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How to Take Great Pictures at the Food & Wine Festival
The Austin Food and Wine Festival starts today! The city has been buzzing with excitement for this event for months now, and the hype for the Festival reached a fever pitch this week. I was lucky enough to receive a press pass to the Festival, so I’ll be recapping the sessions that I attend and live tweeting from Auditorium Shores all day today and tomorrow. There are about a dozen sessions that I’d like to attend, but I’ll only be able to squeeze in six along with the Grand Tastings, so I have been studying up to help get ready for all the goodness.
As part of my preparation for the Austin Food & Wine Festival, I called up my friends Nathan and Amy Russell of Nathan Russell Photography for their advice on taking pictures at the event. Nathan and Amy have a great perspective on capturing eye-catching candids at events. They’re experienced wedding photographers, so they spend a LOT of time thinking about how to take great photos in challenging lighting conditions like the tents and harsh sun at the Austin Food and Wine Festival.
Here’s a rundown of their advice for getting great photos at the Festival. Nathan writes:
“We spend nearly every weekend photographing food & wine festivals. Or as they’re often called, weddings. Here in sunny Texas people love a good outdoor wedding, which if you think about it isn’t a lot different from an outdoor festival. There’s lots of tents, food, drink, and a sun. When you’re shooting an environment like this, there are a lot of things you can’t control. Getting good photos is about figuring out what you can control and using it to your advantage.
So whether you’re heading out this weekend with a top of the line SLR, a point and shoot, or nothing but Instagram, here are a few tips for improving your photos of the festivities.
Take a lot of photos
One of the biggest secrets of pro photographers is that we take a lot of photos to get the ones that are really amazing. It was true back in the days of film, and it’s true now. Fortunately it’s a lot cheaper now, so you don’t need be getting paid for your images to be able to afford a lot of photos. There’s stuff going on all around you, so take as many photos as you can. Some of them probably won’t be that great, but that’s how you get the amazing ones.
Canvas Your Subject
When you’re snapping all of those extra photos, don’t stand in one place and photograph the same thing over and over. You’ll get a whole lot of one image. Instead, canvas your subject. Move around. Try different angles, move closer, get higher, get lower. What does it look like from the other side? Then when you get home, you can decide which angle worked best because you’ll have so much to choose from.
Shoot to Tell a Story
Instead of taking 100 photos of your friends with their wine glasses at various stages of full, do a photo essay. See if you can capture the story of the festival just through images. It means taking a lot of photos, and shoot everything. Shoot people, shoot food, shoot wine, shoot menus and signs, shoot “scene setting” photos of the location. Most importantly, go into the weekend with the mindset that you’re going to shoot to tell a story. If you do, you’ll see opportunities for photos that you might otherwise miss.
Fill up the Frame
One of the biggest differences between a boring snapshot and a great photo is how it is framed. Snapshots are really often taken from pretty far away from the subject, with the subject right in the middle of the frame, and whole bunch of distracting stuff going on randomly in the background. Instead, get close! Fill up as much of the frame as possible with your subject. You might need to move yourself or your subject. Get closer, kneel down, whatever you need to do. It’s a really easy way to dramatically improve your photos. Here’s two pictures of the same centerpiece we took at a wedding. The first photo shows just enough of the table to be really distracting. So we moved in so the centerpiece filled as much of the frame as possible.
Turn Your Camera
Sometimes filling the frame means you need to turn your camera. If you’ve got a point & shoot, don’t forget to take some photos in portrait (vertical) orientation. And if you’re shooting with your iPhone, don’t forget to turn it into landscape mode. Do whatever uses more of the frame, based on your subject. This sounds ridiculously simple, but you might be surprised when you start looking at your photos to realize you probably don’t turn you camera that often. Here’s another picture of the same centerpiece, but this time I turned the camera to frame it up even better.
Shoot at an Angle
Sometimes photos of food look really good when they’re taking from straight above. But other times, shooting at an angle makes for a much more pleasing shot. You can use more of the frame, and it adds depth and dimension to the photo. To take a really successful food or detail shot, figure out where the light that’s hitting your subject is coming from. Position yourself so that that light is hitting your subject at about a 45 degree angle from your camera, then find the right angle on your subject, and shoot away.
Shoot in the Shade
Sunlight is great, but in the cloudless Texas skies, it can often be blaringly bright, and really harsh. It seems counter-intuitive, but that kind of direct sunlight doesn’t necessarily make for great photos. It casts really harsh shadows that can work against you, it makes people squint, and you can end up with photos that are way too contrasty. A good solution is to look for shade. Find the shaded side of buildings, trees, and trailers. Those kinds of areas get enough light for great pictures, but the light isn’t direct, so it makes nicer softer photos. In this photo you can see there’s really bright sunlight out this day. But we put everyone in the shade to get a nice group photo.
Turn off your Flash
If you’re looking at your photos, and you don’t like what see, try turning off you flash. That’s right, I said off. In fact if there’s one button on your camera that you need to know about besides the shutter button, it’s the button that turns off your flash. There’s a good chance that it’s not adding anything at all to your photo and if it is, it’s probably just adding harsh, ugly light. For instance, if you’re standing in a crowd, trying to take a picture of Paul Qui 500 feet away on a stage, and your camera’s flash goes off, that tiny light isn’t doing anything to light up Paul Qui, It’s just lighting up the back of the person’s head in front of you. Your camera is a pretty smart gadget, but it’s not smart enough to know you’re trying to take a photo of Paul Qui 500 feet away. It thinks you’re trying to take a picture of something much closer, and so your flash is lighting up stuff closest to it. The stuff between you and Paul, and that’s not what you wanted.
And even if the flash is hitting your subject, it’s probably just making it ugly. This is especially true of photos of things like plates of food. Flash is never going to work. Instead, turn it off, Face your subject toward the nearest light source, and try using that instead.
The Trouble with Tents
You’re going to probably be taking a lot of photos in tents. Tents are a problem for the best cameras. Here’s why:
See all that light coming in from the sides of the tent. Your camera is trying to make a nice exposure for what’s going on out there. Meanwhile your subject inside the tent is in complete shadow, and so it comes out looking dark and underexposed. Your photo looks something like this cake photo: (foodwine5)
So what can you do to fix it?
Well, if your camera has manual controls and you know how to use them, the goal is to purposly overexpose your photo. Instead of going by what your camera thinks, push your aperture and shutter speed down, or your ISO up until your camera meter reads +1 or +2, and take the photo again. Your subject should be in better light. That’s what we did here:
That looks okay, but the background is so bright, it overpowers the subject. So we moved around to the otherside of the table to get a closeup of the cake. From this angle the light outside is hitting the subject nicely, and the background is darker because it’s inside the tent. If you’re using a point and shoot or a phone or you don’t know how to shoot on manual, then this is a good way to fix the tent issue.
If that’s not possible, your only other option may be to turn that flash back on. If you do, remember the flash is lighting up whatever is closest to it, so try to make sure there aren’t other objects between you and your subject.
Thanks to the Austin Food and Wine Festival for their map of the Festival, and to Nathan and Amy Russell of Nathan Russell Photography for the remainder of the photos in this post.
My Picks: Austin Restaurant Week
Calling all you cheapskates, foodies, and staycationers– it’s time for Austin Restaurant Week (ARW)! Now in its fourth year, ARW 2012 boasts 47 participating restaurants, which will offer prix fixe lunch, brunch, and dinner menus at lower-than-usual prices ($11 – $16 for lunch/brunch and $26 – $36 for dinner.)
Don’t think I’m judging when I call out the deal-seekers among us; I’ll be hitting up several of my favorite spots during Restaurant Week, taking full advantage of the discounted menus. If you plan to brave the crowds with me, don’t forget to:
- Scope out menus for all the restaurants online before you go
- Make your reservations early. If the reservations available through the website are full, try calling the restaurant directly
- ARW patrons are notoriously flaky, so it’s worth calling popular spots the day-of to see if any tables have opened up
- Budget extra for wine pairings and cocktails
- Tip your servers and bar staff extra– just because the tab is cheap doesn’t mean you should be!
Here are the restaurants and menus that I’m craving this time around:
Asti: Rami and I ate dinner at Asti the night we got engaged, so I have a serious soft spot for this Hyde Park bistro. I count their ricotta brullee with brandied cherries– featured on the ARW dinner menu– among my top five desserts in the city. If you want to splurge, add an order of the white bean dip with breadsticks to your prix fixe selection.
Botticelli’s South Congress: Their $36, four-course ARW dinner is a great deal, with entrees like the Pork Cotto in Camachia and the Cherry Venison Bolognese with Sweet Potato Gnocchi that run $25 on the regular menu. They’re offering a wine pairing, too, if you’re feeling boozy.
Foreign & Domestic: I love eating at F&D any time, but chef Ned Elliott’s Prix Fixe meals are always my favorites. He’s put together a killer three-course dinner for $36; I’m especially intrigued by the Roasted Redfish with Strawberries and Brown Butter.
Roll On Sushi Diner: My friend Cathy introduced me to this sushi spot on Burnet Road this week, and they charmed the chopsticks off me! Roll On’s usual lunch special gets an upgrade for ARW, and they’re offering an appetizer along with signature fusion rolls like The Guaca-Rolly and The Beefy Texan for just $11.
the backspace: I’ve been meaning to check out Shawn Cirkiel’s latest restaurant, and the ARW three-course meal for $26 is just the excuse I needed. Go with a friend and plan to share– their ARW dinner menu allots one pizza for every two people in the party.
TRACE: This swanky restaurant inside the W Hotel has hands-down my favorite ARW lunch menu. I’m having a hard time choosing between their Lamb Burgers with Tatziki Mayonnaise and the Roasted Loch Duart Salmon since both are favorites of mine on the regular menu, too. Pro tip: if you plan to stop here for lunch, make it a long one. You’ll want to hang out in the ultra plush Living Room lounge outside the restaurant for at least one cocktail afterward.
Uchiko: Duh. Uchiko’s the hottest restaurant in town right now, and you’d be silly not to at least try to get a reservation there on the cheap. Their famous Brussels sprouts are on the ARW dinner menu, too! I’ll be there next Monday with girlfriends toasting to Paul Qui’s recent Top Chef victory.
Images in this post are courtesy Austin Restaurant Week.
A Tour of the Brazos Valley Cheese Cave
A few months ago I went on a field trip with my friends Carla and Megan to Brazos Valley Cheese to visit the award-winning cheesemaker’s newly-constructed cheese cave. We drove about two hours north of Austin to Homestead Heritage, the religious homesteading community which houses the cheese cave about 30 minutes outside Waco.
A view of the fields at Homestead Heritage outside Waco, Texas. The campus houses about 100 homesteading families, and more members of the lifestyle live in nearby communities in Central Texas.
Besides Brazos Valley Cheese, the campus is home to Homestead Gristmill, Cafe Homestead, a lovely gift shop, several facilities for traditional craftsmanships, and a self-contained community of about 100 homesteading families.
Rebekah strains curds from whey at Brazos Valley Cheeses in Waco, Texas. The cheesemakers use one large vat for their operations, along with several pieces of handmade or machined specialty equipment.
Carla’s recap of the cheese shop on her blog puts my account to shame. I was so distracted by the smiling faces and unfamiliar equipment in the cheese making shed that I completely forgot to take notes of the experience.
Buckets of cheese curds, which will be later be pressed using a custom-built machine.
Brazos Valley Cheese manager Marc Keuhl was kind enough to be our tour guide that day. After we looked around the building where the cheeses are made, we visited the cave on the other side of the property. The outside of the cave looks pretty humble for now, but Brazos Valley has plans to build a cheese shop and visitor’s center on the land above the cave entrance.
This shelter and foundation pad mark the entrance to the cheese cave, which was built last year.
The cave itself feels like a 6,000 cubic feet insulated basement filled with pine bookshelves. The walls of the cave are frequently hosed with water to encourage healthy mold growth, but the floors and shelves of the space are immaculate. (As you’ll see in Carla’s post, we had to wear special shoes so that we wouldn’t introduce outside dirt and pollen into the cave.)
The shelves inside the cheese cave can hold up to 3,000 wheels of hard cheese.
The pine shelves in the cave can hold 3,000 ten-to-twelve pound wheels of hard cheese. Each batch of the cheese is stored in a specific area of the cave, labeled, and monitored daily to track its progress.
Marc Keuhl gives us a tour of the cheese cave.
After visiting the cave, we walked over to Homestead Gristmill. The miller showed us the mill, which was originally built in 18th century in the Long Valley of New Jersey. That day they were grinding whole wheat flour. The Gristmill also houses a separate, smaller, mill which is used exclusively for their gluten-free products.
The mill dates to ca. 1760 in Long Valley, New Jersey. In use for almost one hundred and sixty years until it closed in 1918, Homestead Heritage found the mill in 2000, neglected and in disrepair, and brought it to Texas to be restored.
Both mills are powered by a water wheel outside the shop. The miller controls the speed of the mill by manipulating the flow of water, ensuring that the grain is ground to a silky, uniform consistency.
Fall leaves dotted the walking paths at Homestead Heritage when we visited. This water wheel powers the community's gristmill.
Next, Marc treated us to lunch at the Homestead Cafe, where his cheeses are served along with other foods grown and prepared in house. We rounded out our visit with tours of the blacksmith shop, fibers area, and pottery shop. Since I was so delinquent in my note taking that day, I am eager to go for another visit, perhaps to a cheesemaking class taught by Marc’s cousin, Rebeccah, and the other cheesemakers.
Sriracha Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon Caramel Vinaigrette
I blogged this recipe for Greenling as part of my job there, and they were kind enough to let me share it on my site, too!
Last week I had the pleasure of dining at Uchiko, Top Chef Paul Qui’s now-famous restaurant in Austin. Although Uchiko is renowned for sushi, my favorite dish of the night was Qui’s lemon chili brussels sprouts. He cooks them until they’re very crispy and nearly black on the edges, and tosses them in a salty sweet sauce with flavors of chile, fish sauce, caramel, and lemon.
When I received Hillside Farms’ gorgeous Brussels sprouts as a “surprise me” in my Greenling order this week, I set out to adapt Qui’s dish as a home-cooked recipe.
After four attempts, I’m happy with my recipe, but I have to admit that it’s no match for Uchiko’s. Their dish is impossible to recreate without a deep fryer plus the magic touch Paul Qui brings to the kitchen. However, my version stands as the best Brussels sprouts I’ve been able to cook up at home, and it will tide me over until I can get back to Uchiko for the real deal.
Sriracha Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon Caramel Vinaigrette (serves 4)
1 lb brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
1 heaping teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the sprouts by cutting off the stem end and peeling back a layer of leaves. Cut any large sprouts in half. Rinse sprouts in a bowl of cold water, and dry them with a clean tea towel.
Place sprouts in a single layer on a foil-lined cookie sheet and drizzle with grapeseed oil. Toss to coat, and sprinkle generously with salt. Bake for 45-55 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, until crispy and tender. The outer leaves should be very dark, and the sprouts will be tender and fragrant when they are finished cooking.
During last 10 minutes of cooking, place sugar in a 12-inch frying pan over medium/high heat. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until sugar is melted and amber colored. This should take about 2 – 3 minutes. Add ½ cup of very hot water (mixture will bubble), and stir until caramelized sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in fish sauce, lemon juice, Sriracha, garlic, and black pepper. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes, until mixture reduces. Remove from heat and set aside.
Arange cooked Brussels sprouts on a serving dish and top with warm vinaigrette. Taste and season sprouts with additional lemon juice, salt and pepper before serving warm.
The Best Restaurants in North Austin
As a hobbyist food blogger, one of the best and worst parts of the job is making restaurant recommendations to friends. On one hand, it’s a distinct honor to be trusted as a culinary tour guide. On the other hand, the stakes are high. It is daunting to choose favorites with so many wonderful dining options available, and I specifically avoid restaurant reviews on my blog because of the pressure associated with that genre of food writing.
Earlier this month when my friend and fellow food blogger Jodi Bart solicited a whole bunch of restaurant recommendations for the 2012 Austin Food Blogger Alliance City Guide, I nearly skipped the whole thing. “Jodi and so many other bloggers are experts,” I thought, “So I’ll just let them do the work.”
As I sat back on my heels and waited for another blogger to claim the North Austin write-up, I kept thinking of spots near my home in Crestview where I love to hang out. Some of these restaurants have dedicated PR staff, and they are frequently and deservedly mentioned in the pages of important magazines, newspapers, and notable food blogs. Others are rarely acknowleged in those circles, however, and I began to see this guide as an opportunity to spread the love I have for North Austin’s diverse selection of eateries.
My guide to North Austin restaurants is by no means exhaustive. I am defining “North Austin” rather narrowly as the geographic area between 45th Street and Parmer Lane, Mo-Pac Expressway and IH-35. Because of these limitations, notable restaurants like Noble Pig and Monument Cafe are not included here. As part of Lakeway and Georgetown respectively, these and other restaurants north of Austin deserve to be mentioned in a write-up dedicated especially to those neighborhoods. Also missing from my list are food trailers, one of the most important and newsworthy facets of the Austin food scene. I feel that because of their mobility, these businesses deserve their own listing as a separate kind of establishment. Finally, despite my best intentions, I am sure I have excluded some of your favorite North Austin restaurants. Please let me know which ones you recommend by leaving a comment.
Pizza – House Pizzeria
5111 Airport Boulevard Austin, Texas 78751
House Pizzeria has everything you could want in a pizza joint– local beer (and rootbeer!) on tap, a chill atmosphere, friendly waitstaff, and some the best thin crust pies you’ll find in Austin. Their standing menu has drool-worthy options like the “Subterranean,” with caramelized onion, fontina, mushrooms, rosemary roasted potatoes, and basil. But the real magic is in the restaurant’s special pizzas, where the chefs take a free hand with a smorgasboard of local cheeses, artisinal meats, and produce from area farms.
Best Bet for Foodies – Foreign & Domestic
306 East 53rd Street Austin, TX 78751
The personalities of chefs Jodi and Ned Elliott, married in 2003, shine through in Foreign & Dometic’s open kitchen, its locally-sourced ingredients, and its lively media presence. The restaurant and its chefs, which arrived on the scene in 2010, bring a welcome dose of charisma and candor to the Austin food community.
Greasy Spoon – Dart Bowl
5700 Grover Avenue Austin, TX 78756
Some of the best diner food — and people watching– in Austin is at the Dart Bowl. Its full-service cafe is famous for entrees like grilled ham steak, club sandwiches, or cheese enchiladas served with toast. It’s not fancy, but if you like cheap, old-fashioned comfort food in a kitschy atmosphere, Dart Bowl is right up your alley.
Top Ramen – Komé
4917 Airport Blvd, Austin, TX 78751
I have a soft spot in my heart for Komé’s owners, Kayo and Take Asazu, since they spent countless hours volunteering for Austin Bakes for Japan last year. Now the Asazus are bringing Japanese home cooking to Austin with Komé, an unpretentious neighborhood eatery along Airport Boulevard. Athough Komé’s sushi is excellent, its noodles are what make it shine. I recommend going for lunch, when the full selection of udon and ramen dishes are available.
Brewery – Black Star Co-op
7020 Easy Wind Drive Austin, TX 78752
Black Star Co-op’s farm to table menu and microbrews set it above many Austin neighborhood bars, and its co-operative business model is the first of its kind in the world. Brewer Jeff Young and chef Johnny Livesay are leading the food and beverage operations there, helping to revitalize the Crestview and Airport Boulevard areas of Austin.
Sports Bar – Cover 3
2700 W Anderson Ln # 202 Austin, TX 78757
This is my favorite spot to watch the game– any game– in Austin. There are big screens a-plenty and a terrific menu with small bites, salads, burgers, and even respectable seafood offerings. The best time to come, in my opinion, is from 11 AM-2 PM on the weekends, when the restaurant has a build-your-own bloody mary bar and serves from the brunch and the regular menus.
Newest – Drink.Well
207 East 53rd Street. Austin, Texas 78751
Time will tell how this brand new eatery in the North Loop neighborhood will fare, but I was impressed by the friendly bar staff and craft cocktails on my first visit. I didn’t get a chance to sample the menu (the restaurant opened yesterday, you guys), but offerings like Pop’s Pickled Eggs, Yardbird Sausage and Waffles, and Housemade Twinkies have my curiosity piqued.
Italian – Andiamo Italiano Ristorante
2521 Rutland Drive Austin, TX 78758
It’s in a strip mall and the decorations are a little dated, but Andiamo is one of the best options for fine dining north of highway 183. The pasta dishes here are pitch perfect, and the bread is heavenly. (They’ll sell you a loaf or three for $5 a pop if you get hooked like I am.) Dinner here can be on the pricey side, so I recommend going for lunch. The exception to this is their monthly wine dinner, a four course delight that’s very reasonable, and worth every penny.
Place to Take Out of Towners – Fonda San Miguel
2330 North Loop Boulevard West Austin, TX 78756
Fonda San Miguel’s lush atrium always reminds me of a Diego Rivera painting, and this gem is one of my favorite places to bring visitors in Austin. It’s nestled in the Brentwood neighborhood, and Fonda serves up some of the best Mexican food in the city. I find that it’s at its best during brunch, where the enormous spread of interior Mexican fare is perfect for dispelling the Tex-Mex-Velveeta-Cowboy stereotype that tourists usually associate with Mexican restaurants in Austin.
Neighborhood Landmark – Little Deli
7101-A Woodrow Avenue Austin, TX 78757
When I think of why I love living in Austin, restaurants like Little Deli come to mind. I can walk or bike there from my house, it’s BYOB, and I almost always meet new neighbors hanging out on the restaurant’s generous lawn. The crowd here is a mix of older regulars and energetic families with children, but across the board the vibe is friendly and welcoming. The deli’s sandwiches are served up on fresh-baked bread, piled high with thinly sliced deli meats and cheeses. The pizzas are great, too, and since the deli sells a slice at a time, you can eat well here for under $5 per person.
The Best Brain Freeze in Austin
My love affair with Austin ice creams started years ago. In college, my boyfriend and I would hang out at Amy’s Ice Cream at least once month, exchanging nibbles of Mexican vanilla ice cream smashed with cookie dough and marshmallows. We could practically chronologize our courtship with the stack of Amy’s frequent buyer punch cards in our wallets. At that time, Amy’s was the best (and practically the only) independent ice cream spot in Austin, famous for its kooky waitstaff and creative frozen treats.
A lot has changed since then. Now I’m married to that college boyfriend, and Austin abounds with quirky, independent frozen desserts of nearly every variety. And while we still enjoy Amy’s, it’s now part of a large rotation of ice cream shops that we frequent. Here are some of my favorite of Austin’s local, independent frozen treats.
Buzzworthy – Lick
2032 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704
Lick’s concept of savory/sweet, artisan ice creams made in small batches with local ingredients reads like a checklist of what’s hot in food right now. And the ice cream is a testament to the quality and quantity of Texas’ farm offerings. The store sources their milk from a dairy in North Texas and nearly all their produce is coming from local farms and farmer’s markets. Co-owner Anthony Sobotik has been on site each time I have stopped by, peeking his head out from the kitchen to talk flavors like part mad scientist, part proud papa. He has reason to be proud– flavors like goat cheese, thyme, and honey; beet and fresh mint; carrot and tarragon are worth bragging about.
Gelato & Frozen Booze – Dolce Vita
4222 Duval Street, Austin TX 78751
Dolce Vita was around during my college years, but I stayed away from this Hyde Park gem until I reached legal drinking age. That’s because in addition to wonderfully smooth gelato, Dolce Vita boasts a full bar. The pistachio flavor gelato is my favorite if I’m staying off the sauce, but for drinkies, you can’t beat a big scoop of prickly pear sorbet blended with fresh lime juice and tequila. The technical term for this concoction is “sorberita,” in case you were wondering, and they’re just $5 during happy hour.
Best Kept Secret – Paleteria La Selva
1208 E Palm Valley Blvd, Round Rock, TX 78664
Even Google doesn’t know where this little Round Rock Ice Cream shop is. When I used the search engine’s map function and my GPS to find it, I ended up at a nearby park instead. Luckily, the man at the Exxon station down the road pointed me in the right direction: to the northeast corner of Palm Valley Boulevard and Sunrise Road, in a small strip mall.
This paleteria boasts over 30 varieties of Mexican popsicles, made in-house with fresh fruit. Flavors include tamarindo, sandia, mango chile, and Americanized favorites like cookies con crema. According to the cashier on my visit, their most popular frozen treat isn’t a paleta at all, but fresas con crema– a large cup of frozen macerated strawberry slices, filled with a generous slosh of sweetened table cream. Like the shop, which is furnished with patio furniture, this dessert is not fancy, but it’s oh, so good.
Atmosphere – Toy Joy Cafe
2900 Guadalupe Street, Austin, TX 78705
This little ice cream shop is every stoner’s dream. It’s tucked in the corner of Austin’s weirdest toy store, so you can eat a soft serve waffle cone (or two– they won’t judge) while you wander around and look at Hello Kitties, Rody bouncing horses, and ironic statuettes of the Virgin Mary. Vanilla is a standby at the ice cream counter, but other soft serve flavors vary from week to week, so check their Facebook page to find out the flavor of the week before you go. Oh yeah, all their ice creams are vegan, too, but don’t be skeered. The taste and texture of the cubano soft serve I had on my last visit would give any cow’s milk ice cream a run for its moola.
My buddy Nathan Russell took this photo of Rami and me at Toy Joy when we got engaged.
Ice Cream Sandwiches – Coolhaus
The truck roams, so follow the CoolhausATX twitter for the location
Coolhaus isn’t strictly local– this little truck is part of a small chain that started in Los Angeles and has spread to Austin, New York, and Miami. However, their offbeat ice cream flavors like brown butter candied bacon fit right in with our city. The ice cream sandwiches are HUGE, and you can create a custom sandwich by mixing and matching ice cream and cookie combinations to your heart’s content.
Homage to Arrested Development – Bananarchy
There’s always money in the banana stand, so it moves around a lot. And it hibernates when the weather’s cold. Check their facebook.
Frozen bananas on a spoon, dipped in chocolate or peanut butter? Yes, please! Bananarchy is Austin’s favorite frozen banana food trailer, so expect a line if the weather’s nice. You can build your own banana, or choose a specialty treat from their pre-selected menu. Options like “The GOB” and “The Afternoon Delight” have just as much personality as the shop’s banana baristas, who are chatty and a-peel-ing.
Vegan - Sweet Ritual
4500 Duval St., Austin TX, 78751
An assortment of vegan shakes, soft serve, sundaes, and coffee drinks are available here, with a more grown-up vibe than Toy Joy Cafe, which uses the same soft serve recipe. The sundaes, especially, are worth a splurge, since they’re covered in house made sauces and generous portions of nuts or even edible glitter(!!!). Sweet Ritual shares a store space with Daily Juice cafe in Hyde Park, so this is also a good place to bring any health nuts. Let them drink wheatgrass while you order a chic-o-stick shake!
Good for Kids – Amy’s Ice Cream on Burnet Rd.
5624 Burnet Road, Austin, TX 78756
Amy’s started it all when they opened their first shop in Austin in 1984. The model is now familiar thanks to national chains like Marble Slab, but Amy’s does it best: you choose your ice cream and an Amy’s employee beats in your choice of crush’n's by hand while you watch. This interactive candy component, plus an ever-changing menu of traditional and offbeat ice cream flavors keep people coming back to this Austin institution again and again. Pro tip: the Amy’s on Burnet shares an enormous patio and playground with Phil’s Ice House, making it an especially fun place for families to hang out.
Popsicles – GoodPop
Locations vary
What began as a farmer’s market popsicle stand is now a rapidly expanding empire, thanks to the entreprenurial spirit of owner Daniel Goetz. You can find GoodPops at grocery stores like Whole Foods and Central Market in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin. Locally, several independent grocery stores, coffee shops, and book stores also stock the treats. During the summer, keep an eye out for the GoodPop pop up shop and cart in South Austin. This little cart is where it all started, and you can spot it along Pfluger bridge and at special events when the weather is warm.
Frozen Custard – Likkity’s Frozen Custard
11519 Manchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78748
Likkity’s serves up frozen custard in deep south Austin out of a converted double decker bus. They’ve got your standard vanilla and chocolate on tap, plus a rotating weekly flavor like key lime, peanut butter, pumpkin, and red velvet. Besides the quality of the custard, shaded seating with music, friendly service, and a wet wipe with every order set this trailer way above the plethora of generic yogurt and soft serve options in Austin.
This post is part of the Austin Food Blogger Alliance 2012 City Guide. Check out the full list of blog posts at the AFBA web site.
Meal Plan, February 14-19
Despite what my dearth of blog posts might lead you to believe, I have been cooking up a storm in 2012. A few weeks ago I got together with my friends Carla and Susan for a sausage party. We made five different kinds of sausage with 30+ pounds of meet, using the fancy new meat grinder my parents gave me for Christmas. Carla did a complete recap of the day on her blog– it’s worth reading if you like sausage pictures or if you’re curious about the process for making sausage at home.
Last weekend I went to Dallas for “freezer weekend.” My mother, sister and I made several dozen frozen prepared dinners using a huge frozen turkey leftover from Thanksgiving. (We cooked the turkey– don’t worry!) Rami and I will be using a lot of those frozen dinners in our meal plans for the next few weeks, and I am very grateful to have so many entrees ready to go in the freezer.
Other aspects of my meal planning since I published my last weekly menu. Instead of just blogging for Greenling, now I work there full time! These days I am still getting the Local Box every week, so that still comprises the bulk of my ingredients. However, I am also experimenting with other local produce to develop new recipes for the Greenling blog.
Here’s what I’m cooking with this week:
- Avocado – G&S Groves
- Komatsuna Bag – My Father’s Farm
- Spinach Bunch – Gundermann Acres
- Assorted Lettuces – Bluebonnet Hydroponic Produce
- Crimini Mushrooms – Kitchen Pride
- Oranges – G&S Groves
- Grapefruit – G&S Groves
- Spring Onion – Gundermann Acres
- Turnip- My Father’s Farm
And here’s what my meals look like:
Wednesday: I’m skipping dinner. Ugh.
Thursday: Baked pasta shells with Camembert and cider-braised kale. I will probably shave the turnip and stick it in wiht the pasta. Warning: DO NOT read that recipe if you’re hungry. You will end up eating a bunch of Parmesan cheese and skipping dinner. Not that I know anything about that…
Friday: Lettuce and kale salad with avocados, tomato, and spring onions. Lots of bread on the side.
Saturday: Rami and I are going out to dinner at Trace. Fancy!
Sunday: Citrus ginger stir fried chicken and komatsuna. I’m making that recipe up as I go.
Monday: Leftovers or a frozen dinner.
Tuesday: Mushroom and Spinach quesadillas.
How to Roll Homemade Chocolate Truffles
Every Christmas, my sister, mother and I spend a whole weekend in the kitchen together, cooking, baking, boiling, scraping, and fudging our way through dozens of candy recipes. When we’re finished, we divvy all the goodies up onto plates and give them away to friends and neighbors. Over the years, we’ve gotten pretty good at making candy, especially the 15-20 recipes we make year after year.
Although we have several faithful chocolate confections in our stable of recipes, the perfect truffle eluded us until this year. I had begun researching truffles back in February, making Mexican chocolate truffles for a food swap that month and dark chocolate truffles as Valentine’s Day gifts. Neither of those were just right for Candy Weekend, however. The Mexican chocolate version was surprisingly spicy– not a surefire hit for kids– and the dark chocolate version was too fudge-like for our eight-fudge-deep candy plate.
It turns out that the most appealing holiday truffle recipe for us was a very simple, semi-sweet chocolate version posted by Ghirardelli on AllRecipes.com. My sister found it and tested it this month. For Candy Weekend, we followed the proportions of that recipe, substituting store-brand semi-sweet chocolate chips for the dark chocolate chips, and store-brand cocoa for the Ghirardelli. I know that we probably could have improved their recipe by using a higher quality dark chocolate and cocoa powder, but there really wasn’t much point when we were aiming to make a crowd-pleasing, uncomplicated chocolate candy.
Making truffles with chocolate chips is pretty straightforward; you simply heat butter and cream, add the chocolate chips, and stir until the mixture is completely smooth. The real test of technique comes later, when it is time to roll the truffles. Here is the best method we found for rolling truffles.
Truffle Tips:
- Once you’ve cooked the truffle mixture, pour it into a very shallow, wide bowl. A bowl with a rounded bottom edge is ideal.
- Chill the truffle mixture, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours before you attempt to roll them.
- About two hours before you’re ready to begin rolling truffles, take the chocolate mixture out of the refrigerator and let it warm to just cooler than room temperature. When we tried rolling the truffles immediately out of the refrigerator, they were difficult to shape and even broke apart sometimes.
- Set up all your supplies before you get started, including a foil lined baking sheet to catch the finished truffles. Make sure the baking sheet is small enough to fit in your freezer.
- Rolling truffles is easiest with two people; one person can scoop truffles, the other person can shape and roll the truffles in cocoa powder.
- A pyrex custard cup is just the right size to hold the cocoa or whatever you plan to roll the truffles in. These have rounded edges and work better than ramekins with a sharp bottom corner. They’re also deep enough so that cocoa doesn’t spill all over the place. Using two custard cups is easier than one larger bowl, too.
- The small end of a melon baller works well to scoop the truffles. We found that the big end of the melon baller made truffles that were too large to handle.
- Once you scoop a small truffle using the melon baller, a long metal baby spoon works well to transfer the truffle mixture to the cocoa for rolling. The best spoons for ths task have an oval shape and firm edges; soft chew baby spoons or round-shaped baby spoons will not work as well.
- The secret to rolling the truffles without them melting everywhere is to only touch them with your fingertips, and then, as little as possible. The person scooping the truffles shouldn’t touch the chocolate much, if at all, with her hands.
- The person rolling the truffles should dampen her fingertips with water and coat them with cocoa before shaping and rolling the truffles. Use the cocoa-coated pads of your fingers to shape the truffles into balls, and then rolling them in cocoa.
- Don’t worry about making the truffles into perfectly spherical balls.
- Taste a truffle. If the cocoa powder coatng is too bitter for your liking, try adding some powdered sugar to the cocoa mixture to sweeten it up a bit.
- Place finished truffles on a foil-lined baking sheet. Pop the whole baking sheet into the freezer for about half an hour before handling the truffles or pacakaging them for storage.
- Re-roll the chilled truffles in cocoa to even out their color and hide any lingering imperfections in the surface of the chocolate.
Obviously, these tips are a lot more detailed than the Chirardelli instructions! Don’t let the specificity here throw you off– once you get the hang of rolling them, truffles are one of the easiest holiday candies to make at home. The finished product is much, much taster than most store-bought chocolate, too!
Full Moon Pale Ale Mustard
Mustard might be the gateway drug of homemade condiments. I had never ventured to make my own until I whipped up this batch of spicy goodness last weekend. Now I have three cups of mustard seeds waiting in my pantry, and a bevy of must-make mustard ideas in my recipe box. Pretty soon I’ll be canning my own relish and ketchup, just you wait!
Even if I never progress to that level of condiment creativity, I will definitely be making all my mustard from scratch in the future. The process couldn’t be easier; you just mix together mustard seeds and the liquids of your choice, let them hang out together for a few days, and then blend the finished mustard to the desired consistency.
Hank Shaw describes the chemistry and magic of mustard-making better than I ever could, and it was his introductory guide to mustard that sparked my interest in developing a Beer Week recipe of my own. I used Shaw’s advice and this recipe for Guinness Beer Mustard as the starting points for my mustard, and followed my tastebuds to a recipe that fit my needs– namely, to top a sausage, apple and onion sandwich, and to serve with toasted sesame honey sticks during the World Series this week.
I started with a mix of yellow and brown seeds, since I wanted heat from the darker seeds and the bright color of the lighter seeds. To help make their flavor more mild, I toasted them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until they were fragrant, but not popping. (Mustard seeds will pop like popcorn if you toast them at a high temperature.) For the liquid in my recipe, I used Real Ale Brewing’s Full Moon Pale Rye Ale and champagne vinegar. I wish that I could say I chose the beer for a specific reason, but I bought a few bottles on a whim and decided to use it in this recipe without tasting it. Luckily, my gamble paid off, and the slightly bitter, hoppy flavor of the beer came through beautifully in the finished mustard.
Full Moon Pale Ale Mustard (yields about 1 1/2 cups mustard)
3 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
3 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1/2 cup Full Moon Pale Rye Ale, chilled (if this is not available where you live, use another unsweet pale ale)
1/3 cup champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons local honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric, for color
Toast the mustard seeds in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for about five minutes. Remove seeds from heat and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, mix cold beer, vinegar, honey, salt, pepper and turmeric in a non-reactive container with a lid. Add cooled mustard seeds and stir to mix everything together. Put the lid on the container and leave it in a cool, dry place overnight.
The next day, put the mustard mixture into a blender or food processor and process it until it reaches the consistency that you like. If necessary, add a little water to thin the mustard. (My mustard reached a spreadable consistency, with some whole seeds intact, after about 3 minutes on low in a Kitchenaid blender, with 1 tablespoon of water to loosen it a bit.) Put the mustard back in the covered container and store it in the refrigerator for at least 24 more hours before serving.
A note about the wait: one of the most important ingredients in this mustard is time. Don’t despair if it tastes too hot and sharp to serve on days one and two of the process; by the third day, it should mellow into a deep and spicy-flavored condiment with just the right bite.
Beer Braised Sausage, Apple and Onion Sandwich
Whoever decided that Austin Beer Week and the World Series should happen in the same week is a genius. As I write this, I’m sipping a Full Moon Pale Rye Ale, eating a sausage sandwich, and watching the Texas Rangers gain momentum in the 6th inning of Game Five. Life couldn’t be better.
I had originally planned to eat leftovers tonight, but when I realized it was a Baseball Night, I opted for a quick and easy sausage dish instead. This one-skillet supper features local apples, sweet Texas onions, local smoked sausage, and Real Ale’s Full Moon Pale Rye Ale. You’d never guess that just four ingredients, plus a store-bought bun, could create such an amazing sandwich.
The sausage in this sandwich is garlic smoked from Elgin, Texas. This little town northeast of Austin is renowned for its charcuterie, and the Meyer’s brand of sausage is widely available at grocery stores across Central Texas. I chose to pair the Full Moon Pale Rye Ale with this sausage dish because the beer has a strong rye flavor up front, and a slightly floral finish. After the beer cooks down, its crackery flavors intensify, complementing the smokey garlic in the sausage, and balancing the sweetness of caramelized onions and apples.
A plain hot dog bun would do this sandwich zero justice. I opted instead for a whole wheat hoagie bun from the grocery deli, with the middle hollowed out to make room for the good stuff. I toasted the bun in the oven with a little butter so that it would make an appropriate resting place for that lovely beer braised sausage.
I admit that the mustard in this sandwich is what really put it over the top; I made it using whole brown and yellow mustard seeds, a little honey, and the same pale rye ale that I used to braised the sausages. (Don’t worry, I’ll share the mustard recipe tomorrow.) But even with a store-bought brown mustard, or better yet, Dai Due’s Fireman’s 4 variety, this sandwich would still be a surefire game night home run.
Beer Braised Sausage, Apples and Onions (serves 4)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sweet yellow onion, sliced
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
4 garlic smoked sausages
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye Ale (if this is not available in your area, substitute another slightly bitter Pale Ale)
4 whole wheat hoagie buns, sliced down the middle
1 tablespoon butter, softened
In an extra large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced onions and apples and cook for 5 minutes, until onions are golden brown on the edges. Move onions and apples to the side of the skillet to make room for the sausages, then place the links in a single layer on the skillet. Let sausages cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes, then use tongs to turn them over to brown on the the opposite side. After 2-3 more minutes, pour 3/4 cup beer into the skillet. Stir the apples and onions, then allow the dish to continue cooking for 10-15 minutes. You’ll knowthe sausage is done when the onions and apples are soft and sweet, and the beer has reduced to an opaque sauce that just coats the bottom of the skillet.
When the sausages have finished cooking, turn off the stove. Preheat the broiler and spread a little butter on each split hoagie roll. Toast the rolls for about minute under the broiler, until they are golden brown and crispy at the edges. Place one sausage link in each prepared roll; top with mustard, braised apples and onions.
