More PORKFEST at OLIVIA

Kay and Jim Richardson, talking to the guy who owns the Whip-In Market, which is a local convenience store that serves a huge selection of beer and Indian Food

As I mentioned before, all the courses at PORKFEST featured Richardson Farms Pastured Pork. Jim and Kay Richardson are absolutely the nicest and happiest folks, always cheerful when I see them at events like this one or at the Farmers Market. You get the feeling talking to them that they are just having the GREATEST TIME raising organic pork, chicken and beef, not to mention wheat, corn and millet on their farm. They got involved with the burgeoning interest in pastured, organic meats and grains just at the perfect time to do well and be VERY appreciated.

Their grass-fed beef is so superior, so flavorful and delicious, that I don’t even ENJOY eating beef that they didn’t raise. Seriously. It is THAT MUCH BETTER. It is like the difference between Texas and California peaches! (In my opinion, there isn’t even any POINT in putting a California peach in your mouth. It is DRECK conpared to a Texas peach. But no one outside of Texas KNOWS this, because Texas never exports any peaches….we eat them all here!)

On to the Cuisine!

Caramelized Pork Belly Rillons in Ginger-Apple Butter. THIS WAS SUCH A MEMORABLE COURSE! The Pork Belly Rillons were the best I have ever had, nice and crispy and not overly fatty, and the GINGER APPLE BUTTER WAS AMAZING !!!

Beer-Glazed Spareribs with cucumber and watermelon salad. These were so tender that the meat was indeed LITERALLY falling off the bone. The Watermelon was a perfect foil.

Remember me going ON AND ON AND ON about Texas peaches? The OUTSTANDING dessert was Texas peach ice cream with CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON. One of the best desserts I have ever had! The chocolate covered bacon was so good, I really wanted to send Jim Gaffigan a boxful.

Olivia: PORKFEST

The First Course: Prosciutto, Salami, Guanciale, and Testa, all made at Olivia. Served with grilled Hill Country Peaches and Plums and Green Onion Salad

Tonight I went to a VERY special event: PORKFEST, at Olivia. At a time when higher end eateries are scrambling to issue “groupons” and get folks in the door, Chef James Holmes practically sold OUT this event the first day is was announced. (Also, I should mention it was ONLY $50, which compares VERY favorably to the price of chef-orchestrated wine dinners.)

The concept: Six courses of all natural pastured pork from Richardson Farms, paired with beers from the 512 Brewery, a fledgling brewery here in town (I have to admit I L*OV*E L*O*V*E L*O*V*E the NAME!! It is of course the name of our AREA CODE here in Austin. It is KIND OF like naming your brewery “78704″, but less obvious! GREAT NAME!!!)

Chef James Holmes HAMMING IT UP with a whole roasted pig! I actually SAID THAT OUT LOUD at the event and everyone GROANED because they thought I was saying a PUN I made up! So embarrassing! I didn't realize it was a pun until they groaned

One day recently I figured out that 70% of the meat I eat is PORK (the magical animal! Pork Chops, Bacon, Sausage, Ham!) which is KIND OF SCARY, actually…but anyway, the menu was right down my alley, and the food was DIVINE.

I have to say, I was VERY impressed with the beers and ales as well. They were ALL awesome, seriously. the “WIT”  brew was made with cilantro and grapefruit peel (two of my favorite flavors, and although you couldn’t REALLY taste them in the beer, I just like the IDEA, you know!); the IPA had just an EXPLOSION of subtle flavors, and the Pecan Porter was seriously, better than most Guinness I have had, dark and smooth in a very luxurious way. I would be hard pressed to say which I adored the most; if I am in a bar that serves 512 brews anytime soon, I will probably ORDER THEM! In preference to OTHER beers!

COURSE TWO: An ENTIRE sausage, with a HUGE perfectly cooked scallop. That is a normal size sausage; the scallop really IS the size of a baseball

Upcoming courses: Caramelized Pork Belly with ginger-apple butter (Extremely memorable and awesome); Beer glazed spareribs with garden tomato, cucumber and watermelon salad; Slow Roasted Whole Pig with potato Gnocchi and summer vegetables; and-

HILL COUNTRY PEACH ICE CREAM WITH CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON!!

Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Broccoli Soup

Colander Full of Broccoli

The other recipe that came up when I googled “BEST BROCCOLI RECIPE” was Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Broccoli Soup. This is a soup that I had even heard of, by word of mouth, in that it has NO INGREDIENTS other than Broccoli and water, and it is supposed to be the best soup there is, well, I mean the Best Broccoli Soup that Is. It is a FAMOUS recipe!

Naturally, I was eager to try it! Maybe it would be as GOOD As The Best Broccoli Of Your Life™!

Broccoli in the Pot of Salty Water

Here is the recipe:

Boil a pot of salty water. Add broccoli and boil for four minutes exactly. Remove broccoli to a blender, with a little of the salty water. Blend. Add more salty water to make the consistency be the way you like. THE END.

EXACTLY FOUR MINUTES!

The result is, a BRILLIANTLY green SOUP! Honestly, it REALLY looks like Oobleck. Stunning.

VERY GREEN BROCCOLI

INTO THE BLENDER!!

But, even with my picked-ten-minutes-ago-broccoli, all bursting with flavor, I have to say I thought the soup flavor was Disappointing. Indeed, it bordered on flavorless. If I were to make it again, I would add sauteed onion, and garlic, and heavy cream, and cheddar cheese. HA HA in other worlds, a simple Broccoli-Cheese soup would be preferable. (And Sauteed mushrooms maybe!)

Not to mention, if I have the decision to make The Best Broccoli Of Your Life™ or Broccoli Soup of ANY kind, I would make The FORMER. (Did I mention that I did have the leftover BBOYL for BREAKFAST?!?!?!  No, not in an omelette….cold from the container with my fingers. And it was AWESOME.)

VERDICT: THUMBS DOWN. A VERY BLAND AND BLAH AND WHATEVER SOUP. EXCEPT: If you have a kid and you have been reading Bartholomew and the Ooobleck, you could make it for dinner and tell them, matt-of-factly, that you were having Ooobleck for dinner.

OOOBLECK !!!!! SERIOUSLY, THOUGH, IT IS VERY GREEN

Cooking with Incredibly Famous Chef Tal Ronnen

Here is a picture of Tal Ronnen's Cookbook

Except I didn’t actually cook with him. I watched him give a cooking demonstration, and, well, he showed me how to make tortellini, and I did it SO G*R*E*A*T that he called me “TORTELLINI LADY”.

He is the most famous Vegan chef in the world. He is very…he seemed to me like a very gentle guy, who would never ever want to hurt an animal or be mean.

Its past my bedtime, so I will expound upon this experience later!

Here Chef Tal is making a tortellini. I think he would like this picture, because he is not entirely in it.

More About the Carillon

This is the main dining room (there are MORE dining rooms beyond the arches!) The arches, in keeping with the University Theme, have INSCRIPTIONS carved in the stone,like on the UT "Old Campus". (You know, where they teach the REAL subjects: THE LIBERAL ARTS

Here are some things about the CARILLON: The decor REMINDS ME of the inside of the UT Student Union Building, which is no put-down; the UT Student Union Building is SO GORGEOUS inside that one can barely believe that they let undergraduates hang around in there. It is all limestone and arches and it’s sort of Mission style, only very Texan.

SO is the CARILLON! Look at how solidly Texan, how opulent, yet simple the decor is.

CHEF JOSH WATKINS. He used to live in San Francisco. Now that he lives in Texas, he tried NOT the think about Politics

Here is a picture of the Chef, Josh Watkins. He is famous. He is young and famous, and nice and talented.

Here is ANOTHER thing about the Carillon: FREE PARKING. You can park in the underground fancy-shmancy parking garage, and then get your ticket thingy validated, and the parking is FREE and also VERY EASY and if it is bad weather you don’t get rained on.

The CARILLON is in the new UT conference building, I think it is called the A T & T Conference building or something. You know how A T & T has enough money to endow a building at UT?

MY IPHONE BILL

My Reward: The Best Meal of 2009, and maybe OF MY LIFE! at UCHI

THe UCHI Sign

After I had completed my HERCULEAN task, I thought to myself, what do I want to EAT?

Now, I have had a $25 gift card to UCHI, that I got in my Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival Swag Bag, since April. $25 at UCHI, normally, I think will get you 2 sushi rolls and a water, which is why I didn’t use it yet, and just kept HOARDING it: I knew that on THE PERFECT DAY it would be THE PERFECT TREAT for ME. That I would go to the UCHI sushi bar, at like an “off” time (like first thing when they open at 5) and sit there in the cool dimness of the air conditioning and delect my $25 away.

I decided that using my hoarded gift card would be a JUST reward for my HERCULEAN WEEDING.

The very nice apprentice Sushi Chef directly in front of me

I got there around 6 (after stopping to photograph rain lilies on the way) and my eyes could barely believe it: it WASN’T BUSY! This has never happened to me! I was seated at the sushi bar (because you know, I was figuring to get 2 rolls and a glass of water). I had idly wondered if they had a Happy Hour on the way there (in which case my $25 could go farther) but I figured not, because, it’s UCHI, they have a three hour wait, they don’t need no stinking Happy Hour!

My New Friend JODY who is friends of TRISH

My server came over and I felt bad about just ordering a water, but, you know, $25! Her name was JODY and she was really nice about it.  First they gave me a hot towel (so fancy! YAY!) and then a tiny bowl of cucumber sorbet. Naturally I relaxed into a totally mellow and sensual Freak-Out, plus, it was actually kind of quiet and dim in the dining room, like in my FANTASY (it is usually quite loud because they are always packed, plus, since it is the Best Restaurant In Town, lots of Yahoos like to bring their dates to UCHI because their heads are too empty to think of any OTHER way to impress a date. These sorts of Yahoos are usually LOUD, in my experience. So, usually totally full, plus a certain percentage of Yahoos).

Cucumber Sorbet to BEGIN THE EXPERIENCE WOOOOOOOOOO

Then Jody came over again and said, weren’t you at OLIVIA the other day?

I said “Yes” and Jody said, “I was there too! I was with Trish!” (Trish is the lady pictured in the picture “My New Friends”) Jody told me all about UCHI’s HAPPY HOUR: there was 4 things half price (or greatly reduced). I ordered two of them:

SHIROMI NABE (seasonal tempura whitefish with shiitake mushrooms, fresh ginger and japanese eggplant frites) and the CRUNCHY TUNA ROLL. Then I just sat back to enjoy my sorbet and my glass of water in pleased anticipation, also figuring that since my order was of REDUCED PRICE HAPPY HOUR stuff, I might could get one more thing.

The SHIROMI NABE, when it arrived, was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my entire GODDAM LIFE. The tempura Striped Bass filet and Japanese eggplant sticks were so light and hot that they levitated up out of the bowl and solemnly danced before my eyes, and I had to snatch them out of the air to dip them in the hot ginger and mushroom sauce. Outwardly I preserved my “Austin Geek with Bad Hair” nonchalance, but inwardly I wept tears of adamantine and beat my fist against the sushi bar, groaning “I CANNOT LIVE! I CANNOT LIVE!!!”

Then, Jody brought me an order of KAI JIRU (maine mussels٠tomato water٠celery٠basil blossoms) ON THE HOUSE!

Brooks

(A word about Getting Stuff For Free: Long ago in the late 80′s, when I was a young rock star, I went to Liberty Lunch one night to see the band Doctor’s Mob. At the long and busy bar, I ordered a Shiner Bock (this was The. Beer. to order in Austin in the Eighties, because it was made by the Shiner Brewery in Shiner ,Texas, which was, at the time, (this was LONG LONG before the microbrewery explosion) the One and Only INDEPENDENT BREWERY in all of Texas (Lone Star and Pearl having been bought up by conglomerates.) So, ordering a Shiner was a SUBVERSIVE ACT in favor of the Little guy. Also, a great  and tasty beer, and not expensive.)

And the bartender handed it to me and turned to help someone else. I got their attention again and said “I’M NOT PLAYING TONIGHT!” thinking that the Free Beer had been an error, that the bartender must have thought my band was on the bill (and thus entitled to a couple a free beers as partial payment.) The bartender said “I KNOW“.

I turned away in wonder. I don’t remember if I figured it out myself, or if I had to ask someone about this strange experience and have it explained to me, but ultimately the upshot was: Liberty Lunch gave me a free beer because I was a celebrity and they wanted me to hang around at their club because my very presence made the place COOLER!

Can you even IMAGINE how great that is? Every free beer I got anywhere for the next decade was like a loving hug, and yes, it was sad when that era ended.

Maine mussels in Tomato Water with Celery and Basil

But now! Now I got a FREE BOWL OF MUSSELS IN TOMATO WATER! Not for being a cool celebrity, but probably because I was friends with Trish from the OLIVIA party, but still! IT WAS AWESOME.

And the mussels in tomato water were awesome, too. There were so fresh that I felt like I was in New England; they were perfectly cooked and chilled, and the flavors of the sweet local tomatoes and crisp celery and basil was marvelous and so summery. It was by far the Best Mussel Dish I have ever had!

Sometime in there my friend Brooks came over (he works there) and shot the breeze with me for awhile. We used to work together and once everyone saw us chatting the rest of the staff warmed up to me a little more, because they realized I am a member of the Restaurant Worker Club. ( I bussed tables for Twenty Years (yes twenty years) and waited tables for ten, and have also worked as a baker and line cook and dishwasher and hostess and night manager at various times.)

The Tuna Roll

Then Jody brought me my Tuna Roll, which was perfect and crunchy, with squid ink on one side and spicy mayonnaise on the other. I could have eaten two, and I actually thought about ordering another, when what happened by CHEF TYSON COLE walked by behind the Sushi Bar, and I waved “HELLO!” at him.

And then HE gave me a food gift too! He had a special sashimi plate prepared for me:

Tyson Cole!

Special Sashimi with Fresh Local Tomato

It was a wonderful and special and tasted like summer itself. Plus, now I was really getting the Royal Treatment! The CHEF recognized me and gave me a free item, just because he KNEW I would PROPERLY APPRECIATE IT!

Octopus Pops

At this point I was in such ecstasy (and really patting myself on the back for deciding to use my Gift Certificate THAT VERY DAY!) that I ordered ONE more Happy Hour item: the Octopus Pops. These are tiny grilled octopi on skewers, just a tidbit, but the delights I was eating were paced so perfectly that I still felt a little hungry. The Octopus Pops were slightly crunchy, slightly chewy and just delicious.

Feeling like a Roman Emperor, I asked for the bill (plus it was getting to be late, and I had just stopped in for a quick treat initially.) THEN! THEN! I was favored with FREE DESSERT ON THE HOUSE TOO!!!

OKASHI (olive candy٠grapefruit sorbet٠yogurt caramel) The description doesn’t do it justice; the grapefruit sorbet was, alone, divine. I was instructed to be sure to eat all the components simultaneously, which I did, and I found that the candied olives, caramel sauce, and rosemary rice cake complemented the sorbet (and one another) in ways that could never be predicted. It was sublime, and unforgettable.

OKASHI (which probably means "DESSERT")

OLIVIA

ONE OF AMERICA’S BEST TURNS ONE

Olivia Restaurant, located right nest to the Taxidermy place on South Lamar, turns ONE today, having opened just one year ago. But dig this: simultaneously, they have been selected for the honor of being named ONE OF AMERICA’S BEST NEW RESTAURANTS by BON APPETIT magazine!!!! WOW!

Chef James Holmes

So tonight they threw a little party to celebrate, and, being the A-LIST BLOGGER that I am, I got one of the coveted invites. I say, without a trace of chagrin, that getting invited to a soiree of this calibre is what keeps me slogging along.

I interviewed Chef James Holmes a few years ago for the Austin Chronicle in a story about WHO is DOING WHAT for the food booths at AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FESTIVAL. James Holmes and his partner Luke Bibby had a Burger Booth at ACL and in my interview, James talked about how, when the time was right, he was going to open his own place and name it after his daughter, Olivia.

In September of 2008 OLIVIA opened (I think it must have been about 2 years later or maybe three, I don’t know, time goes so fast when you are getting old old old), and if you remember, that was about ten minutes before the bottom dropped out of the economy and we were all plummeted into THE WORST RECESSION SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION OR OH NO MAYBE IT IS THE SECOND GREAT DEPRESSION. I really worried about James and his venture, because, you know, FINE DINING is one of the first things to go when the belt is tightening.

Chef de Cuisine Morgan Dishman

Well, it seems like I needn’t have worried: The place has been doing so GREAT that it got nominated as one of the ten best restaurants in the NATION. One of the many things that CHef Holmes is doing differently than many another place here in town, is he is a TOTAL LOCAVORE and he is sourcing from area farmers and DAMN THE EXPENSE. Now, that is an attitude that I like to see! Most restaurateurs just say “we can’t afford to use local and organic ingredients, it just can’t be done, we are practically bankrupt as it is.” But: the Chefs who ARE locally sourcing and just charging more are pulling in the crowds. Parkside, Olivia, Uchi….these are the places that have a wait.

Justin Visci Behind the Bar

Because the plain as the nose of your face fact is: organic and local TASTE A HUNDRED TIMES BETTER and if you are doing Fine Dining, that is what you are selling: an experience. Flavor. Luxury. Memories.

So where was I? Oh yes, I got to go to this awesome soiree, and, I almost couldn’t believe it, but: it hasn’t rained here is I don’t know it SEEMS like a million years, so naturally they planned this party to be OUTSIDE, and today it actually RAINED (THANK YOU JEBUS!!!!) so that was a bit of a problem. Nevertheless, once the Champagne started flowing nobody cared.

Champagne Goddess Cat Brackett pours out The Bubbly

Hors d’oeuvres were passed as the glasses were filled with the Bubbly, and they were some of the finest chow I have gotten outside of in a while. First, Bison Tartare: chilled mounds of seasoned raw bison meat, piled on toasted Bruscetta.

Bison Tartare

Then, what followed I will remember to my grave: Loncito’s lamb, stuffed into a giant Jalapeno (I think they were Mucho Nachos), wrapped in Richardson’s Farms bacon and drizzled with local honey, whilst being roasted. I must have eaten, I dunno A DOZEN?!?!?! Best. Appetizer. Ever.

These actually have a name: Corazon Poppers

Then we were treated to the dish that made it into BON APPETIT: Pork Sugo. Delicate and tender little milk-braised pork thingys, sitting on what I thought was mashed potato but was actually semolina. (Years ago, and I mean 1983, I learned the wonder of roasting pork in milk when I was a line chef at Pecan Street Cafe. It is a wonderful method, and the resulting gravy is splendid.)

Award-Winning Pork Sago

I had a marvelous time chatting with Carol Ann Sayles and her cousin from Boggy Creek Farm, and the folks from Alamo Drafthouse who are also quite serious locavores. The MAD PRESS of FOOD CELEBRITIES was AWESOME; I also saw the photographer guy from Edible Austin and Jennie Chen from Miso Hungry.

MY NEW FRIENDS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA and CONGRATULATIONS and IF YOU HAVEN”T EATEN HERE YET you should TOTALLY GO, and I RECOMMEND BRUNCH (They have lemon curd.)

Mad Press of A-LIST Food Celebrities

Tipsy Thai

Jam Explains Thai Cooking Principles

The Tipsy Texan and Thai Fresh are getting together to offer cooking classes that combine Jam Sanichat’s amazing Thai appetizers with David Allan’s classic cocktails. The Blogitariat was invited last night to preview the class, and, as anticipated, it was the cat’s pajamas!

Corn Fritter Batter

The first class of this type is going to be offered next Wednesday (May 13th) and I really can’t recommend it enough! Not only because no one’s Thai cooking skillz can touch Jam’s, but also because  you are not going to get a better cocktail than from the Tipsy Texans. It is a Foodie’s Delite!!

David Allan

(Not surprisingly, both of these local maestros are going to be contributing to the prestigious Farm to Table Dinner tonight at the Barr Mansion. The dinner is SOLD OUT, which is wonderful, as all the proceeds go to the Sustainable Food Center.)

First David Allan demonstrated the correct way to make a Daquiri: fresh lime juice, white rum (he used our local Treaty Oak brand) and simple syrup. In fact, most of the cocktail demonstration was the (in my opinion) rather common-sensical stressing of the fact that one should make one’s cocktails out of REAL INGREDIENTS, rather than fake chemicals and mixes. But I live in a little Foodie Paradise where I wouldn’t dream of making anything out of chemicals and mixes; there are, in fact, many people who DO! Well, this class will show anyone who uses a chemical mix the error of their ways.

Mojito! This is a Mojito, not a Mint Julep!!

In the course of the lesson in mixology, we learned the Proper Way to make a Mint Julep, a Margharita, a Daquiri, and we previewed the cocktail Allen has created for the Barr Mansion event tonight. Of course, each cocktail was sampled, making for a very merry class!

About halfway through the cocktail lesson, Jam took us into her kitchen and we learned how to make the classic Thai appetizer Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Cucumber Salad. Although it is an appetizer with many nuances and seems terribly time-consuming and fancy, it really isn’t that hard, and can easily be made at home.

Thai Cucumber salad with Shallots, Jalapenos, and Red Peppers

Strawberry Margharitas made from Fresh muddled strawberries, lime juice, agave nectar and tequila

Jam also shared with us a recipe she developed for Corn Fritters, made in the manner of Thai Fish Balls (but vegetarian.) Oh My God!!  SO DELICIOUS!!!!!  Jam said that when she was developing the recipe, she made a plateful, and a customer asked to try one, and then bought the whole batch. I have no doubt at all this is true, because left to my own devices I might have eaten the whole platter. Wonderful texture, wonderful flavor.

The Fritters

Without a doubt, one of the finest cooking classes I have taken, and one I would pay to take again.

Parkside Food Blogger Happy Hour

Chef Shawn

Chef Shawn Cirkiel at Parkside invited the Blogitariat down to his place for a Food Blogger Happy Hour to showcase an 8-course tasting menu. I have read about Parkside (particularly M.M. Pack’s Review, which interested me greatly) and I knew it’s general location, but I have never been. Based on the tastes of their menu I enjoyed tonight, Parkside completely lives up to the hype; this place is a real contender.

The concept of the restaurant is one of simplicity: like a white plate, the bare-bones decor and airy basic-ness of the rooms serves to put the emphasis on the food itself. Even the descriptions of the “tastes” (“fluke, lemon, almonds”) were so simple that I wasn’t sure whether I was going to taste one thing, or three. I gather that the regular menu is also strangely plain in style.

"fluke, lemon, almonds"

But, on to the tastes! First we sampled “Fluke, lemon, almonds”. It came in a little ceramic spoon, and it was very mild, simple, and delicious.

Next, Crab Balls. These were served with fresh herbs, Greek oregano and tarragon, and a remoulade sauce. I very much liked the Crab Balls, mainly because they had an interesting texture: the outer fried shell was chewy, and the inside rather airy, which made a delightful contrast. 

Crab Balls

Next was the Hit of the Evening: Green Garlic Soup with Duck Confit. Unassuming at first, the creamy, mild soup developed in flavor as it was consumed, and at the bottom of the cup were tiny splinters of Duck Confit, just salty and savory enough to intrigue the palate. Many of us agreed that we would crawl on our bare knees back to Parkside to have it again. This soup is a real triumph!

The Biggest Hit: Green Garlic Soup with Duck Confit

Next, salami with house pickles. This was a perfectly nice little mouthful, but what I REALLY loved were the pickles. Wee slivers of carrot, but pickled with unusual spices, in what I believe to have been Rice Wine Vinegar; I thought I detected the flavor of lemongrass.

Salami with house pickles

The next taste was salmon, green beans and Linguica: this was one of the more entree-like tastes, a fairly substantial piece of salmon. The combination of green beans and the bacon-like flavor the the Portuguese sausage was quite Southern, and the flavors worked quite well with the salmon, which was perfectly cooked.

The Salmon

Lamb Belly in the Blue light of Evening (this is natural light!)

Lamb Belly with sweet potato puree and chili oil was the next taste; “belly” is very trendy right now, and I have had some wonderful pork belly dishes; but this was my least favorite of the tastes, mainly because the lamb belly was quite fatty and the sauce too mild.

Bar Steak with Crispy Onions

Bar steak with mushrooms and onions was next, and it was classic. What can be better than steak with mushrooms and onions and red wine? The mushrooms in question were Hen-of-the -Wood, a particularly awesome and relatively rare mushroom (Kitchen Pride grows them, but they ain’t cheap) and the onions were fresh-fried in skinny, darling little floppy rings, just the way I like ‘em.

Dessert was the OTHER big Hit of the Evening (for me, anyway!) Described simply as “Petite Chocolate Crunch”, I have to say it was one of the best desserts I have had in recent memory: a bar of alternating layers of chocolate and crunchy wafer, melded together so seamlessly that you aren’t even sure what the crunchiness you are experiencing comes from! A very delicate crunch, too, like that of rice crispies, if they were as thin as tracing paper. On top, a tiny scoop of banana ice cream, topped with a disc of chocolate wafer. OUTSTANDING!

Banana Ice Cream melts over the Chocolate Crunch

The dessert chef, Callie Whigham,  is apparently quite a star, and the other bloggers also discussed the excellence of her Donut Holes. Mmmmm. Donut Holes. I am going to have to go back!

Stonehouse Vineyard Luncheon

Wildflowers in Abundance on the drive to the Winery

Every year as part of the Texas Hill Country Food and Wine Festival, area vineyards host Luncheons that feature local celebrity chefs and Texas wines. So far, I would have to say that the Vineyard Luncheons are the most enjoyable part of the Food and WIne Festival; the food is incredible (chefs like to cook for an appreciative crowd, I think) and the settings are spectacular (Hill Country Vineyards in April, at the height of the wildflower season). The price for these luncheons is absurdly low in my opinion ($65); you would pay more for just the wine in a restaurant setting.

Angela Moench, the owner of Stonehouse Vineyards

I chose this year to go to the Stonehouse Vineyard Luncheon, largely because I really like Angela Moench, the lady who owns the vineyard, and I adore their Scheming Beagle Port. Angela won my everlasting admiration the day I met her, at a wine tasting event, when she informed me with a basilisk eye that other vineyards might try to salvage a bad year’s grapes by fortifying the juice with added sugar and making “port” out of it, but that Stonehouse Vineyard’s Port was made PROPERLY.

I am the World’s biggest Proponent of making things PROPERLY. My enthusiasm for doing things PROPERLY has no bounds.  I knew immediately that despite our obvious differences, Angela and I were sisters under the skin.                    

Looking out into the VIneyard

I lucked out in my choice, for the Stonehouse Vineyard event sold out, no doubt because Chef Jeff Blank from Hudson’s On the Bend was doing the entree, and he is one of Austin’s most renowned chefs.

I got seated with Angela and her husband Howard , her dear friend Chef Suneeta Vaswani of Houston, her husband Nanik , and two other ladies who seemed very nice and laughed a lot. Chef Vaswani made the first course, a tandoori cheicken salad.

Chef Suneeta and her Tandoori Chicken Salad

This salad had definite Indian flavor, while remaining light and cooling, and was also fat-free. Delicate early lettuce was dressed with a simple dressing of lemon juice and cumin, then topped with pieces of tandoori roasted chicken and delicate sprouted mung beans and sesame seeds. Crisp slices of jicama added additional coolness, and the pairing of this salad with the Spicewood Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc was perfect. Suneeta Vaswani was practically mobbed by folks wanting the recipe, and fortunately she had her cookbooks for sale at a side table. I plunked down $30 for her Complete Book of Indian Cooking, which I will review here in a few months after I have had a chance to try  the recipes. If they are as delightful as her salad recipe, I know I will wear this cookbook out!

Sausage-stuffed Quail with Cheese Grits and Grape Tomatoes by Chef Blank

The main course was a house-made sausage-stuffed quail, sitting in a pool of cheese grits: an iconic Chef Blank style dish, and I announce to all: the Best Entree I have had at any Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival Event so far. Just look at it!

Meringued Cakelet with fresh blackberries by Rebecca Rather

Dessert was a fresh-meringue coated Italian Cream Cakelet, with fresh Blackberries, by Dessert Queen Rebecca Rather, owner of the Rather Sweet Bakery in Fredericksburg. A stunningly lovely dessert, and it paired nicely with the Muscat. It was a little on the overly sweet side, but that didn’t stop me from eating every bite.

The tiny April grapes on the vine

If driving out to a gorgeous vineyard in the middle of a flawless April day, and eating the best food area chefs can dream up, impeccably paired with Texas wines, sounds like your kinda day: consider coming to one of these luncheons next year. They are the Best of the Festival.