Roasted Pork Chops, Sweet Potatoes and Kale

We finally sold the condo and moved into an apartment out close to Oak Hill while we wait on our dream house to hit the market. I was a little concerned that moving away from a downtown setting where everything you need is a walk or quick drive away would have spoiled us for suburban living.  Turns out, there's just as much, if not more, readily available in our new hood and we've taken full advantage.  Plus, less homeless people dying in our bushes or Rockabilly musicians dying around the corner.  So we have that going for us, which is nice.  New posts coming on Jack Allen's Kitchen and Cyprus Grill and maybe a few others we discover here soon.  However, now that we're settling in, its time to return to the kitchen and try and get those eating expenses down a scosh (Adrienne, sp?)

I made a much needed grocery run yesterday after work.  We tolerated the Oltorf HEB at our old place b/c, frankly, it was right across the street.  We knew it wasn't great, but it was convenient and made for good people watching at any hour of the night.  I tried out our new HEB...the mecca of HEB's on Escarpment.  Holy hell.  This is what a grocery store should be.  Wide aisles, carts with working wheels, extensive selection, great produce,wine tastings...are you f'n kidding me???  Ghetto HEB's, we're done.  I'm home now.

On the menu last night was a meal with actual sides...something I tend to forget to do when I find a main course I really want to try out.  This was ridiculously simple, and relatively quick on turnaround time.  I substituted sweet potatoes for the butternut squash.  Nothing elaborate or worth taking pictures of until the final product, but here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds)—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1⁄2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 bone-in pork chops (each 1 inch thick; about 2 pounds total)
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 large bunch kale, thick ribs removed and leaves roughly chopped (about 14 cups)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash with the sage, 1 tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
2. When the squash has cooked for 20 minutes, heat 1 teaspoon of the remaining oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the pork with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook until browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
3. Transfer the pork to the baking sheet with the squash and roast until the pork is cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes more.
4. Meanwhile, return the skillet to medium heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the kale, ¼ cup water, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, tossing the kale and scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet, until the kale is tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Serve with the pork and squash.

A microcosm of my evening. Dinner, cocktail, bumbo, play mat

Pork chop was cooked perfectly, sweet potatoes jived well with the sage, kale was delicious.

Stared while I devoured my meal.  Jealous a little bit perhaps?

Risotto al Funghi - Adventures in Stirring

I've likely mentioned it before, but my favorite show on the tube is Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations.  Great writer (just finished his latest book, Medium Raw) and great TV personality.  His latest episode documented his first trip to Rome, shot in black and white.  The final scene was he and a friend on a beach in the Mediterranean cooking up a feast for family and friends.  Among many amazing looking dishes, was a simple risotto, cooked in a big pot over a grill.

I've always wanted to try making my own, but have heard countless horror stories of how long it takes, how patient you must be, etc.  These are things I'm not necessarily good at.  I like to cook, but if you look at most of my posts, its simple and its usually pretty quick.  Time be damned, I found a recipe that looked great and decided to give it a go.  End result: 5 noms out of 5.

Recipe can be found here

The major players:

 Get yourself a saute going:

In a new pan, sear the Arborio rice:

Begin adding the warm broth, 1 cup at a time:

Stir till the rice soaks it up:

Repeat 7 more times and trust me when I say, with time and stirring, that rice will soak it all up no matter how disheartened and skeptical you may be.  Finished product looks a little something like:

Closeup:

Now mix in your mushroom/truffle magic:

Add some Parmesan and a splash of additional truffle oil (mmmmm, fungus):

Plate and destroy.  You too can cook risotto.

Few notes:
1. This yielded a ton and we'll be consuming leftovers tonight with enough left for at least 2 more servings.
2. The recipe called for dried Porcini mushrooms.  At 49.99 a freaking pound, I didn't bother to do the math to figure out an ounce...I skipped and compensated with more portabella.
3. Truffle oil, also not cheap but I plan to make good use of it going forward.  Great flavors.












 

Sammich shop - Food Heads

Met Adrienne for lunch today at a sandwich place on 34th just off the drag called Food Heads.  She got the rec from a coworker who has a finger on the pulse of the Austin food scene.  Despite being 10 blocks down the road from me, I'd never heard of it but the menu looked solid.

Parking was a little suspect as any pseudo West Campus location suffers from, but the sandwiches....oh the sandwiches.

Adrienne got the Grilled Portabellas & Bleu Cheese ($6.75)
Served on toasted sourdough with fresh spinach, tomato and blackberry balsamic vinaigrette.  My inner carnivore prevented me from ordering this, so I was glad she did.  The combination of portabella, bleu cheese and vinaigrette was outstanding.  Crisp sourdough worked well.

I had the Spicy Apple Pork Tenderloin Sandwich  ($8.25)
Marinated and grilled pork tenderloin on toasted baguette with smoked gouda, spinach, spicy apple relish & honey dijon. With all those ingredients, surprisingly it was the honey dijon that really made the sandwich.  The spicy apple relish wasn't all that flavorful and the flavor of the pork was just kind of meh.  But the dijon along with the bread really saved it.

I overheard a customer talking to one of the waitresses about where they got their bread.  Everything they have is local (nice touch) and we may have to pay a visit to Panaderia Chuy soon.  This is about the 3rd recommendation I've gotten for this place and I love me some bread.

Final verdict, great sandwiches and great location but a little on the pricey side.  There are a few other items on their menu I'd like to try so I'll be back but it probably won't make the regular sammich rotation.  Jimmy John's has nothing to fear.

Spaghetti with fresh tomato and basil

This is my second attempt at a recipe I caught on my favorite food related tv show, No Reservations.  The show usually takes Tony Bourdain to far off lands and showcases the foods and culture of the area.  This episode took a break and focused on basic cooking techniques; things every cook should know how to do.  The one that really caught my eye was chef Scott Conant of Scarpetta and his take on spaghetti.

Recipe

Growing up, spaghetti was a staple at home, mostly for its simplicity.  You boiled some noodles, heated some pre-canned sauce and added a meat if you were so inclined.  It was never something I craved...until I caught Conant's version.  Fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic and spaghetti.

Adrienne and I have been hitting up the local farmer's market the past few weekends and this Saturday I loaded up on locally grown tomatoes, a bunch of basil and decided to give this another go.  Prep time is the toughest part.  The tomatoes I got were heavy on the seeds and needed the skin removed.  The easiest way to pull this off is to score an X on the bottom of the tomato and toss it in boiling water for 20-30 seconds.

   
 Take them out, let them cool and the skin should peel right off.

Cut the tomatoes, get out as many seeds as you can and place them in a saucepan with some heated olive oil.  Allow them to heat up for 10 minutes or so then use a potato masher to break them up.

Let the sauce simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  While that's going, get a small saucepan and put ~1/3 cup of olive oil on some heat.  Once it begins to heat up, add a couple cloves of garlic and some freshly cut basil.  This is where the magic happens.

Get your pasta going and once its close to al dente, move it into the tomato sauce and add your garlic/basil infused olive oil (everything is better with something that's infused).  Make sure to strain out the garlic and basil.  Toss the noodles (this is where you can work on that nifty wrist flip thing the pros do) and make sure the sauce really coats everything.  Add tablespoon of butter, some more chopped basil, plate and serve.

BBQ (and Words) With Friends

BBQ is not just a food, it's an institution.  In the states, you've got Memphis, North Carolina and a few other areas that serve up something resembling BBQ.  But if you want to do it right, you come to Texas.  And when you get to Texas, you head to my neck of the woods.  We are surrounded by some of the best bbq restaurants in the world and as much as it pains me to admit, I'd only been to a handful.  It's like living in Athens and never having visited the Parthenon.  This is no way for a supposed food blogger to live.

So, I did something about it.  Many would plan several weekend trips to capture all the area has to offer.  Not I.  I wanted to do something grandiose.  I wanted to be able to compare each and every one, come back here and post my findings.  I gathered a small group of warriors and we departed Austin at 730am Saturday morning.  These are their stories /Law and Order Voice.

Snow's - Lexington, Tx
2008 Texas Monthly Best BBQ
Open once a week on Saturday, this had to be our first stop, despite being the furthest out of the way.  They open at 8am and close when they sell out (often before 11).  We arrived just after they opened and dove in.  Brisket breakfast? Absolutely.

Louie Mueller BBQ - Taylor, TX
30 minutes later we arrived at Louie Mueller in Taylor.  We got there about 15 minutes before they opened but upon walking in, you knew this place had been there for awhile (51 years at this location).  5 decades of smoke residue and haze never smelled so good.

City Market - Luling, TX
For full disclosure, this was the only one of the 6 that I'd ever been to before so I already knew what to expect going in, greatness.  Probably my favorite BBQ joint not served out of a trailer.  The plan was to do Lockhart first, but upon arrival the collective vote was to postpone eating another 20 minutes by driving to Luling first.  The realization that portion size matters when visiting 6 different joints finally caught up to us.

Black's Barbecue - Lockhart, TX
There was a painful sigh when Brendan pointed out we were now halfway through.  The strategy evolved at this point into a group buy.  Sampling from here on saved the trip from certain doom.  We had officially hit the meat wall.  We followed the giant yellow arrows and found Black's.

This picture really doesn't do justice to the mammoth beef rib they dared us to take on.

This was not for the faint of heart. Meat nap after Black's

Smitty's Market - Lockhart, TX
Recently, the Travel Channel aired an episode of Food Wars pitting Smitty's against Kreuz Market.  Kreuz was originally located in Smitty's current building but some family splintering resulted in two outstanding BBQ joints instead of just 1.  The show declared Kreutz the winner.  Though I'm waiting until the end to post my rankings, I'll say right now, they got it wrong.

 Slowest moving line....ever.  This is where the meat sweats really started to kick in.

Jordan explains the intricacies of roller derby using rocks as jammers.

They've been smoking meat for awhile.  The truth is in the film.

Kreuz Market - Lockhart, TX

This was it.  The final stop.  Another long line but this one went a little quicker.  There was one section you waited in line for meat.  Then another section for sides, drinks, ice cream, etc that surprisingly was almost as long as the meat line.  No matter, sides have no role in determining good bbq and outside of some bread and several brave orders of cobbler, it was all meat, all the time.

Pretty sure she was giving me the stink eye.  

Various victory poses (note Brendan still playing Words W/Friends)

Final Standings
Food blogging, whether through this type of medium, Yelp, bulletin board, whatever is to say the least a bit subjective.  The idea of doing all 6 in one grand tour was to be able to compare each and come up with some arbitrary nomBlog rankings.  After attending all 6 places, it was clear many factors would play into the results so it's difficult to definitively state A is better than B without doing this again on a different day.  However, to avoid giving myself (and my lovely wife) a coronary, I'll simply throw up my rankings as of right now with the understanding that some time down the road, this will be attempted again for an accurate judgment.


Brisket (the true measuring stick of any good BBQ)
1. Smitty's - just look at the pics.  great cut and the fat just blends into the meat for a tender, buttery bite.
2. City Market
3. Louie Mueller
4. Snow's (I've convinced myself we just caught them on an off day with a leaner, drier cut)
5. Kreuz
6. Black's

Sausage
1. Louie Mueller - Tough to pick a clear winner as I thought all 6 had solid offerings
2. City Market
3. Smitty's
4. Black's
5. Kreuz
6. Snow's

Pork Ribs (not my thing so this may be better judged by others on the tour, I didn't try one at Snow's)
1. Smitty's
2. City Market
3. Kreuz
4. Black's
5. Louie Mueller

Overall Winner
1a. Smitty's - Extremely impressed and now realize why people wait in that line.  Will be back soon.
1b. City Market - Just as I remembered it, solid all around. I would really like to compare them to Smitty's heads up for a final call.
3. Louie Mueller - Traditional and an A+ for "this is what a bbq joint should look like"
4. Snows - Again, I feel like either the cut I got just wasn't great or maybe it was just an off day.  Based solely on reputation, it's the one I most look forward to trying again.
5. Kreuz - For the record, it rhymes with "lights".  I fear this got lower rankings simply b/c it was the last stop.  Would certainly go again for a getaway lunch.
6. Black's - Not to say that it was "bad", just didn't really compare well with the others.  That said, if it was across the street or near work, I'd happily dine there frequently.

Big thanks to everyone that came along and best of luck to your digestive tracts these next few days.