Edible Austin Spring 2012

edible

No. 22 Spring 2012

Austin

Celebrating Central Texas food culture, season by season

Lick Creating ice cream with a Texas flair.

Member of Ed ib le Commu n ities

速

Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair Formerly The Grand Wine & Food Affair

April 18 - 22, 2012

SugarLandWineAndFoodAffair.com www.facebook.com/sugarlandwineandfoodaffair Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management Producing Partner and Beneficiary EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

SPRING 2012

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12

, 20 10

SUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER

y a M Benefit for:

6:30 pm - 9:30 pm at Barr Mansion 10463 Sprinkle Road Benefiting the programs of Sustainable Food Center, the fifth annual Farm to Plate fundraiser will bring local farmers, food artisans, chefs, winemakers and breweries together for an evening celebrating the flavors of Central Texas. Farm to Plate will raise awareness about local food systems and the need for increased access to healthy, fresh food for Central Texans.

Pull up a chair this spring

Tickets and tables of 10 available at www.sustainablefoodcenter.org Featuring Chef Bryce Gilmore of Barley Swine, Chef Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due and Chef Shawn Cirkiel of Olive & June in addition to over 20 other Central Texas Chefs

edibleaustin.com

Norwood Tower LP Furman + Keil Architects

Local in Source. Texan in Spirit.

Great Happy Hour Daily!

Enjoy dining on our creekside patio.

Sunday Brunch – the freshest & best in town.

Jack CATERS! We’ll bring Jack’d up Goodness to your next event.

OPEN DAILY Sun-Thurs 11am to 10pm | Fri-Sat 11am to 11pm | Sunday Brunch 10-2 At the “Y” in Oak Hill | 7720 Highway 71 West, Austin, TX 78735 512.852.8558 | www.JackAllensKitchen.com

6 Publisher’s note 8

notable Mentions

13 notable Edibles

Lenoir, Salt & Time, the side bar, Drought Resource Center, 5 Mile Farm, Wholly Cow Burgers.

34 Edible Endeavors

Red Caboose Winery.

Contents SPRING 2012

20 Marketplace

Get Your Licks

Creating ice cream with a Texas flair.

38 EMBRACING LOCAL

It's all in the words.

58 Edible Gardens

A slice of life.

60 EAT WILD

Foraging basics.

62 Behind the Vines

Doc Russ, Texas Wineslinger.

65 SEASONAL MUSE

Power of two.

66 Tipsy Texan

Imbibing improv.

24 Edible ed

EAT OUR HOMEWORK

Connally High School Culinary Program introduces students to foodservice careers.

28 people

HOOVER ALEXANDER Going back to his roots with a new trailer

and food garden.

69 Seasonal Plate

BC Tavern.

70 LA CASITA DE BUEN SABOR

Spring desserts garnished from the garden.

72 ROOT CAUSES

The birds and the bees.

73 WHEN I EAT AND WHY

What comes first at Free Minds.

75 DEPARTMENT OF ORGANIC YOUTH

Little hands, big plans.

77 back of the house

SFC Chef Series.

80 Directory 82 art de terroir

Art on the Green.

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

42 Farmers Diary

B OGGY CREEK Farm Food has always been important here!

47 Edible Economics

BUDGET CUTS

Discover innovative cuts of beef to help your budget.

52 Cooking Fresh

SAVORING SPRING

apture the moment with inspired recipes C from Austin chefs.

Visit us online for recipes, local resources, events and more!

Sign up for our newsletter for updates on news and events.

Cover: Cilantro Lime ice cream from Lick (see page 20). Photograph by Dustin Meyer.

Publisher’s Note:

T

ooting your own horn is sometimes frowned upon—best left to the provinces of PR firms—but as we measure the success of our business in ways other than purely bottom-line economics, this is the time and place for it!

We have tallied the results from our 2011 Eat Drink Local Week fundraiser for local food nonprofits Sustainable Food Center and Urban Roots, and we are properly impressed with ourselves. This event raised more money than in any of our previous four years—in a tough economic climate, with pocketbooks stretched and resources limited. Raising over $52,000 during a weeklong celebration of local food could only have happened with an outpouring of support from the community. Our community appreciates the value of investing in their food growers, producers, chefs and markets—and having a rollicking good time in the process. This is both gratifying and essential to our continued efforts to transform the way we relate to our food and choose a conscious way to eat. We are happy and humbled to be part of this movement.

Here are some of the comments we received from our participants this year.

“Eat Drink Local Week—great food at soooo many places. I love it!” —Emmett Fox, ASTI Trattoria and FINO Restaurant Patio & Bar “Eat Drink Local Week was a great first experience for Twin County Lamb. With your help and through our constant presence and work in Austin, we were featured at two restaurants that week. The chefs were happy with our product and it worked well for all.

I would have liked to have tried the leg of lamb taco [at Tacodeli] which sounded so, oh so delicious and I was so impressed when I delivered the meat to Hopdoddy and found, at about 2 p.m., a lunch line going all the way outside the building. Austin is hungry for good, healthy food and we love it!”—Isabelle Marie Hélène Lauzière, Twin County Lamb “Had a great Eat Drink Local Week this year! Folks came in just to support our efforts.

Thanks to all of our farmers for taking care of us.”—Chef Jack Gilmore, Jack Allen’s Kitchen “Our featured dish sold wonderfully that week. It was something that we took a lot of pride in creating and executing. We love participating in Eat Drink Local Week because supporting local businesses and farms is a core value of our restaurants.”

—Chef Rene Ortiz, La Condesa “What we appreciate most about the event is that it helps to raise public awareness about the fact that Manuel’s is buying and cooking with lots of locally grown, all natural Texas ingredients. We also enjoyed participating in some of the events like the Pig Roast at Springdale Farm, attending the Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry event at the Paramount, getting to know some potential new suppliers and the chance to make new friends within the local sustainable community movement.”—Jennifer McNevin, Manuel’s My personal high for the week was moderating the conversation with Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson at two sold-out shows at Stateside at the Paramount Theatre. The pleasure of their company and the measure of their words was invigorating and unforgettable. If you missed this event, you can listen to an excerpt from their conversation on Episode 115 Growing Home show on Edible Radio (edibleradio.com) and bask in their wisdom of why “It all turns on affection, don’t you know.”

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SPRING 2012

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

Publisher Marla Camp

Associate PUBLISHER Jenna Noel

EDITOR Kim Lane

Copy Editor Christine Whalen

Editorial Assistants Whitney Arostegui, Melinda Barsales, Dena Garcia, Cari Marshall, Michelle Moore

Advertising Sales Curah Beard

Distribution Manager Jude Diallo

Contributors Full listing, bios and contact information online at edibleaustin.com

Advisory Group Terry Thompson-Anderson, Dorsey Barger, Cathryn Dorsey, Jim Hightower, Toni Tipton-Martin, Mary Sanger, Suzanne Santos, Carol Ann Sayle

CONTACT US 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. © 2012. 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.

Thanks to all our supporters who helped us raise over $52,000 for Sustainable Food Center and Urban Roots! !

Edible Austin Eat Drink Local Week, Austin’s premier local food event,

celebrates local seasonal food and food makers in Central Texas while raising money for nonprofits Sustainable Food Center and Urban Roots. Thanks to the generous support from our community, our participating restaurants (listed below), all of our event participants and major sponsors, 2011 Eat Drink Local Week was the most successful to date!

Plans are underway for 2012 Eat Drink Local Week, December 1–8. If you would like to be a participating restaurant or find out about sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at info@edibleaustin.com.

Sponsors:

Restaurants:

ThirdCoastActivist.org Third Coast Activist Resource Center

ASTI Trattoria Barley Swine Buenos Aires Cafe Chez Nous Cipollina Contigo East Side Pies East Side Showroom Eastside Cafe Fabi + Rosi Farmhouse Delivery Fête Accompli Finn & Porter FINO Restaurant Patio & Bar Food 4 Fitness Cafe Green Pastures Greenling Guero’s Taco Bar Home Slice Pizza Hoover’s Cooking Hopdoddy Burger Bar Jack Allen’s Kitchen

Judges’ Hill Restaurant Kerbey Lane Cafe La Condesa Manuel’s Max’s Wine Dive Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill Olivia Peoples Rx Sagra Shoreline Grill Snack Bar Tacodeli Tacos and Tequila (TNT) Thai Fresh The Leaning Pear Thunder Heart Bison Ranch to Trailer TRACE Uchi Uchiko Urban an American Grill Wink

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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2012 Local Heroes

Last fall, we asked readers to vote for the farm, restaurant, food artisan and nonprofit who, they felt, are making a major contribution to our local food community. Here we proudly present the winners and salute their outstanding achievements.

o

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ocal Her edible Communities

FA

F RM / ARMER

Springdale Farm Paula and Glenn Foore

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o

ocal Her edible Communities

CH

EF

/ R E S TA U R A

NT

Chef Sonya Coté East Side Showroom

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L

ocal Her edible Communities FOO

D SHOP

L

o

ocal Her edible Communities

FO

O D A RT I S A N

Dai Due

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o

ocal Her edible Communities PROFIT

SUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER

Sustainable Food Center 8

SPRING 2012

SPring is for chickens on March 3 and April 7 Join Edible Austin as we celebrate all things “chicken” with two fact-filled days of chickenthemed events this spring! Bring the whole family for a day of fun and learning to the Spring Chicken Festival on Saturday, March 3, noon–6:30 p.m. at Sustain Center, next door to Callahan’s General Store, located on 183 South just north of Highway 71. The Spring Chicken Festival is a celebration of gardening and backyard poultrykeeping, featuring educational sessions, kids’ activities, local food and vendors. Event details and ticket information are available online at sustaincenter.com.

Following the Festival, the Funky Chicken Coop Tour presents a screening of Mad City Chickens, sponsored by Callahan’s General Store and Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow, held at Callahan’s General Store Hay Barn. Seating starts at 6:30 p.m. and the movie begins at 7 p.m. Visit austincooptour.org for movie ticket information. This family-friendly event kicks off the countdown to the 4th Annual Funky Chicken Coop Tour that takes place a month later on Saturday, April 7, when Austin-area poultry-keepers will open their backyards to the public to show off their chickens and urban coops. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the joys and benefits of owning your own chickens. Find more information about the 2012 Tour and general resources for chicken-keeping at austincooptour.org.

Edible Austin debuts Dirt! The Movie

Antonelli’s Cheese Shop

NON

notable Mentions

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

Join Edible Austin and Travel Co-op as they present Dirt! The Movie at a community screening sponsored by Texas Casual Cottages and hosted by the Corral Theatre in Wimberley, benefitting the Wimberley High School LEO Club on Friday, March 9, 6–9 p.m. An opening reception will feature local food and beverage tastings from The Goodnight Diner, The Leaning Pear, Linda’s Fine Foods and Sugar Shack Bakery, and a meet and greet with local farms and ranches including Montesino Farm and Ranch, Bountiful Sprout, EIEIO Organic Farm and Chisholm Ranch. Award-winning Dirt! the Movie, narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact of soil. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil. $5 suggested donation at the gate. More details at edibleaustin.com.

Annual Spring LAMBS Celebration at A+S Amy and Shaun raise Gulf Coast sheep and are celebrating their spring lambs with a party on their farm in Moultin on Saturday, March 24. More information at goingtothecountry.com.

The BLANTON MUSEUM Presents Art on Tap: Craft Beer and Local Fare Take a culinary trip around America without leaving The Blanton on Saturday, March 24! Enjoy a tour of American Scenery: Different Views of Hudson River School Painting and Go West: Representations of the American Frontier, then join beer expert Sam Hovland from East End Wines in a tasting of five beers selected from regions represented in the exhibition. Delicious food pairings will be provided by Mat Clouser, former chef de cuisine at Uchi, and current executive chef at Swift’s Attic. Space is limited; please email publicintern@blantonmuseum.org for information or to reserve a spot.

Second Annual Foodways Texas Symposium

April 7, 2012 — Annual Boutique Wine Festival — $35 April 21, 2012 — Tour de Vineyard Bike Ride — $35 till April 5th Introducing Café Lorenzo with Chef Steve Southern Offering an incredible Sunday Brunch every week from 11am-2pm.

Check our website for menus!

For all of our upcoming events please visit our website at

www.thevineyardatflorence.com

Over the course of two and a half days during Texas Preserved, the second Foodways Texas symposium happening in Austin March 23–25, explore the ways we preserve Texas in our food and the ways we preserve food in Texas. Learn about preservation in our pastures, on our farms, in our kitchens and in the stories we tell around the dinner table. Highlights include: Morgan Weber (Revival Market), Craig Haney (Stone Barns) and Taylor Boetticher (Fatted Calf) talking about heritage breeds and sustainable farming and ranching; Professor Rebecca Sharpless (TCU) speaking about women bringing rural foodways into urban settings in the mid-twentieth century; and Bobby Heugel (Anvil Bar and Refuge) presenting the History of the Southern Cocktail (and serving some up). More information and tickets at foodwaystexas.com.

Sustainable Food Center Market News!

Sustainable Food Center will open a fourth year-round market at the YMCA East Communities Branch, located at 51st and Highway 183, on Tuesdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., starting in late March. The market will be home to SFC’s Double Dollar Incentive Program, a first in the state of Texas. For every dollar (up to $10 weekly) that shoppers spend on fruits and vegetables with their SNAP or WIC card, they will receive an additional $10 to spend at that market for more fruits and vegetables from local farmers. The incentives are repeated weekly, year-round. The farmers market will host more than a dozen vendors offering fruit, vegetables, meats, eggs, dairy, as well as prepared foods. Customers with cash and bank debit cards are welcome too!

from

baked goods specialty coffee creative wedding cakes

Downtown New Braunfels 300 173 Castell Avenue

weet

www.2tarts.com | (830)387-4606

Edible AUstin and BOokPeople Bring a taste of Tuscany to AUstin Join us at BookPeople on Monday, April 2 at 7 p.m. for a memorable talk featuring Sarah Fioroni, author of A Family Farm in Tuscany: Recipes and Stories from Fattoria Poggio Alloro.

Special guests Paula and Glenn Foore from Springdale Farm and David Kuhlken, winemaker for Pedernales Cellars will join in the conversation, moderated by Edible Austin publisher Marla Camp. Enjoy special tastings from Springdale Farm and wines from Pedernales Cellars inspired by the book, along with beverages from Saint Arnold Brewing Company. Free.

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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AMOA-ARTHOUSE and Edible Austin INVITE YOU TO A GARDEN PARTY

Proud Sponsor of the Funky Chicken Coop Tour

Everything you need to grow a garden & raise chickens Free Range Chickens & Roosters Organic & Conventional Feeds

Chicken Coops, Feeders & Waterers

Heirloom, Organic & Gourmet Seeds

Quality Garden Tools & Cultivating Equipment

Family Owned & Operated

General Store

501 Bastrop Hwy, Austin 512-385-3452 Monday-Saturday 8am to 6pm

Spring Chicken Festival March 3rd ~ Noon – 6:30pm at Sustain Center (next door to Callahan’s) Featuring Gardening & Chicken-keeping Seminars, Vendors, & Kid’s Activities

Visit www.SustainCenter.com for ticket & event information

6:30pm Screening of the Movie: Mad City Chickens Sponsored by Callahan’s ~ A Kick off Event for the Funky Chicken Coop Tour Visit www.AustinCoopTour.org for movie ticket information

A Showplace for Integrated Living Exhibits • Education • Events 443 South Bastrop Hwy, Austin www.SustainCenter.com 10

SPRING 2012

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

Spring has sprung and you’re invited to a garden party! Come explore the picturesque grounds of Laguna Gloria while playing Art on the Green, a nine-hole artist-designed miniature golf course on Monday, April 9 at 6 p.m. Bring a picnic basket stocked with local ingredients from your favorite farmers market and a blanket for your spread. Local cupcake bakers from The Cupcake Bar will inspire you to decorate your own edible masterpiece, and Brooklyn Brewery will be sampling their seasonal brews. Tickets are $15 ($10 for members) and are available at amoa.org/gardenparty.

Community Screening of FRESH THE MOVIE at New Braunfels SEEKATZ OPERA HOUSE Edible Austin and New Braunfels Farm to Market present Fresh the Movie hosted at the historic Seekatz Opera House in New Braunfels, sponsored by Chipotle Mexican Grill on Saturday, April 14. Enjoy a visit to the New Braunfels Farm to Market farmers market (9 a.m.–1 p.m.), then at 1 p.m. Seekatz Opera House will host a reception including local food and beverage tastings from 2Tarts Bakery, Huisache Grill, Buttermilk Café, Riverhouse Tea Room, Sweet Dreams Bakery, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Gourmage and New Braunfels Brewing Company. The movie screening will start at 2 p.m. followed by a panel discussion with local farmers moderated by Edible Austin publisher Marla Camp. Donations benefit S.O.S. (Spirit of Sharing) Inc. Food Bank. Ticket information at edibleaustin.com.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Spring Plant sale, April 13–15 You can choose from nearly 300 species of hardy Texas natives bred to deal with the Central Texas climate at the Wildflower Center’s Spring Plant Sale and Gardening Festival, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 13–15. Members Only Sale is on Friday, April 13, 1–7 p.m., exclusively for members of the Wildflower Center. You may become a member online or at the preview sale. Details and plant lists at wildflower.org/plantsale.

SUGAR LAND WINE & food Affair, April 18–22 Enjoy five unforgettable days as more than 100 worldclass wineries and chefs showcase their talents at winemaker lunches, vintner dinners, wine seminars, the Grand Tasting, the Sip & Stroll at Imperial Sugar (featuring a newly added local craft-brewed competition) and the around-the-world Bistro Brunch. Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair (formerly the Grand Wine & Food Affair) is a classic celebration of food, wine and fun. More at thegrandwineandfoodaffair.com.

Austin Food & Wine Festival Debuts April 27-29 Austin Food & Wine Festival is a gourmet celebration developed by C3 Presents and some of Texas’s most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs, including Tim Love (Lonesome Dove Western Bistro and the Love Shack), Tyson Cole (Uchi and Uchiko) and Jesse Herman (La Condesa). A portion of the Festival’s proceeds will benefit the newly formed Austin Food & Wine Alliance.

For tickets and schedule information visit austinfoodandwinefestival.com.

HILL COUNTRY WINE & MUSIC FESTIVAL, April 27-28 Join us for the 3rd Annual Hill Country Wine & Music Festival, a celebration of Texas wine, music and food that benefits the Texas Center for Wine and Culinary Arts in Fredericksburg. The two-day festival is held at Wildseed Farms on Highway 290 just east of Fredericksburg. Visit hillcountrywineandmusic.com for ticket information and schedule.

EAST AUSTIN URBAN FARM TOUR Benefits farm and ranch freedom alliance This popular annual farm tour will be Sunday, April 15, 1–5 p.m. Visit these participating farms: Boggy Creek Farm, Rain Lily Farm, Springdale Farm and HausBar Farms and enjoy farmer-guided tours as well as chef-prepared tastings with food from the farms. For more information and to buy tickets, contact farmandranchfreedom.org.

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Farm to Plate annual gala tickets are hot!

Early Bird tickets and tables are on sale for Farm to Plate, Sustainable Food Center’s annual gala fundraiser event until March 9. Farm to Plate brings local farmers, food artisans, chefs and beverage artisans together for an evening celebrating the flavors of Central Texas and features chefs Bryce Gilmore of Barley Swine, Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due and Shawn Cirkiel of Olive & June in addition to over 20 other Central Texas chefs.

Farm to Plate will be held on Thursday, May 10 at the Barr Mansion Artisan Ballroom and grounds. This event sells out early, so don’t miss this opportunity to lend your support. More at sustainablefoodcenter.org.

Becker Lavender Festival LUNCHEONS, MAY 5–6 The 14th Annual Lavender Festival Wine Luncheons feature lavender in each course! Tickets are $65 and are available online or by phone at 830-644-2681, extension 230. More on the festival at beckervineyards.com.

SAN MARCOS PLAZA PARK

FOOD & FARMERS MARKET • LIVE MUSIC • TEXAS ARTS & CRAFTS

Texas natural & Western Swing Festival The 20th Annual Texas Natural & Western Swing Festival will be held in San Marcos in the Courthouse Square on Saturday May 19, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Enjoy food and a farmers market, live music, Texas arts and crafts and much more! For more information, call 512-393-8430.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US! Join Edible Austin in celebrating our 5th Anniversary on Saturday, June 2 by supporting our local farmers, ranchers and food artisans at the SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown. Stop by our market booth to pick up the 5th anniversary issue of the magazine and enjoy a special birthday treat. 9 a.m.–1 p.m., 400 W. Guadalupe.

Picture Your HealtH ® CliniCal Thermography

Proudly Picturing the Health of Austin since 2004 Early Breast Cancer Detection Full Body & Region-of-Interest Screenings No Radiation / No Contact FDA-Registered Meditherm Equipment

(512) 330-0266

www.PictureYourHealth.com EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

SPRING 2012

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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

WINES · SP IR ITS

F I N E R FO O DS

®

LESS TO PAY MEANSÉ More SOIRÉE. Stimulate your appetite and your senses at Spec’s. Take your taste buds on an adventure with a sampling from our selection of over 200 cheeses. Complete your experience with a fine wine—we offer more than 10,000 to peruse. You’ll find everything you need to entertain with confidence, close to home.

CHEERS TO SAVINGS

15 CENTRAL TEXAS LOCATIONS (512) 366-8260 • specsonline.com Rare Fine Foods • 100’s of Cheeses Organic Wine and Spirits Full Deli • Fair Trade/Organic Coffees and Bulk Teas 12

SPRING 2012

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

hyde park, austin 4220 Duval Street (512) 531-9610

Tues-Sat:11-7; Sun:12-5

AntonellisCheese.com

notable Edibles Community supported...

RESTAURANT!

T

odd Duplechan and Jessica Maher returned to Austin from New York almost five years ago set on opening a restaurant together.

However, fate had different plans for them: her, a stint working with Dai Due; him, as chef de cuisine at Trio. The two also welcomed a bun of a very different sort from the oven. They’ve since emerged much more parental and prepared for their first business venture together called Lenoir, the new Bouldin Creek neighborhood eatery.

The interior of Lenoir is intimate and visually stunning.

Delicate family-crocheted lace drapes gracefully against the windows, and ghostly whitewashed wooden tables light up the 32seat dining room. Burnt drops (leftover wood trimmings) are put to decorative use on the walls and as salt cellars on each table. The culinary couple revamped the former location of Somnio’s on South First Street and named it after the French black grape varietal that has adapted to Texas, much like they have.

The interesting thing that sets Lenoir apart, though, is its status as a CSR, or a community supported restaurant. Much like a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, subscribers invest in shares ($1,000 each, in this case) and get credit toward dining ($1,200, which works as a house account). Credits can be transferred with permission—but need to be used within a year from the date subscribed (after which they can be easily renewed). Not only does this help Duplechan and Maher in their planning for the year by generating early revenue, but it allows them to, in turn, invest back into Austin’s edible community by supporting local farmers, ranchers, breweries and wineries.

Duplechan and Maher feel this type of program—the first of its kind in Austin—will create a strong sense of community within the restaurant. “Plus, you’re kind of like a restaurant VIP,” Duplechan adds. Most importantly, however, the duo wants Lenoir to be a warm, welcoming space for all diners who support them—members or not. “We’re going to keep it very affordable,” Maher assures. “We want it to be a neighborhood restaurant people can come to often.”

They look forward to starting up monthly Sunday dinner parties, which will celebrate a showcased ingredient, or pair courses with a featured speaker, book or film. Simply stated by Maher, “Any excuse to throw a communal dinner party is a great one.” —Veronica Meewes Lenoir 1807 S. First St. 512-215-9778 Tues.–Sat. 5–10:30 p.m. lenoirrestaurant.com

512. 296. 2211 • bj an e garde n s .com EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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Thinking Inside the Box

B

en Runkle recently purchased two Dorper lambs from Twin County Dorpers in Harper, a small town west of Fredericksburg. This is perhaps an unusual purchase for most shoppers, but Runkle is a butcher and founder of Salt & Time, which offers locally sourced, freshly butchered meats and artisanal salumi. After Runkle’s handiwork, a lucky few customers received the lamb as chops in their Butcher’s Box, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program-style offering created by Runkle and his business partner and master butcher Bryan Butler.

Butcher’s Box subscribers pay up front for a monthly array of meaty delicacies such as summer-herb breakfast sausage, jamon de paletawrapped Richardson Farms pork tenderloin, pancetta-wrapped Texas quail and brined and stuffed Dewberry Hills Farms chicken. A sixmonth subscription costs $500, and each box contains at least $100 worth of meat. Subscribers pick up their boxes—which also include information on the farms represented, as well as cooking suggestions and recipes—at Salt & Time’s booth at either the Barton Creek Farmers Market or the HOPE Farmers Market.

Having enthusiastic subscribers pay in advance allows Runkle and Butler to purchase meats that are normally too expensive or risky for their small business, such as the Dorper lambs. “We got the lamb fresh from the processor and butchered it on the Friday before the boxes came out,” Runkle explains. “This lamb had never been frozen, so we were able to give our customers some of the best, freshest lamb chops they will ever have. It wouldn’t be feasible for us to take forty or even twenty fresh lamb chops out to the farmers markets and hope they sell. But by sourcing specifically for the boxes, we were able to do it.”

Although the inaugural 20 subscription slots sold out quickly, the Salt & Time duo plans to add additional slots when they open their brick-and-mortar deli later this year on Austin’s east side—an exciting development for the young company. “We will have a full butcher shop with a major emphasis on bringing in whole animals and butchering them on-site,” Runkle says. They’ll also offer sausages, salami, bacon and a variety of sandwiches and other ready-to-eat items.

For now, future subscribers can lick their own chops in anticipation of the ever-changing array of meaty morsels awaiting them—like the upcoming goat meat. “Windy Hill raises some of the best goat I’ve ever had,” Runkle says. “I think our subscribers are pretty well versed in meat, but I hope we give them some things they haven’t had before.”

—Cari Marshall

Visit saltandtime.com, or contact info@saltandtime.com.

Home Grown Tastes Better!

At t he A la m o Dra f t hous e we’ re m ore t han just m ov ies a nd food. We cook f rom s cratc h e ach day, m a king s a uces , pizza dough, dress ings and dess er t s in hous e! hor m one-f ree beef s o you can enj oy one of t he best burgers in Austi n a longs ide t he fi nest fi lm s on t he pla net .

2730 S. Congress Ave • gonursery.com

eat well.

LOCAL PRODUCTS

DELI & GOURMET

GROCERY STAPLES

11th & lamar 512-482-8868

PREPARED FOODS

WEEKLY LUNCH SPECIALS

BEER & WINE TASTINGS

CATERING & DELIVERY

winkrestaurant.com 14

SPRING 2012

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Downtown Austin, Texas 3rd & Lavaca • 4th & Nueces 6th & Congress

TOTALLY CRUSHING ON ST. ANDRÉ

Brooklyn Local 1 & triple-crème are meant to be.

A Side of Fresh

T

he bevy of bars near 7th and Red River in downtown Austin may not be the first destination for a seasoned locavore, but revelers in search of a uniquely farm-to-glass cocktail should dive into the side bar. Behind its long, L-shaped bar, under a Bob Wills poster and next to the beer taps, sit two giant decanters filled with delectable vodkas infused with locally sourced, seasonal produce and spices, just waiting to delight the most discerning foodie’s taste buds.

Depending on the season, bar-goers might try a cucumber martini, a bacon or habanero and garlic Bloody Mary, a peach tea, or a pumpkin or gingerbread White Russian. Other infusions have included fresh jalapeño and lime, cherry and orange, and spiced apple and cantaloupe. The possibilities are endless; if it grows on a local farm or is found at the farmers market, the side bar will find a way to transform it into a cocktail.

If farm-fresh flavored vodka seems somewhat incongruous with the otherwise decidedly un-swanky bar, that’s just fine with owners and longtime Austinites Trey and Soo Lee-Spaw. “We were a Lone Star-and-shot-of-whiskey kind of place,” explains Trey. “But we’re always trying to think of something different and have fun!”

For the food-loving Spaws, the recent explosive growth of Austin’s local food movement inspired the infusion idea. “The trend of local food and drink is thrilling and inspiring,” says Soo. “It only makes sense that thoughtful eating would go hand in hand with thoughtful drinking.”

Bar Manager Jason Kendrick takes the infusions from concept to reality. “I throw out suggestions, and he makes them happen,” Soo says. “I get the honor of being the test taster.” The infusions are made with Tito’s Vodka, another nod to local sourcing. “Being small-business owners, we try to support [sourcing] as local as possible,” says Soo. Trey enjoys being able to offer something for everyone—from the hipster twentysomethings to the more veteran patrons—and has found that the whole spectrum of customers appreciates the Austincentric infusions. “The food revolution thing is real, and it’s transgenerational,” says Trey. —Cari Marshall the side bar 602 E. 7th St. 512-322-0697 Sat.–Sun. 6 p.m.–2 a.m.

Mon.–Fri. 5 p.m.–2 a.m. thesidebaraustin.com EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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Research plots where HABITURF was tested over three years at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

When in Drought

T

hough the seemingly generous amount of rain our city finally received in December and January provided much-needed relief from record-breaking aridity, Central Texas drought conditions are still very much a reality because of the lingering La Niña effect. In response to the many questions and problems that arose in response to the drought, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center launched a virtual Drought Resource Center just before Thanksgiving.

During the inferno that was last summer, the center’s Ask Mr. Smarty Plants online feature was inundated with drought-related questions. Damon Waitt, director of the Native Plant Information Network at the Wildflower Center, says that the intent was to collect all of the information in one place to make it easy for people to access.

“We’ve got a repository of about six thousand questions that have been answered over the years,” he says. “And, of course, we’ve been getting a lot of other questions: Is my tree dead? How can I tell if my tree is dead?

How do I water my tree during drought restrictions?”

In addition to answers to a multitude of questions, the Drought Resource Center also provides informative articles on topics like rainwater harvesting, the use of mulch to protect plants and planting native grasses like HABITURF, the Center’s signature blend of three native drought-tolerant grasses that requires less watering and mowing than non-native seeds. The site also includes a detailed database of

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E A T

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drought-resistant native plants across the United States and is searchable by state and various plant characteristics.

“This drought has really helped make the case for native plants being well adapted to the environmental extremes of Texas,” says Waitt. “The proof is in the pudding…or in the planting, if you will. A lot of the exotic ornamentals people have planted are getting wiped out, but the natives are still hanging in there.”

The same can be said for the human inhabitants who continue to stick it out. And with handy tools like the resource center, this summer, we’ll be much better prepared. —Veronica Meewes e Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Drought Resource Center Th can be found at wildflower.org/drought-resource-center.

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YOU CAN FEED FOR MILES AND MILES

T

5 Mile Farm CSA members gather at the farm located on Jim Hogg Avenue.

people,” says Jewart, “because we know what it takes to have a big garden that’s your own. It’s a pleasure, but it’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of stress because things are always trying to go wrong.” In the 5 Mile Farm model, members with yard farms can choose to have as much or as little involvement as they want on the actual farming end. But they’re encouraged to drum up membership support in their neighborhoods in order to support future yard farms and spread awareness in general.

Most importantly, 5 Mile Farms is working to make pure, homegrown food accessible to everyone. “When you go the farmers market,” Jewart notes, “you’re hanging out with a lot of nice people who have enough awareness to go to a farmers market. But it’s not diverse. So the idea is that you could get people even more involved in a very authentic way that’s based on proximity—based on seeing it and tasting it and experiencing it.

So that’s what we’re trying to sell with our membership program…not a box of produce. We’re trying to connect to each other in this way that is going to make all of our lives better. So you’re paying for the experience, not for a carrot.” —Veronica Meewes or more information on F how to join 5 Mile Farms or to subscribe to the 5 Mile Farms CSA program, visit resolutiongardens.org/farm.

food

h e a lt h / b e a u t y

home/garden

he minds behind Resolution Gardens already had a great thing going. For the past three years, the nonprofit, led by Austin Green Art founder Randy Jewart, has been empowering people to grow their own food by installing raised beds in their yards and offering the support and maintenance necessary to keep their gardens growing. The idea was to encourage people to grow their own food, no matter how busy, ill-equipped or uninformed they felt. Now, 5 Mile Farms, Jewart’s latest brainchild and Austin’s first hyperlocal (more on that in a minute) Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, takes that concept even further by making it a neighborhood initiative.

Jewart describes 5 Mile Farms as a “semi-market, semi-membership experience.” Members commit to paying $20 a week, which underwrites maintenance of its growing number of farms (12 as we went to press) and goes toward transforming yards all over Austin into working farms. Each contribution is then translated into credit to be used at the pick-up locations where the availability of individually priced items allows members to choose exactly what produce goes in their bags each week. Other benefits of membership are a monthly supper club as well as a monthly workshop event that focuses on anything from building a compost bin to pickling vegetables.

“Five Mile Farms refers to the hyperlocal aspect of our model,” Jewart explains. “Most local food is defined as within two hundred fifty or one hundred miles. We wanted something that defined our eventual goal of produce walking to where it’s going.” The CSA program began this January and is already 60 members strong with the capacity to expand rapidly. Right now, members pick up their weekly box of produce at the main location on Jim Hogg Avenue or at the HOPE Farmers Market, but Jewart plans to establish pick-up points throughout the city. “We want people to be able to go to the farm locations,” says Jewart, “because, really, what we’re trying to do with this whole project is educate people about how farming works with the hopes that we’re not going to be competing with existing farm markets and CSAs, but expanding people’s interests in participating in the whole movement. It’ll be a way that we reach people who are not foodies—not Michael Pollan readers—but people that are just getting involved because it’s happening in their neighborhood.”

Jewart says the responses they’ve received already have been very enthusiastic; Austinites in general seem to be frustrated with their unused yard spaces and are eager to turn grassy plots into edible landscapes. “We think that the cooperative approach is going to be more user-friendly for

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Wholly Cow

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holly Cow Burgers—recently named Best Eco-ambitious Burger Counter by the Austin Chronicle—all started with the sweet simplicity of a Texas peach. Owner Jeff Woodard peddled his uncle’s Fredericksburg peaches out of the former Star Grill Food Mart on South Lamar.

Soon afterward, he began crafting and selling juicy burgers at the shop’s modest interior café, using all-natural beef, also from his uncle’s Rocky Hill Orchards, and the newly coined Wholly Cow burger took flight.

“This is beef that I grew up on,” says Woodard. “Most people recognize that this is what real beef should taste like. We use certified organic, chemical-free, hormone-free, grassfed beef from start to finish—all local produce, all local ingredients…except for the bun!” (Woodard uses a slightly sweet King’s Hawaiian roll instead, which he believes perfectly showcases the flavor of the burger.)

The success of Wholly Cow afforded Woodard the opportunity to buy the rest of the convenience store, now called Zen Food Mart. There, you can find yerba maté and kombucha next to Monster and Red Bull energy drinks, and commercial candy bars juxtaposed with handmade, local treats typically sold in farmers markets. “We give [customers] convenience, but it’s more of what you wouldn’t find at a typical convenience store,” says Woodard.

The selection of fresh produce—which multiplies as the weather gets warmer and tends to take over the entire front of the store—is a source of pride for Woodard. Huge heads of cauliflower and cabbage fill a cooler in the back, near the rack of local wines and an aisle of craft beers—many local, others organic, some gluten-free and all handpicked by Woodard.

“People want choices,” he says. “And I think it’s a matter of listening to what they want, too. If you give them options for healthier choices, a lot of the time they’re making those choices.”

To balance the options, high-fructose corn syrup-free Hunt’s ketchup graces the tables in the café area, but old-fashioned Heinz is still available upon request. And while cane-sugar sodas flow from the fountain, regular Coke and Pepsi can be found in the cooler. Customers also have the option to enjoy made-to-order items from the menu, which includes several vegetarian options, or take home cuts of grassfed beef to cook at home.

Woodard proudly points out that their used oil is converted into biodiesel, all of their recyclable glass is taken to Ecology Action, and they’ve just begun working with Break It Down to begin composting. To keep things tidy, Woodard uses steam cleaning 90 percent of the time, and EcoSmart cleaning products are used when needed. He’s also in the process of changing out the lighting with energy-saving LED fixtures, though eventually he’d like to see the store running on solar and wind power.

Expansion is definitely on Woodard’s mind. In mid-January, he opened a Wholly Cow location on 7th and Congress and he looks forward to opening more stores in neighborhoods that are far from grocery stores, farmers markets and opportunities for healthier choices. Until then, South Austinites are lucky enough to call Zen their local food mart.

“Something that I find unique about us is our organic, down-home, Southern-charm-type atmosphere,” Woodard says. “You won’t find many convenience-store settings that have a Cheers feel.” —Veronica Meewes Wholly Cow Burgers Zen Food Mart 3010 S. Lamar Blvd.

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“Flavors like cilantro and lime are things I grew up with. We want everything we serve to have a specific Texas connection.”

—Anthony Sobotik

Lick owners Chad Palmatier (left) and Anthony Sobotik.

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marketplace

Get Your Licks

by Jessica Dupuy • Photography by Dustin Meyer

N

ot many retail businesses can pull off a name comprised simply of a single verb and expect to garner attention. Unless of course they’re selling all-natural ice creams in an array of flavors like Pecan Rum Pie, Too Hot Chocolate and Breakfast Bacon. Who needs extra words? A place like this could only be named for the simple action you’d be compelled to take if one of these sweet, tasty treats was placed before you. And ever since Lick—a quaint and cheerful little ice cream shop on South Lamar— opened in October 2011, that’s all anyone wants to do with their heavenly fare.

Walking into Lick, one can’t help but don a goofy, gleeful smile—like a kid hearing the merry melody of the ice cream truck just blocks away. The walls are a bright, robin’s-egg blue with thin, linear red accents; a charming assortment of small, antique white-and-red painted milking stools lines the storefront, while a sleek, glass-top ice cream case holds court center stage. But Lick’s creamy delights put the average ice cream truck stock to shame. On any given day, about 20 flavors are written on large index cards and clothespinned to a slick ladder along one wall of the shop.

Top sellers include Cilantro Lime; Goat Cheese, Thyme and Honey; Coconut, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirls (100 percent vegan); Roasted Beet and Mint; and Caramelized Carrot and Tarragon—of which kids can’t get enough, according to Lick co-owner and ice cream maker, Anthony Sobotik. And just beneath the Lick name is a tagline that reads, “Honest Ice Creams.” It’s a phrase that refers to the wholesome ingredients Sobotik uses to make his ice creams, like non-homogenized, low-temperature pasteurized milk, light cream and natural sweeteners such as brown rice syrup to replace conventional sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup.

Originally from the small town of Hallettsville, near Shiner, Sobotik grew up surrounded by a farming community. Early on, he developed a love for food that helped put him through college at The University of Texas and supported him for almost a decade in New York—working for, and eventually managing, his own catering company. While catering, he perfected the art of cleverly pairing a variety of different ingredi-

ents for the many menus he created for clients. “There was this one hors d’oeuvre we used to serve that was just goat cheese, thyme and honey on a sliced fig or date,” Sobotik remembers. “I used to think, ‘this should be an ice cream flavor.’” Somewhere in the back of his mind, a whole catalog of ice cream flavors began to form.

While in New York, he met his current life and business partner, Chad Palmatier, an interior designer. Palmatier was from Pennsylvania and had spent many of his formative years in the Amish countryside among farms, dairies and creameries. Visiting Palmatier’s hometown, the two were inspired by the farmers markets, the collaborative farming community and the small-town shops serving local foods. It was through visiting the country dairies and creameries that the idea for an ice cream shop set in for Sobotik.

Seven years later, the two moved to Austin, hammered out a business plan, tweaked ice cream recipes and secured a retail space. The next step was to find a dairy. They eventually found Texas Daily Harvest, a certified-organic family farm in East Texas. The farm was once a conventional dairy farm, with around 1,100 cows. But in 2006, owners Kent and Ramy Jisha began the process of transitioning the farm to a fully organic operation with a much smaller herd of Jersey cows grazing on natural grass. “I love their milk and I love their cream,” says Sobotik. “We could have easily sourced from a larger dairy, but I didn’t want to go that way.

I wanted to source our milk from a place where I could see where the product was coming from and trust the people who are selling it.”

At the heart of what the two wanted to achieve was celebrating seasonal ingredients and the local food community through the ice cream.

“There are so many flavors that stick in my mind as distinctly Texan,” says Sobotik. “Flavors like cilantro and lime are things I grew up with.

We want everything we serve to have a specific Texas connection.”

The duo sources as many Texas ingredients as they can, and when they can’t—as with their vanilla beans—they add a local component to it to create something uniquely localized, like their big seller, Hill Country Honey Vanilla Bean, featuring Round Rock Honey.

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SUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER FARMERS’ MARKET AT Daily flavors are made with local, seasonal ingredients.

“Ice cream is such a blank slate to showcase local farms and purveyors,” says Sobotik, who uses bacon from Salt & Time, goat cheese from Pure Luck Farm & Dairy, chocolates from Delysia Chocolatier, bourbon from Garrison Brothers Distillery, eggs from Vital Farms and produce from Johnson’s Backyard Garden, Rain Lily Farm and more.

While Palmatier doesn’t hail from a food background, his career in interior design lent a significant contribution to the overall look and feel of Lick—from retail interior to logo to website. And though they ran into the usual city permitting and building delays, Lick opened last fall to an enthusiastic audience of ice cream lovers.

With a steady stream of daily customers popping in for a flavor sample or two before settling on a scoop with or without a homemade cone, Lick’s future looks very bright. And while Sobotik and Palmatier are in talks with some of the city’s grocers—such as Wheatsville Co-op and Royal Blue Grocery—about carrying Lick ice creams, they’re committed to growing their own retail location first. “We want to make sure we’re really serving the best we can from our shop before we take it to the wholesale market or even to a second retail location,” says Sobotik. “We have the space and the capacity to grow, so we’re not ruling anything out.”

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Edible Ed

EAT OUR HOMEWORK

by Kristi Willis • Photography by Jenna Noel

From left: Chef Mike Erickson instructs his students, Ryan Johnson, Miranda Doria, Jordan Coffman, Evelin Sierra, Shelli Kilchenstein, David Johnson, Brianna Bracey and Mirna Villatoro-Contreras.

O

n the first day of the spring semester, Chef Mike Erickson introduces his culinary students to a catering job they’ll have the next week: a lunch buffet hosted by the Pflugerville Independent School District superintendent. The Iron Cougars, participants in the Connally High School culinary program, don’t even flinch at the 15 different hors d’oeuvres and desserts they’re expected to prepare in four short days.

As Chef Erickson walks them through the techniques for presenting buffet dishes, he challenges them to have symmetry and uniformity on their plates—reminding them that in this business, “it’s all about the little details.” And, it is their business; these students are devouring a curriculum that includes topics from preparation to food safety and best practices of the food-service industry. While in the program, they can earn industry-recognized certificates, like ServSafe Food Handler, and several students have used their new skills to gain restaurant jobs while still in school.

Erickson, formerly an instructor at the Texas Culinary Academy, helped launch the program in 2009 as a way to engage the kids at this 24

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“I think food is a great way to meet people and bring them together. It’s a skill that you will be able to use the rest of your life.”

—Ryan Johnson, Connally High School student

Culinary program students David Johnson (left) and Ryan Johnson prepare for an event.

Title-I school where 46 percent of students are economically disadvantaged and 55 percent are at risk. He wanted to offer a set of skills the youths could use to better their lives.

Ryan Johnson, a second-year culinary student and president of the Iron Cougars culinary arts club, was interested in joining the program because he wants to pursue a career as a chef. “I think food is a great way to meet people and bring them together. It’s a skill that you will be able to use the rest of your life,” he says.

Acceptance to the program is competitive: 147 students submitted applications for the 70 available spots in the next school year.

Each applicant must complete a prerequisite course that teaches nutrition and basic kitchen skills in order to be eligible for one of the 54 first-year seats. A student can then apply for one of the 16 seats in the second-year practicum. To meet the growing demand for the program, Pflugerville ISD is planning a second culinary classroom at a new high school and possibly a food truck or restaurant run by the students, similar to those at Del Valle and Round Rock High Schools.

As with most academic programs, budgets are limited. A meager annual allotment of $3,000 means the students need to raise extra money to pay for uniforms, textbooks, registration fees and travel expenses for scholarship competitions. Proceeds from catering events, bake sales and a dinner series featuring local chefs help close the gap.

The Guest Chef Dinner Series has the added benefit of giving the students a chance to cook alongside culinary veterans. Chef Christina Lee of Central Market—featured with her colleague Chef Louis Ortiz at the February dinner—met Chef Erickson while she was teaching a knife-skills class for high school culinary educators. Erickson was so

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“I told them that this career has a lot of long hours and holidays that you will be working away from your family and loved ones.

You have to love this job enough to do that every single day.”

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impressed with Lee’s teaching style that he invited her to come speak to his students.

“I have spoken to two of the classes—sharing with them my experience and to demystify what they think a chef is,” says Lee. “I told them that this career has a lot of long hours and holidays that you will be working away from your family and loved ones. You have to love this job enough to do that every single day.”

The Iron Cougars do love the job. They have their own web-based cooking show—“Cooking with Connally—Where You Become the Chef!”—that’s produced by the school’s video tech department, and they participate in a weekly culinary arts club that’s open to all students. “With the club, you can share your experiences from the class with other people—giving them ideas and advice about whether they want to take the class,” says second-year student Dominique Brown.

“You get to show them the fun stuff that you do in addition to the hard work.”

Always looking for new ways to improve the program, Chef Erickson and the students unveiled a culinary teaching garden in December, and they are preparing for spring planting with the help of Gabriel Valley Farms. Excited to see the garden taking shape, student Brianna Bracey mentions that she likes how the garden is a group effort and that they all get to share it. “I’d never grown anything before and this is a new experience.”

The new experiences appear to be paying off. In late January, the Connally High team swept the South Texas Culinary Challenge, taking home several awards—including first place in cake decorating, a People’s Choice award and Best Mystery Basket—over teams from San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Victoria and more. Thanks to Chef Erickson and the program’s supporters, these chefs-in-training will hopefully have even more new opportunities and successes ahead in their futures as they confidently invite the community to “Come Eat Our Homework!” pcoming Connally Guest Chef Dinner is Tuesday, March 27 with U Chef Chris Wilson from Lake Austin Spa & Resort. For details visit cookingwithconnally.org.

April 9th, 2012

Featured Graduate Craig Vanis “As a Natural Epicurean graduate, I feel confident in preparing delicious and balanced meals for any number of audiences, whether it be raw, ayurvedic, macrobiotic, or classical cuisine. It’s inspiring to see and hear about the creativity and drive of other graduates, as well as current students, who are in a unique position to meet the increasing demand for health-supportive, plant-based food as awareness continues to increase.” – Craig Vanis, Graduate

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PEOPLE

HOOVER ALEXANDER b y L ay n e V i c t o r i a Ly n c h • P h o t o g r a p h y b y M a r c B r o w n

A

t the beginning of 2011, Hoover Alexander, founder, chef and owner of Hoover’s Cooking restaurants, arduously reflected on all the commitments and obligations heavily weighing on him.

After decades of 13-hour days, working in various facets of the food business, he felt disconnected from the essence and passion he had cultivated in his young chefhood. So, in an effort to enliven his culinary roots, Alexander planted a small but bountiful East Side garden.

As the collard greens, yellow squash and other vegetables thrived and grew, a surprising and unexpected idea took root and grew in Alexander as well. In November, he opened Hoover’s Soular Food Trailer & Garden—a veggie-centric food trailer using locally sourced foods and health-conscious preparation. “This feels full circle to me,” he says. “I’m coming back to the old ’hood and forming a spiritual connection with the neighborhood—almost like I’m supposed to be a part of this new, changing East Side.”

It seems odd that a chef who was already successful in the brick-and-mortar restaurant world would move backward in the chain and opt for a set of wheels, yet the decision was an integral part of Alexander’s next chapter. He began downsizing, and closed the north location of Hoover’s Cooking. He applied the changes to himself as well—eating healthier and exercising. “2011 was a deconstruction year for me,” he says. “I’m trying to take care of myself personally, and build that reflection of me through business. It was time to start thinking smaller.”

In the midst of brainstorming ideas for the trailer, Alexander started to recall initial food memories. He reflected on days of studying his mother as she prepared savory pan-fried pork chops with collard greens and gravy, carefully listening to his father as he instructed him on how to use a hog from snout to tail, and fishing at the creek while fighting off water moccasins with a stick as they slithered his way. “It was that culture of living off the land,” he 28

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says. “There were struggles, but poor wasn’t apparent to me back then.”

When it came time for Alexander to choose a professional path, he initially started as a communications major at The University of Texas.

He ventured off his degree plan, however, after accepting a kitchen job at the Night Hawk rolling out pie dough, preparing gumbo and filling in for the head chef, Mr. Leon, on his days off. “I had plans to do anything but cook for a living, but I was intrigued to learn everything I could about it,” he says.

“Restaurants helped quench that thirst for knowledge I always had.”

He took a waiter’s position at a Steak and Ale restaurant and a bartending shift at an old Sheraton hotel before admitting the real issue at hand: all he really wanted to do was cook. In 1982, he gathered his family and broke the news that he was leaving the university and opening Toulouse, a Cajun-themed restaurant on Sixth Street.

“I was in school for eight or nine years and was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do,” says Alexander. “My mom had me figured out before I had myself figured out. She wanted me to be Oprah Winfrey or a lawyer.

She wanted me to have what she didn’t.”

Alexander left Toulouse in 1985 after bars and late-night culture saturated the area. He ventured on to Chez Fred and Good Eats Cafe over the next 11 years—learning the curses of the restaurant business through failed partnerships and an unavoidable bankruptcy filing. The experiences left him jaded, but not defeated. In 1998, two years after filing for bankruptcy, he opened Hoover’s Cooking, a Cajun, Tex-Mex and Southern-inspired restaurant that encompassed the whole of his restaurant expertise. The Manor Road restaurant also happened to be a stone’s throw away from his childhood home.

Through the years of living and working on the East Side, Alexander has seen the neighborhood vastly transform. Old neighborhood

“I’m coming back to the old ’hood and forming a spiritual connection with the neighborhood.”

—Hoover Alexander

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“We’re learning an appreciation for things we once discarded and dismissed. I want to be a part of that and I want the trailer to be a part of that evolution.”

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grocery stores and Mexican bakeries have been replaced by expensive bike shops and fine-dining restaurants. Yet that revolution has been the perfect host for his new venture. “We’re learning an appreciation for things we once discarded and dismissed. I want to be a part of that and I want the trailer to be a part of that evolution,” he says. “I celebrate the past, but if you get stuck looking in the rearview mirror, you’re going to fixate on what was, not what can be.”

Though the trailer’s garden-friendly dishes—such as collard green and black-eyed pea wraps and raw vegetable medleys—significantly differ from the restaurant’s famous meatloaf and chicken-fried steak plates, they are symbolic of the clarity Alexander hopes to gain moving forward. “I separated from embracing what the farm and garden had to offer me, and I really regret that,” he confesses. “For the first time in a while, I feel like I’m coming home.”

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Get FREE Official Visitor Info Kit

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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 awardwinning cabs, zins, chards, rieslings and merlots from our numerous vineyards and wineries. Incidentally, “Zauber” is the German word for “magic”. Guten Appetit. H VisitFredericksburgTX.com | 866 997 3600

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EDIBLE ENDEAVOR

Red Caboose Winery

Photography of Evan McKibben on the winery roof by Soll Sussman

b y SOll S u s s m a n

W

hen asked at what point green design became an important part of the plans for the Red Caboose Winery and Vineyards in Meridian, winemaker and vineyard manager Evan McKibben doesn’t hesitate for an instant. “From day one,” he says. “My dad was going to design this to be as energy efficient as possible.”

One of the first things Evan’s father, Gary—an architect with the Dallas-based Johnson/McKibben Architects—took into account before construction began was site orientation. “The way we designed the building is to face north and south so that the east and west sun would go over the top and create coeffiencies to cool the building,” Evan says. Rain-catching and geothermal units were also important early facets of the winery. “The solar panels are the only things that are kind of new,” he notes. “We’ve had them for about two years now through the availability of a renewable energy grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

“Actually,” Evan continues—looking out from the solar-topped roof at 16 acres of vines with 11 different varietals—“the original plan had nothing to do with wine.” His father acquired the land in Meridian, 130 miles from Austin and 90 miles from Dallas, simply intending to build a 34

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house and enjoy life in the country on what had been a deer lease.

But the elder McKibben eventually dabbled a little in grape growing. “The first year, we did about a hundred plants,” says Evan. The conclusion was that the land was indeed suitable enough to grow grapes, and perhaps they could produce grapes for other wineries.

Evan, now 31, was just out of college at the time and commuting from Dallas. On weekends, as the vineyard was being built, the father-and-son team stayed in a refurbished caboose newly moved to the property. “We were looking for a trailer but we found this old caboose in a junkyard,” Evan recalls. “My dad was in the caboose one night and woke up, and he just thought: Red Caboose Wine. He called me the next day and said, ‘That’s the name!’”

Evan took as much pride showing off the winery’s green features as he did offering tastes of Red Caboose port and La Reina tempranillo. The roof, for example, was designed to be able to handle solar panels years before they were able to install them. The rainwater storage, which uses gravity flow to supply the irrigation system, holds 19,000 gallons and eases the need to pump from the well. The McKibbens also understood that while up-front costs may be more, the investments pay off over time. Utility bills for the winery typi-

Photography of Evan and Gary McKibben courtesy of Red Caboose Winery

Noteworthy Vintages

“We’ve had [the solar panels] for about two years now through the availability of a renewable energy grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.” —Evan McKibben cally run $30 to $35 a month, although they spike during the heat of summer, Evan notes.

Geothermal energy plays an especially important part in the winery’s operation, which cools, chills, refrigerates and heats with a geothermal ground-source loop that uses 24 geothermal wells. Much of the winery was built with rock that was excavated during planting, while additional rock from the vineyards is used decoratively in gabions (cages) that also serve as retaining walls.

The result of their green efforts was an award recently bestowed on Red Caboose for being one of the most sustainable wineries in Texas. The Growing Green Communities program for rural development organized by the Texas Engineering Extension Service at Texas A&M University presented the award at a statewide conference in Austin.

While Johnson/McKibben has a large architectural portfolio that includes functional buildings like jails, firehouses and schools, wineries now play a part, as well. Other than an exercise during architectural studies at California Polytechnic State University, Red Caboose was Gary McKibben’s first winery. He’s since served as an architect for Brennan Vineyards in Comanche, Flat Creek Estate in Marble

2009 La Reina Tempranillo: The 2009 Red Caboose La Reina is crafted from 100 percent handpicked tempranillo fruit. The wine is aged in old American oak for 18 months, lending a light smoke flavor. The color is deep ruby red. On the palate, the 2009 La Reina opens with a blast of strong fruit/berry/herbal flavors and follows with the tobacco and earthy minerality common to its limestone-rich terroir. The wine is fairly low in acid and presents medium to strong tannins. It promises a high potential for cellaring for many years and pairs beautifully with Texas game birds (dove and quail), as well as with lamb. It was a gold medal winner at the 2011 GrapeFest in Grapevine—and won silver medals at the 2011 Lone Star International Wine Competition and the 2011 Denver International Wine Competition.

2008 Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine is a great blend of 50 percent tempranillo and 50 percent cabernet sauvignon, resulting in a wine that is a joy to drink. The superb conditions in the 2008 growing season resulted in an excellent crop of estate-grown tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon grapes. The color is a bold cherry red with aromas of excellent coffee and cassis. The wine was aged in American white oak for 16 months, then bottle-aged for two years, resulting in a smooth, silky finish with well-integrated tannins. This wine is unfiltered and should be decanted before drinking, but promises a perfect marriage for a grilled dry-aged steak or venison.

It won the prestigious Jefferson Cup (Sweepstakes Winner) at the 2011 Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition, and won silver medals at both the 2011 Lone Star International Wine Competition and the 2011 GrapeFest.

2010 Blanc du Bosque: Red Caboose has experimented with this French-American hybrid since 2005—perfecting their formula. The 2010 vintage showed concentrated sugar levels, which produced a wonderful semisweet wine. On the nose, the wine exhibits a lush bouquet of florals, fresh-picked summer fruits and a nice hit of spice. On the palate, there’s a luscious burst of berries followed by banana and pear flavors. When served well-chilled, the smooth, pleasant finish extends the wine’s affinity for taming the heat of a Texas summer. It won Texas Champion and Class Champion at the 2012 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. —Terry Thompson-Anderson EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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Photography courtesy of Red Caboose Winery

“Here, I’m a farmer for ten months and a winemaker for two. Some of my friends live in cubicles. I’m just out here, and I say, ‘this is my office.’” —Evan McKibben Falls and Pedernales Cellars in Stonewall, as well as La Bodega Winery at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

An obviously happy Evan confesses to having first suffered a bit of culture shock at his newfound rural life—a sharp contrast to what he experienced growing up in north Dallas. “Coming down here, I had never seen a tractor before,” he says. “Here, I’m a farmer for ten months and a winemaker for two. Some of my friends live in cubicles. I’m just out here, and I say, ‘this is my office.’”

The old caboose is still on the property, used for storage until it can one day be improved for show as part of the decor. Evan says that, in the past year, the vineyard has produced almost 30 tons of fruit, and they expect to sell about 4,000 to 5,000 cases of wine each year. Some sales are taking place at the new Red Caboose retail outlet in Clifton, 11 miles southeast of Meridian and more visible to traffic on well-traveled Highway 6. They also sell to a variety of wine shops and restaurants around the state. In Central Texas, you can find Red Caboose wine in the Hill Country Wine Shoppe in Wimberley, Vineyards & Beyond in Fredericksburg, Salado Wine Seller, Gabriel’s Outlet Store in San Marcos and Gabriel’s Downtown and Superstore in San Antonio.

An easy day trip from Austin or Dallas/Fort Worth, Red Caboose sponsors events including a bring-your-own-food Cork and Fork at the Meridian winery with music on the last Friday of each month (January through October).

Red Caboose Winery and Vineyard Meridian: 254-435-9911 Clifton: 254-675-0099 redcaboosewinery.com 36

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Embracing Local

It’s All in the

Words b y Kjel d Pete r s e n

M

uch of our conversation about local food is laden with jargon—sometimes confusing as we look to find a common language to describe it. Some of the words we use have specific, universally agreed-upon definitions—yet somehow get changed or used incorrectly or inappropriately. Some of the words have

very subjective usages or interpretations that rely heavily on the context in which the words are used.

The following is a high-level look at the definitions and meanings of some of the common words we run across in our edible conversations (words in italics have been defined).

Artisan: Foods which are prepared with respect to traditional ingredients, methods and in small batches. Unlike typical commercial food products, artisan foods are normally produced using seasonally available ingredients and utilizing small-batch or by-hand techniques. As such, quantities of true artisan foods are normally very limited. Cheeses, pastas, breads, preserves, flours and beverages are common artisan food product categories.

any reason, they will not receive a delivery. Items in each share are determined by the farm and may include items provided cooperatively with other producers.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): A community-to-farm, risk-based system of commerce where individual members pledge support to a farm (in the form of a fee, labor or a combination of both) in exchange for a scheduled delivery of products. In its truest sense, members pledge both financial support and individual labor in return for the share. The member assumes the risk that if a farm is unable to bring a harvest in for

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Ecotarian: The practice of eating sustainably in a manner that is primarily plant based, organic, local, fair and nutritionally balanced. The term is relatively new and, in essence, summarizes a number of existing principles.

Fair Food: Food that is accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor. Fair Trade is a registered trademark and is commonly associated with imported food products (such as coffee) where producers are directly engaged in selling the goods and receive just (or higher) compensation for

their labor in comparison to goods they might sell through a broker or other middleman.

Farmers Market: A market organized in a public space enabling farmers to sell directly to consumers and end users (such as restaurants). Farmers markets have existed for centuries as commercial and cultural centers of communities around the world. Farmers markets may or may not include the sales of crafts, cooperatively produced items or resellers.

Farmstead: A term to indicate a value-added food product (such as a preserve or cheese) that is made at the same location from where the raw ingredients are grown or produced (such as a berry farm or dairy). The term is widely misused on menus to indicate an artisan provenance for an ingredient.

Foodshed: An area where food is grown, generally defined by its climate, soil, watershed, local varieties, species and agricultural systems. A foodshed can be made up of parts of different states or countries that share common conditions in these areas.

Foodways: The academic study of the foods that are eaten, grown, prepared and preserved through tradition in a defined area, including the study of the people involved in the process. Foods in the defined area are considered from historic, traditional and current viewpoints as they relate to the social, economic, political and nutritional landscape of that area. Organizations devoted to foodways, such as the Foodways Texas (foodwaystexas.com), seek to study, document and enjoy a region’s contributions to the national culinary landscape through a variety of public and private programs.

Free Range: The term only applies to poultry in the United States, and USDA regulations only specify that the animal has been “allowed” access to an area outside of its containment location. The USDA does not specify the area or quality of the outside range, nor does it specify the amount of time poultry must have in the outside range. The USDA has no specific definition for free-range eggs, beef, pork or animal products (such as milk). The term (as is “cage-free”) is commonly misused by egg producers to indicate wholesomeness or the humane treatment of chickens.

Grassfed: Livestock relying solely on pasture or rangeland to supply protein and energy requirements. It is generally considered to be the most environmentally friendly manner of livestock production. Grassfed livestock grow to market weight

slower and develop less intermuscular fat (or marbling) than cornfed animals, although, in reality, most livestock are not 100 percent grassfed.

Heirloom: A term usually used for vegetables that have unique genetic characteristics or traits that allow them to be well-adapted to local environmental conditions or for a particular use or flavor. They are typically old varieties that are achieved through seeds (instead of hybrids, cuttings or other propagation methods) and produce crops through open pollination (as opposed to forced pollination). Varieties of heirloom vegetables are preserved through “seed saving.” Common types of heirloom vegetables are found in tomato, bean, squash, melon, lettuce, radish and carrot varieties.

Heritage: A term usually used for animal breeds that have unique genetic characteristics or traits that allow them to be well-adapted to local environmental conditions or for a particular use or flavor. The Tamworth hog reflects centuries of selection for an outdoor life where hogs are expected to find their own food. The result is an animal that produces finely grained lean meat, especially bacon, which differs from the commercially sought Berkshire, Duroc and Hampshire breeds which produce long loins, short hams and generally have a higher amount of fat.

Hydroponic: The system of growing vegetables in a greenhouse using a nutrient-rich liquid medium with or without gravel or other supporting soil. Hydroponics allow a producer to grow vertically (using growing beds stacked on top of each other), rather than horizontally (using more land), and to grow a crop year-round. Differences between hydroponically grown and field-grown produce are qualitative in nature (greenhouse versus “sun ripened”). Hydroponic produce has been shown to be safer, due to the fact that the plants do not come in contact with soil. Hydroponic produce can be just as local as food grown in the soil.

Locally Grown/Local Food: The United States government has legally defined local as “(1) the locality or region in which the final product is marketed, so that the total distance that the product is transported is less than 400 miles from the origin of the product; or (2) the State in which it is produced.” Not exactly our definition of local, but it makes sense in a certain way—400 miles is essentially within a day’s drive.

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Some see local as being a much smaller area, typically a city or its surrounding area or within a specified growing area or foodshed.

Locavore: A person who prefers to eat locally grown or produced foods. “Locavore” was selected by the Oxford American Dictionary as the Word of the Year in 2007, paying respect to the rapid and enthusiastic embrace the word has received in the general lexicon. The word itself was coined to reflect individuals who initially were challenged to eat only foods grown or produced within a 100-mile radius of their residences.

Natural: Legally, food labeled “natural” does not contain any artificial ingredients, colors or chemical preservatives—and in the case of meat and poultry (proteins), is minimally processed. Food containing “natural flavors” can legally use the label “natural” even though the “flavor” may be derived from highly processed proteins.

Organic: A federal certification for foods produced according to organic standards. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are not permitted in production. Organic standards must be maintained throughout processing as well in order use the certification.

Naturally occurring food items, such as salt, cannot be labeled “organic.” Food items that cannot be traced to organic sources or standards, such as honey, cannot be labeled organic. (It’s really difficult to get the bees to only feed from organic flowers.)

Pasture Raised: A term describing animals, including poultry, cattle and hogs, that are raised on grass pasture for their entire lives, with the exception of the initial birthing/brooding period. Conceptualized and popularized by sustainable farmer Joel Salatin, “pasture raised” is indicative of animals that are raised without containment, other than appropriate fencing.

The animals are free to roam, eat and develop accordingly. Animals raised in this manner may be classified as “natural,” but not “organic.”

Sustainable: The legal definition of sustainable agriculture is an integrated system of plant and animal production that will, among other things, provide for human food needs, enhance environmental quality, make efficient use of natural resources and enhance the life of farmers and society as a whole.

Truck Farm: A commercial farmer who typically produces a mono-crop or less diverse crop profile in amounts normally larger than a farm that produces for a farmers market or CSA. It does not necessarily indicate that the farmer sells his or her crops from the back of a truck. Sweet corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, melons and onions are common truck-farm crops.

The term originated from the basic system of commerce where foods are purchased by the “truckload.” It is commonly misused to indicate a wholesaler, jobber or other middleman who purchases a truckload of produce (either directly from a farm or from another wholesaler) for resale, often at impromptu locations (such as a store parking lot).

Just Label It b y N a o m i Sta r k m a n

I

n October, the Just Label It (JLI) campaign filed a petition with the FDA to require labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods, to give consumers the right to know what is in their food. Since then, more than 470 consumer, healthcare, environmental and farming organizations, manufacturers and retailers have joined the campaign—generating more than 550,000 consumer comments to the FDA. GE foods, also known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), are foods altered at the molecular level in ways that could not happen 40

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naturally. In 1992, the FDA ruled that GE foods do not need independent safety tests or labeling requirements before being introduced because it determined that they were “substantially equivalent” to conventionally produced foods.

Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety and lead author of the JLI petition said, “We are asking the FDA to change a decades-old and out-of-touch policy.”

Polls show that 93 percent of Americans want the government to label GE foods. Labeling is required in other countries, including the

European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Brazil and China.

While nearly 90 percent of corn and 94 percent of soy in the U.S. are from GE seeds, the safety of GE crops for human consumption has not been adequately assured. Yet, unlike the strict safety evaluations for approval of new drugs, there are no mandatory human clinical trials of GE crops, no requirement for long-term testing on animals and limited testing for allergenicity (even with studies raising concerns that they may pose an allergen risk).

Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield and a founder of JLI, said: “While the pros and cons of GE foods is debated, an entire generation is growing up consuming them.

Until we have no doubt that GE crops are safe to eat, consumers should have a choice about whether we want to eat them.” Hirshberg recently published Label It Now, the first consumer guide to GE foods and now available online.

JLI also recently launched a new video by Food, Inc. filmmaker Robert Kenner called Labels Matter via a collaboration between JLI and Kenner’s new project, FixFood, a social-media platform aiming to empower Americans to take immediate action to create a more sustainable and democratic food system.

The drumbeat for mandatory GE labeling is getting louder, as informed consumers are demanding the right to know what’s in their food. In October, the GMO Right2Know March, a two-week, 300-mile trek from Manhattan to the White House, took place. In California, a 2012 GMO labeling referendum is being sought. And federal legislation has been introduced requiring labeling of all GE foods.

It’s urgent that we make our voices heard now as the FDA is deciding whether to approve GE salmon and the USDA advances a proposal to deregulate corn that’s engineered to be resistant to the herbicide 2,4-D, a major component in Agent Orange. You can join in asking the FDA to allow consumers the right to know what’s in our food. It’s your right.

From Farm to Pharmacy North 219-9499 • South 444-8866 • Central 459-9090 • Westlake 327-8877

PeoplesRx.com

isit Just Label It on their website, justlabelit.org, or on Facebook V and Twitter.

RESOURCES Websites Just Label It justlabelit.org

Take Action GMO labeling referendum labelgmos.org

Civil Eats civileats.com

GMO Right2Know March right2knowmarch.org

FixFood fixfood.org

Petition to label GMOs justlabelit.org/takeaction

Food and Environment Reporting Network thefern.org

Video Food, Inc. foodincmovie.com EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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Farmers Diary

A SHORT HISTORY OF

Boggy Creek farm 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 pa u l i n e S t e v e n s

W

hat is now the lively, noisy, vibrant, densely populated neighborhood of East Austin was once a dark-alluvialsoil-rich stretch of the Blackland Prairie—part of the True or Tallgrass Prairie and habitat to the indigenous Comanches and prairie-dependent species such as buffalo, antelope, badgers, prairie wolves, prairie dogs and burrowing owls.

On a gray, late-winter morning, Carol Ann Sayle stands on this land—some of the last remaining farmland within Austin’s city limits—at the property that was homesteaded in 1839 by Elizabeth and James Smith and is now Boggy Creek Farm. Just off Lyons Road, surrounded by a grid of asphalt, hemmed in by houses and cars and city life, the Smiths’ Greek Revival farmhouse—built the same year as the French Legation, between 1840 and 1841—still stands, and is now home to Sayle and her husband, Larry Butler.

“We bought this house in 1992,” says Sayle. She waves her hand past the abundant rows of green behind the house and gestures to the back porch. “When we first walked onto the property, the house was just bereft. The pecan leaves were everywhere, all over the porch … the doors had been stolen, the house was almost lost.” Looking at the tidy, little white farmhouse now, it’s difficult to imagine the neglect and disarray. Its lines are elegant; its small front portico welcoming, its back porch wide and inviting. The whitewashed cypress siding and original symmetrical windows contain perfectly balanced, spacious interior rooms with four fireplaces.

The house has a long history, and its walls seem alive with the memories of all the people who have lived and died within them.

Sayle’s searches through historic documents have uncovered both celebration and tragedy. In 1841, Sam Houston—the first president of the Republic of Texas—wrote about a visit to the Smith farmhouse to celebrate the wedding of James’s son Alfred on Christmas Eve. Houston pronounced the bridegroom, “a genteel man and wellto-do” and the bride “lovely.” Just a few years later, though, a shadow was cast when James Smith was shot by an overseer. After 40 grueling hours, he died in the back bedroom. A deathbed will then left the property in dispute, until it was finally sold in 1902 to Herman T. Siegmund, in whose family it remained until 1979. The fifty-acre property had been steadily subdivided over the years until only five acres remained intact when Sayle and Butler purchased it.

“When we first walked onto the property, the house was just bereft. The pecan leaves were everywhere, all over the porch … the doors had been stolen, the house was almost lost.”

—Carol Ann Sayle EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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Besides the abundant, certified organic vegetables that now come from the land and farm, Sayle and Butler have also nurtured and grown a movement. Austin has seen a resurgence of urban farms in recent years, but the couple was the first to bring farming back to the fertile soil of East Austin. Learning what just-harvested food tastes like, and how it makes us feel, has sprouted thousands of locavores.

Many newly committed local farmers—including a second wave of East Austin farmers at Rain Lily, Springdale and HausBar farms, all live within a mile of the original Smith homestead.

Sayle and Butler never imagined they would find such community in East Austin, much less that they would start a movement. “We have seen a dramatic change in the neighborhood just since we’ve been here,” says Sayle. “In the late nineties, everyone started asking us if we knew of any property for sale nearby, and now it’s impossible to find anything affordable.”

And yet, the elegant little farmhouse still stands, looking out over the ever-changing and endangered landscape. According to American Farmland Trust, “the Texas Blackland Prairie is the fourth most threatened region in the country. America currently loses more than one million acres of farm and ranch land each year to development.

Texas loses more land to development than any other state in the country.”

Sayle feels this loss keenly, and considers herself fortunate to have stewardship of the property now. “It’s eerie to know that people have died and were born in my bedroom,” she says, as she looks over the small plot of land that has fed so many over so many years in our community. “What I wish for more than anything is just five minutes with a camera in 1840.”

There are many stories here, but Sayle’s favorite comes from that letter Sam Houston wrote to his wife, Margaret. Along with his observations of the handsome bridegroom and the lovely bride, Houston reported to his wife that the “eating doings” at the wedding party were “first-rate throughout.” Sayle’s eyes twinkle and her chin lifts a little as she recounts the quotes. Then she proudly notes that “food has always been important here!”

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Edible economics

Budget Cuts B y K r i s t i W i l l i s • I l l u s t r at i o n s b y B a m b i Ed l u n d

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here may be no food more quintessentially Texan than beef, yet with cattle prices skyrocketing, consumers and chefs are having to get creative to keep steak on the plate. Many ranchers, like Debbie Davis of Bandera Grassland, sold off part or all of their herds because of the drought. “I’m going to have enough beef through 2012,” cautions Davis, “but 2013 is going to be pretty slim. There just aren’t that many animals out there.”

Fewer cows means fewer and more expensive steaks. The more familiar cuts like rib eye, fillet and porterhouse are from the prized loin and rib parts from the middle of the cow. The tenderloin, from which filet mignon originates, represents only 2 percent of the meat on a steer, which is why it draws such a hefty price and will become even more costly with a limited supply.

Savvy chefs and consumers are turning to selections from the chuck, sirloin and short plate (under the rib) sections as more affordable options. Chuck has traditionally been used for roasts, stew meat and ground beef. In the hands of a deft butcher, however, the

flat iron steak from the chuck shoulder and the Denver cut from the chuck under blade rival the fillet in tenderness and yield more flavor from their marbling. Chuck eye roll, commonly used for pot roast, can be broken down into juicy chuck eye steaks, sometimes called the “poor man’s rib eye.”

Diners can increasingly find hanger, flat iron and tri-tip steaks peppering the menus of local restaurants like Olivia, BC Tavern and Lamberts as more economical choices than the prime cuts. Where a fillet or rib eye might cause a diner sticker shock at $35 or more, hanger and tri-tip are often priced in the more manageable $20 range.

Butcher and author Kari Underly states, “With middle meat prices going through the roof, [chefs] are picking up these little diamonds. And more chefs are starting to do their own butchery in the back of the house as a point of differentiation. It’s handmade if you are cutting it yourself, and consumers really want that.”

To sell the lesser-known cuts, chefs often have to educate customers on their desirability. “When we have these really tender, less

Blue Cheese and Mushroom Steak Alfredo Courtesy of Mark Maddy, Wheatsville Food Co-op Serves 4 For the pasta: 1 lb. fettuccine or linguini 1 t. olive oil 2–3 top round, chuck, shoulder or hanger steaks (1½ to 2 lbs. total) Salt and pepper, to taste For the sauce: 4 c. milk 4 T. butter 4 T. all-purpose flour ½ c. grated Parmesan cheese ¾ c. blue cheese—your preference, but smoked blue cheese is the bomb in this sauce. Gorgonzola or just a plain blue also works well.

1 c. sliced mushrooms (button or crimini), raw or sautéed ½ c. pitted and halved olives (preferably black or kalamata)

Cook the pasta as directed on package. Drain and toss with the olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.

Generously salt and lightly pepper the steaks. In a large, ovenproof pan, sear the steaks on both sides for about 1 minute per side, then place the pan directly into a 425° oven. Cook about 7 minutes per side for medium rare.

To grill instead, cook the steaks over a hot flame for 4 to 5 minutes on each side. After cooking, let the steaks rest for at least 7 minutes, then slice thinly.

In a saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat. Melt the butter in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the flour to the butter and whisk until the mixture is smooth and turns a very light brown—about 5 minutes.

Add the milk, 1 cup at a time, whisking constantly. When each addition is smooth, add the next. Add the cheeses and continue to whisk until smooth. Add the mushrooms and olives and cook until the mushrooms are done. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and toss to coat evenly.

Add the steak and enjoy!

“When we have these really tender, less expensive cuts with great flavor, it makes sense to use them…rather than wasting them on ground meat.”

—Mat Clouser, Swift’s Attic expensive cuts with great flavor, it makes sense to use them in that way rather than wasting them on ground meat,” says Mat Clouser, executive chef at Swift’s Attic. “Flat iron is a crazy name for a cut of meat, but if your server explains to you that it’s called the flat iron steak because it resembles the shape of a flat iron, comes out of the shoulder and is a really tender piece of beef, then the guest is more likely to buy it.”

Unfortunately, once consumers are sold on new cuts, it can be a challenge to find them in the store. Many processors are hesitant to change as it requires additional time and labor. Davis recounts that, years ago, when she switched from a larger, more modern processor to a small operator, he had no idea how to cut flat irons.

“I had to get him a video on how to do it, brought in a meat cutter from the other plant and he still could not do it to my satisfaction,” she says. “So I quit asking.” “[Processors] automatically push back because there is extra labor involved,” Underly adds. “If you’re fortunate enough to work with a Whole Foods [Market] or a local butcher shop, then they’re getting more into these cuts because that is what consumers are asking for. The chuck, particularly for a small butcher shop, if they can’t sell steaks out of that, it’s just going to be more hamburger.

There is only so much hamburger that you can sell.”

Bryan Butler, master butcher and partner at Salt & Time, says that some grocery stores, like Wheatsville Food Co-op, are starting to merchandise these cuts. Or, for the home chef, he suggests buying an entire shoulder clod or English roast, then taking a knife to it and breaking it down to maximize the value.

With the right knife and a little patience, even novices can learn

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how to create their own specialty cuts. Underly’s book The Art of Beef Cutting includes a step-by-step guide on breaking down sections, and the Cut Information section of the Beef Innovations Group’s website (beefinnovationsgroup.com) offers downloadable cutting guides.

In addition to alternative cuts, restaurants and consumers are also turning to smaller servings—opting for four- to six-ounce portions over hefty steaks. Underly says the right portion is sustain-

able. “Eat four ounces of meat, not twenty-two. You may live in an area that doesn’t have a farmers market, but you can still eat more sustainably by eating the right-sized portion.”

Beef may still be what’s for dinner, but the choice and size of cut is evolving as consumers and chefs make more sensible choices about what goes on the plate. With higher prices and smaller herds, expect more innovation at the meat counter.

Short Rib Sauerbraten with Spaetzle and Red Cabbage Courtesy of Chef Wolfgang Murber, Fabi + Rosi Serves 4

For the brine: 2 c. vinegar 2 c. water 6 bay leaves

butter and two tablespoons flour. (For the roux, melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in flour until well combined.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

10 juniper berries 10 black peppercorns 1 T. salt

Three days ahead, prepare the brine by combining the vinegar, water, bay leaves, juniper berries, black peppercorns and salt in a large pot. Submerge the short ribs in the liquid, cover and refrigerate for three days.

For the ribs: 4 12-oz. pieces of boneless short ribs ¼ c. vegetable oil Salt Pepper 2 carrots, cut into ½-in. dice 2 celery stalks, cut into ½-in. dice 1 yellow onion, cut into ½-in. dice

2 T. tomato paste 2 c. red wine 2 qt. water 2 bay leaves 5 juniper berries 5 black peppercorns 2 T. flour 2 T. butter

To prepare the brined short ribs, remove them from the liquid and pat dry on a kitchen towel. In a large sauce pot, heat the vegetable oil on medium-high heat.

Once the oil is hot, salt and pepper the short ribs and sear them until on both sides. Remove them from the pot and set aside. Add the diced carrots, celery and onions to the hot short rib drippings in the pot and sauté until dark in color but not burned. Add the tomato paste and sweat for one minute. Add the red wine, reduce by half and add the water. Return the short ribs to the pot and add the bay leaves, juniper berries and peppercorns and let simmer for about two and a half hours or until the meat is tender. Remove the short ribs, strain the liquid and reduce by half. Thicken with a roux made from two tablespoons

For the spaetzle: 4 eggs 2 c. flour

Pinch nutmeg Salt Pepper

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add the flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste and stir together until it forms a well-combined dough. Using a large pot, bring one gallon of slightly salted water to a boil. Place the dough in a potato ricer and squeeze into the boiling water. Cook for about three to four minutes and strain.

For the cabbage: Vegetable oil 1 red cabbage, sliced thinly 2 shallots, julienned 1 apple, coarsely grated with peel 3 cloves

1 pinch cinnamon 2 c. red wine 1 c. water Salt Pepper

Heat a large sauté pan, add a few drops of oil and cook the cabbage and shallots until tender. Add the apple, cloves, cinnamon, wine and water. Let simmer and reduce until the liquid thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: 2 oz. butter

2 T. chopped parsley 2 T. diced chives

Place the short ribs back in the sauce and let simmer. Heat a large sauté pan and add the butter. When the butter is melted, add the spaetzle and stir. Add the chives and parsley and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Place a portion of spaetzle in the middle of a large dining plate, arrange the red cabbage next to it. Place one piece of short rib on top and ladle some of the sauce on top.

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Moo Shee Beef and Mixed Vegetables Courtesy of Derek Sarno, Whole Foods Market Serves 8 to 10 For the dressing: 2 T. minced garlic 3 T. minced ginger 1–2 bunches cilantro, minced

1 c. low-sodium soy sauce or teriyaki sauce 2 T. ground black pepper

For the beef and vegetables: 1 lb. beef—flank, sliced into thin, bite-size pieces 1 lb. onions, diced 1 c. vegetable stock 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced ¼-in. thin 1 large red pepper, diced 1 large green pepper, diced

1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-in. pieces 1 head bok choy, chopped 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces 1 can water chestnuts, drained and sliced 1 can baby corn, drained and sliced Black and white sesame seeds, for garnish

In a medium bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients together.

Heat a large pan and add the meat and onions. Cook until mostly done, then add the vegetable stock to prevent sticking. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.

Add the peppers, beans and bok choy and cook a few minutes. Add the cauliflower and dressing and cook for two minutes, stirring well (veggies should remain vibrant and crisp). Stir in water chestnuts and baby corn and heat through. Serve immediately with brown rice or Asian-style noodles. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.

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Hungarian Goulash Courtesy of Chef Wolfgang Murber, Fabi + Rosi Serves 4 4 T. vegetable oil 1½ lb. flank steak or chuck, cut into 1½-in. cubes 4 medium-size onions, cut into fine dice 2 tomatoes, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 2 bay leaves 4 juniper berries ½ t. caraway seeds 2-3 T. Hungarian paprika powder Salt and pepper to taste Water

In a large soup pot, heat the oil on high heat and sear the meat to caramelize. Add the onions, tomatoes and pepper and stir to caramelize, as well. Add the bay leaves, juniper berries, caraway seeds, paprika, salt and pepper (don’t add too much salt—the liquid has to reduce a bit). Add enough water so that the meat is submerged and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about two and a half hours or until the meat is tender and the sauce reaches the desired consistency (adding water if necessary).

Goulash is best served with spaetzle, mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.

Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Red Curry Skyr Courtesy of Chef Mat Clouser, Swift’s Attic Serves 4 For the steak: 1 2-lb. flat iron steak 1 t. minced garlic For the red curry paste: ¼ minced shallot 1 stalk lemongrass, minced 2 fresh Thai chilies 4 cloves garlic, sliced 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, minced 2 T. tomato paste 1 t. freshly ground cumin ¾ t. freshly ground coriander

¼ t. ground white pepper 2 T. fish sauce 1 t. shrimp paste 1 t. sugar 2 t. chili flakes, or dried Thai chili powder 2 T. fresh lime juice 3 T. coconut milk 1 T. soy sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, and puree until smooth. Add more coconut milk if the paste is too thick to puree.

This will yield more than you will need for one batch of sauce, but can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

1 t. freshly ground cumin 1 T. olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste

Season the steak with the garlic, cumin, oil, salt and pepper. Let the meat rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes. This will give the salt and spices time to penetrate the meat, and will also help the meat to cook more evenly.

Grill the meat for about 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Let the meat rest for about 5 to 10 minutes under a loose foil cover. This will allow time for the juices to redistribute throughout the steak, so you won’t lose all that goodness when you slice it.

For the sauce: Red curry paste, to taste

1 cup skyr, or very thick yogurt Salt, to taste

Whisk the curry paste into the skyr in small batches, tasting as you go, until you’ve reached your desired curry strength. Season with salt.

To serve, spoon the sauce over the steak. This recipe is great by itself, or sliced and thrown in a pita with fresh veggies. It also pairs excellently with grilled watermelon.

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COOKING FRESH

SAVORING SPRING b y K r i s t i W i l l i s • p h o t o g r a p h y b y C a r o l e T o pa l i a n

M

any home chefs were taught to cook by first finding a recipe and then hunting down the ingredients at the store, without much thought as to whether the produce was at its peak. The ease of shipping foods across the world to the local grocery aisle has made popular produce available year-round, regardless of its freshness, and has resulted in ubiquitous grainy tomatoes and flavorless peaches.

Alternatively, cooking seasonally captures the moment in time when produce is at its freshest—still bursting with the flavor of the field or the vine. It also builds anticipation for the first glimpse of early spring asparagus, peas or potatoes at the farmers market and the rapture of the first bite of a perfectly ripe, juicy strawberry.

Chef Tabatha Stephens of Dai Due learned to cook seasonally from her family. “I grew up going to farm stands with my mom, grandmother and aunt,” she recollects, “so I grew up in this culture of looking forward to tomatoes all year, and when they finally arrived I was totally thrilled. When I got a little older and could make choices about my food, it felt natural to explore that route even further and just really enjoy everything when it comes fresh.”

As for her favorite spring vegetables, Stephens says, “I definitely look forward to snap peas, English peas and snow peas—that variety pack that they have at Boggy Creek Farm. I love potatoes and when

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you get those first little spring lettuces that are so tender and lovely.”

Those who weren’t raised in a seasonal kitchen can find the shift to cooking by the calendar challenging. The trick is to reverse the order of planning dishes. Instead of starting with a recipe, begin by knowing what is available. The Resources area of the Edible Austin website has a “What’s In Season” section with links to recipes by ingredient, and many farmers markets send out e-mail updates with what is expected at the market that week. When searching for an item in limited supply, contact the farmer directly or get to the market early to snag the prized produce.

During your recipe search, be open to trying new things and willing to set aside old favorites to make room for new gems. When presented with a less familiar ingredient, ask a farmer at the market for suggestions on preparing it. Most farmers can offer up flavorful dishes that make the produce the star of the plate. Smartphone apps like Epicurious and How to Cook Everything also make it easy to find recipes while perusing the farmers market booths.

Most importantly, savor the moment in the season. “I eat as much as I can while that produce is available, and even go a little overboard, making myself tired of things,” muses Stephens. Of course the promise of tomatoes, corn and melons just around the corner is the perfect panacea for any overindulgence in spring treasures.

“I definitely look forward to snap peas, English peas and snow peas—that variety pack that they have at Boggy Creek Farm.”

—Tabatha Stephens

Spring Peas and Baby Lettuces Courtesy Chef Tabatha Stephens, Dai Due Serves 4 When peas are in season, I eat them almost every day. This simple springtime dish is lovely with roasted chicken. Or add a few leaves of sliced mint to serve with lamb. This delicate side dish is also superb followed with local strawberries and cream.

1 T. butter 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil 3 spring bulb onions, whites and greens, sliced Salt and pepper, to taste 3-4 pt. peas (shelled English peas or a mix of snap, snow and English) 1 c. homemade chicken stock 2 heads tender spring lettuces (butter lettuce or a tender red leaf works well)

Melt the butter with the olive oil over low heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until soft. Add the peas and the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper, stir and cover. Cook for 5 minutes, or until tender-crisp. While the peas are cooking, chiffonade (slice into thin strips) the lettuces. Gently stir the lettuces into the peas, correct the seasoning to taste and enjoy.

Fried Squash Blossoms Stuffed with Crawfish Courtesy Chef Matthew Buchanan, The Leaning Pear Serves 4 to 6 12 squash blossoms For the filling: 1 T. butter ¼ c. minced shallot 1 clove garlic, minced 1 jalapeño, seeded, chopped 1 lb. domestic crawfish tail meat

¹/3 c. sliced green onion 1 c. Full Quiver queso fresco or other local fresh cheese 2 T. chopped cilantro Salt and pepper, to taste Peanut or vegetable oil

For the tempura batter: 1 c. flour ¼ c. corn starch

1½ c. cold soda water Pinch of salt

To make the filling, heat the butter in a sauté pan. Add the shallot, garlic and jalapeño and cook until soft and aromatic. Place into a medium mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients and stir gently to combine. Gently fill the squash blossoms and twist at the end so that they stay together.

To make the tempura batter, whisk the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Dip the squash blossoms into the tempura batter and deep fry in peanut or vegetable oil heated to 350° for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.

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Braised Lamb Shanks, Spring vegetables with Green Pesto and Polenta

lick

Courtesy of Chef Matt Taylor, BC Tavern Serves 4

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For the shanks: 2 local, pasture-raised lamb shanks Salt and pepper, to taste 1 T. canola oil 2 carrots, large dice 1 onion, large dice

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Beautiful lamb cuts from free range Dorper lambs raised in the Texas Hill Country

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5 garlic cloves ½ c. white wine 2 qt. veal or chicken stock 2 sprigs thyme 1 bay leaf 5 parsley stems

Preheat the oven to 325°. Season the shanks with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the shanks all over and set aside in a roasting pan. Discard the excess fat, add the carrots, onion and garlic and lightly caramelize. Add the wine to the pot and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Cook until the liquid is almost evaporated. Add the stock and herbs, bring to a boil then pour over the shanks in the roasting pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 5 hours. The lamb is done when it’s tender, but still attached to the bone. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then pick the meat off of the bone. Strain the liquid into a pot and add the meat. Simmer to reduce the liquid and warm the meat through.

For the vegetables: 2 c. water Pinch salt Pinch sugar 1 bunch turnips, trimmed and tops reserved for pesto (see below) 1 shallot, minced

1 bunch baby carrots, peeled and greens removed 1 bunch green onions, sliced 1 bunch kale, ribs removed and chopped into bite-size pieces 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil 1 T. butter

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil and add the salt and sugar.

Prepare an ice-water bath by filling a large bowl with ice and covering the ice with water. Add the turnips to the boiling water and simmer until tender, then remove (reserving the turnip stock) and plunge them into the ice water to cool. Once chilled, remove and quarter the turnips. Add the turnip stock to a sauté pan with the shallot and carrots and bring to a simmer. Add the green onions when the carrots are almost tender and cook until both are tender. Add the turnips, kale, olive oil and butter. Cover and cook until the kale is wilted and the liquid has glazed the vegetables, about 5 minutes.

For pesto: Reserved turnip tops (see above) 1 garlic clove, minced ¼ c. Parmesan

½ c. cilantro leaves ¼ c. mint leaves Canola oil Salt, to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice-water bath. Add the turnip tops to the boiling water and blanch for 10 seconds, then plunge them into the ice water. Drain and squeeze out the excess water. Chop the greens and add to a blender with the garlic, Parmesan and herbs. Turn on the blender and slowly add the oil until a thick paste is formed. Season with salt.

For polenta: 2 c. milk 2 c. half-and-half 1 red bell pepper, minced

1 c. polenta ½ c. Parmesan Salt and pepper, to taste 1 T. butter

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk and half-and-half to a boil. Add the peppers and polenta and whisk until creamy. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer until the polenta is thick and no longer grainy. Add the cheese, salt, pepper and butter. Stir until the cheese is melted.

Assemble and serve. See Seasonal Plate photo on page 69.

SWISS CHARD NACHOS WITH CARROT PICO Courtesy of Chef Louis Singh, Dish a Licious Serves 4 Sometimes, you just want nachos. That’s what happens when you grow up in Texas. In San Antonio, where I’m from, it’s harder to find nachos missing on a restaurant menu than included on one. I can remember having nachos in an Italian restaurant once, for goodness sake. It’s just a testament to their comforting power—crunchy chips, melted cheese—what’s not to love? The problem is that the Tex-Mex variety gets old. Greasy cheese, refried beans, fajita meat—it’s been overdone.

Nachos need an update. Here’s a recipe born from late nights in the Dish kitchen and inspired by fresh, seasonal produce.

For the pico: ½ c. diced carrot ¼ c. diced red onion ¼ c. diced radish ¼ c. seeded and diced jalapeño 2 T. lime juice Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together, and let it sit for 10 minutes. The salt will start to coax out some of the veggie juices, which will mix with the lime juice and create delicious flavors. Give it a good stir before using to mix well.

For the nachos: ½ bunch Swiss chard Extra-virgin olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste Tortilla chips—nice thick ones (We love Blanco Valley Farms chips at Barton Creek Farmers Market or Tamale Place chips at Cedar Park Farms to Market—both fried in coconut oil) 1 c. grated or crumbled cheese, or a mix of cheeses (We use queso fresco and fresh chèvre)

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Spread out the tortilla chips in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Sprinkle the cheese on the chips to cover. Pop them into the hot oven for about 5 to 6 minutes, until cheese is melted and just starting to bubble.

Working quickly, sprinkle the chard leaves and the chopped stems in an even layer across the nachos. Place back in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the chard has just wilted. Take them out, top with the Carrot Pico and devour. It’s great with guacamole and salsa, of course.

Always feel free to play with your food. Use kale instead of chard, or top with fresh, thinly sliced chilies or candied jalapeños. Add pulled pork, chicken or bacon.

Nachos photos by Daniel Abrego

Prep the chard first. Wash and dry the leaves well and trim off the stems but don’t discard them—there’s a lot of flavor in those. Cut the leaves in half lengthwise, stack them up, then turn them and cut across the leaves into a julienne, or fine strip, about ¼-inch wide. Chop the stems very finely.

Toss the leaf strips and the chopped stems in a little olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

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Olive Oil Cake with Strawberries and Horchata Ice Cream Courtesy of Chef Jessica Maher, Lenoir

Casual French Bistro Since 1982 510 Neches St. 473-2413 LUNCH Tues.–Fri. DINNER Tues.–Sun.

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Olive Oil Cake: 5 eggs 1 c. cane sugar 2/3 c. whole milk 1 c. olive oil

1½ c. cake flour 1¹/3 c. all-purpose flour 1 T. baking powder ½ t. salt

Preheat the oven to 325°. In the bowl of an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment to cream the eggs and sugar together for 15 to 20 minutes on medium-high speed, or until very thick. Slowly add the milk in a thin stream, followed by the olive oil. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder and salt to combine. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, mix until combined, then add the second half, mixing until the batter just comes together. Do not overmix.

Butter or oil a 13” x 18” rimmed baking sheet and line the bottom with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the cake halfway through for even cooking. The cake is done when a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

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Market Days: Wednesday and Saturday 9 AM to 1 PM www.boggycreekfarm.com

Quick Strawberry Preserves: 2 lbs. fresh strawberries 1 c. cane sugar 1 lemon, zested and juiced Pinch salt

Wash, hull and quarter the strawberries. Combine with the sugar, lemon juice and salt and bring to a boil in a wide, heavy-bottom pot.

Strain the liquid from the strawberries and return the syrup to a boil in the pot. Reserve the strawberries. Prepare an ice-water bath.

Continue to cook the syrup, stirring constantly, until it becomes thick enough to see the bottom of the pot when scraping the spatula along it.

Pour over the reserved strawberries and cool rapidly over an ice-water bath.

Horchata Ice Cream: 6 c. whole milk 2 green cardamom pods Zest of 1 orange Pinch salt

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½ c. jasmine rice ¾ c. sugar Toasted, salted pumpkin seeds, to garnish

Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring the milk, cardamom, orange zest and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Slowly pour in the rice in a stream while stirring. Continue stirring while rice cooks, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Add the sugar and cook for a few minutes longer, until the sugar is dissolved. The rice should be tender, but still firm, at this point. Remove from the heat, pour into a separate bowl and cool rapidly over an ice-water bath. Remove the cardamom pods.

Allow to cool completely overnight, then spin in an ice-cream maker until the ice cream has the consistency of a milk shake. Pour into a clean container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

To serve, cut the Olive Oil Cake into squares, then cut each square in half crosswise and spoon on a generous helping of the Strawberry Preserves. Top with the other cake half, then scoop on a spoonful of Horchata Ice Cream. Sprinkle with toasted, salted pumpkin seeds.

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Edible Gardens

A Splice of Life

By Laura McKissack • photography by Susan Kalergis

I

t’s a mild, sunny day as a farmer in Onga, a town in the Fukuoka prefecture of Japan, stands in front of a healthy-looking lemon tree and proudly holds out a large yellow fruit for the camera. There’s nothing particularly unusual about this scene, except that this farmer’s single lemon tree happens to bear 10 other kinds of fruit in addition to lemons.

Manabu Fukushima has relied on his own skill—as well as the kindness of neighbors who’ve provided him with citrus saplings from their own trees—to create what some might call his very own Frankenfruit tree. But there are no dungeon labs or genetic modifications involved here. Fukushima is a master at the art of grafting—a process by which a sapling or cutting of one tree, in this case called a “scion,” is wedged into the trunk of another tree referred to as the “root stock.” Utilized for thousands of years, grafting was practiced commonly by the ancient Greeks and Chinese.

Without grafting, many edible fruit trees such as cherry and apple would never have been domesticated because they do not naturally pass on those genes which we consider desirable with any consistency.

Grafting combines the sought-after qualities in the rootstock with the desirable fruits of the scion. For instance, because peach trees grown in Central Texas are prone to damage from nematodes, they are often grafted onto a patented rootstock called Nemaguard. If left to grow unaltered, a mature Nemaguard stock tree would produce fruits that are unrecognizable and inedible, but when the stock is grafted with a peach-tree sapling, the end result is a healthy peach tree that can fight nematode attacks.

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Without grafting, many edible fruit trees such as cherry and apple would never have been domesticated.

Another reason to graft is to improve the plant’s environmental hardiness. Pecan trees are sometimes grafted onto rootstock that is more cold hardy than the scion plant. Apple trees are often grafted onto dwarfing rootstock. This assures high production without taking up a lot of space, as well as ease of harvest. And in an advantage referred to as “precocity,” a scion grafted onto mature rootstock will get to skip the three or more years of juvenile development that fruit trees usually require before producing a significant amount of fruit. Orchard owners use this trick to replace crops that are aging or to change crops altogether without having to start over from seed. They cut down the old trees to a suitably sized rootstock, then graft on new scion wood.

There are several ways of grafting, and some are more complex than others. Which method is used depends on what is being grafted, when and why. In citrus, as well as in grapes, the type of graft commonly used is called “T-budding.” The grower shaves an unopened bud from the desired scion plant, then makes a T-shaped cut into the rootstock—exposing the cambium layer between the bark and the wood, where new cellular growth takes place. The grower then fits the bud into the exposed area made on the bark, so that the cambium layers of each plant are connected. He then tapes the wound with grafting tape as closely and tightly as possible without covering the new bud itself. If the graft takes, the new limbs start growing right out of the rootstock. A scion of a successful tree will grow truer to its parent than will a sapling grown from the seed of that tree—much like a clone is closer to its parent than would be a child born from two parents.

The same applies to pecans. “You never know what you’re going to get from a nut,” says Sam Pollard of Texas Pecan Nursery. He explains that if you were to plant any old pecan, it might result in a tree that produces great pecans—or it might not. If, on the other hand, you take a scion from a tree that produces great pecans and graft it onto pecan-friendly rootstock, the result will be a tree that makes the same great pecans. Pollard uses Moore rootstock for the trees he grafts, and the nursery sells both the grafted trees and the rootstock itself, wholesale. They also sell grafting tools, but he says all that’s really needed is a clean, sharp knife, grafting tape, grafting wax (to seal the wound), rootstock and scion wood.

Texas Pecan Nursery uses the complex whip graft primarily for their pecan trees—a process achieved by cutting the rootstock and the scion wood at an angle so that they fit together, then making a downward cut into the face of the original cuts, so that the resulting cut has a lightningbolt shape. It’s a difficult graft because of how closely the two pieces need to fit together. Pollard says they do this graft from early January until late February. For the home grower, he recommends the slightly less difficult inlay and four-flap methods, which should be done in the spring. All of these methods can be found online, and watching a video or two is helpful in understanding exactly how they’re performed.

Home grafting may take some trial and error to get right, but it’s a rewarding pursuit and an excellent way to help preserve heritage fruit and nut varieties.

Wildflower Days 2012 TM

open every day through May 31

Spring Plant Sale & Gardening Festival April 14 & 15 4801 La Crosse Avenue • 512.232.0100 • www.wildflower.org

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11726 Manchaca

RESOURCES Grafting and Budding: A Practical Guide for Fruit and Nut Plants and Ornamentals by Donald McEwan Alexander and William J. Lewis (Landlinks Press, 2009) Secrets of Plant Propagation: Starting Your Own Flowers, Vegetables, Fruits, Berries, Shrubs, Trees and Houseplants by Lewis Hill (Storey Publishing, 1985) Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center provides certified virus-free citrus bud wood at both the individual and wholesale level.

Contact John Watson at 956-447-3366 or Mark VanNess at 956-447-3399.

Texas Pecan Nursery texaspecannursery.com, 903-849-6203

GARDEN • DESIGN • BUILD D AV I S G A R D E N D E S I G N . C OM

Information on growing citrus plants: aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/citrus/citrus.html Information and videos on grafting: aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/propagation/propagation.html EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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EAT WILD

Foraging basics b y Am y C r o w e l l • PH o t o g r a p h y b y A n d y S a m s

I

knew foraging was finally in vogue when it hit the pages of Martha Stewart Living last year. Since then, I’ve noticed stories about wild edibles in just about every major publication, including The New Yorker’s food issue last November. New York City’s parks have banned foraging altogether since too many people were doing it. According to the Hartman Group’s publication Looking Ahead: Food Culture 2012, “going beyond local and seasonal, the foraging trend will move from restaurant to kitchen table in the coming year as food enthusiasts take trowel in hand for some ‘wild crafting.’” If eating local was the new organic, foraging is the new eating local.

So, where to start?

Learning from someone who is familiar with wild edibles in our area is by far the best way to get started. A local expert can help you properly identify plants and will be able to highlight the subtleties in our seasons and bioregions that affect wild edibles. A class can give you a much deeper sense of place and a broader understanding of the local ecology.

Here in Austin, we’re lucky to have Scooter Cheatham of Useful Wild Plants. He and Lynn Marshall have been introducing people to our local edible flora by offering fabulous courses, called “Weedfeeds,” since the 1970s. Herbalists Nicole Telkes and Ginger Webb are also great local resources who offer classes or consultations on the subject.

If you’d like to venture out a bit farther, the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center presents a monthly class taught by Dr. Mark Vorderbruggen (aka Merriwether the Adventurer)—Houston’s resident wildedible-plant expert—called “Edible Wild Plants—The Real Organic Food.” Also, as part of my Edible Yards business, I offer wild-edibleplant walks that focus on how to identify, responsibly harvest and prepare tasty wild treats.

There are many beautiful books in print these days on foraging and wild edible plants, but most of them feature only a few plants that can be found in our area. Delena Tull’s Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest: A Practical Guide is one of the best and easiest books to use for our region. The Useful Wild Plants of Texas, the South-

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eastern and Southwestern United States, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico is a multivolume encyclopedia that contains the most comprehensive and detailed information on wild edible plants for our region. These giant, groundbreaking books are perfect for your libraries but not very handy as field guides.

If you do go hunting for a simple pocket field guide for wild edibles in Texas, you won’t find one. Lee Allen Peterson’s A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants is a good guide in general, though it doesn’t contain everything you can find here in Central Texas.

Be sure to cross-reference any general field guide you find with a local reference as well.

Merriwether maintains a great website on the subject, and I also write blog posts highlighting wild edible plants in and around Austin. Anything written by wild-food experts Samuel Thayer or John Kallas will be very informative, as well, though they forage in other parts of the country.

Looking out in the yard, you might first notice a sea of green and brown. Peering a bit closer, you’ll notice that there are actually a daunting number of plants inhabiting your lawn. Learn only what is edible at first, and learn one or two at time. Study a plant and train yourself to see it and recognize it in different seasons. Notice how it sprouts, flowers and goes to seed. Taste it at different times of the year, and note how it turns from sweet to spicy to bitter. Remember the texture and the shape of the leaves and color of the flowers. Learn the most distinguishing factors about the plant and don’t get caught up in botanical terms if they don’t make sense to you. Figuring out how to encourage the growth and regeneration of the plant is also a great skill to learn, as this will contribute to sustaining our wild places.

Many wild-food authors will craft lengthy warnings against eating things you can’t positively identify. And yes, it is important to be cautious and identify a plant before you eat a meal of it. But I think these disclaimers do more to scare people than to protect them. Trust your taste buds and instincts. If you see a plant out in the wild that looks a lot like the mustard growing in your garden, give it a nibble and

note the taste. If it’s spicy like your garden cultivar, then it is probably a wild version. Check one of your references to make sure and then harvest away!

Now is a great time to harvest spring greens such as lamb’s-quarter, peppergrass, chickweed and mallow. New, tender prickly-pear pads will be appearing soon, and watch for juicy-ripe wild blackberries, mulberries and agaritas later in April and May.

experience New Braunfels

POOR MAN’S PEPPER PESTO Makes ½ cup This pepper pesto (“poor man’s pepper” is another common name for peppergrass) will add a wild, spicy kick to your pastas, pizzas and crusty breads.

1 c. chopped and packed peppergrass (leaves, tender stems and siliques) 1 clove garlic 2 T. pecans ½ t. salt ¹/3 c. olive oil ¼ c. grated Parmesan

Add the peppergrass, garlic, pecans and salt to a blender or food processor and pulse. Slowly add in the oil while pulsing. Add the cheese and blend all of the ingredients to desired consistency.

LOCAL TEACHERS AND RESOURCES Scooter Cheatham and Lynn Marshall Useful Wild Plants, Inc. www.usefulwildplants.org Nicole Telkes Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine www.wildflowerherbschool.com Ginger Webb Texas Medicinals www.gingerwebb.com Amy Crowell Edible Yards and Wild Edible Plants of Texas www.edibleyards.com www.wildedibletexas.com Merriwether the Adventurer (Houston) Merriwether’s Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Texas and the Southwest www.foragingtexas.com Sam Coffman (Austin and San Antonio) The Human Path www.thehumanpath.com

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Behind the vines

Doc Russ, Texas Wineslinger b y T e r ry T h o m p s o n - A n d e r s o n

R

ussell Kane is as dedicated to the success of the Texas wine industry as any winemaker or winery owner in the state. And it’s a safe bet that he knows as much, or more, about every Texas wine and winemaker than anybody else does. Although he has a PhD in engineering and spent over 30 years as a researcher and technical writer producing some 250 technical publications (two of which won awards for writing excellence), Russ says the transition to what he’s doing now was a smooth one. As a researcher and technical writer, he was always a communicator between business and the consumer—translating the language of business into words consumers could relate to and understand. Now that he writes about Texas wine, only the subject matter is different. He communicates between the winemakers and the wine drinkers.

Russ is no newcomer to a love of wine. His father, who co-owned a family restaurant, taught him to cook at a very young age. By the time he was in college, Russ had learned to enjoy wine through its natural pairing with the foods he cooked. Of course, the wines he enjoyed during his college days were those that most college students could afford,

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“I want to show that the Texas terroir can grow great wine grapes, and is certainly capable of making fine wines from them.” –Russ Kane

but after graduating, Russ traveled extensively through Europe and began to explore the wines of each country he visited. Soon after, his business travels took him to Argentina, Australia, Canada and California, and again he learned about the wines in each region. He began to amass a wealth of knowledge about the wines of the world.

Eventually settling in Houston, Russ founded a consulting company. He joined the Wine Society of Texas, and in a moment that his wife Delia describes as a fine line between hobby and temporary insanity, founded the group’s Houston chapter. In 2008, he sold his business and retired. It was then that he became very serious about Texas wine with the launch of his blog, VintageTexas.com. The website was an instant hit with fellow fans of Texas wines from around the state and beyond. Russ’s popular blog has proven to wine enthusiasts far and wide that Texas does indeed have a legitimate wine industry, and that Russ Kane is the go-to guy for information about it.

One evening, Russ was blogging about a seemingly odd comparison between Texas and southern Australia. “Most wine aficionados,” he wrote, “know the Coonawarra region (also known by its terra rossa or red earth) as the most sought-after vineyard soil in Australia. Is it any wonder why our very own Texas High Plains ‘Tierra Roja’ produces rich, full-bodied Cabernets, and is now witnessing the emergence of rich red-black tempranillos and aromatic viogniers? How these particular soil conditions developed on the Texas High Plains and in the Coonawarra may differ, but the results are undeniably similar.” The following morning, he found a reply posted on the blog by fellow wine writer Philip White, an Australian living half a world away. The comment cited Russ’s obvious case of “Coonawarra envy,” questioned his sanity based on a preconceived notion of Texas’s affinity for cactus and not winegrowing and chalked up the rest of Russ’s argument to ranting and attitude. Then the blogger coined a name for Russ that, he says, “incorporates a bit of unique Texas lingo intermixed with its newfound wine culture, its wild and woolly past and its present emergence as a wine-producing region.” The name stuck, and now many of us know Russ as “Doc Russ, Texas Wineslinger.”

As Russ learned early on in his blogging about Texas wine, Texas is a big state. More than 200 wineries, plus numerous grape growers, are scattered around every single region. He covered a lot of miles seeking out subject material for the blog, and he encountered some fascinating characters and amazing theories on winemaking along the way. The seed for a book started to grow.

The Wineslinger Chronicles—Texas on the Vine, recently published by Texas Tech University Press, is a rollicking romp through the history of the Texas wine industry from its beginnings in the 15th century with vineyard plantings at Spanish missions. I knew I was going to love the book when I read the foreword by internationally known wine authority Doug Frost, who touted how much he’d enjoyed it. This is not in the wine-geek genre, although Russ does slip in some sound technical information about various Texas wines and wine in general. But he does so in a way that’s an entertaining part of the tales he spins. The book is written as a series of stories piecing together the story of wine in Texas—from Russ’s encounters with winemakers and grape growers to his search for the ghost vineyards of Texas to communicating with the spirit of T.V. Munson, “The Grape Man of Texas,” who saved the wine industry in Europe in the late 1800s. Russ introduces us to unique new varietals of grapes being planted in Texas, the moving tales of failures and vine-

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yards destroyed by Pierce’s Disease and the dusting off of boots to begin again. There’s not a lot of swirling and sniffing, but there is a great cast of characters—the pioneers who believed they could do this enormous thing and just did it, creating the modern Texas wine industry: Spanish friars making sacramental wines; German immigrants seeking to make the wines of their homeland; Italian immigrants in the 1880s founding what is now the oldest continuously operating winery in the state.

Russ describes the book as his effort to preserve what the Texas wine experience really is, and to build links with other major winegrowing regions from the ground up. “I want to show that the Texas terroir can grow great wine grapes, and is certainly capable of making fine wines from them,” he says.

The book is a great read, even if you’re not a serious wine person.

But if you’re a serious Texan, it’s a must-read book about an important element of the state’s history through chapters with compelling titles like “Chihuahuan Love,” “Blood, Sweat and Tears,” “Sun on the Skins,” “Younger, Dumber, Older, Smarter,” “Not My Granddaddy’s Cowboy Country,” “Bull Riding, Blues Guitar, and Blanc du Bois” and “Of Wine and Memories.” Russ connects it all, and he does it with an intense passion for the Texas wine industry, in a manner that will make you proud to be a Texas wine lover. or an autographed copy of The Wineslinger Chronicles—Texas on F the Vine, visit wineslinger.net

The Wineslinger Chronicles Excerpts from The Wineslinger Chronicles—Texas on the Vine by Russell D. Kane, Copyright © 2012 by Texas Tech University Press

“O

nce inside the tasting room, Gabe sat down in an old rocking chair next to the bar. I positioned myself on a folding chair in front of him with window AC unit whirling at my backside. The room wasn’t fancy, with a décor based on worn barn wood and looking something like a small-town country store.

“Gabe said, ‘I’ve made wine for some time now. I started growing grapes in 1983 here in Ivanhoe on my family land. In ’89 I started the winery, but since this area’s dry, I opened tasting rooms in Denison and Grapevine, Texas. Those areas were wet for the sale of alcohol, but here, it’s all legal now.’”—Russ Kane talking to Gabe Parker, owner of Homestead Winery in Ivanhoe, Texas

“E

d Auler and I stood in the shade of an old live oak tree on the flat western bank of Lake Buchanan. The Colorado River once ran like a wild horse through westerly canyons before the dam was built and this lake was formed. Back then at this spot, the river slowed and deposited its load of sand and minerals where Ed’s Fall Creek Vineyards now resides.

“Ed said, ‘Russ, here’s the old oak tree I wanted you to see. It’s called the Proctor Tree. George Ray McEachern, who helped us start our vineyard, also helped size up this tree. According to George, it’s the second largest live oak left in Texas. It’s over a thousand years old and played an important role in history. The last two Indian treaties in Texas were signed under this tree.’”—Russ Kane talking to Ed Auler, co-owner with his wife Susan, of Fall Creek Vineyards 64

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“A

s I walked out the door, Paul said, ‘Getting ready for this tasting, my dining room looked like the pre-set for a major international wine competition. I got to thinking that the wine retailers around here are probably wondering why I’ve developed such a penchant for other people’s high-end wines. I hope they’re not thinking that I’ve stopped drinking my own.’”

—Russ Kane talking to Paul Bonarrigo, owner of Messina Hof Winery in Bryan, Texas, just after a Twitter wine tasting now known as “The Judgment of Bryan, Texas”

“H

e continued, ‘But ya know, about halfway through construction, I looked out the window of our house and stared at the big hole next door where the winery’s cellar was going to be. I looked over at Gladys and I said, ‘What’ve I done?’ Who am I to think that I can build a winery in the middle of nowhere, Santa Fe, Texas, of all places, and make it work?’

In a moment of Haak sincerity, Raymond said, ‘I started to tear up. I nearly lost it, big time. Then, I realized that there were five million people that live within a hundred miles of this place. At two gallons of wine consumed per person in Texas every year, that’s a lot of wine for us to sell. From that day, Gladys and I never looked back, and our winery’s grown every year. Now, that’s not to say it’s been easy; it’s actually been a wild ride, something like that bucking bull that put the fear of God in a much younger Raymond Haak.’”

—Russ Kane talking to Raymond Haak, owner of Haak Vineyard and Winery, in Santa Fe, Texas

seasonal muse

Power of two b y c a r o l a n n s ay le

Photography by Jenna Noel

W

hen my husband, Larry Butler, is asked for advice on starting a farm, most folks—ignited with a spring-like fantasy of farming—want to know where the good land is and what kind of tractor they should get. Larry certainly has those answers (find water first; rent a tractor first), but he quickly gets them on the right track with the most important consideration: “What does your significant other think about your plans to farm?”

Usually the prospective farmer will answer cheerily, “Oh, she is very supportive; she’ll keep her job, and I’ll farm.”

Cue the snickering. There’s just no way to prepare someone for the grueling toll a vocation like farming can take— on the body, on the wallet or on a relationship.

Larry and I bloomed with excitement in 1982 at our farm in Gause, in Milam County. We were walking in the woods, swimming in the stock tank and growing and eating great food for the first time in years. But we had other pressing work and kids back in Austin. In 1991, when we decided to farm in a commercial manner (aka, selling to customers) no one counseled us on how or if our relationship would hold up as we farmed. Maybe the secret to our still loving each other is that we do have two farms—what I imagine might be the equivalent of his-and-her bathrooms or separate closets.

Frankly, if we are working together on one farm, it’s better if we are actually on opposite sides of the field. In the first years, we cofarmed—first the Gause farm and then the Austin farm. We survived those experiences—disagreeing on plant spacing, second-guessing a completed task, et cetera—but we also experienced together the joy and excitement of growing food for our community.

Over the years, we have accepted each other, “warts and all,” and to this date, we have confidence in our relationship and abilities, and we’re at ease even with each of us running a different farm 80 miles

apart. We consult over situations on either farm, as our missions are combined, but in the end, many of the decisions will be made alone on two farms that are one. All of the produce Larry and his helpers grow at the Gause farm comes here to the Austin farm stand to join the produce that my team and I have harvested.

The two farms—distinct reflections of each of us—are also mates.

I guess it also helps that we’ve been married for over 35 years, and since both of us have always been self-employed, we’ve been supportive of each other’s businesses— with some overlapping on my part, as Larry is a man who needs a secretary or two. So, in addition to farming, I do the taxes, payroll and marketing in the Austin office. At the other farm, Pamela, our greenhouse specialist—and farm manager in Larry’s absence—assists in the field, emails him reminders and keeps that farm’s crop records.

Larry is just as busy—in addition to farming, he cooks in our commercial kitchen, runs the sawmill and makes many of our tractor implements. We’re all stretched out, but it works.

Some young farmers were recently discussing this relationship idea over a few beers one night. They were trying to figure out how partners—up against weather, pestilence and markets—escape wearing out, arguing and then splitting up; the husband beaten down, the wife resentful.

One of them mentioned us. “Larry’s not beaten down,” he said.

“Yes,” replied another, “but they have two farms!”

Again, the beneficial rule of twos.

When I mentioned to Larry that I was going to write about our success at maintaining devotion to each other while farming over the years, his reply was, “We’ll probably get divorced now.” That happens sometimes, in farming or relationships, but I think we’ve found a system that works for us.

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Tipsy Texan

Imbibing Improv B y D av i d A l a n • P h o t o g r a p h y b y J e n n a N o e l

I

n my interactions with the foodie public, I’m always surprised by how intimidated non-bartenders are by the thought of making drinks themselves. One of the areas where I see many hopeful home bartenders get hung up is recipe orthodoxy. Any competent home cook should feel comfortable whipping up a few drinks, yet I often hear from these same folks that they would have made a particular recipe but they didn’t have X, Y or Z spirit. That same cook, though, would confidently know that in some recipes, butter can be substituted for shortening, marjoram or Mexican mint marigold can fill in for tarragon and shallots or leeks can replace onions. In the case of recreating classic drinks, it’s certainly necessary to have the specified ingredients. But to make something that is pleasurable to drink—or to make use of a spirit or other fresh, on-hand ingredient—a few simple guidelines are all that’s needed.

First, let’s consider on-the-fly substitutions. As with culinary ingredients, cocktail ingredients can be grouped into families, which makes it easier to consider a stand-in either out of necessity or in the spirit of innovation. If a recipe calls for an aged (brown) spirit (bourbon, for example), there’s a very good chance that the recipe would succeed with Cognac, aged rum or añejo tequila. When a recipe calls for a liqueur, try another on-hand liqueur, or make a flavored syrup—they all serve the same function of sweetening the drink while adding a flavor that complements the drink’s other ingredients. In a margarita, for example, orange liqueur serves as the sweet ingredient. That ingredient can be substituted with another cordial (as in the St. Rita or Monkarita variations).

It can also be substituted with a nonalcoholic syrup, such as a

housemade peach or persimmon syrup, depending on the season.

Another way of thinking about cocktail innovation is by taking a look at how drink recipes are structured. Instead of thinking about line-item substitutions in an existing recipe, think about building a drink variation from the ground up.

This has been the way new cocktails have been born since the early days of cocktail history. Considering that early martinis were made with sweet instead of dry vermouth, it’s easy to see how the Manhattan might have begotten the martini simply by substituting gin for rye whiskey. The aforementioned margarita arguably originated from substituting tequila for brandy in a daisy—and, not coincidentally, “margarita” is the Spanish word for “daisy.” And take a look at the classic French 75 cocktail, which is made from gin, lemon juice, sugar and Champagne.

Upon closer inspection, the French 75 is essentially a Tom Collins topped with Champagne instead of club soda. The substitution was made not because Champagne was a close substitution for club soda (in which case you might have used another carbonated soda), but because this drink formula requires a fizzy ingredient. Think of all the combinations that can be made by thinking broadly about the functions of the ingredients in a drink and not just about their flavor profiles. What would a French 75 taste like with ginger ale? Big Red? Finally, remember to be flexible with the base (predominant) spirit in a drink. For example, even though Campari isn’t in the same family as bourbon, it was used in the Campari julep recipe as the foundational ingredient for this completely different cocktail.

Don’t be afraid to mix it up!

When a recipe calls for a liqueur, try another on-hand liqueur, or make a flavored syrup—they all serve the same function of sweetening the drink while adding a flavor that complements the drink’s other ingredients.

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MARGARITA (traditional) 2 oz. silver tequila ¾ oz. orange liqueur 1 oz. fresh lime juice 1 barspoon simple syrup, optional Lime wedge, to garnish Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain over ice into a rocks glass or a chilled cocktail glass. (Optional: rim the glass with kosher salt.) Garnish with a lime wedge.

Variations St. Rita: substitute St. Germain elderflower liqueur for the orange liqueur.

Monkarita: substitute Chartreuse or Benedictine liqueur for the orange liqueur.

TOM COLLINS (traditional) 1½ oz. gin 1 oz. fresh lemon juice ½ oz. simple syrup Club soda Combine the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain over ice into a Collins glass.

Top with the club soda.

Variations Thyme Collins: substitute lemon-thyme syrup for the simple syrup.

Sean Collins: substitute Irish whiskey for the gin.

Calm Collins: substitute chamomile syrup for the simple syrup.

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MINT JULEP (traditional) 2 sprigs fresh mint ¼–½ oz. simple syrup 2 oz. bourbon Gently bruise one sprig of mint in the bottom of a glass containing the simple syrup. Add half of the bourbon and fill the glass with crushed ice. Stir until the glass is frosty. Add the remaining bourbon and fill with more crushed ice. Stir until frosty. Tear the remaining sprig of mint and place in the glass as a garnish.

Variations Campari Julep (courtesy of Matt Tanner, Anvil Bar & Refuge, Houston): substitute Campari for the bourbon.

Stonewall Julep: substitute peach liqueur or housemade peach syrup for simple syrup.

Garden Julep: substitute other spring herbs for, or add to, the mint—although I don’t recommend doing away entirely with mint if possible as it’s a key player in the julep. But lemon verbena, sweet basil, sage, lavender and numerous other herbs can be gently used to create elegant variations on the traditional recipe.

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1/25/12 11:18 AM

Seasonal Plate by jody Horton

Chef Matthew Taylor at BC Tavern presents Braised Loncito's Lamb Shanks with Parmesan Polenta and Spring Green Pesto: Shanks from Loncito's Lamb (Dinero), carrots, turnips, kale and green onions from Springdale Farm (Austin). See recipe on page 54.

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La Casita de buen sabor Spring Desserts Garnished Gaily from the Garden By lucinda hutson

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Pansies, Johnny jump-ups and violets (all Viola sp.)

These beauties pop up in the spring with their purple petals often painted in wild hues of yellow, lavender and scarlet. Plop one pansy or violet or a small cluster of Johnny jump-ups as a garnish along with a few fresh mint leaves.

Roses (Rosa sp.) Sprinkle rose petals on fruit bowls, ice creams, sorbets or cakes, or place whole rose blossoms atop a frosted cake or on a dessert platter.

Calendulas (Calendula sp.) and marigolds (Tagetes sp.) Sprinkle individual petals of these bright yellow and orange flowers over cakes and baked goods, or garnish iced cakes with whole flowers.

Borage (Borago officinalis) These beautiful little periwinkle blue (or white) star-shaped flowers are pretty when randomly sprinkled over cakes and puddings, flans and ice creams.

Daylilies (Hemerocallis sp.) Crown a frosted cake (or cheesecake) with these large edible one-day blooming flowers in brilliant shades of yellow, orange, pink and red.

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Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) Sprinkle lavender flowers over fruit cups and baked goods.

They’re delicious with chocolate mousse or lemony desserts, or added to a glass of champagne accompanying dessert.

Scented geraniums (Pelargonium sp.) Leaves and flowers come in fragrances of rose, citrus and spice. Both the small, delicate, pastel-colored flowers and the leaves accent desserts.

Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum sp.) These festive, sunset-colored flowers with a peppery flavor sparkle on ice creams, sorbets, fresh fruit desserts and cheesecake.

Mint (Mentha sp.) Use individual leaves or small sprigs of the many flavorful species of mint—especially spearmint and chocolate peppermint—and add along with edible flowers to garnish desserts.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla) Both enliven desserts with a bright, lemony aroma.

Notes

Gather edible herbs and flowers early in the morning (they’ll wilt if picked in the heat of the day), and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.

Always use organic herbs and flowers free of pesticides. Most florist-purchased flowers are not safe to eat. Make sure garnishes are not poisonous!

Use artistic flair: combine an assortment of colorful edible flowers and herbs in your garnishes—the more the merrier. Make minibouquets to garnish desserts served in bowls or to adorn platters.

Lightly press individual flowers (or petals) and green leaves of herbs onto frosted cakes (don’t forget the sides). Sprinkle a tray of cookies, cupcakes or pastries with flower petals or arrange whole blossoms right before serving.

Crystallize flowers and herbs. Use a small, fine brush to gently and lightly coat petals with lightly beaten egg whites, then sprinkle with superfine sugar and let dry on a rack for several hours.

Photography by Karen Dickey

’m not much of a baker or a dessert maker. Culinary arts requiring precise measuring and strict attention to timing don’t often fit my improvisational style of cooking. (Okay, I have a few exceptions—like my lemon verbena pound cake, Spanish citrus flan or hoppin’ jalapeño carrot cake—celebrated in my cookbooks.) However, after I’ve spent hours creating a special feast, I sometimes just want to serve something quick and easy for dessert— candy for the eyes and palate.

When used to embellish simple desserts, colorful edible flowers and sprigs of aromatic and verdant herbs, fresh from the garden, will certainly delight guests. If you don’t already have a culinary garden, I hope this season’s column will inspire you to plant one! After all, springtime gardens in Central Texas flourish in a rainbow of color and heady fragrance, with herbs and flowers mingling merrily. Here are some of my favorite edible garnishes:

Kitchens, baths, closets and eco furniture for a greener home.

Favorite Springtime Desserts Sashay into a party with a tray of your favorite homemade or purchased brownies. (Try Ghirardelli, if you must use a mix.) Drizzle with dark chocolate ganache and garnish with flowers and berries and a zesty mint sprig. It will look like a flower garden on a plate!

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

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2 T. whipping cream 3 T. unsalted butter 6 oz. semisweet chocolate (or flavored dark chocolate candy bar) 1 T. cognac, dark rum or favorite liqueur (optional)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream and butter to a simmer. Do not boil. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate and let sit for a few minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in the liqueur if desired. With a small spatula, quickly drizzle the ganache over the brownies (reserving a small amount of the ganache), then chill the brownies for about 20 minutes, or until the ganache is set.

Warm enough of the remaining ganache (the microwave works fine) to affix garnishes to brownies. Artistically arrange a “bouquet” on top of each brownie, using several garnishes of edible flowers and petals, herb sprigs and fresh berries. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.

tips for garnishing desserts How about some spruced up lemon-lime bars? Add some fresh lime juice, a splash of tequila and lots of lime and orange zest to your favorite lemon bar recipe. Sprinkle very lightly with confectioners’ sugar and top with a small cluster of purple and yellow Johnny jump-ups and a sprig of lemon verbena.

Perhaps you don’t like to bake either, or are in a hurry? Simply purchase an Italian cream cake or a frosted carrot cake from your favorite local bakery. (I love the gluten-free, all-natural ones sold exclusively at People’s Pharmacy, made by local French chef and cookbook author Alain Braux. They’re available by the slice or whole cake.) Sprinkle the top of frosted cakes (or individual slices or cupcakes) generously with a confetti of petals from gold and bright orange marigolds or calendulas, then encircle the rim of the cake with whole flowers.

I remember stealing the show one Easter when I arrived at a brunch with a large, store-bought cheesecake (though I should not admit to this!). I heated an 18-ounce jar of orange marmalade in a small saucepan until melted, and then added the zest of an orange, a splash of tequila and Cointreau and a pinch of nutmeg. I cooled it slightly to thicken, then spread it evenly across the top of the chilled cheesecake. I chilled it to set, then right before serving, I lightly pressed colorful edible spring flowers, rose petals and sprigs of lemon balm and lemon verbena onto the glaze. It looked stunning, and tasted good, too!

Another favorite springtime dessert involves bringing a cup of balsamic vinegar to boil in a small saucepan. Lower the heat and reduce by half—adding a small splash of pure rose flower water toward the end of cooking. Drizzle the glaze over halved ripe strawberries, and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Serve in bowls garnished with pink and white rose petals and a sprig of salad burnet (Poterium sanguisorba), an herb in the rose family. Its small, serrated leaves have a cucumber scent and grow on delicate stems from a cascading rosette. Other options for drizzling are thick Greek yogurt, vanilla bean ice cream or mascarpone.

HELPING AUSTIN’S CYCLING COMMUNITY

GROW SINCE 1983

3 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS SERVING AUSTIN

LAMAR 477.3472 RESEARCH 345.7460 PARMER 637.6890 B I C Y C L E S P O R T S H O P. C O M

Come visit us on the weekends for a slice of our Farm to Table pizza, with seasonal toppings from our local farms!

M-Th 11am to 10pm Friday 11am to 11pm Saturday 12pm to 11pm Sunday 12pm to 10pm

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1401 B Rosewood Ave. 512.524.0933 (slices all hours)

5312 Airport Blvd., Ste G 512.454.PIES (7437) (take out & delivery only)

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Sustainable Food Center

Worksite Wellness

By Joy Casnovsky

Director, The Happy Kitchen/ La Cocina Alegre

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he number of government and private workplaces offering wellness programs has consistently grown over the years as employers realize the impact on productivity and health-care costs. Some employers offer discounts at gyms, provide healthful snack options in break rooms and host Biggest Loser-like campaigns. Here in Central Texas, many worksites have begun teaming up with Sustainable Food Center (SFC).

Usually identified with community gardening, farmers markets, community cooking classes and Farm to School programming, SFC is applying its system-wide approach to healthful food and food systems to help worksites meet their wellness goals. One long-standing example is the Farm to Work initiative whereby local growers deliver farm-fresh produce directly to partner worksites—making healthful fruits and vegetables an affordable and convenient choice. Johanna, a recent Farm to Work participant employed at the City of Austin, describes what a huge impact the program has had on her life and the lives of her coworkers. “I love this program,” she says. “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many vegetables before!”

SFC also steps in with recipes and preparation and cooking techniques for all of this new, sometimes unfamiliar, bounty. SFC’s The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre offers classes that teach participants not only how to cook their food, but also how to control sodium intake, choose more healthful oils and use more whole grains.

Participants also learn how to plan and budget for meals, navigate the grocery store and read tricky food labels. All of the recipes taught in the classes feature seasonal fruits and vegetables and take less than 30 minutes to prepare. By following The Happy Kitchen menus, a family can eat three healthful, seasonal meals and one snack for less than five dollars per person, per day. The best part is that employees don’t have to leave work to learn—The Happy Kitchen comes to worksites to teach classes.

In November, The Happy Kitchen presented four diabetes-awareness workshops to City of Austin employees. “This was an important step forward in our wellness efforts,” says Sonja Stefaniw, water conservation manager for the City of Austin, who coordinated the workshops. Beginning this spring, The Happy Kitchen will continue its partnership with the City by offering a six-week healthful-cooking class to Austin Water Utility employees and monthly workshops to other City departments.

As attention to wellness and nutrition continues to move to the worksite, SFC strives to make the transition a little easier and more convenient.

To find out how to partner with Sustainable Food Center’s worksite wellness initiatives, contact Katy Levit at katy@sustainablefoodcenter.org.

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WhEN WE eat and why

WHAT COMES FIRST

by Vivé Griffith • Photography by Andy Sams

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week isn’t easy or cheap. n this East Austin Working on a shoestring meeting room, the budget, the program’s tables form a circle. founder would pick up Course readers with breakfast tacos in paper goldenrod covers wait bags and transport them at each seat, along with to class in a trailer atsyllabi and books. Steam tached to her bicycle. rises from tureens of When I became direcsoup on a side table. It’s tor, I knew I lacked her six o’clock on a Wednesfortitude. Fortunately, a day evening in January, generous grant allowed and the spring semester us to have the food dewill be underway when livered. In leaner years, the first bowl is lifted we’ve considered letting and dinner begins. go of dinner. In a pinch, This is the Free Minds shouldn’t we choose Project, a partnership becopies of King Lear over tween The University of plates of pasta?

Texas and Austin ComI’m glad that quesmunity College that oftion has remained rhefers low-income adults Free Minds students Kierra Lloyd (left) and Jarmesha Harris share pasta and conversation torical. We’ve been able a unique educational before class begins. to offer a meal each class experience: a free twonight since the program began in 2006. Once, a donor gave us an H-E-B semester course in the humanities. Students take on Socrates and card that kept us eating for a month. Last year, we had Amanda.

Shakespeare, the Declaration of Independence and the structure of a An AmeriCorps volunteer, Amanda liked Free Minds, and even betdeclarative sentence. Each class begins with a meal. ter, she loved to cook. So for an entire academic year, in an apartment Sometimes we eat turkey meatloaf or penne with chicken delivered shared with three roommates, she prepared us a homemade meal. Out of at a discount by Central Market; other times we construct sandwiches the hatch of her red SUV she’d pull pots of minestrone or pans of tamafrom a tray of meats and cheeses; on occasion boxes of pizza are stacked les. We ate shepherd’s pie, lemon chicken, quinoa pilaf. Each night held high. a surprise. She’d slice avocados into a salad while a student approached Twenty students trickle into M Station, the affordable housing comto pull off a lid for a peek. Vegetarian chili! Chicken and dumplings! plex run by Foundation Communities. These are adults with full lives, Amanda’s in graduate school now, but she wouldn’t trade those coming to class after a long day at work, the scramble of picking up kids evenings watching students interact over their dinners. Nor would I. from school or a few bus transfers. They set down their things and in Because in the end, while I want students to master the material on doing so, set down their days. Mealtime marks the transition from the the syllabus, I want even more for them to feel part of an intellectual lives they live outside the classroom to the ones they step into around community. I want them to have confidence in their own abilities. I this table. Here they are part of a community—a community bound by want them to know that they belong in a college classroom—that our learning, but also bound by food. classrooms need people with their smarts and motivation.

When the program begins in August, we eat quietly. But slowly a I think about this as voices start filling the room and students ladle hum is born, and by November it’s a clamor. Mealtimes are full of entomato bisque or beef vegetable soup into bowls. This semester they’ll ergy; children move in and out of the room grabbing plates from their work through a Toni Morrison novel and a history of the borderlands. parents before settling into their own classroom down the hall; class They’ll tour the Blanton Museum and read creative work in front of an notes are exchanged, or a tricky paragraph by Frederick Douglass is takaudience. And in May they’ll graduate from the program on fire, ready en apart; students talk about their weekends and share job opportunities to take on college and the world. and favorite recipes.

But first, as always, we eat.

Providing a healthful meal for students and their children two nights a EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

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GreEn Corn Project

Closest Thing to country b y D av i d H u e b el

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This is the surprising face of hunger.

The hungry in Central Texas today may surprise you. They are our friends and neighbors, recently laid-off adults, the elderly couple on the next block living on a fixed income. And, of the 48,000 clients we serve every week, more than 1 in 3 are children. Hunger is unacceptable, especially in our own backyard. We can end hunger, but we can’t do it alone.

You can help.

Advocate . Donate . Volunteer austinfoodbank.org . HungerIsUNacceptable.com

ildred Davis was raised on her parents’ farm in Mansfield, Louisiana—a farm that her mother, now 83, still operates.

When Mildred was a child, the farm had a big garden as well as livestock that included goats, ducks, chickens, rabbits and guineas.

Between the farm, an occasional trip to the store for flour and rice and foraging for huckleberries and dewberries, the family had everything they needed. “We had a shed where we stored sweet potatoes, peanuts and cantaloupe between thick layers of pine straw,” says Davis. This gave the family fresh food all winter until they were ready to plant again in spring. What the family didn’t eat, store or share with neighbors, they froze or canned. “It was a lot of work,” remembers Davis. “But the family did it together and neighbors helped each other out.”

Davis later moved to Austin and raised four sons in a housing project, but she never let go of her country roots. “I fixed biscuits and eggs with oatmeal or grits every morning for my boys,” she says. Davis exchanged recipes with her neighbors, and with the recipes, cultural traditions. She learned how to make tortillas and taught her neighbor how to make biscuits. Between them, they observed that “the only difference between the two is a little baking powder.”

When Davis, along with her two adopted daughters, moved into their new home built by Habitat for Humanity, she was determined to start growing food like her family did on the farm in Louisiana. She applied for a garden with Green Corn Project (GCP), a nonprofit organization that builds organic food gardens at the homes of Austin residents, and in the spring of 2008, a team of GCP volunteers installed a four-by-twelve vegetable garden.

Since then, Davis’s garden has doubled in size and she says that her family has enjoyed many servings of greens, beans, tomatoes and squash that she’s harvested. She’s even gone from foraging for berries as a child to urban foraging in Austin, and she’s amazed at neighbors with fruit trees who just let the fruit fall to the ground.

Davis also knows where the best figs, oranges and plums can be found growing on public land around town and says she tries “to get to the fruit before the birds.”

This winter, Davis cleaned up her garden and buried food scraps for in-ground composting to get ready for the spring planting of tomatoes, eggplant and squash. Yet, despite the eager anticipation of more fresh vegetables and new jars of preserves and jellies for the pantry, Davis says she misses the days on the farm. “I’m ready to get back to the country so I can live good again.” reen Corn Project enables Central Texans to grow organic G vegetables and herbs. For information, visit greencornproject.org.

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department of organic YOUTH

Little Hands, Big Plans b y A r c h e r H o n i g s c h m i d t a n d S a g e Swe n s o n (with a little help from their mamas)

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Archer: “I like to garden because you get to make stuff naturally.

You can get food without using any inside things, like restaurant food.

You can just step outside and grab the food in your backyard. You only need water, a watering can, dirt, seeds, a bed and then we give our food love. I want to plant sunflowers…they make seeds to eat and bring butterflies …watermelon…it’s just delicious all the time, a pizza garden, herbs and peas for my grandparents. My grandparents like peas. I think all grandparents like them. I want to put a faerie garden in the corner to protect my plants. Faeries eat bugs off the plants. It helps them grow. A faerie garden has faerie statues, a tiny little house, tiny acorn hats and big and small shiny blue magic crystals. In the pizza garden, I will have tomatoes for pizza sauce, herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary for seasoning, broccoli for on top and with my ranch dressing.… I wish I could plant a ranch dressing plant!... stinky onions for our pizza and to push away the zombies who try to come steal our plants. I want worms and I will grow grass to put on top of the worms. I wonder what DO worms eat? I think they eat what I eat then they make mud. I’ll put the mud in my garden to help my plants grow. I can put my compost in my garden too. That will help me get more vegetables. I think a garden needs to be all around my house. We need a big garden bed that is tall and has wood around it. I will fill that up with dirt and seeds. I want to plant seeds by the mailbox too.

It will look pretty when I check the mailbox. I can get the mail and a vegetable all by myself! Maybe my neighbor friends can get vegetables if they are by the mailbox, too! They won’t have to go to a restaurant; they can come to my house to eat!”

Sage: “I like to garden because you get to get dirty and eat what you grow. It makes me hot and thirsty and really hungry. Sometimes things grow really fast like lettuce, but sometimes it takes a long time for things to be ready to eat—like watermelon. In our old garden, we had tomato plants almost as tall as my dad! I had to climb inside between them to pick the tomatoes we couldn’t reach from the outside.

I liked to eat the sugar snap peas, but I don’t like the outside. I unzip them, eat the peas then give the outside part to the dogs. It was a really big garden. We had tomatoes, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, peas, beans, corn, broccoli, onions and a bunch of other stuff. I liked to help pick sometimes, but not if it was hot outside. Now we have a small garden, but I think we should make it bigger. Right now we have lettuce,

Photography by Chasity Whittington

s winter was closing up shop in Austin this year, two small-butmighty dreamers were busy at work planning their spring gardens and chatting about what gardening means to them. Meet Archer (age five) and Sage (age six) and learn from these experienced growers what’s best to plant to ward off zombies, which veggies are friends and what smells good when you bump it.

kale and one tomato plant. We’ll plant more tomatoes soon. We’re going to plant carrots next weekend. I think we should plant some sugar snap peas. We’re also going to plant strawberries and spinach. They like to grow next to each other; they’re friends. My mom likes to eat them together, but I don’t really like spinach. We have herbs in pots, but I think we’ll build a new bed for them. I like the way rosemary smells when you bump it. It’s nice to have things you like to eat right outside. Then you don’t have to go to the store. You just walk out in the backyard and get what you need!”

Sage Swenson is a third-generation Austinite who became an avid gardener at the tender age of three. Archer Honigschmidt wanted a big garden for his fifth birthday last summer, but put it off because of drought conditions. He’s thrilled to finally make it happen this spring.

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Back of the House

SFC Chef Series b y M a r s h a ll W r i g h t

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o celebrate the importance of local food, the Sustainable Food Center (SFC) partners with Austin restaurant La Condesa to host the SFC Chef Series several times a year. Austin’s most exciting and innovative chefs and mixologists prepare an exquisite multi-course tasting menu accompanied by drink pairings that feature ingredients sourced from the SFC Farmers’ Market and local area farms, suppliers and artisans.

For the chefs and their teams, it’s a chance to give back to the food community that supports them and also a chance to kick back and hang out in the kitchen with their peers. On any given night of service in their respective kitchens, the pace could easily be described as frenetic. But for one night during the SFC Chef Series dinners, it’s buckets of ice cold Lone Star tall boys, chef coats and cowboy boots.

“We are honored to continue hosting the SFC Chef Series,” says La Condesa owner Jesse Herman. “We strive to offer our patrons the best farmfresh and local foods, much of which is purchased from vendors who sell at [SFC] Farmers’ Markets. We strongly support SFC’s work in the community and are thrilled to help them promote the benefits of buying from local growers and ranchers and of supporting small businesses in the community.”

“Sustainable Food Center is thrilled to partner with La Condesa, bringing together outstanding Austin chefs who each demonstrate a commitment to supporting Austin farmers market growers, ranchers and food artisans,” says SFC executive director Ronda Rutledge.

On Sunday, November 13, 2011, the theme was Autumn Harvest and the guests were treated to a taste of what’s made Austin and Central Texas a world-class culinary destination.

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Plates in menu order, top left to right: Todd Duplechan, Lenoir—Lightsey Farms persimmon salad, marinated seaweed, pine nut butter, Springdale Farm chili.

Tyson Cole, Uchi and Uchiko—Cobia, nutmeg, salsify, borage, G&S Groves orange.

Rene Ortiz, La Condesa—Broken Arrow Ranch venison liver, fuyu black pepper jam, Pure Luck Farm feta, Wowstard bacon butter, Rain Lily Farm radish, Bluebonnet Farm baby cilantro.

Jason Donoho and Andrew MacArthur, FINO & Asti—Texas Quail Farms quail, Jenschke Farms butternut squash, Winfield Farm

rainbow chard, Round Rock honey, Texas goat cheese.

Andrew Weissman, Il Sogno Osteria—Braised bacon, coddled egg, crispy potatoes, coffee emulsion.

James Holmes and Andrew Francisco, Olivia—Duck consommé, Pure Luck Farm goat cheese truffle, garden vegetables, crispy smoked water.

Monica Glenn, Uchi Houston—Maple panna cotta, Lightsey Farms persimmon, applewood gastrique, pistachio sorbet. ext SFC Chef Series is April 15, 2012. For ticket information visit N sustainablefoodcenter.org.

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sustaincenter.com

Texas Natural & Western Swing Festival 512-393-8430

325-646-8200 theturtlerestaurant.com

Twin County Lamb

830-864-4717 twincountydorpers.com

Uptown Blanco

Texas Olive Ranch

830-833-1579 uptownblanco.com

877-461-4708 texasoliveranch.com

Thirsty Planet Brewing Company 512-579-0679 thirstyplanet.net

The Vineyard at Florence 254-793-3363 thevineyardatflorence.com

Wheatsville Food Co-op

Thunder Heart Bison

512-478-2667 wheatsville.coop

210-930-0841 thunderheartbison.com

Whole Foods Market

Tito's Vodka

512-476-1206 (Lamar) 512-345-5003 (Gateway) wholefoodsmarket.com

titosvodka.com

TNT / Tacos and Tequila

The Goodnight Diner thegoodnightdiner.com

Wimberley Glassworks wgw.com

The Turtle Restaurant

Texas Food & Wine Gourmet

Travel Co-op

Taste Buds txtastebuds.com

Wimberley Pie Company wimberleypie.com

Texas Coffee Traders

512-436-8226 tntgrill.com

Red Corral Ranch redcorralranch.com Sugar Shack Bakery sugarshackbakery.net

thetexasfoodandwinegourmet.com

Onion Creek Kitchens 830-833-0910 juniperhillsfarm.com

512-236-0074 sfcfarmersmarket.org

River House Tea Room

Royal Blue Grocery Natural Gardener

Sustainable Food Center

Wink Restaurant

512-482-8868 winkrestaurant.com

Woerner Feed & Garden Supply 830-997-2246 woernerfeed.com

Old Oaks Ranch theoldoaksranch.com

EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM

SPRING 2012

81

Joseph Phillips, digital collage rendering of “Mobile, Reconfigurable Mini-Golf Hole with Environment,” March, 2012, approximately 12’ x 18’.

art de terroir

Art on the Green Presented by AMOA-Arthouse Laguna Gloria, 3809 West 35th Street March 9 – May 20 , 2012

Garden Party Monday, April 9 | 6 p.m.

Come play the nine-hole artist-designed miniature golf course at Laguna Gloria.

Bring a picnic foraged from your favorite farmers market and enjoy craft brew tastings from Brooklyn Brewery.

Create edible masterpieces with help from The Cupcake Bar. Tickets at amoa-arthouse.org/gardenparty Co-presented by Edible Austin.

Laguna Gloria 3809 West 35th St. 512.458.8191

The Jones Center 700 Congress Avenue 512.453.5312