Going to Austin on a business trip next week. Any places I shouldn't miss while I'm there? I know Franklin BBQ is legendary, not sure if our schedule will allow that or not.

 

Zia 313 has some great motor city/Detroit style pizza. Pretty good and they've got a couple of locations around town.
I've yet to try Franklin BBQ yet. Black's BBQ down in Lockhart has a special place in my heart for me, but that's about 45 minute south of Austin.

Other than that, I haven't spent much time in Austin myself.

 

I think it was Black's that my boss took me to many years ago. Awesome BBQ.

 

Grilled up some garlic, onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, and a habanero chile today with a touch of grapeseed oil.
Then, tossed everything into the molcajate with some rock salt and went to town on it.

Not spicy enough. Next time I'll use three habaneros instead of one.

 

^ = nice.

Decided to do a modification of an old favorite tonight. The cast of characters:




One onion (I used half), two poblano peppers, 1 lb of chorizo sausage (buy this fresh from the store where the signs outside are in Spanish), one 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, one head of cauliflower, and other things.


Do knifey stuff:





Boil cauliflower for ~ 10 minutes, sautee the hell out of the peppers and onion in ghee. High heat. (That's the beautiful thing about ghee, you can heat the hell out of it and it doesn't burn.)







Add garlic, and continue to cook. We want this **** browned.






Meanwhile, the chorizo has been baking at 400° for about 30 minutes.





In a large saucepot, 6 tbs butter and 4 tbs flour. It's goin' get all roux up in here. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes.





Gettin' close to done on these bitches:






To the saucepot, add 1 cup white wine, 1 cup buttermilk, the drained tomatoes, and the pepper / onion / garlic pan:






Slice:






Several photos from here forward are missing, as I was moderately inebriated by this point. (Whiskey not shown.) Long story short: Add cheese to the saucepot (I used a blend of parmesan, romano and asiago), then add the sausage and the cauliflower, which you have previously drained in a colander. Add black pepper and nutmeg. Stir.


Plate:





Not bad. The flavor is actually pretty delicate, almost subtle. On the re-runs, I'm gonna kick it up with some white pepper and more seared garlic, mostly because I'm kind of a culinary barbarian who wants ALL THE FLAVOR. But it's definitely a success.

 

Damn.

 

Joe, try broiling the chorizo next time?
And deglaze the pan with the white wine before dumping the entire contents into your sauce???

 

That would be better, yes. Bake first, finish with a broil on the top rack.

I typically prepare sausages such as this purely by baking, which after 30 minutes gives them a slight char. This was my first time working with chorizo from this particular supplier, and the damn things just didn't brown. They were extremely thick, and seem to have a much higher internal water content than the frozen sausages you typically see.

I really want a grill... Thinking about picking up a little camp-style unit which won't take up my whole balcony.


I actually did do that, but forgot to document the step.

 

Look at these tomatoes:




LOOK AT THEM.

 

I came. I saw. Now look at mine.

 

Also, look at my bread. LOOK AT IT!!!

83% hydration with 40% whole wheat flour.
Still with conventional yeast. I haven't had the time yet to mess with Pain au Levain... yet.

But, just about ready to.

 

And, since I have absolutely zero Miata related things to share... LOOK AT MY BIALYS. LOOK AT THEM!!!

 

I am looking at your bread.

I am desirous of it.

 

Music in Austin is great. Get down to 6th street and wander the clubs until you find a band you like.

Also, Esther's Follies is pretty awesome. A comedy troop similar in creativity to 2nd City, also on 6th.

Go for a swim in Zilcher Springs. Always about 70-ish degrees... lovely. If you are a runner, run through Zilcher park.

 

Are you threatening me?

A GRILLED doughnut strawberry shortcake?

 

Grilled makouri cheese salad.
Surprisingly not a lot of lamb in Greece!
Gnocci.
Falefel.
Lamb ketfifi or something like that. Local naxos guyeirer cheese on top.
Chicken soulvalki with naxos fried potatoes.
Lunch with saganaki.
Mixed platter of fried delights.
Califlower soup at a michlen star joint.
Waffle with Nutella.
Sea bass from michelen star place. Topped with fresh fig.confit, probably best I've had.

 

 

Bourbon pork chop, grilled pineapple, and candied carrots. Tender, sweet, and juicy, like Hustler.

 

I'd been wondering why the Politics thread had been relatively sane recently.

 

he's afraid to talk politics there due to the actual legitimate threat to his life/livelihood