We have been on a cupcake quest for awhile. We've been trying various cupcakes around the city, and using a 5 star scale, giving them a cupcake quality rating and an ambience rating. While we've awarded a 5 star ambience rating to Hey Cupcake (you just can't beat a good airstream trailer), we haven't given out a 5 star quality rating until now. (I must mention that the final rating detirmination is made by the kiddo.) We've tried Quack's (love the idea of the lemon curd, but so big and heavy), Upper Crust (love the marble cupcake, but can't they please sweep the floor occasionally?), Sweetish Hill (hard to get a good read, since the frosting is sooooo cold and hard when it comes out of the case, but certainly tasty), Sugar Mama's (had them at a party, so we can't speak to the ambience), Whole Foods, Central Market, and HEB. But we have a new 5 star favorite, in both of ambience and quality...Walton's Fancy and Staple. The space is lovely, the background music choice is delightful, the staff is exceptionally friendly, the prices are reasonable, and the $9 cupcake sampler for 6 flavors was just too tempting. Every one we tried was fantastic, not too sweet, lovely, and distinctive. I think my favorite is the strawberry, but then there was the red velvet...
Now while I wholeheartedly endorse the Austin cupcake craze, I do miss Once Upon A Tart in Soho. A cupcake can only get so far when compared with a freshly made fruit tart.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
August 20, 2009
Homemade banana pudding...not necessarily gormet, but an awfully nice way to celebrate the start of Top Chef 6.
Last night's dinner was definitely one to file and do again in terms of input vs. output. That's the goal here...low input, high output. I threw a brisket into the crockpot with a little chopped garlic, about 1/2 cup of orange juice, and about 1/2 a bottle of Central Market's hoisin sauce. I served it with jasmine rice and Rachael Ray's orange scented broccoli. I skipped the shallots and used butter instead of EVOO. I haven't watched the excessively enthusiastic Rachael in quite awhile, but if you can get recipes that aren't loaded with fat, they are often good on my input/output criteria. I should look at her side dish suggestions.
Last night's dinner was definitely one to file and do again in terms of input vs. output. That's the goal here...low input, high output. I threw a brisket into the crockpot with a little chopped garlic, about 1/2 cup of orange juice, and about 1/2 a bottle of Central Market's hoisin sauce. I served it with jasmine rice and Rachael Ray's orange scented broccoli. I skipped the shallots and used butter instead of EVOO. I haven't watched the excessively enthusiastic Rachael in quite awhile, but if you can get recipes that aren't loaded with fat, they are often good on my input/output criteria. I should look at her side dish suggestions.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Mixed Media
I'm so, so, so, so excited about the Top Chef premiere tonight. Whoopee! I've been leafing through my Top Chef cookbook today, and got kind of intrigued about how many recipes have cauliflower. In the grand scheme of things, it's not really a ton, but for the relatively few number of recipes in the book, it seems disproportionate. I have to say, though, that one of those cauliflower containing recipes is a family favorite...the Turkey and Pork Meatballs. Wonderfully flavorful, different enough to be interesting, and a sneaky way to get spinach into the gang.
I've been looking for a new food book to read. In light of all the Julie and Julia movie hoopla, and having read Julie and Julia and My Life in France, I did try Backstage with Julia, but after about fifty pages, I just felt that if Julia had wanted me to know those things, she would have put them in her own wonderful memoir. She didn't, so perhaps she'd rather I didn't know. I've found myself back with Peter Mayle's French Lessons. I've read it before, but it's been awhile. His writing is always easy to read, and like slipping back into a conversation with an old friend. I think next up is My Homemade Life. I do love Ruth Reichl, and enjoyed much of Jeffery Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything, although in the words of my seventh-grade reading teacher, I "skimmy-scanned" some of it. But I was flat out fascinated to learn that potato eyes grow in a double helix. Really.
I've been looking for a new food book to read. In light of all the Julie and Julia movie hoopla, and having read Julie and Julia and My Life in France, I did try Backstage with Julia, but after about fifty pages, I just felt that if Julia had wanted me to know those things, she would have put them in her own wonderful memoir. She didn't, so perhaps she'd rather I didn't know. I've found myself back with Peter Mayle's French Lessons. I've read it before, but it's been awhile. His writing is always easy to read, and like slipping back into a conversation with an old friend. I think next up is My Homemade Life. I do love Ruth Reichl, and enjoyed much of Jeffery Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything, although in the words of my seventh-grade reading teacher, I "skimmy-scanned" some of it. But I was flat out fascinated to learn that potato eyes grow in a double helix. Really.
August 19, 2009
I was lying in bed last night, thinking about today's menu. I was planning on trying Cooking Light's Chicken Tostada recipe, and then I realized the odds of the entire topping sliding off of big Kiddo's tostada were high. The soft taco is a much more manageable kid option, although not as great as the unbeatable Shipley Donut egg and sausage kolache. (I can't speak to the flavor, but the portability and lack of mess can't be beat!) So as I was deciding to switch the filling to tacos, I realized that the whole conversation was moot . I never bought tortillas. Sizzling lime/chicken/corn/zucchini salad it would have to be. I used rotisserie chicken, fresh corn, eyeballed the spices, and left off the cheese. Since I didn't have a starch, I decided to take the plunge and bake the boule that I started two days ago. I used 1/2 tsp of yeast, and let it rise for six hours instead of two. And I halved the recipe, since if I didn't like it, I certainly didn't need four loaves of it. I take back my scepticism. It was as easy as promised and not messy, provided that I dropped the dough in a bowl of flour before shaping it, and it made a good loaf! Not profound, but hot, fresh bread doesn't have to be profound to be wonderful. And the crust was spectacular. I did the steam bath, skipped the stone, and baked it in a greased one quart Corningware. The leftovers are great for toast, too...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Recent Restaurants
Phil's Ice House: It's been quite awhile since we've been there, and I got the Phil's craving thanks to a random drive-by. I opted for the Rosedale with chicken. I love the flavors and the bun, but I do wish that the shredded cheese was less clumpy and more melted. I have yet to actually try a burger there, so I think the basic Allandale is up next for me. I like the sweet potato/regular fry mix more in theory than practice, since I end up just picking out all the sweet potato ones. I suppose it's not a bad thing to cut my fry intake in half! It's a haul up there for us, but it was a perfect pit stop on the way to Terra Toys, and blissfully not crowded at 5:30 pm on a Saturday. And speaking of burgers, I'm crazy happy about the new P. Terry's that opened recently in our neighborhood. Not my favorite fries, but possibly my favorite burger in town, and oh, so kid friendly!
Fino: What a beautiful evening of dining. The service was flawless, the courses were paced perfectly, and the flavors were clean, clear and inventive. The amuse bouche was a simple mix of local tomatoes, radishes and herbs on a crostini and drizzled with olive oil. It was a reminder of the power of perfect salting, which made the mouthful pop. We didn't know that it was happy hour when we arrived, so thanks to the special prices, we chose the marcona almonds and the pork pinchitos to snack on while we figured out what we wanted. I don't remember the almonds, but the pinchitos were crusty, salty, and had a wonderfully dense grilled flavor. More than a few bites would have been too many, but the size was perfect. We moved on to the exquisite gazpacho verde. I talked hubby into trying the anchovy that was served with fresh avocado on a crostini on the premise that you should trust your chef, and he was quite surprised at how much he liked it. (Mind you, I didn't choose to take my own advice.) He went with the roasted wild halibut with beets, pistachio skordalia and arugula, and I chose the roasted chicken with spinach, golden raisins, pine nut cous cous and lemon yogurt. Mine was lovely, and the lemon yogurt was a tangy, not sweet, which kept the dish from being cloying. Apparently the pastry chef had been in high gear with the ice cream maker, since there were about ten choices. I went for a blackberry-basil sorbet, which was more refreshing than sweet, and fortunately hubby ordered the baklava ice cream, which I really wanted to taste. The meal ended as it began...with bright, thoughtful flavors, well proportioned and cleanly presented. When we lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, our favorite neighborhood restaurant was Rosewater. Fino is the closest that we've come to that vibe since we've been here in Austin.
Teo: Oh, Teo. I know that you win awards all the time, but could you just splurge a little more on air conditioning? On a recent visit, the flavors were nice - the chocolate, the oreo mint cookie, the salted caramel, which is definitely best when used to complement other flavors - but it was just unpleasantly warm in the store. On a typically toasty August afternoon in Texas, I want going to a gelateria to be a cooling experience, where I can sit and savor my gelato, not feel like I need to gulp it down as it's quickly melting and then and scurry back out to the air conditioned sanctuary of my car. Is that really so much to ask?
Fino: What a beautiful evening of dining. The service was flawless, the courses were paced perfectly, and the flavors were clean, clear and inventive. The amuse bouche was a simple mix of local tomatoes, radishes and herbs on a crostini and drizzled with olive oil. It was a reminder of the power of perfect salting, which made the mouthful pop. We didn't know that it was happy hour when we arrived, so thanks to the special prices, we chose the marcona almonds and the pork pinchitos to snack on while we figured out what we wanted. I don't remember the almonds, but the pinchitos were crusty, salty, and had a wonderfully dense grilled flavor. More than a few bites would have been too many, but the size was perfect. We moved on to the exquisite gazpacho verde. I talked hubby into trying the anchovy that was served with fresh avocado on a crostini on the premise that you should trust your chef, and he was quite surprised at how much he liked it. (Mind you, I didn't choose to take my own advice.) He went with the roasted wild halibut with beets, pistachio skordalia and arugula, and I chose the roasted chicken with spinach, golden raisins, pine nut cous cous and lemon yogurt. Mine was lovely, and the lemon yogurt was a tangy, not sweet, which kept the dish from being cloying. Apparently the pastry chef had been in high gear with the ice cream maker, since there were about ten choices. I went for a blackberry-basil sorbet, which was more refreshing than sweet, and fortunately hubby ordered the baklava ice cream, which I really wanted to taste. The meal ended as it began...with bright, thoughtful flavors, well proportioned and cleanly presented. When we lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, our favorite neighborhood restaurant was Rosewater. Fino is the closest that we've come to that vibe since we've been here in Austin.
Teo: Oh, Teo. I know that you win awards all the time, but could you just splurge a little more on air conditioning? On a recent visit, the flavors were nice - the chocolate, the oreo mint cookie, the salted caramel, which is definitely best when used to complement other flavors - but it was just unpleasantly warm in the store. On a typically toasty August afternoon in Texas, I want going to a gelateria to be a cooling experience, where I can sit and savor my gelato, not feel like I need to gulp it down as it's quickly melting and then and scurry back out to the air conditioned sanctuary of my car. Is that really so much to ask?
August 17, 2009
Today was full of sweet things. Big Kiddo made his first popsicles out of orange juice, and we're looking forward to having them for dessert. Popsicles...a truly no-fail recipe. I tried two King Arthur Flour muffin recipes today, and they were both so successful that I'll be trying more of their recipes. First up was their blueberry muffin recipe. I decreased the sugar to 2/3 cup and substituted Emmi apricot yogurt for the plain yogurt indicated. I added chopped dried apricots and almonds as well. Next up was their oatmeal muffin recipe. I used canola oil, increased the flour slightly (which I didn't need to do), and added chopped pecans. Both were a hit with big and little people!
I mixed up the basic boule from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day today. I decreased the yeast by half, as they say you can on their website, and am letting it rise in my hot Texas garage. I'm glad that I watched their youtube demonstration on how to shape the loaf, which showed that they dump the dough into a bowl of flour before they start messing with it. I'll bake it in a couple of days, and see how it goes. I wasn't thrilled with the results from the other no-knead loaf that I've tried, the Sullivan Street Bakery version, so I'm not expecting greatness, but would love to be pleasantly surprised.
Today's kiddo sous chef task: asparagus snapping. A fine time was had by all!
I mixed up the basic boule from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day today. I decreased the yeast by half, as they say you can on their website, and am letting it rise in my hot Texas garage. I'm glad that I watched their youtube demonstration on how to shape the loaf, which showed that they dump the dough into a bowl of flour before they start messing with it. I'll bake it in a couple of days, and see how it goes. I wasn't thrilled with the results from the other no-knead loaf that I've tried, the Sullivan Street Bakery version, so I'm not expecting greatness, but would love to be pleasantly surprised.
Today's kiddo sous chef task: asparagus snapping. A fine time was had by all!
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