I've mentioned before that I didn't even really start learning to cook till I was in college, and even then it was slow going as I was neck-deep in engineering coursework. Since then, I've cooked almost obsessively and loved every minute of it. Even before I left my job, I considered the notion of culinary school. After a fair amount of soul-searching, I expect I'll never go that route (mostly because I doubt I'd use it for anything other than my own enjoyment, and it's awfully expensive). However, I needn't forgo the experience entirely. Michael Ruhlman in The Making of a Chef invites the reader to vicariously experience a cooking school education at none other than the Culinary Institute of America.

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The only new vegetable our fourth CSA box brought was cabbage. The rest we had had before, and by this point, we've had way to much of some of them (cough ... carrots ... cough). But spring is just around the corner here in Central Texas, so I look forward to seeing what interesting things our next boxes bring.

Continue reading "CSA Box Number 4"

I like pigs. They always seem to have a smile on their face, and not too long ago, I discovered that they wag those crazy tails of theirs. But I love more what pigs can become. Belly meat becomes bacon. Shoulder becomes tender carnitas. And now ... skin becomes pork rinds.

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Sean in particular was excited about our third CSA box because it was meant to include Brussels sprouts – a particular favorite of his. Again I was pleased to note that in addition to our sprouts, the box offered several new items we'd not yet seen during our admittedly brief Johnson's Backyard Garden CSA membership.

Continue reading "CSA Box Number 3"

Trailer eating in Austin has only been picking up steam since the last time we went trailer touring. Recently, with our trailer buddies Jeff and Sharon in tow, we attended the Tasty Up Trailer Tour, a mash-up between Jodi's Tasty Touring and Addie's Eat-ups.

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These are, bar none, the strangest dumplings I've ever had the pleasure to make or eat. A couple friends recently organized a Thai-food dinner, and I was stuck for what to bring. In digging through cookbooks for inspiration, I happened upon Thai Tapioca Pearl Dumplings.

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Have I ever told you this? About a million years ago, I unwittingly captured Sean's attention when I fed him homemade crawfish etouffee, made from crawfish I had caught during a float trip (I don't know if this is true everywhere, but “float trip” in my corner of Missouri meant “canoe trip”). And so it was with equal parts interest and nostalgia that I prepared the etouffee recipe from the most recent issue of Saveur magazine.

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One night, my friends Jeff and Sharon showed up at the house with a large item wrapped in a heavy-gauge trash bag, a highly entertained gleam in their eyes. They walked into the kitchen and thunked it on the counter and continued to grin at me, silently challenging me to open their strange parcel. I slowly peeled back the blanket of thick plastic and revealed the skinned but otherwise very recognizable hind leg of an animal – in fact there was still a bit of fur attached here and there. “It's deer!” they exclaimed with obvious delight.

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I'd been hearing about the Carillon off and on since December, it seems, and almost exclusively via Twitter. We were fortunate enough to be invited to a media event to celebrate the restaurant's official launch this past Friday. I will not lie to you. It was a little tough to find the restaurant which is tucked neatly into the shiny new AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, but after the food we sampled, I believe it's well worth seeking out.

Continue reading "Dreaming of Beef Short Ribs"

We picked up our second CSA box not long after the Hill Country had undergone a particularly vicious freeze (vicious for Texas, that is). To be honest, I figured it'd be a little light this week, and there was even an apology note from the supplier, Johnson's Backyard Garden, to that affect tucked in amongst the produce. That said, I felt like we got every bit the content we did last time, and maybe even a little more. An added bonus – there was a pile of organic citrus from G and S Groves as well.

Continue reading "CSA Box Number 2"