Food is..

sweaty 10:30am lines for Franklin BBQ

chicken juice and ricotta-soaked hands

an empty bottle of basque rose between you and your best

the taste of your first allspice syrup

a cantonese feast at t&s after a bloody day at work

Tomato jam.

It's tomato season here in Texas and tomatoes sure are something two Italian ladies are not afraid of. Especially 11 pounds of them from Papa's farm up in Waco.

thank you instagram

Jackie found the perfect recipe with our own twist for tomato jam- let's say some sugar, garlic, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. That's all I'll divulge..

It's already been used as a hefty hamburger condiment and will soon be used for a monster grilled cheese. Or with some mozzarella and fresh basil. Or bruschetta with goat cheese. Or... yes. I think it may be my favorite so far.

Olive Garden

I spent the past week on the East Coast. I had a dear friend’s graduation in Washington, DC, spent time with friends in New York, and spent quality time with family while home in New Jersey. In this particular entry, I’m not going to write about Italian food or pizza. I’m not going to write about my favorite Italian place in Hillsborough, NJ, Café Graziella’s and their fantastic pastas and bruschetta or the amazing prosciutto pizza I had at Angelo’s in New York. Nor will I talk about the hole-in-the wall on 84^th and 3^rd Avenue and their pasta fagiole and caprese salad. I’m going to talk about the Olive Garden… and spinach dip.

I spent the weeks before my trip out east with the intention of enjoying at some famous eateries and cocktail bars. I had lavish ideas of John Dory Oyster Bar, Spotted Pig, Les Halles, Dutch Kills, and Little Branch. I didn’t end up at any of these places or really anything else with a following. What I did do is eat a lot of food that felt good and not because of what was in it or how it was cooked or because it had a “name. I ate a lot because it made me feel good because it was home and because I was with family. Shall I dare say what a true New Jersey-Italian experience is about?

My mom’s spinach dip. I am a sucker for this stuff. I don’t know what kind of crack is in it. Since I was 18 and I’ve come home to visit New Jersey from college in New York, my mother has always made sure that this dip was made for me to indulge into every single time. I don’t think she’s ever missed a trip. She also never fails to provide the ever-so-perfect pairing of Diet Coke. She didn’t miss this trip either. If heaven existed for me, it would consist of my family’s pool, 80 degree weather, Diet Coke, and dish of spinach dip. It would look something like this:

My grandparents used to live outside of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and we visited a lot when I was in the range of maybe 8-15 years old. Ft. Lauderdale sure as hell is not a culinary capital of the country and well, for my Italian grandfather, the Olive Garden was the best he could get. I always remembered his order of pasta pomodoro. The man never fails with pasta and red sauce. As a young girl, I loved the experience of being with my grandparents and eating ravioli no matter what place it happened to be- Olive Garden or otherwise. So now as a 25-year-old lady, my grandfather still insists that the Olive Garden is one of MY favorite restaurants. No matter what, he has to make sure that we go to my “favorite” restaurant- the Olive Garden. Now- I don’t have the heart to explain to my grandfather how I don’t appreciate Italian chains so much these days but that kind of concern is no matter. I go because he makes me laugh every time he talks about my favorite place in every phone call and every visit. I go because it’s going to be something I smile about for many days ahead. I go to enjoy my meal at the Olive Garden with my family as long as I have the opportunity.

These are my sweet, sweet grandparents:

 My mom's spinach dip:

• 2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 blocks cream cheese, softened
• 10 oz. packaged frozen chopped spinach, drained and squeezed dry

• tortilla chips

Drain and squeeze dry spinach. Add about 2 tablespoons of the parmesan and mix. In a separate bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, black pepper, garlic, and cream cheese. Then add spinach and parmesan mixture. Spread into pan and top with the rest of parmesan and mozzarella. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour. 

If you can, add a Diet Coke, a great family, and a pool in New Jersey.

Day 16, 17, and 18...

Last weekend my dear friend Kris was in town last weekend from Portland and frankly, I didn't really ever stop moving as I was hanging out with her and serving freshly graduated UT students and their families for three days straight.

Kris and I have some stories to tell, traveled together, were roommates at one point while in Brooklyn, and now after not seeing each other after two years are meeting up in Austin and sharing our strange and lateral love of food and the crazy idea of working for ourselves and starting up food businesses.

First up- we had some catching up to do with Jackie.. at Perla's where the patio is perfect for long updates. We talked about travels, friends, new babies, master's degrees, and cross-country moves all over a crab louie, fried green tomatoes, and a shrimp caesar salad:

With old friends comes new friends as I introduced Kris to two of my favorite people in Austin, Dennis and Phil over dinner and drinks at Haddington's. After loudly sharing my love of the last cocktail I had there, The Devil's Mustache (owing to a weird obsession I have with non-tequila agave-based spirits aka Mezcal in this case), the creator of the cocktail thanked me and made me something he had in the works: The Thirteenth Floor.

 I probably shouldn't indulge too much information but it involves mezcal, ginger liqueur, and aperol. Oh yes. It went down way too easy. We then sat down for dinner and my fellow ex-vegetarian and I enjoyed ourselves some baby lamb's tongue salad, duck and foie gras meatballs, and some sweetbreads. Most of the appetizers were a little salty with exception of the meatballs which was probably my hands-down favorite.


Main courses included scallops and beef cheek cannelloni. The cannelloni was rockin' – really tender, flavorful, and full. My scallops were a little underdone for my taste but the flavors were nice. It was unfortunately a rushed experience as I had to get Kris to the airport but the great service, good drinks, and company were thoroughly enjoyed.

beef cheek cannelloni

So yes darn. My 30-day blog challenge fell to the wayside. I skipped one day which turned into two days which turned into a week and here we are. To be quite honest, I feel okay with that. I won't give any excuses about running fevers, working doubles, cancelled flights, and a whirlwind trip to DC. It also doesn't give me excuses to stop but I do feel the point of this challenge. There isn't a need to make entries perfect for publishing or done by a certain time at a certain place about certain things. This blog is about sharing how I feel about something I love, documenting the journey, and putting in the effort. Allora, soon will come culinary adventures of New Jersey. How can that not be intriguing?

Day 7: Calamari, Caprese, and Couture

"Pairing" is a common occurrence in many fields. Accessories with dresses, wine with food, curtains with bedspreads, songs with dances but not many people mix-and-match. I find a good and complete experience to come with combinations of happy experiences- certain music with the perfect snack or a pot of tea with reruns of your favorite show. So why can't a perfect pair involve clothes and food? Or wine with earrings? Bedspreads and dances? Curtains and songs?  My day wouldn't have been the same without hitting the spot with a perfect dress and just the right food.

South Congress is pretty much the perfect place to satisfy any kind of food and vintage shopping pairing needs. This time Jackie and I were in the mood for some light fare at South Congress Cafe. It was exactly what we wanted: two cups of coffee, a calamari appetizer, and two caprese salads.

This was probably my favorite. They use calamari steaks- nice, thick, meaty pieces fried with an Asian sauce of orange and ginger. It was light and bright.

Then comes another light and bright and pretty caprese. The proportions were perfect of heirloom, mozzarella, a thick balsamic glaze and a garlic and basil puree. I thought I was thoroughly satisfied until Jackie found this little number for me:

Ah- vintage finds are so satisfying and this one also quite pretty and light and bright. It all rounded each other out and I don't think one would have been perfect without the other.

Day 15: Impatience..

How do you deal with impatience? I have a dear, dear friend from college coming into visit this weekend and I'm currently trying to occupy my time while I wait to pick her up from the airport from a very late arrival. Yes- her flight comes in at 1:47 am. I am beyond excited as this girl, Kris and I have been across the world and back together, lived in New York and Brooklyn together, and now after two years, we'll be seeing each other in whatever new lives we're living- mine here in Austin and hers in Portland. (She opened a school bus-restaurant, more on that later. She's a rockstar.)

So I have all night and day just waiting until I get to leave to the airport and what better way to do that than treat myself to breakfast for dinner. As I've stated before how much I like pairings, this to go with the season finales of The Office and Parks and Rec. I have to say my cooking is out of practice and I did a horrible job of multi-task flipping but everything tasted pretty fantastic.

Two over-easy eggs and this recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

courtesy of allrecipes.com

Day 14: Waiter Rant, Part Deux

When you go into a restaurant as a customer, please be aware that a lot of procedures in wine and cocktail service are generally done for a reason. Here are some of them and yes, I had to grin and bear through all of these in one nice 13-hour day:

1.  When you order a red wine at a restaurant, they are sometimes chilled down to the correct "cellar" temperature of 55-65 degrees. Most restaurants are not kept this cool. We are bringing your red wine down to a correct temperature so you can enjoy all the fun flavors that come out as your bottles warms up from 60 degrees. When your waitress says she is chilling your red wine, why don't you ask why instead of telling her she's wrong.

2. If a cocktail is made with mostly liquor, it is usually stirred. If it is made with a juice or mixer of any kind, it is generally shaken. Both of these methods are generally done so that alcohol is not diluted and not filled with ice chips. Please read my last post and listen to President Bartlet. He's never wrong.

3. Don't look at your waiter dumbfounded when she mentions the word "vermouth" when you order a martini.

4. When you're asked to taste a bottle of wine, just do it. It's done so you don't get a bottle of wine that tastes and smells like cardboard and wet newspaper. Make sure it doesn't smell like that and you're good to go. Also, don't smell the cork. It's traditionally put in front of you so you can check to see if it matches the bottle. This is so you can make sure we didn't fuck you over and put a cheaper wine in a more expensive bottle (which we don't really care to do).

5. If you're the last people in the restaurant and everything else around you is put away, it's time to go.

I knew very little about wine and cocktails earlier than a year ago. I have no right to be telling anybody how to go about and do this. I didn't even know how open a damn bottle of wine before last July and I'm pretty sure I still ask dumb questions but I'm pretty proud of how far I've come. So this is me sharing my knowledge with you so that none of us look like idiots when we go out to eat.

What I'm basically saying is know what you know and own it.
Be cool, humble, and open and please don't tell your waiter how beautiful it was when you went to "Vin de Pays."