Austin Vacation: Lake Austin Spa and MIGAS

I’m back blogging and have so much to share!  I’ve been out of town for the past week and am about to go on another vacation (tough life) so I have a lot of food events to share!  I’m going to break it up into a few different posts.  Here I go!

            First of all, I left my blogging responsibilities to take a mother/daughter trip down to Austin, Texas…quite possibly my favorite place on earth.  We decided to relax for a few days at Lake Austin Spa, just outside the city, situated on-you guessed it- Town Lake.  It is a wonderful place, not just because you are scheduling your day around spa treatments (!) but also because the atmosphere is so focused on healthy eating, exercise and total well-being.  The best part about the food there is that it is calorie-conscious, but it is SO GOOD (for you).  There are times when a big, hulking cheeseburger is the answer, but most of the time if you can make your belly and your mirror happy, the world is a great place.  And since it’s Texas, I got to have all the mexi-centric food I wanted. 

            I’ll start with breakfast.  Migas. Mmmmmmmmmm.  Migas is the best breakfast comfort food for anyone that likes crunchiness, spice and cheese with their eggs.  The simplest form of Migas and one that was a staple of my Saturday mornings growing up is scrambled eggs mixed with cheese and warm, broken-up tortilla chips or tostadas.  Topped with a little salsa, this dish has never failed to satisfy.  At Lake Austin Spa, they scrambled their eggs with diced tomatoes, onion, tortilla strips and a touch of queso fresco.  Yum!  Black beans optional (yes, please).  My Ultimate Migas recipe would probably go something like this:

            Get your eggs in a scramble (don’t pour in your skillet yet).  Dice up some white or yellow onion, a little bit of green onion, fresh or pickled jalapeno depending on how spicy you like things, have your shredded cheese on hand (pepper jack, cheddar, monterey jack, whatever you like) but don’t use too much or you’ll have funky eggs.  Right before you are ready to slap everything in the pan pop some tostada shells in a hot oven.  They brown, ahem, burn very quickly, so keep an eye on them and flip when they start releasing oils (look shiny and sizzle-y).  Take those bad boys out and crunch them up with your hands or get out your daily aggression with whatever does the trick.  Put aside.  Get ready for a whirlwind of breakfast action because this dish comes together fast!  Pour your frazzled eggs into a hot oiled/buttered skillet.  As the eggs start to get some body and shape as you scramble, start folding in your tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and cheese carefully.  The “carefully” bit is important for aesthetic value and you get to taste all the flavors separately.  What I mean by this is when you are pushing and scraping at a scramble, which I am guilty of doing, the flavors can get mashed up together and the whole thing can get soggy and look a little like a Waffle House creation.  If that’s what you’re going for, have at it, but if you are taking the time to make this yummy concoction, might as well appreciate its magnificence. Throw in your tostada bits at the last minute, give it one last fold and it’s eatin’ time.  Serve with some grated cheese or crumbled queso fresco, salsa or hot sauce.  If you’re going all the way with your Mexican Breakfast, serve with hot tortillas, beans and bacon or sausage.  There really is nothing better.

            Sorry I got sidetracked by Migas, but as you can see, it’s easy to get distracted by that tasty dish!  For lunch, Lake Austin Spa served up daily specials, one day a Bahn Mi Sandwich (a Vietnamese sandwich with pork, spicy sauce, carrots, radishes and other spicy, crunchy things), a cheese Pupusa, my FAVORITE little Salvadorian smackerel (consisting of a masa cake filled with cheese and spices, sometimes shredded pork) and every day a new frozen yogurt flavor (whoppers, blueberry, strawberry-kiwi and peach to name a few).  And for Dinner the kitchen presented a multi-course meal of your choosing, each course a small portion so you could try everything but not feel like a fatty-fatty-no-friends.  Some highlights from our dinner meals were the Chilled Avocado and Cilantro Soup, Chile Relleno stuffed with Bulgur, Squash, Black Beans and Walnuts, Lobster with Whole Wheat Cappellini and Asian Vegetables, and last but not least, Petite Filet of Beef with Gorgonzola Cream, Yum!

            I could go on forever and ever about the food there, but the most refreshing part about it was that everything made me feel GOOD from the inside out.  After leaving the Spa, (it still pains me to talk about leaving!) I am determined to cook food with the goal of feeling great afterward in mind.  Like I mentioned earlier, greasy and unhealthy food can sometimes hit the spot, but most days eating delicious, good-for-you foods makes life a whole lot sunnier.

Austin: CIA bummer, Guero's and La Condesa

The next installment of my Austin adventure continued with my day trip to CIA San Antonio to check out the campus and sample some student-produced fare.  I wanted to make certain that the San Antonio campus would be the best fit for me.  I set my sights there because of the emphasis on Latin and American cuisine, plus it’s in my favorite part of the country, only about an hour from Austin.  So my mom (Sudy) and I leave Austin, drive to San Antonio and decide to get some program materials before we take the tour of campus later in the afternoon.  “Are you looking at the Associate’s Degree or the 30-Week Certificate program?” asks the Director of Education of the San Antonio Campus. “The Certificate,” I say.  I already received my Bachelor’s Degree from the finest of Universities, Sewanee: The University of the South, so I really don’t need to revisit THAT.  She says, “Well you know our last program will be on May 31^s.”  No, I didn’t, actually.  In fact, I called the campus about a month ago to check when the next program dates would be published and was informed that they had not yet been made available to them and would publish as soon as they were certain.  Needless to say, I was heartbroken.  Apparently the San Antonio Campus was just recently informed by the head honchos at CIA New York that they would not continue the Certificate program due to lack of facilities, faculty and interest.  So, I went outside, cried my eyes out then sucked it up and made up my mind that New York wouldn’t be so bad after all…I can endure one more New England winter, I think.

Sudy says, "HI!"

            Mother knows best most of the time, and this time Sudy knew exactly what we needed.  We hopped back in the car, dropped off our bags at the hotel in Austin and bee-lined it to Guero’s Taco Bar on South Congress.  It may not be a mind-blowing culinary experience, but I’ve been going there since I got my first pair of boots down the street at Allen’s Boots when I was 3 years old.  It’s tradition and I needed it that day.  All I have to say is tostadas, queso, salsa bar and a couple of Bohemias and an afternoon with my awesome mom made me feel SO MUCH BETTER.  Everything happens for a reason, and I know the path that I’m on to CIA New York will be a good one.

            After such a TAXING afternoon (roll of the eyes) we decompressed by having drinks with a great friend, Fay Fitzsimons- so lovely- then dinner at La Condesa.  It was de-lish.  We decided to split each course so we could try more things, so we started off with the obligatory Tito’s martini and an ocean trout ceviche- mmmmm.  Then the mushroom and cheese taquitos with a super pungent and scrumptious chipotle sauce (really just two small tacos), then what Sudy proclaims as the best Chile Relleno she’s ever had- and boy was it delicious- and finally a super chocolately cake with a rosemary or lavender caramel sauce underneath.  Here’s the link to the website for anyone who is interest:  It was definitely a meal to remember.  We steered clear of the tostados at Fay’s suggestion because of the diminutive size, duh!

            The next morning it was time to leave my beloved city.  While hanging out in the airport I had to split a Schlotzsky’s Turkey Original on Jalapeno Bread with Sudy; first to relish it because for some reason the crazy people up north don’t have them and second because Austin is home to the sammich chain.  Very sadly, I parted ways with the Mama to fly home to New Haven.  Leaving one home to arrive in another is emotionally taxing and confusing, but coming home to Prosecco, the boyfriend and the little home I’ve made for myself makes up for it.

The Mexican Feast: Kale and Cheese Enchiladas, Homemade Enchilada Sauce, Refried Black Beans and Mama Grande's Rice

After my Austin trip, I regrouped in CT, spent some time with the people I’d briefly left, ate out for a couple of meals, then got back to cookin’!  Yesterday, some of my favorite girls in the world gathered at my teeny tiny apartment so I could feed them and have some much needed hang time.  Since I’m still channeling Texas, I made quite the feast of Spinach and Kale Enchiladas with Homemade Enchilada Sauce with My Refried Black Beans and Mama Grande’s Rice, stolen out of Texas Monthly Magazine (I can’t let go).  It was an all around evening of feeding the soul with food and friends.

            I’ll start with the Enchilada Sauce.  I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, a great site to use if you want to tailor a recipe to the exact amount of servings you need to produce.  I took the easy (or hard way, some may argue) out and made exactly what the recipe called for, leaving me with tons of leftover enchilada sauce.  Not a bad thing as it turns out, but I’ll talk more about that later.  The enchilada sauce this recipe produced was smoky, spicy and thick- delicious!  I’ll just link to it rather than copy/paste- give credit where credit is due, right?  It’s: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Texas-Enchilada-Sauce/Detail.aspx.  I will say that I used one 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes that I blended and some leftover tomato paste with about ¾ Cup of water added instead of the crushed tomatoes and second can of tomato sauce, respectively. 

            Then came the enchiladas themselves. I had a ton of kale leftover from this weekend and I really wanted to make a healthy, hearty enchilada dish, so I looked at some spinach and cheese enchilada recipes and used one with a few modifications. Note: if you like your enchiladas with more crunch and cheese, add white/yellow onions and more cheese to the filling.  These were fine as is, but I’ll explain after you’ve read the recipe, it’ll make more sense.

1/2 cup sliced green onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

Half a large bunch of Kale, washed and pulled from the rib in small pieces

1 Poblano Pepper, diced

½ Jalapeno, diced

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

    12-15 (6 inch) corn tortillas, depending on pan size

The Mexi-feast!

Your oven needs to be at 375.  Use a tablespoon of butter to coat a medium saucepan, then throw in the onions and garlic and cook till fragrant.  Then add the kale and don’t be afraid to cook it senseless because you don’t want tough kale in your enchiladas!  So about five minutes later, remove from heat and stir in Ricotta and Sour Cream and 1 Cup of the Monterey Jack.  Take that skillet you just used and sauté the poblano and jalapeno until fragrant and a little pliable, about 2-3 minutes over medium heat.  Now warm a skillet over medium to low heat and take the corn tortillas one by one: wet them with a little water so each side is barely wet, then put it in the skillet, letting them warm for about 30 seconds to a minute per side.  I do the water thing because it takes a while to assemble these tortillas and they can crack when folded if they dry out.  I found that by steaming them a bit by using the trick above they stay pliable and moist until it was time to top them off and put them in the oven.  So once you have your tortilla warmed, take a nice spoonful of filling and wrap that bad boy up, placing it seam down in your dish.  You want enough filling in each one so they are nice and plump, and so the seams just cross over each other by a little under an inch.  Do this one by one till you don’t have any more room in your dish.  Now this is where I messed up- I only covered the little roll-ups with sauce until I couldn’t see the corn tortillas anymore.  You need to drown these things in sauce; I mean really lay it on thick.  Sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese over the top, then pop it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes! So good.

            The easiest part of this feast was making the refried black beans.  I have yet to find the be-all and end-all of refried bean recipes or met an ancient Mexican lady who can teach me all she knows, so my refried bean dish is really simple and probably not traditional at all.  This made four servings, perfect for the gals and me.  If men are consuming this, double it.  All you need is:

            1 Can Black Beans

            1 can Spicy Ro-tel or an 8 oz can of hot salsa with tomatoes and green chilies

            Olive Oil or Bacon Fat

If you are making these beans for breakfast, as I often do, fry up some bacon or sausage before making the beans in the pan with the leftover fat- it makes them taste amazing!  Don’t do this if you are a vegetarian or watching fat content- substitute a couple of tablespoons olive oil.  The flavor is still there and olive oil is handier, unless you keep bacon fat around.  Drain the liquid from the can of bean and throw it in the hot oiled sauté pan on about medium heat.  Also drain the ro-tel (just add salsa if using that) and put that in the pan.  Take a potato masher to the mixture (you can do this before adding the ro-tel if you like the big chunks of tomato in there) and mash to your heart’s content.  I roughly mash mine I guess you could say.  Let it start to bubble then push it around the pan to prevent from burning or sticking.  I sit there and baby mine, stirring almost constantly.  You will know when they are done- they form a gooey paste of beaniness.  Just make sure you don’t let them burn to the bottom of the pan.  Quick tip:  when I see that the beans are almost paste-y enough I turn off the heat and put the cover on the pan.  This keeps them warm until serving and prevents moisture from escaping and drying out the beans.  We’ve all had dry refried beans.  They’re disgusting.

            Last but certainly not least is Mama Grande’s Rice.  I don’t know Mama Grande, but I am so glad her granddaughter shared Mama’s recipe with Texas Monthly for their “Cook Like A Texan” article.  This rice is the quintessential moist and fluffy Mexican rice that you never thought you could have at home…until now.  I modified (forgive me, Mama Grande!) and used olive oil for vegetable oil and ½ a tomato and ½ an onion because my silly, tiny food processor was too small for the job (I just realized the recipe calls for ½ cup onion, not half an onion, but it was still yummy).  It still turned out great, but if you can follow the original, try it, I’m sure it’s perfect.

            2Tbl. Vegetable oil

            1 C long grain white rice

            1 medium tomato, in wedges

            ½ C onion, chopped

            2 ¼ C Chicken broth, divided

            1 clove Garlic

            1 tsp. cumin seeds- very important to use seeds, so much flavor!

            ½ tsp black pepper

            ½ tsp salt

            3 T. tomato sauce

*I’m just going to write exactly what Texas Monthly told me, because it was spot on.

Heat oil in a 10-inch sauté pan over medium heat.  Add rice and stir every 3 to 4 minutes until it turns golden brown.  Meanwhile, put tomato, onion, and a ¼ C broth in a food processor and blend until tomato is liquefied.  Grind garlic and cumin seeds with a molcajete or mortar and pestle*.  Add the tomato mixture, the garlic and cumin, pepper, salt, tomato sauce and remaining broth to the rice.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and leave covered for another 5 minutes.  Uncover and fluff with a fork before serving.  Serves 5 to 6.

Kara, Fay and Grace: Mexican Food-eating Maniacs

* If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, add the garlic and cumin seeds to the food processor when you blend up the tomato mixture.

            So that’s the Mexican feast.  It was super delicious and satisfying and made me feel like I was back in Austin again.  Sigh.  I guess I’ll just have to keep cooking like this!

Hummmmmus!

I promised a post dedicated to hummus and I couldn't wait any longer!  My love affair with hummus began as a teenager way back before my Whole Foods in Little Rock, AR was a Wild Oats and a Beans and Grains and Things before that!  I can't remember if the hummus that got me hooked was a Beans, etc. creation or Wild Oats, but it was black bean hummus that got me started.  It was an easy transition from the black bean dip I loved as a tot and it was healthy and herby (I don't need to justify my love).  Hummus became my snack of choice from then on out.  The standard Tahini, Roasted Red Pepper, and Black Bean varieties ruled my snack world for most of high school.  Until I started frequenting Boulevard Bread Company in the Upper Kavanaugh neighborhood in Little Rock, I thought hummus had to be somewhat paste-like and coarse-textured.  Boulevard changed the hummus-scape.  Their hummus was smooth and had a creamy tahini-ness with a slow-creeping cayenne heat that won me over.  At least twice a week I went after school with friends for a coffee, a sliced baguette and a package of hummus.  When I left for college I was slightly distraught because my campus was a million miles from acceptable hummus and McClurg (the dining hall) had the most unexciting if slightly edible "plain" variety.  Then I discovered the Trader Joe's in Nashville an hour away.  It blew my mind the first time I struggled to choose between their unprecedented 500 kinds of hummus (exaggeration).  Edamame Hummus? Unconventional, but addictive. 

Fast forward to the summer after graduating college: I’m trying to watch my spending seeing as I am an unpaid intern living in Washington, DC.  How can I cut my grocery costs?  I found a little food processor for $15 and bought my hummus fixings.  You would not believe my complete disappointment in my first batch of the homemade stuff.  It was bland, watery yet chunky, a total disaster.  I searched cookbooks, websites, everything and told myself each new product was better than the last but I remained unsatisfied.  Finally one day I was bragging that I might have found a hummus I could live with.  Everyone agreed that hummus was a hard thing to perfect at home and I was beginning to gain some confidence.  I even brought some for people to try!  My supervisor swooped in to try it and said, “Nope.  I’ve got a recipe for you.  Don’t even bother with this one.”  Shock and curiosity consumed me!  I bugged that woman for the recipe for weeks until she finally e-mailed it to me (I now know she must have been guarding this).  I went home and whipped it up immediately- it was the spicy, fragrant, standard hummus I’d been looking for!  Before I divulge this recipe let me just preface with the fact that people may not like this version because it isn’t pure tahini, garbanzo, lemon and olive oil.  I don’t claim that this IS the best out there; I just know that I think so.

You need:

1 Can Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans, with ¼ C. juice reserved

¼ C. Tahini

¼ Cup Olive Oil

Juice of one medium lemon, or more to taste

1 Garlic Clove

1 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Ground Coriander

1 tsp. Salt

Couple of dashes of cayenne

As I stated before I have a bunk food processor, so I can’t stream in olive oil as I blend the other ingredients.  But try it if you can.  Just throw all of this in the FP and go to town.  Drew, the boyfriend, likes his a little coarse in texture, and he has to because my food processor can’t make it very smooth because it’s a piece of CRAP.  In my experience making this with other people’s blenders and processors, it comes out as smooth as you want it. 

The thing I love about this recipe is it also supports variety, such as Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus, Drew’s favorite (I’m really not trying to sound like Ina Garten here).  All you do is throw in a fistful or less, your preference, of cilantro, stems and leafy bits and a jalapeno or spicy pepper of your choice.  I LOVE getting the super spicy peppers from the farmers market and substituting that for the jalapeno.  Quick note on adding the cilantro stems- Jamie Oliver uses the stems in one of his curry dishes that I made and the flavor was so much crisper and brighter.  See if you like it as much as I do- it adds crunch, always a good thing.

Let me know about some other variations out there- I’m always looking for more hummus!

Presto, Pesto!

Hello!  My name is Katie and I love to cook.  How cheesy is that?  I can’t think of any other way to start this blog except to say just that: I love to cook.  I also am embarking on a culinary career and I’m a little nervous because sometimes I can’t even make a proper grilled cheese (I’m still embarrassed about breaking down over a mangled mess of bread, butter and cheese and having my boyfriend tell me to go sit down while he fixed it).  Seems like a poor career choice after sharing that bit of information, doesn’t it?  I don’t look at it that way.  Sometimes I make the most amazing meals and sometimes they flop.  Isn’t that the way every cook’s resume looks?  Even on Top Chef some of those guys put out things I don’t want to try, but that’s the way it works!  I’m learning slowly how to perfect basics, try new and out there things and I’m sharing my experiences. This blog is about exploring the successes and failures of an aspiring, ever-evolving young cook.  Here’s my first entry.

Today was a pesto bonanza.  I usually make fresh pesto the second good-looking basil starts showing up in the grocery stores or farmers markets.  However, last summer and all I only made ONE batch.  I was a little ashamed to say the least, because there is nothing more satisfying and bright- tasting and happiness-inducing than eating homemade pesto.  The other great thing: you can use it in EVERYTHING.  Pasta is the most common and obvious choice, because well, you shouldn’t mess with a good thing.  But think of all the possibilities!  Pesto stirred into mashed potatoes, pesto sour cream, pesto-coated meatiness, salad dressing, sandwich spread…I really could go on forever.  It’s just such a lovely creation.  So, this afternoon I went to town with some pesto.  I mean, was a pesto making fool.  Before telling you all the yummy things I made with pesto, I must first tell you how to achieve pesto nirvana.

The pesto I make is from a recipe I found in the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook.  Do not scoff- this cookbook has many different recipes with great-for-you-fats, because honestly you can, but shouldn’t live without them.  The reason this recipe is a MUFA (mono-unsaturated fatty acids) rich concoction is because of pine nuts and olive oil.  Very, very good for you and very delicious.  The pesto consists of:

3 Cups fresh Basil, packed

1/4 C. olive oil

1/4 C. freshly grated Parmesan

1/4 C. toasted pine nuts (to toast, put in a skillet on medium heat till they are fragrant and slightly browned, then put them on a plate to cool)

1 Clove garlic

*This is a half recipe because I have a ghetto, tiny food processor.

So you just blend that up in a food processor.  Some recipes say to slowly add in the oil through the hole in the top of the processor, but since I don't have one of those fancy, hole-y food processors, I just add it all at once and grind that business till it's well chopped but not too smooth.  I like a slightly grainy consistency, but to each their own.

            Of course, I couldn’t just stop with the pesto.  It smelled so good and fresh I just had to do something with it.  This is when my kitchen ADD kicks in.  It’s a terribly wonderful thing because I can spend entire days in my kitchen making food I could never possibly consume.  The wonderful part about it is you eat well all day, every day.  Anyways, I was thinking, “Oooo, wouldn’t that pesto be great with eggs and toast in the morning?”  As I was putting away the pine nuts I’d just used I saw an unopened package of polenta in my pantry.  “Why haven’t I cooked with this yet?” I thought.  Upon reading the packaging I saw a recipe for egg and ham with grilled polenta.  And that’s how, five minutes later, I found myself making a gigantor pot of polenta….for polenta loaf, duh.  As that was coming together I thought, “I wonder what that pesto would taste like stirred into that polenta?”  Now I have a polenta loaf AND a small amount of pesto polenta that is really fantastic.  Saturday morning at Casa de Katie will consist of eggs, crispy ham and pan-fried pesto polenta cakes.  Maybe with more pesto smeared on the cakes.  Do I have a problem?

            You would think I would stop here.  Oh no.  I have an on-going love affair with hummus and I can’t be without it.  I always have some in my fridge.  Bonus: I make my own and I don’t want to brag, but it’s pretty awesome.  If I get started on the hummus topic….well, I wont.  That story and recipe is for another day.  To get to the point, I am out of hummus.  So what do I think of?  Pesto hummus.  Regular pesto hummus?  Eww.  White bean pesto hummus?  Nom Nom Nom.  Here it is:

1. Drain a can of White beans (cannelini beans) and a can of garbanzos.  Reserve 1/4 C of the juice in the garbanzo can.  Put the whole can of white beans and half of the garbanzos in the FP(food processor).  
2. Then chop up a clove of garlic, mid-sized and throw that in along with the reserved bean juice.
3.  Squeeze 1/2 to a whole lemon and pour that in too- it really is a matter of taste how lemony you like it.  I put in 3/4 of the lemon.  
4. Next is a little under 1/4 cup of Tahini.  With this hummus i put a heaping teaspoon of tahini in because I wanted the white beans to shine, not the typical potent tahini flavor of humus.
5.  Lastly a dash or two of celery salt, 3/4 tsp.of salt, about 1 tsp. of coriander and the most important part, 3 spoonfuls of the homemade pesto.  I cracked some freshly ground pepper to taste over the whole shabang and blended it till it could blend no more.  Top with a dollop of pesto!

I could not be more enthused about pesto today (couldn’t you tell?).  That’s what’s so nice and fun and nourishing- in more ways than one, ba-dun-dun- about this cooking thing!  I am not changing the landscape of culinary world from my tiny kitchen in New Haven, CT by any means.  I’m simply so excited to learn more about food, how to prepare it and share it with others. 

Go out and get some tasty-looking basil.  Happy cooking!