half to look like a citrus slice and allow to cool completely.
When ready to bake, cut the dough into 3 even strips and roll each strip into a log on a floured surface. Slice each log into 1-inch rounds, then roll the rounds into balls. If the dough is too soft, refrigerate again until well chilled. Roll each ball gently from the ball to the heel of your hand several times, until each ball forms a log and the ends taper slightly. Don’t press too hard. Bend the edges of each cookie in to create a crescent shape. Once all the cookies are shaped and on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat, refrigerate again until chilled, then bake for about 10 minutes until the edges are just lightly golden—rotating the sheet halfway through baking. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then dust with confectioners’ sugar using a fine-mesh sieve and allow to cool completely.
FIG BARS Makes 4 dozen bars 1 lb. unsalted butter, softened 1 c. sugar 2 whole eggs 4 egg yolks, divided 2 t. vanilla extract Zest of 2 lemons, finely chopped 5 c. all-purpose flour ½ t. salt Fig jam (homemade, store bought or local from Confituras) 2 t. whole milk
Preheat the oven to 350°. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the whole eggs, 2 of the egg yolks and the vanilla and lemon zest and mix until well combined. Add the flour and salt and mix until just combined—don’t overmix or the cookies will be too chewy! Divide the dough in half, pat each half into 2 rectangles, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about an eighth- to a quarter-inch thick, then roll the dough onto the rolling pin and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat. Spread the fig jam evenly over the pastry, then roll out the second half of the dough and place it on top of the jam. Trim the excess and chill for 1 hour. With a paring knife, score the dough lightly into 48 bars. Whisk the remaining yolks and the milk together and brush the mixture on the top of the dough. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown—rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool on a rack, cut into bars and store in an airtight container. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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SOcial cooking
FAST Foraging
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n previous years, my foraging experiences were mostly solo missions to collect as much food as I could for eating and storage. I’d take five-gallon buckets and harvest my share—a large share, to be sure. I had loads of free time back then, and spent many hours trying out wild-food recipes. I’d try to limit my dishes to only foraged ingredients—imagine no salt, no oil, no sugar!—and I tolerated some pretty bland and weird-tasting dishes. But I was satisfied knowing that I was eating pure, totally local and only-foraged food. Then I had kids, and let’s just say more than a few things changed. With babies dangling off of me or crying in strollers, I’ve had to shift my leisurely foraging focus to five-minute lightning-round intervals between nursing, making snacks, cleaning up messes and changing diapers. I’ve adjusted my recipes based on what’s in my pantry and what my kids will eat—imagine anything with salt, oil and especially sugar! I forage more in my own yard, in parks, in vacant lots and on school grounds (gasp, I said it), and I have become a blatant foraging opportunist. I keep an eye out for a patch of wild greens along the roadside while I’m hauling my kids here and there, I fill up my stroller pocket with all kinds of yummy things and the back of my minivan is full of shovels, pruners, scissors and bags just in case I hit the jackpot. Of course, having kids means I share what I forage, what I cook and what I eat, and it turns out that sharing with others is one of the best reasons to forage. It’s amazing just how much wild food lurks in the nooks and crannies of our city.
Tips for Success
•C onsider adding one foraged ingredient to each dish. Greens are easy to blend into soups, tarts, sautés, pestos and even cocktails. Berries look beautiful and taste delicious on top of meat and potato dishes. • Include only one dish in your meal that is foraged. A side salad (with store-bought dressing) or a side of steamed wild greens would do. • Make a simple soup and throw in some wild dandelions or dock. Call it dandelion or wild dock soup, even though your main ingredients might be onions and water. • Find out where there’s a good patch of wild amaranth or wood sorrel and arrange to eat there. Take your favorite dressing and a pair of scissors.
• Always be prepared. Carry a trowel, scissors, pruners, kitchen tongs and harvest bags in your car.
• Include kids. Let them help you forage. They will LOVE it. It will make the experience more spontaneous, less intentional and richer in adventure.
• Don’t be afraid to harvest things from high-traffic, urban areas. As long as the area you’re harvesting from is not sprayed and is relatively pollution-free, it’s fair game. Plenty of folks eat vegetables grown in high-traffic, urban areas so why not eat wild foods growing in the same ground?
•M ake foraging a part of the meal. Invite the neighbor kids over for a walk around your yard or the park. Then crank out some homemade wild mulberry ice cream! If you allow your guests to participate in the foraging, it might end up being one of their most memorable meals ever.
• If you can time it right and arrive before the mowers, places that tend to be full of wild things to eat include: vacant lots behind grocery stores (oh, the irony), the edges of community gardens and sports fields, the uphill side of roads and sidewalks (avoid the runoff!), library parking lots, areas around trails and overgrown yards (ask your neighbor for permission to forage!).
• Even if you use only one wild ingredient, your guests will be impressed and interested to hear about your foraging experience. They’ll be shocked that they can actually eat the weeds they’ve been pulling out of their lawn.
•P lan a regular meal, and then think about what kinds of foraged foods might complement it. Consider garnishes and dessert toppings, since finding a few sprigs of wild greens or a few wild berries or nuts will be easier than finding enough for an entire dish. 72
Crowell’s son Garner Sheffield enjoys blackberry black walnut chicken.
b y a m y cr o w e l l • P h o t o g r a p h y b y a n d y s a m s
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A Simple Menu for Fast Foraging Versions of these recipes will appear in my upcoming book on the wild edible plants of Texas. They all include one or two easyto-find foraged ingredients with a couple of exceptions.
MEXICAN APPLE AGUA FRESCA
Austin Veggie Chef
The amber color of this juice may trick folks into believing it is apple juice or Texas tea. But the earthy, cucumber-sweet flavor of the Turk’s cap red, berry-like fruit will be a pleasant surprise. Serve over ice with a few Turk’s cap flower petals floating in each glass for an added wildedible experience. And don’t forget that some juices are meant to be spiked! Add some tequila, and you’ll have a cocktail on the rocks.
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1 c. ripe, red Mexican apples (Turk’s cap fruit), fresh or dried 2 c. water ¼ c. sugar (or to taste)
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Wash the fruit and place it in a saucepan with the water and sugar. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the fruit softens. Crush the fruit with the back of a large spoon or a masher. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth, and gently squeeze out all the juices. Let cool and serve over ice.
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BLACKBERRY BLACK WALNUT CHICKEN You can make your own fresh and rustic blackberry jam for this recipe by adding a few drizzles of simple syrup to a cup of blackberries and mashing it all together with the back of a fork. Or, if you have blackberry jam sitting around, feel free to use it as well. ½ c. black walnuts* ¼ c. bread crumbs ½ t. salt 2 boneless chicken breasts
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¼ c. blackberry jam 1 T. olive oil ½ c. wild blackberries
Preheat the oven to 400º. Grind the walnuts together into a fine crumb and place in a pie dish. Mix in the bread crumbs and salt. Rub each chicken breast with the blackberry jam, and coat them completely with the walnut mixture. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil over the chicken breasts. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with a few fresh blackberries sprinkled on top.
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WILD SIDE SALAD—FALL VERSION Preparing a side salad of wild greens is easy and fun. It can contain whatever tender and tasty greens you can find and is absolutely gorgeous topped with edible flowers such as spiderwort, dayflower, yellow dandelion petals or Turk’s cap flowers. 2 bunches or handfuls wild spinach, chopped into bite-size pieces 2 bunches or handfuls amaranth leaves, chopped into bite-size piecesC 2 c. wood sorrel leaflets M 2–3 dandelion leaves, chopped into bite-size pieces Your favorite dressing Y Salt and pepper to taste CM
Mix the greens together in a salad bowl and toss with the dressing and salt and pepper.
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MESQUITE CORN BREAD
100% Locally Sourced
NIGHTLY SPECIALS
One of the easiest ways to incorporate mesquite meal into your menu is by baking. Mesquite meal is sweet and perfect for pancakes, cookies, cakes and quick breads. ¾ c. cornmeal ¾ c. flour ½ c. mesquite meal* 2 t. baking powder ½ t. baking soda ½ t. salt
½ c. whole-milk yogurt ½ c. milk 1 egg 4 T. honey 4 T. vegetable oil ¾ c. corn kernels
Preheat oven to 350º and grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, blend the wet ingredients together, and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until combined. Fold in the corn kernels. Pour into the baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
30-SECOND GREENBRIER TIPS The best place to find the thickest, most tender greenbrier tips is near water, where the plants have received adequate moisture. Gather as much of the tender, new-growing tips as possible for this vegetable side dish. Be sure to gather from greenbrier (Smilax species) that has both thorns and tendrils. There are look-alike plants lacking thorns and tendrils that are toxic!
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2 T. olive oil At least 4 large handfuls greenbrier tips with tendrils ¼ t. salt
Place the oil in a skillet and heat to medium-high. Throw in all of the greenbrier tips at once, sauté for 30 seconds, remove from the heat, sprinkle with the salt and serve immediately.
PERSIMMON CUPCAKES Makes 10–12 cupcakes For the cupcakes: 15–25 common persimmons (Diospyros virginiana), or twice as many Texas persimmons (Diospyros texana) 8 T. (1 stick) butter, softened ¾ c. sugar ¼ t. vanilla 2 eggs 2 c. flour (you can substitute whole wheat flour for half) 2 t. baking powder ½ t. cinnamon ¼ t. nutmeg ¾ c. chopped pecans or creative ingredient of choice For the goat cheese frosting: 1 c. plain goat chèvre, softened 1 c. powdered sugar 1 t. vanilla
Serving
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Preheat the oven to 350°. Place cupcake baking cups in a standard-size muffin tin. Remove the skins from the persimmons and mash the pulp in a sieve or colander over a bowl. You can use the back of a wooden spoon, but squishing the pulp through your hands also works. Remove the seeds. Blend 1 cup of the pulp with the butter, sugar and vanilla together until creamy. Blend in the eggs, one at a time. Mix the dry ingredients and spices together in another bowl and slowly mix into the wet ingredients just until moist. Stir in the pecans with a few folds. Pour into baking cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool. To make the frosting, place the chèvre, powdered sugar and vanilla into a mixer (or use a handheld mixer) and blend until creamy. Spread on the cooled cupcakes and enjoy! * Black walnuts and mesquite meal might be a little tricky to find or process, but you can always order these foraged foods online. Instructions on how to process mesquite beans can be found on my blog at wildedibletexas.com.
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REmembering Molly b y e l l en s weet s
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y the time the editorial conferences, research, interviews, writing, rewriting, prepublication reviews, corrections, permissions, photo captions, cutlines, title suggestions, title rejections and still more rounds of editing and modifications drew to a close, I found myself standing in front of the bathroom mirror asking my reflection: “What on earth were you thinking?” Clearly, the answer is, I don’t think I was. There must be some sort of reward for investing two and a half of my advanced years remembering and recording vignettes about my dear friend Molly Ivins. Sure, the book might be published and en route to bookshelves around the country, but the sadness that gave way to the decision to memorialize a longtime friendship has resulted in something other than the concept of “closure” some folks like to bandy about; it has manifested into a niggling set of self-directed queries: “What if the Salman Rushdie anecdote isn’t as funny as I thought it was?” “What if that lady from Central Market recognizes herself and decides to sue me, even though I never mentioned her name?” “Whatever in the world possessed me to think I could write a book?” Through my postproduction doubts, though, one thing has remained certain. Grappling with Molly’s larger-than-life personality and story was easy once I narrowed it down to the one thing most people didn’t know about her—her cooking. Molly’s ability to unite rapier wit with scathing commentary was already virtually unparalleled in the fourth estate, so instead I focused on her culinary skills, which were as methodically honed as those that produced her wonderfully wicked columns. When Molly and I met in 1990 at a Dallas dinner event, I was
a fresh-faced reporter with the Dallas Morning News. We hit it off immediately, mainly because—over drinks after dinner—we started talking about food. Ultimately, through a combination of lefty persuasions, apathy over Dallas, the bonds of journalism and especially a mutual love of food, we forged a friendship that would evolve into a solid sisterhood. Even though it included a frequent drive from Dallas to Austin, where Molly lived, cooking together became an almost-monthly occurrence. Molly shopped local and organic before either was a big deal. She maintained a little herb garden, with parsley and chives planted around the koi pond in the atrium entrance to her Travis Heights home. And she was adamant about healthy, fresh ingredients—except when it came to red velvet cake. After a round of out-of-town speaking engagements or book signings, she frequently retreated to the kitchen to conjure up a reason for a dinner party. Sometimes she would call and suggest a meal theme. I’d make that miserable drive south on Interstate 35—arriving just in time for a Friday-evening trip to acquire provisions that would become Saturday evening’s repast. Other times, my need to escape Dallas coincided with her wish to cook. She seamlessly entertained highbrow, semiformal and jeans-andT-shirt casual guests; dinner might be chili, meatloaf, saumon en papillote or coq au vin. And though she rarely talked about the federal judges, U.S. cabinet members or famous authors she fed, she never failed to provide updates on the usual local suspects that included lawyers, state legislators, poets and fellow writers—the ones whom she frequently invited to lunch, brunch or dinner. It’s been said that friends are people who know all about you and like you anyway. Over time, Molly introduced me to several who qualify. When I retired many years later from my time at the Denver Post, they were the collective reason I came to Austin (well… EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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okay…Denver can be really, really cold, and winters can be No Fun Whatsoever). But I didn’t come to Austin to write a book. I came to be with friends following the death of a very special one. We were bound together in sadness much as we had been united in camaraderie at the wonderful round table Molly had commissioned—the one with the handcrafted chairs that had cushions so accommodating that folks could, and did, sit for hours discussing everything from bad social policy to good camping sites within a 100-mile radius. What I ended up writing was less of a book, and more of a long-winded feature story—a lengthy essay commemorating
events built around two friends cooking. Yes, it was cathartic to write, but the more I think about it, the more I see buried in its subtext a plea for friends to share meals. Dining together forges an indefinable but lasting bond; I believe we’re at our most real when we unite to break bread. In my book, I recall a Native American belief that the spirits of the departed stick around just long enough to shepherd those left behind through the pain of loss. Now that our story is written, I think I can finally say, “Adios, Molly.” Bon Appétit.
Are you feeling chili? b y e l l en s weet s
An excerpt from Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins: A Memoir with Recipes by Ellen Sweets, Copyright © 2011. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press. Molly loved foie gras, rack of lamb, tournedos, and roasted duck breast as much as the next food freak, but she was just as much at home whipping up a pan of jalapeño cornbread as accompaniment to a spicy bowl o’ red. She served her chili in heavy, oversized blue-and-white bowls emblazoned with images of broncos, cowboys and lassos. A sincere chili aficionado, she clipped all manner of recipes for it, and even organized chili parties during her stint in Colorado as the New York Times’s Rocky Mountain bureau chief. Denver Post reporter Jack Cox, a longtime friend, still remembers the 1979 “First Annual Rocky Mountain Correspondents’ Chili Cookoff,” organized by Molly and Oklahoman Gaylord Shaw, who, the year before, had won a Pulitzer Prize for the Los Angeles Times. Her wry wit is again evident even in the flyer she mailed out to friends: Chili is a variety of nutriment invented by Canary Islanders and perfected by Texans, Oklahomans, and, some claim, others as well, for over a century. Its virtues include, but are not limited to curing trombonophobia, preoperative lobotomy complications, decreased mental alertness, antropomania, peptic ulcers, falling hair, fallen arches, ingrown toenails, inlaw troubles, recession, apathy, frostbite, cynicism, pollution and acute sobriety. *** Her archives include dozens of recipes for one kind of chili or another—a festival version of Frank X. Tolbert’s chili, Neiman Marcus chili, Senator Barry Goldwater’s Fine Chili, Mrs. Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Pedernales River chili and Louisiana Bayou Chili from U.S. Representative Lindy Boggs. There is also a recipe for Joe Cooper’s chili, whoever Joe Cooper might have been, with a note from Molly’s mother informing Molly that it had taken her father two days to make it. 76
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(Above) Kaye Northcott, Sara Speights, and Molly kick up their heels in the New Mexico kitchen of Sara Maley, Molly’s sister. Photo by Sandy Richards, courtesy of Kaye Northcott. (Next page) Molly (center) at one of her (in)famous chili parties at her home in Denver. Photo by Zeik Saidman.
Molly’s Chunky Texas Chili All this needs is beer and a hunk of jalapeño-Cheddar cornbread. Molly made her cornbread from scratch, but darned if I could find the recipe. Serves 4–6 1 T. bacon drippings 3 yellow onions, chopped 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 3 lbs. coarsely ground chuck 1 can beer
1 small can tomato sauce 4 T. chili powder 1 T. ground cumin 1 T. dried oregano 1 large bay leaf 1 t. dry mustard 2 c. beef stock Salt and pepper to taste
Heat the bacon drippings in a heavy-bottomed stockpot and sauté the onions, pepper, celery and garlic until vegetables soften. Add the chuck and stir until it browns. Add the beer, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, mustard, and beef stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, about 2 hours. Check periodically to see if more liquid is needed. If so, add water. Check for seasoning. Just before serving, remove bay leaf.
*** She and I once had a chili cook-off of our own where she pitted her bowl o’ red against mine, but, she insisted, the competition was nullified by the presence of beans in my version. As if that weren’t bad enough, I intensified her horror by boiling spaghetti to create what was lovingly known in my hometown as “chili mac,” made in most Midwestern places by piling chili onto a mound of macaroni or spaghetti and topping the whole mess with chopped onion and Cheddar cheese. Mind you, the St. Louis version isn’t to be confused with Cincinnati chili, which is laced with cinnamon, for cryin’ out loud. St. Louisans do have some standards. There was no such nonsense as beans in the Ivins iteration. Barely tolerant of my ground pork and beef mixture, she had the butcher chop hers into little chunks. I was not permitted to see how much of what seasonings she put in hers, but at least we agreed that our respective pots needed to simmer for hours and rest overnight before they could be deemed fit for consumption. Of course, by the time mine was done she had already decided that what with beans and spaghetti, the Sweets version was absolutely not ready for prime time. At least we agreed that the only acceptable beverage for the occasion was beer—as both an ingredient and a libation. *** Molly approached the making of chili with the same intensity she invested in snapper en papillote—and she was just as likely to serve the fancy fish to her gal pals as, say, to Pulitzer Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman. Now and then she would share a tidbit about a particular meal she prepared—but it was not because she had prepared it for a prominent federal judge; it was because she had dared to try it for the first time and serve it to a prominent federal judge. What I called her “show-off” meals were invariably from either Simply French or Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Ellen’s St. Louis Chili Mac Like most soups and stews, this should be made the day before it is to be consumed, or at least 4 to 6 hours in advance. I make a mean jalapeño cornbread too, only mine is made by adding buttermilk instead of plain milk, 2 tablespoons grated Cheddar cheese and chopped jalapeños to a package of Jiffy corn muffin mix. And if your arteries can take it, heat ¼ cup of bacon drippings to smoking in a cast-iron skillet before adding the cornbread mixture. Serves 6–8 2½ lb. ground chuck 1½ lb. ground pork 3 T. bacon grease 3 large white onions, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 5–6 garlic cloves, chopped fine or put through a press 4 T. chili powder 1 T. paprika 1 t. oregano 3 T. ground cumin 1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 T. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce 3 c. beef stock 1 12-oz. bottle of beer 2 15-oz. cans red (or black) beans, rinsed and drained 1 lb.spaghetti, cooked according to package directions and drained 3 c. grated Cheddar cheese 2 c. finely chopped white onion Sliced jalapeños (optional)
In a heavy-bottomed stockpot, brown the beef and pork in the bacon grease. Add the onions, bell pepper and garlic and sauté until vegetables are soft. Add the chili powder, paprika, oregano, and cumin and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, Wrcestershire sauce, beef stock and beer. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add the beans and continue simmering for another 30 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until reduced to desired consistency. To serve, place some spaghetti in a shallow bowl, ladle chili on top, and finish with a heaping spoonful of cheese and a teaspoon or so of raw onion. Garnish with jalapeños if desired. YOU BE THE JUDGE! Join us at BookPeople on Friday, November 4, at 7 p.m. for an evening with author Ellen Sweets reminiscing about Molly Ivins, featuring tastings of both Ellen’s and Molly’s chili recipes and local Saint Arnold Brewery beer. There could be a surprise appearance of some jalapeño cornbread if we can find the recipe.
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KItchen wisdom
by the book b y S h a nn o n Oe l r ic h
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magine cooking a complex recipe—one you’ve never made before. Everything’s prepped and ready, but you decide to check the recipe one more time. In your mind’s eye, are you checking it on a laptop, on a smartphone or in a cookbook? If you thought “cookbook,” you’re not alone. The Internet has a preponderance of electronic content related to food—seemingly all a person could need. From behemoths like foodnetwork.com and allrecipes.com to apps for recipes, menus, restaurants and grocery lists, the online consumer has access to more information about food at any given moment than his or her predecessor a generation ago might have had in a lifetime! And powerhouse food blogs—like the Pioneer Woman, Orangette and Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef—have developed enormous and devout followings and even spawned best-selling printed cookbooks in the process (or in the case of the Julie and Julia blog, a blockbuster movie). Yet while overall sales of printed books have fallen in recent years due to the recession, online content and e-readers like the Kindle, cookbook sales have remained strong and even grown—posting a
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“In the slim paperback Indian Cooking, Madhur Jaffrey manages to demystify the magnificent cuisine of an entire culture while encapsulating it through its most classic recipes.” —Paula Angerstein, Paula’s Texas Spirits
“When you Google a scallop recipe… many wonderful opportunities arise. But pick up the cookbook The Table Beckons and you receive and join in the passion of a man who has cooked them perfectly, and with love, for over forty years.” —Josh Raymer, Navajo Grill 9 percent gain in 2010, according to ratings giant Nielsen. Aside from affection for those sticky and stained pages, what keeps us coming back to something that seems a little old school? One answer may be that food, by its nature, is anti-technology (barring culinary flights of fancy à la elBulli and the high-volume automation of a fast-food chain). Food is about process and craft; it’s an art, best explored at the pace of a book, with slow development of taste memories tumbling around ingredients lists and unhurried absorption of the stories behind the recipes. “In the slim paperback Indian Cooking, Madhur Jaffrey manages to demystify the magnificent cuisine of an entire culture while encapsulating it through its most classic recipes,” says Paula Angerstein, local liqueur producer and founder of Paula’s Texas Spirits. “My copy is well-worn and sticky-noted after twenty-five years of guiding me through many satisfying and authentic feasts.” Food is about discovery. If everyone’s making the same boeuf bourguignon recipe because it has five stars and 300 glowing reviews online, diversity is lost—even if the recipe is wonderful. It takes work and a compelling story to write a cookbook and effort—albeit pleasurable effort—to look through one. Chef Josh Raymer of Navajo Grill says, “The Internet is wonderful, and it opens you up to a world of possibility. When you Google a scallop recipe, for example, many wonderful opportunities arise. But pick up the cookbook The Table Beckons [by Alain Senderens] and you receive and join in the passion of a man who has cooked them perfectly, and with love, for over forty years.” Raymer, who has a cookbook collection more on the scale of a small-town library than a kitchen, believes a good cookbook tells a story: “It gives you the mindset of the chef and the why and what for of the recipe. If you take that journey with the chef and his methods, you will cook better than if you had Googled a recipe.” There’s also an emotional attachment to our favorite cookbooks. We can curl up with them as we plan special occasions, jot notes in them, splatter food on them. When we cook with a well-loved cookbook, it’s like having a friend in the kitchen—one who’s more knowledgeable and confident about the dish at hand. Noted cookbook editor Judith Jones writes, “What most of us really want…is a collaboration with the cookbook writer, who
becomes a comforting presence as we prepare his dishes.” Lucinda Hutson, author of two cookbooks herself, agrees. “I like the feel of a cookbook in my hand,” she says. “It often opens to a favorite recipe, the pages sometimes stained from the makings of a meal or scribbled with notes. In the pages of a cookbook, I travel with the author on her or his culinary adventure. It’s more than just finding a recipe; the soul of the writer unfolds as I turn the pages.” Our printed friends guide and influence us in other, more philosophical ways, as well. Barley Swine Chef Bryce Gilmore says he found a kindred spirit in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, author of The River Cottage Meat Book, whose views on raising animals struck a resonant personal chord with him. “I don’t eat or cook meats unless I know that the animals lived a happy life. That’s important for me.” The book remains a go-to one for Gilmore. Celebrated Austin chef Will Packwood sees his favorite cookbooks as reliable sources. “Books I continue to refer back to [are] On Food and Cooking, The Flavor Bible, Culinary Artistry, The Professional Chef,” he says. “These books have a ton of content, information and answers to basic cooking questions and flavor combinations. They’ve given me a sort of freedom—a better understanding of what goes on when you’re cooking and what goes on when you’re eating.” Of course a cookbook offers a tangible piece of history, as well. Whether it’s a family tome that’s been passed down for generations or a brand-new historical work that puts food, culture and home life into the context of a certain age, cookbooks help us make deeper connections. “My favorite Mexican cookbook author is Josefina Velázquez de León,” says Iliana de la Vega, chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio and co-owner of the Austin restaurant El Naranjo. “She wrote about a hundred cookbooks from 1925 to 1960. I am fortunate to have some of her great work; she traveled all over Mexico researching and collecting recipes. Books, and especially cookbooks, are close to my heart. We have moved six times—to three countries—and we just pack books, cookbooks and art…the rest is disposable.” While the Internet tends to connect us latitudinally with other recipe users, seemingly endless information and the promise of things new and exciting, a cookbook connects us longitudinally with another person’s story, time or place, and leaves us with a more profound and sophisticated understanding of the process of food and how we’re connected to it—just as an old friend should.
“In the pages of a cookbook, I travel with the author on her or his culinary adventure. It’s more than just finding a recipe; the soul of the writer unfolds as I turn the pages.” —Lucinda Hutson, cookbook author EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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Directory Antonelli's Cheese Shop
Edis Chocolates
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Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
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Paula’s Texas Spirits
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Whole Foods Market
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Wildly Natural One
Pie Fixes Everything
Wimberley Travel Co-op
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Redbud Cafe
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Salt & Time
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Winter's Eve—A Christmas Festival December 10
Kerbey Lane Cafe
Spec's Liquors
Wink Restaurant
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Spoon & Co
Zocalo Eclectic Cafe
John Davis Garden Design
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Smart recipe storage b y k r i s ti W i l l iS
Discovering new recipes is a delight, but finding them again later can be a challenge. Here are some clever storage solutions to help organize those cherished dishes so that you’ll never again lose the secret ingredient for Aunt Millie’s potato salad. Evernote (evernote.com): While not specifically designed for recipes, this invaluable application helps you organize text, graphics or audio notes into notebooks, then categorizes them with tags of your choosing. You can then synchronize the database of your notebooks with the Evernote website—offering online access to them from any computer or mobile device. And the convenient Web Clipper tool makes it easy to add pages from websites to your notebooks. Cost: free. Platforms: online, desktop for Windows or Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 and Palm. Epicurious (epicurious.com): One of the most popular online and mobile recipe databases, Epicurious includes a Recipe Box. Recipes can be categorized by type of cuisine, main ingredient, dietary consideration and more, and can be shared with the online community or kept private. The Shopping List function creates a unified list of ingredients from the selected recipes and can be shared with others. Cost: free, $1.99 for synchronization with a mobile device. Platforms: online, iPhone and iPad. Paprika Recipe Manager (paprikaapp.com): Designed with the iPad user in mind, Paprika differentiates itself from other recipe applications with its unique ability to prevent the screen from turning off while you’re cooking. No more scrambling to wipe off hands to find the next instruction in the list. Paprika also includes standard features that allow cataloging personal recipes, browsing for recipes from major websites and making and sharing grocery lists. Cost: $4.99. Platforms: iPhone and iPad. Mac for $19.99. Allrecipes (allrecipes.com): Another popular website and mobile app, Allrecipes provides a Recipe Box for adding personal recipes or favorites from their extensive database. Advanced features for customizing recipes from their database, creating menu plans and searching recipes by nutritional information require a membership. Cost: free for basic, $17.50 per year for membership. Platforms: online, iPhone, iPad and Android. BigOven (bigoven.com): With more than 170,000 member recipes in its database, BigOven provides a personal online recipe box and grocery list that sync with their mobile app. Keeping recipes private requires upgrading to the Pro membership. Cost: free for basic, $15.99 per year for Pro membership. Platforms: online, iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7. RecipeThing (recipething.com): If you’re willing to share recipes with its community (there are no privacy settings), RecipeThing offers a sharing and organizing website that includes menu planner and recipe box features. It also allows you to transfer recipes to your computer for backup. Cost: free. Platform: online. Living Cookbook (livingcookbook.com): The robust Living Cookbook desktop software offers recipe storage, calculation of nutrition and food costs and creation of menus, meal plans and grocery lists. Easily export or email recipes to friends or import recipes from a variety of recipe databases. You can even manage kitchen inventory and publish cookbooks with tables of contents and indexes. Cost: $34.95. Platform: Windows. EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
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Photograph by Matthew Fuller
art de terroir
REDISCOVER LAGUNA GLORIA There’s no better time than now to rediscover Laguna Gloria, the Austin Museum of Art’s original home on the shores of Lake Austin. For information about visiting the recently renovated historic Driscoll Villa and 12-acre grounds, viewing exhibitions, enrolling in classes at the Art School or participating in quarterly foodie events, please visit www.amoa.org.
Whole Hog Wednesday, November 30 | 7 pm A sampling of wild game by Chef Jesse Griffiths, inspired by artist Buster Graybill’s exhibition Progeny of Tush Hog Tickets at amoa.org/wholehog Co-presented by Edible Austin
3809 W. 35th St. 78703 82
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Experience Wimberley...
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