Untitled, a photo by dbinatx on Flickr.

Dinner tonight was a simple pork tenderloin, stuffed tomato, and pesto gnocci. Quite tasty!!

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto



I received a couple of butternut squashes in my Farmhouse Delivery (more on that later) and I didn't really know what to do with them. I stared at them for a week or two before I figured that i could just roast them and throw them into another dish. I haven't really cooked with them before so I wanted to find a recipe that would incorporate the squash but not totally highlight it.

I started off by roasting the squash, which is pretty simple. Quarter up the squash, remove the seeds (which looks a lot like pumpkin), use a little olive oil, sprinkle on some salt/pepper and stick it in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. If you wanted a sweeter flavor you could also layer on some OJ or maple syrup on the squash. I figured that the squash is sweet on it's own and I didn't want the extra calories so I didn't add it.

Once the squash was done cooking, I let it cool down and scooped out the flesh and chopped it up and added it to the risotto which was almost done cooking (recipe below). We were really happy with the final result! The risotto was nice and creamy and the squash added a nice flavor without being to overpowering.





Basic Risotto Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
•1½ cups arborio rice
•1 qt chicken stock
•½ cup white wine
•1 medium shallot or ½ small onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
•3 Tbsp unsalted butter
•1 Tbsp vegetable oil
•¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
•1 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
•Kosher salt, to taste
Preparation:
1.Heat the stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan, then lower the heat so that the stock just stays hot.


2.In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil and 1 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the chopped shallot or onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until it is slightly translucent.


3.Add the rice to the pot and stir it briskly with a wooden spoon so that the grains are coated with the oil and melted butter. Sauté for another minute or so, until there is a slightly nutty aroma. But don't let the rice turn brown.


4.Add the wine and cook while stirring, until the liquid is fully absorbed.


5.Add a ladle of hot chicken stock to the rice and stir until the liquid is fully absorbed. When the rice appears almost dry, add another ladle of stock and repeat the process.

Note: It's important to stir constantly, especially while the hot stock gets absorbed, to prevent scorching, and add the next ladle as soon as the rice is almost dry.


6.Continue adding ladles of hot stock and stirring the rice while the liquid is absorbed. As it cooks, you'll see that the rice will take on a creamy consistency as it begins to release its natural starches.


7.Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, for 20-30 minutes or until the grains are tender but still firm to the bite, without being crunchy. If you run out of stock and the risotto still isn't done, you can finish the cooking using hot water. Just add the water as you did with the stock, a ladle at a time, stirring while it's absorbed.


8.Stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp butter, the parmesan cheese and the parsley, and season to taste with Kosher salt.


9.Risotto turns glutinous if held for too long, you should serve it right away. A properly cooked risotto should form a soft, creamy mound on a dinner plate. It shouldn't run across the plate, nor should it be stiff or gluey.

Takoba x 2



Last weekend we ate brunch at Takoba for the first time. I have been hearing the buzz for a few months on Takoba and was excited to try out the restaurant. About a year ago (maybe longer?? can't really remember) I had one of their tacos that they served out of a trailer in front of East End Wines. It was a simple pulled pork taco, but I remember it being very good.



Fast forward a year or so and now they have their own restaurant on East 7th. I love the building design and lay out. They have a great covered patio and a smallish inside section. The inside is really loud so the both times we opted to eat there, we sat on the patio.

The chips were thicker than I normally like but they were fresh and went well with salsa. The salsa was more liquid than chunky and didn't have much heat to it. But that didn't stop us from almost finishing the basket of chips ;)




I decided to go outside of my normal order for brunch (Migas) and ordered the Torta De Chorizo. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this sandwich was AWESOME! In the picture it looks a little bready, but I didn't mind it at all. According to the menu this bad boy had 2 eggs, house made choizo, jalapeno escabeche, queso fresco, and salsa secreta. I could have sworn that there was also avocado on the sandwich. Normally when I think of chorizo I think of grease but the grease factor wasn't that bad. Jim and I shared our breakfasts so I gave him half of the torta and he gave me half of his migas.

Jim's migas were pretty damn good. The eggs were cooked perfectly and were nice and fluffy. To many times in restaurants they will either not scramble the eggs before it hits the cook top (not terrible, but doesn't create fluffy eggs) or they put in WAY to many ingredients and then the eggs are non existent. There wasn't much heat to the migas, but overall they were very good. The only downside to the plate was the potato's... they were cooked well but hardly seasoned.

Jim ordered the White Sangria while I stuck with the $1 Mimosas (Hello... FANTASTIC deal on those puppies!!). The White Sangria was infused with pears, apples, oranges and cinnamon. They finished the drink off with a splash of champagne. For me, the drink was refreshing but the cinnamon really cut through the fruitiness of the drink. I like cinnamon but wasn't a fan of it being such a big flavor in the drink.

On Friday night we met up with Jim's sister and cousins for dinner at Takoba. I made the reservation while we were there for brunch the previous weekend. I couldn't wait to try their dinner. I was feeling ambitious that night and tried a Pisco Sour. A Pisco Sour is made with Capel Pisco, egg white, fresh lemon juice (bartender used an entire lemon), gomme syrup, and angostura bitters. I'm not going to lie, I had to look up most of what the ingredients are :)

Capel Pisco:Pisco is a brandy or aguardiente distilled from the white muscat grapes grown in two main regions of South America: the area around Pisco, described in A miracle of man and the desert, and the Valle del río Elqui in central Chile.

Gomme Syrup:Gum (or gomme) syrup is a drink sweetener that was commonly used instead of simple syrup in many classic cocktails. The advantage to using gomme syrup is that, especially in heavy-alcohol cocktails such as many of the classics, it adds a silky texture and softens the alcohol's flavor. It also prevents the syrup from crystallizing

Angostura bitters:said to contain over 40 ingredients — although few can know for sure, since the recipe, which was developed as medicine by a German doctor in Venezuela in 1824, is a closely guarded secret.

The drink was very tart and was a sipping drink. It was good but not something I could drink all night. Part of me was worried about the egg white being slimy in the drink, but it was mixed up well and made it more creamy than slimy. I'm living on the edge, drinking raw egg whites :) The rim was covered in sugar which helped cut down on the tartness of the drink.

We had horrible lighting for pictures, and I didn't have my little light to use. I ordered the Tacos De Carnitas Estilo Don Alberto. A whole lotta words to say pork tacos ;) They were delicious, the meat was tender and juicy. I ordered the rice (which was forgettable) and the side salad was lightly dressed in a vinaigrette and had slices of oranges and (I believe) feta cheese.

We meet up with Jamie, Julie, Lori and Charles for dinner. It has been far to long since the last time that we have all met up and hung out. The weather was perfect when the wind wasn't trying to blow away the table. I think everybody enjoyed their food, and we all definitely enjoyed each others company.

Jamie, Lori, Jim and Julie.... the Cousins (and brother and sister)

Lovely Dinner

We had the best dinner on Saturday night at the The Carillon (http://www.thecarillonrestaurant.com/). I had purchased a Groupon for a buy one get one free for their tasting menu so we received a very nice deal. Normally the tasting menu is $60 per person, which is a bit steep but after enjoying our meal I see the value. The restaurant is in the AT&T Executive Conference Center on the UT campus. They had tables that allowed the patrons to see in side of the kitchen, and I would have LOVED to sit there. I enjoy watching the hustle and bustle in the kitchen. I used my new phone to take the pictures (has an 8 mega pixel camera) and my current point and shoot has been crapping out during night pictures. I'm not super happy about the quality of pictures but they turned out okay.

We started off with some bread and butter. I remember Rosemary being in part of the description, but can't remember if it was in the butter or the bread (I hardly tasted it). The softened butter had 2 types of salt on it, one being Hawaiian salt. LOVED the extra salty taste on the bread.

We started off our meal with an Amuse Bouche. The first spoon had a basil panna cotta with some type of citrus, it was a lovely smooth texture and a delicate basil flavor. The second spoon was a tuna ceviche, which was equally as good. I wanted a few more spoons of each :)

Nairagi Napoleon

Smoked Chevre - Texas Grapefruit - Cucumber - Lemon Zest

Our appetizer was fresh Nairagi chopped up and layered between sliced cucumbers. Next to the cucumber stack was a slice of grapefruit and a few crumbles of the chevre. My first bite was of the cucumber and the fish, and it was so delicate. The lemon zest was a nice zing to the delicate fish and cucumber. Next I added a little grapefruit bite along with the cheese. It was all quite good, light, and a perfect way to start the dish.

Sea Scallop

Sumac - Cauliflower - Asparagus - Vanilla Citrus

I had to look up what Sumac is... "A sprinkling of this pretty purple spice adds a tangy lemony flavour to meat and salads". Can I just say that sumac and scallops go hand in hand, and I loved every single bite. the cauliflower puree was so creamy and was perfect because it was only a light flavor. The grilled asparagus was also a nice flavor to the dish. the vanilla citrus sauce was not a big player on the dish but I did get a hint of the sauce with every other bite. Might be the best damn scallop I have had.

Escolar

Chanterelle Mushroom - Blueberry - Pistachios

This dish was supposed to be white tuna but they said they ran out so they substituted the escolar. We have only had escolar raw (sushi) so it was nice to try it cooked. This fish is very hearty and was delicious. When I read the description and saw blueberry on there I was very curious. The blueberry sauce was just enough flavor but definitely not overpowering. The pistachios crumbled on top were so delicious, loved the crunch it added to the fish. There was not one thing wrong with this dish... I totally wanted more.

Olive Oil Poached Prime Beef Tenderloin

Potato Puree - Frito Misto- Peppercorn Sauce

I have not had an olive oil poached meat before. The meat was so tender with a wonderful pepper flavor. The Frito Misto consisted of fried artichokes, onions, garlic and fennel. This part of the dish was my least favorite... tasted to much like oil and not the vegetables.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Vanilla Sweet Potato - Caramelized onions - Chanterelle Mushrooms

When we eat out at restaurants I tend to order the short ribs because it is a dish that I have not conquered yet. I have come close, but not quite. Out of all of the dishes, this was not my favorite. The meat was tasty but just didn't have the wow factor that the other dishes had. The vanilla sweet potato puree was tasty but pretty sweet.

Guanaja Chocolate Terrine

Coriander Ice Cream - Crystallized Cilantro

Our dessert was slightly different than the menu. We had a fried mint leaf on top as well as a sour orange reduction. If you even remotely like chocolate, you will LOVE this 100000% chocolate terrine. to me, it was similar to fudge, but not quite as thick. The ice cream was a nice way to cut through the sweetness, but it was the sour orange reduction that struck a cord with me. Such a delicious combination of flavors.

After our lovely meal, we were both stuffed. I looked over at Jim to find him taking a cat nap ;)

I couldn't let Jim be in the post without me.... self portrait in the ladies room

Twist on Lasagna

Last week I made a ton of spaghetti meat sauce and I didn't really have a plan for it until I saw a package of gnocchi in the pantry. I thought I would make a dish similar to lasagna but I would use gnocchi instead of pasta.

If you are unfamiliar with gnocchi, they are potato style pasta in the form of a dumpling. I have not tried to make this myself (although it is on my list of things to do) but I find the boxed variety to be a good substitute for a quick meal.

Little gnocchi

I boiled a box of the gnocchi for just a few minutes. I wasn't sure if I could just put the uncooked gnocchi in the pan since it was going to be baked, but I went on the safe side and boiled them for a few minutes.The next layer was a combination of a container of ricotta cheese, an egg, a cup of mozzarella, half cup of Parmesan, a few tablespoons of chopped parsley, a few tablespoons of chopped onion, and a chopped up piece of garlic. Mix it all up and spread it over the gnocchi.

Next comes the sauce.... I had a combination of turkey and ground beef sauce that I had made before. I just kept throwing stuff into the pot to make it, so I don't have exact ingredients, but has ground beef, turkey, can of fire roasted tomato's, about a half of an onion, a few cloves of garlic, tomato paste, some spices... cook it all up and let it simmer for about 1.5 hrs.

Or you can use plain old spaghetti sauce from a jar if you want an even quicker dinner!!

Once it was all layered I cooked it for about 40 minutes in 350 degree oven. This does not look very pretty once you scoop it out of the pan, but it is quite good!! And it makes for excellent leftovers! Next time I'd like to add some spinach or a layer of zucchini and squash

Eating Right in 2011

I was thumbing through my Cuisine at Home magazine when I came across a section was lightened up pasta sauces. I immediately zoned into the Alfredo sauce because I normally avoid it like the plague because of the calories and fat. I knew I wanted to throw some broccoli and shrimp in with the pasta to make a meal, so on I went to Central Market to pick up some things. I knew I wanted a good Parmesan cheese to use, since it was the only cheese in the dish.

I actually had high hopes for this sauce, thinking it would be a great substitute but it fell a little short. The sauce was a little flavorless but it had a nice consistency. Next time I plan on adding a LOT more cheese, I think that will help. Sure, it won't be as light weight as it could be but oh well. Jim and I agreed that this was totally edible but it is a reminder that we are trying to eat better. I want to find those dishes that are good for us and DON'T taste like it!

Lite Alfredo Sauce

from Cuisine at Home magazine

Blend:

2 cups skim milk (we had 1% so I used that)

1 cup park skim ricotta cheese

2/3 cup 2% Greek-style yogurt

1/4 cup minced onion

2 Tbsp chopped garlic

1 tsp kosher salt

1.2 tsp ground nutmeg

Heat:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or 4 tbs unsalted butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

zest of 1 lemon

Black pepper

Blend milk, ricotta, yogurt, onion, garlic, salt, and nutmeg in a blender until smooth.

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat, whisk flour until smooth. Whisk blended mixture until smooth. Simmer sauce until it thickens (for me took about 10 minutes). Stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano, zest and pepper.

Sushi!

Last Friday night we headed to Piranha Killer Sushi for dinner. We used a Groupon (paid $20 for $40 worth of food), so dinner was very reasonable. I love Groupon and the deals that it brings each day :) If you haven't heard about Groupon, then you need to go to http://www.groupon.com/austin?post_subscribe=true and sign up for their daily alerts. Sure some of the deals aren't for me, but I love it when I can get discounted meals, massages, and salon experiences.

Back to the food... we started off our night with the Pork and Vegetable Dumplings with Spicy Orange Marmalade. We had 3 choices for the preparation of the dumpling... steamed, pan fried, or fried. We decided on pan fried, and it was a very good choice! The dumplings had a nice crust on the outside, and the insides were perfectly cooked! The spicy orange marmalade was quite tasty, not very spicy but it was a nice sauce for the dumplings.

Our first roll of the night was the Vietnamese Summer Roll. It has salmon, tuna, crab, greens, mango and asparagus wrapped with rice paper. This roll was very delicate and had a fresh taste. I didn't really taste the mango in the roll, but I did get a strong asparagus flavor. The roll was good, but it was exceptional with the spicy and sweet sauce that they were placed in.

Our next two rolls came out together, we ordered the Birthday Roll and the Volcano Roll. The Birthday Roll had shrimp tempura, eel, masago, scallions, cream cheese and it was topped with avocado. This was a compact tasty roll... it had a slightly salty flavor and had a little crunch from the shrimp tempura. This was my favorite roll of the night.

The Volcano Roll had charbroiled crawfish over a California Roll. I wasn't impressed with this roll... I was expecting some type of spicy flavor with the crawfish, but I found the sauce with it very mild. The description didn't say anything would be spicy but with a name like Volcano I just assumed it would be spicy. The crawfish was pretty fishy tasting which turned me off. Jim didn't seem to mind so he ate most of that roll, while I ate most of the Birthday Roll :)

We ended the night with a dessert, the cheese cake with a strawberry compote. I have to say this was a very good dessert. The cheese cake was fluffy, not to dense and had a hint of cinnamon.

I had one small complaint about the food.... there were no options for a spicy roll. I like a little heat with my sushi and I didn't get that with this meal. Next time I'll ask our waiter if they have any spicy rolls that aren't on the menu for us to try. Overall our dinner was delicious, service was prompt and the environment had an easy modern feel to it. We'll be back one day to try their happy hour specials!

Austin Restaurant Week

Austin Restaurant Week happens twice a year and we always try to participate. I love eating out because it gives me the opportunity to try new foods and restaurants. This time around we decided on Lamberts. Laberts has a great menu with upscale BBQ foods with side dishes that sounded really good.

Picture of the kitchen from the bar area using my blackberry... waiting for our table.

We started off with the Baby Bibb Lettuce and Avocado Salad ( toasted pine nuts, tarragon, watercress, Dijon and sherry vinaigrette) and the Beer Battered Florida Rock Shrimp. The salad was good and the dressing had a nice flavor but didn't over take the salad. I'll admit it took this salad to realize that I really don't like tarragon. So after I found all of the tarragon slivers, the salad was edible. The fried shrimp was excellent! They were small bites that were crispy on the outside but not a heavy coating and the shrimp was cooked perfectly. There were quite a few little pieces of shrimp, enough for 2 people to think they were eating to much before their entrees :)

For our entrees Jim ordered the Brown Sugar and Coffee Rubbed Beef Brisket. When it came out I was a little worried because the slices were cut thick. But the brisket was very tender and had a good smoke ring along with the flavors of brown sugar and coffee. I tasted more of the brown sugar than the coffee, but I only had a few bites. I ordered the Citrus Brined & Maple Glazed Pork Ribs. Oh mama... these were good! You receive 4 large ribs that were full of fall off the bone meat. I tasted hints of the citrus and hints of the maple in each bite. These ribs were DAMN good and I'll be back for another round! We also ordered a side dish of the Brussels sprouts with brown butter and bacon, and I thought they could have used a little salt and pepper but over all they were tender and had a great taste.

We had a good time at dinner... we liked the ambiance, the building itself, our servers were really nice and of course the good food. And next time I'll take more pictures! :) I can't believe i forgot to get a picture of our appetizers!

Home Slice Pizza

A few weeks ago we met up with friends for a night of pizza, beer, and good conversation. We went on a Saturday night, so we had about an hour wait until we were able to be seated. It wasn't terrible because we snagged a little table and had a waitress bring us some frosty beverages. The heat was almost unbearable, and the sweat that was accumulating down my back was down right gross. But right when I was at my breaking point, our name was called and we ventured inside to gouge ourselves on pizza.

Supawn, Steven, and John... assuming the position

Jim, me and Nicole... assuming the position

We started off with the house salad, which was fresh and had a nice dressing to it. For the table we ordered:

#6- Sausage, ricotta cheese, and roasted red pepper

#2- White pie with spinach (olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, ricotta, provolone and romano)

#4- Spinach, roasted red pepper, green olives and onions

Those pizzas are MEDIUMS! When they started to deliver the pizza's we had no idea how they were going to fit on the table! I had already decided that I would sample all pizza's, which meant I would have to unbutton my top button on my pants to make room for all of the pizza in my belly. I started off with a slice of the #4 pizza, and really liked the flavors. The green olives gave a nice salty bite to the pizza and worked well with the other veggies and cheese. Next I moved on to the #2 White Pie pizza. Looking at the pizza I thought, this is going to be a fantastic cheesy experience. But I was disappointed, it lacked flavor. I think the ricotta was overpowering to the rest of the flavors, with the large globs on the pizza. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if they were smaller globs? Or maybe I'm just not a fan of ricotta?

I eyeballed the last pizza and all of the ricotta cheese debating on if I really wanted to try it or not. The other obstacle is that i don't care for sausage. I decided to give it a go just to see if I liked it. I didn't mind the ricotta as much on this pizza as the white pizza, and maybe it was because the toppings on this pizza had stronger flavors?

Overall I thought Homeslice was a good pizza joint, and one of the better ones in Austin, but I can't say that it would compete with back east pizza. I thought the crust was to thick and seemed to be missing some magic spice that NY pizza's have. I'll go back to give it another try because the pizza was good.... well, the pizza without the globs of ricotta was good! But I won't be going back because it reminds me of pizza when I go back east to visit family.

Simplicity Wine and Eats

Last weekend Jim and I finally tried Simplicity Wine and Eats. I'm not sure why it took us so long to try them out but I'm glad that I did. Their wine prices were pretty reasonable, we shared a bottle of Riesling for $19. Simplicity serves tapas, small plates that is meant for the table to share. We decided that we would each pick 2 items and share. We ordered the Buffalo Calamari, Satay Pork w/peanut sauce, Bacon and sauteed pepper bruschetta, and Cajun shrimp and grits. I tried getting on Simplicity's website to get more accurate food descriptions but it seems to be down right now.

Jim and I (if you look to the left of Jim's face in the picture, you'll see me in the mirror)

at the restaurant

The bacon and pepper brushetta was the clear stand out. Of course anything with bacon on it is going to be good, but overall it was some of the best brushetta that I have had. Another stand out was the buffalo calamari, it had great flavor and the strips of calamari were very tender. The Cajun shrimp and grits was just okay due to the lack of flavor. The shrimp had seasoning, but the incredibly bland grits ruined the dish for me. It was disappointing to me because I have been on a grits kick. The pork satay was dry but the peanut sauce really helped it out.

They had plenty of items on the menu, so I anticipate that we'll be back to give them another try.

Neat shot I got of the sunlight coming in at the restaurant

Tigress Pub

After dinner we headed over to the Tigress Pub. I didn't know much about this bar, just that it opened and it was near the house. When we walked in we were a little surprised at how small it was but we immediately felt comfortable. We found a place to sit, checked out a menu and ordered a couple of drinks. I tried out a French's 75, which had champagne, gin, and I think lemon juice. It was quite tasty but DAMN it was strong. Jim ordered a martini and he said it was the most well made martini that he has tasted. Pam, the owner and bartender, came around and greeted us and asked us how we were doing and if we liked our drinks. We only stayed for one drink, but we enjoyed the pub while we were there.