There are very few things that could drag most people out of bed at 2:30 a.m. But thankfully, you don’t have to wake up in the wee hours, as Jaynie Buckingham does, to enjoy the benefits of her baking. And, oh, are there benefits. For sweet fiends such as myself, Jaynie’s Cutie Pie Wagon is so much more than a hot pink stand on SoCo with feather boas and a plethora of plaques and awards: Its a mecca.

First, there’s MJ’s Texas Twister, a so-light-it-flies crust heaped with doughy white-chocolate filling and topped with an avalanche of shredded coconut and a layer of sweet, chopped pecans. Then there’s the deceptively simple Betty Lou’s Award-Winning Buttermilk. What is there to say about perfection? I couldn’t get enough of the Pie Queen’s family recipe, a creamy golden custard with just enough spice followed by the slight crunch of the flaky crust.

Decadent and moist, the fudge brownie pie also mesmerized. The thick, rich filling reminded me of my mom’s chocolate cake batter (yes, Mom, I still remember putting the mixing bowl on my head in a misguided attempt to lick off as much chocolate as possible).

Unfortunately the peach crisp didn’t live up to similar happy memories. It could have been the Saharan temperature in my car, but by the time I sat down to eat, the filling was so watery that it had soaked through the dough and turned the whole thing into a soggy mess. The brown sugar topping survived as the most edible part.

Despite this brief setback, I succeeded in giving myself one hell of a sugar rush. Let’s hope Jaynie has one too (or ten or twelve or a hundred), because she wants to rumble across the country in her trailer on the next season of The Great Food Truck Race, on the Food Network. Vote for Cutie Pies here, before September 10, so that we can all tune in as Jaynie wears her fabulous tiara and feather boas, bakes her mother’s pies, and delivers sass and sweets across all fifty states.

Tagged: Cutie Pie Wagon, pie, The Great Food Truck Race, Trailer Thursday

A few months ago, we presented an overview of the Hill Country Wine Trail. This month, we turn our attention to the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail. Though you won’t find any bluebonnets this time of year, you will find some beautiful pastoral scenery, some great Texas wines, and a number of fun little stops along the way. This petite trail in Southeast Texas has a total of eight member wineries between I-45 and U.S. Highway 290 with stops through Bryan, Brenham, and Montgomery.

Just outside of Bryan, Messina Hof winery is a worthwhile excursion featuring a wine tasting room, a gift shop, a full-scale restaurant, and a bed and breakfast—not to mention endless acres of grape vines. Having first planted grapes in 1977, Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo are some of the state’s pioneer winemakers. With a wide portfolio of wines, many of which have won double gold and the prized Champion saddle from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, you can narrow down your favorites in the spacious Winemaker’s Wine Bar. And if you’re lucky, you’ll catch a glimpse of Paul Bonarrigo, perpetually in a bright red cap, who can give you the inside scoop on the latest Messina Hof has to offer.

For a more interactive experience, stop off at Cork This! in Montgomery where you can sample from a few of their light-hearted cartoon-labeled wines such as “One Night Stand” Cabernet Sauvignon or “Irreconcilable Differences” Syrah. You can also try your hand at making your very own wine blend. Here, the name of the game is fun; leave any stuffinessat the door…

In Brenham, enjoy the scenic fields of Pleasant Hill Winery and a glass of crisp Blanc du Bois (one of the winery’s top award winners) from a seat at the old country-barn-turned-wine-tasting room along property’s hillside. This quaint family-owned vineyard offers a wide-ranging portfolio of red and white from Cabernet Sauvignon to Fume Blanc.

Check out the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail website for more detailed information on all of the wineries along the trail. Or, for a little more insight, check out the TDA Wine Cast on the trail featuring Messina Hof’s Paul Bonarrigo.

For Conroe, Houston, and The Woodlands locals, the Bluebonnet Wine Trail is a perfect daytrip excursion. For those visiting from other parts of the state, it’s a great weekend escape, especially with great places to stay such as the Villa at Messina Hof Bed & Breakfast, Brenham’s historic Ant Street Inn, or at the luxurious Inn at Dos Brisas. And while you’re in the area, there are a number of other worthwhile attractions along this wine trail including the many antique and gift shops in Bryan such as the Old Bryan Marketplace complete with the very best in Texas-style home accessories. In Brenham, you can add ice cream to your wine tasting schedule with a tour at the Blue Bell Ice Cream production facility. And if the weather is nice, take a detour outside of Bellville to Lavande, a Provence-inspired lavender and olive farm featuring idyllic lavender fields and a wide range of handmade gifts.

The Bluebonnet Wine Trail may not be as expansive as its Hill Country counterpart, but for a scenic country-style respite, it certainly fits the bill.

Tagged: Blue Bell Ice Cream, Cork This!, Lavande, Messina Hof, Old Bryan Marketplace, Pleasant Hill Winery, Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail

We all have those little things that get to us. Nails on a chalkboard, a dentist’s drill—you know the sound that makes it feel as if someone is forcing, oh, somewhere along the lines of 241 small daggers into your temples and twisting them to and fro, just for fun. And I’m willing to bet that you probably know your significant other’s/best friend’s/roommate’s pet peeve too. Sometimes, maybe you even press that button, you know, just for fun.

My other half is a willing participant in many a culinary experiment. He is patient and straightforward, two traits that I can appreciate as I cook my way through Mark Bittman’s book (I’m meddling in my own literary venture now, the working title somewhere along the lines of “Mark and Amber.” Not the same ring as “Julie and Julia,” but we’ll see. I already know who’s gonna play me in the movie. Anyway. I digress.)

But there’s one thing that my patient fiance won’t put up with: squeaky vegetables. You know the ones. Those of us culinarily inclined will be apt to call them al dente, and I do tend to like my green beans ever so slightly undercooked. If I present squeaky vegetables at the dinner table, they’ll be eaten without complaint by both parties—but not without commentary. Something along the lines of, “Man, I just didn’t know that squash was supposed to sound like this when you bit into it. The way it rubs against the enamel on my teeth like nails on a chalkboard, mmm. This is tasty.”

So here’s where I divulge my gastronomic weakness. I love cheese, in almost any capacity, but fresh mozzarella has always been a little tough for me. It’s squeaky cheese. And while my fiance has no problem with it, well, it sets every nerve of mine on edge when I take a bite.

The flavor, especially when it’s fresh and locally made, is out of this world though, and if you don’t mind the squeak factor (any of you who migrated here from the states where they sell cheese curds are great candidates) it’s the perfect addition to a late-summer lunch. Here’s a recipe with flavors I adore, but a texture, well, I could do without. Decide for yourself. And if you suffer the same aversion, let me know so that we can share the pain.

Caprese Salad
*This is a classic Italian/Mediterranean dish, and while it can be made with easy-to-find grocery items, it’s best made with the freshest ingredients you can get your paws on. This time of year, that means late-summer tomatoes (even cherry tomatoes will work), basil from the backyard, and some fresh mozzarella from your closest Texas dairy.

3 medium heirloom tomatoes, like Brandywine
6 ounces fresh mozzarella
1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil leaves
olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste

Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into quarter-inch-thick rounds. Layer tomatoes, cheese, and basil alternately on a plate, and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Serve with a few slices of baguette for a light lunch, or couple with a perfectly cooked, grass-fed steak and a glass of wine for a full dinner.

Relax, y’all. Sure, there are more Californians stampeding to Texas than surfing the waves off their own coast these days, but there’s an upside, at least for Austinites. Not only are the people of the Golden State migrating this way, so is the latest golden trend: Korean-Mexican fusion.

Take Chi’Lantro, Austin’s answer to LA. A wave of the future, the trailer Tweets its upcoming locations to hungry lunchtimers and late-nighters. When I arrived to sample its goods recently, the place was packed. Businessmen, truck drivers, and students were all lined up and waiting to get their hands on some junk food at its finest.

The best, by far, were the quesadillas, with Asian-spiced chicken, cheese, cilantro, onion, and an unusual, almost nutty house-made “salsa roja,” topped with sesame seeds. Pretty and filling, with crisp, thick tortillas, these stole the show.

The bulgogi tacos were also gorgeous. My favorite was the spicy pork, with tender, marinated meat, chopped romaine lettuce and white cabbage, onion, cilantro, and dark salsa roja generously assembled over double-layered corn tortillas. The beef, slightly stringy and tough, disappointed, but the light, flavorful tofu seemed like a great vegetarian option.

The kimchi fries were really just glorified chile-cheese fries: fresh-cut potatoes, cheddar jack and monterey jack cheeses, cilantro, onion, Korean peppers, the same tough bulgogi beef, and spicy orange sauce. Even though “kimchi” is in the name, I barely tasted any of the (supposedly caramelized) pickled cabbage. Are they thinking that some Americans aren’t ready for that tangy flavor? I for one was looking forward to it. However, the cheese, potatoes, and spicy sauce entranced on their own.

As for the trailer itself, I’ve hardly seen one more tricked-out. You can pick some chicharrones or Korean potato chips and sweets to complement your tacos, sign your receipt on an iPad (which they e-mail to you later), and pour yourself some coffee from the installed spout on the side of the truck, all while listening to fusion music like Rob Thomas and Santana’s hit, “Smooth,” from a few years ago.

Three words for the whole experience: spicy, sweet, and addicting.

Tagged: Chi'Lantro, Korean, Mexican, tacos, Trailer Thursday

It was announced yesterday that Bryan Caswell, chef and co-owner of Reef, Stella Sola, and Little Bigs in Houston, has been named a contestant on the next season of Next Iron Chef, the Food Network show. We actually found this out this back before July, when we featured Caswell and several of his seafood recipes, in “Sea Student.”But we were asked (begged is more like it, or perhaps groveled in front of) not to reveal it in the story (which I desperately wanted to do) because the fine for the contestant if he blabs is, oh, close to three quarters of a million dollars. (These TV types do get testy about having somebody steal their thunder.) But he’s in now, and the only question remaining is whether he will ultimately end up on Iron Chef America. This time I don’t really know, but there are indications that he didn’t do badly at all. Photo by Marcus Nillson.

It’s still hot.

And by hot, I mean a scorching 104 degrees. And we’ve got at least another month or two to go. So I thought I’d share with you my favorite recipe for keeping cool in Austin. Just this summer, I finally discovered the secret ingredient: Good Pop, a new mom-and-pop (har, har) paletas stand, housed in a recycled shipping container on Barton Springs Road.

A Cool Saturday in August

Ingredients

1 car, truck, SUV, or bus pass

1 bathing suit

1 towel

1 bottle of sunscreen (preferably SPF 70 or higher)

1 Barton Springs

1 Good Pop stand

$5

Directions
Wake up. Put on bathing suit. Drive directly to Barton Springs. Apply sunscreen. Throw down towel and jump in water (note: gradually stepping into water will not have desired effect). Paddle. Get out and lay on grass until suit is dry. Hop in car. Drive approximately 6 blocks to Good Pop stand. Choose from 17 flavors of all-natural, organic pops. Recommendations are strawberry (chunky sweet), watermelon agave (like the fruit but with nectar), mango chile (spicy yet refreshing), or banana cinnamon (creamy fun). Don’t be tricked with bitter pineapple basil or sour tamarind. If brave, try the savory el cucuy (fresh cucumber, lime juice, water, and organic evaporated cane juice). Eat paleta quickly, before it drips down hand. Swing back into driver’s seat. Head toward springs. Repeat.

Tagged: Barton Springs, Good Pop, paletas, popsicles, summer, Trailer Thursday

In recent years, it seems the typical request for the house Chardonnay has been overshadowed by the spritzy and clean Pinot Grigio and the sometimes-citrusy, sometimes-grassy Sauvignon Blanc. It’s no real surprise with the overpowering buttery qualities a number of low- to mid-range Chardonnays have taken on; often as a result of too much time in oak barrels. With the average Chardonnay’s lack of vibrance and character, the Sauvignon Blanc in particular began piquing the interest of white wine drinkers for its variety of flavor based on origin.

Sauvignon Blancs from California, for instance, can range with citrus-y to melon-y fruit tones; traditional Loire Valley styles exhibit spicy, floral, and mineral nuances; and in New Zealand, this little green grape takes on everything from tropical and herbaceous characters to grassy, asparagus flavors depending on where the grapes derive along the narrow South Island. Bottom line, there’s a wide variety of adventure in the world’s selection of Sauvignon Blanc. And while you still risk the chance of getting a flat note here and there, the range of styles from this clean, crisp, and fresh white grape have earned it a respectable seat at the table.

So how do they fare in Texas? Not too bad actually. A number of wineries have been successful with this relatively versatile grape producing wines with floral, citrus-y, and even mild honeysuckle undertones. In fact, one Texas winery in particular has done so well with it that it has earned this month’s Texas Wine of the Month: Spicewood Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, 2008.

According to Ashley Gaas, sommelier for Austin’s upscale 6^th Street gastro pub, Parkside, this Sauvignon Blanc rates as one of her top picks among Texas wines for its clean, crisp acidity. “It has a nice mineral structure bonded with citrus and hazelnut flavors and just a touch of honeydew melon,” says Gaas. “Its round creamy finish really sets it apart from most Sauvignon Blancs.”

Aged in stainless steel for 6 months, the 2008 is a blend of 93.5% Sauvignon Blanc and 6.5% Semillon, all from Spicewood Vineyards, which is located near Marble Falls in southern Burnet County. Inspired by Parkside’s acclaimed fresh seafood raw bar, Gaas suggests reaching for this light-on-the-palate wine with pan-seared scallops or an iced tin of fresh oysters. “It has wonderful honey and grapefruit aromas and is perfect for hot summer days,” says Gaas.

Founded by Ed and Madeleine Manigold in the early 1990s, Spicewood Vineyards turned a lot of heads with its Sauvignon Blanc in 1998 when it earned a prestigious Silver Medal from the Los Angeles County Fair as well as a Silver Medal in the International Eastern Wine Competition. In 2007, the winery changed hands and is now run by Ron Yates who is currently harvesting a bumper crop of 2010 grapes. “We’re really excited for what our entire crop is looking like this year,” says Yates. “We’ll have a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc ready to go fairly quickly and I’m anxious to see how it will stand up to the 2008.”

Unfortunately, you’ll have to visit the tasting room to nab one of these bottles, but for about $18, it’s a fantastic treat to round out a day in this Texas heat.

Winery: Spicewood Vineyards

Retail Price: $17.99

Availability: Winery Tasting Room

Tagged: Ashley Gaas, Parkside, Ron Yates, Spicewood Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Texas Monthly Texas Wine of the Month

A few weeks ago, an invitation arrived in the mail to a family reunion for my fiance’s side of the family. The invitation was promptly misplaced, only to be dug up again mere moments before we needed to leave for said reunion.

I mean, that happens to the best of us, but mostly, it happens to those of us who lose temporarily misplace the invitation as quickly as it arrives, forget to RSVP, get details confused, show up 30 minutes early to a party we didn’t RSVP to (see above, in which we forget to RSVP), and then wind up having to wear your fiance’s second cousin’s extra swimsuit at your very first family reunion with your soon-to-be in-laws.

Yeah. I know.

I’d been informed well in advance that this was a potluck, though, so I did have one base covered. Knowing that in advance does not, by any means, guarantee that the dish I’m bringing will be prepared in a timely fashion; that’s precisely, though, why I love this recipe. It comes together in a jiffy. . . but I still didn’t have an extra 30 seconds to snap a photo.

So! In the event that you, too, will unexpectedly be attending a family reunion and oh, by the way, it’s a potluck, here’s a quick recipe that can handle a ton of summer veggies fresh from the garden.

Summertime Pasta Salad

8 ounces whole wheat pasta shapes (gemelli and bowtie work well)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
1 summer squash or zucchini, cut into small cubes
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red or green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno or banana pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels*
1 cup feta cheese
1 avocado, cut into small cubes
1 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
juice of 1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta, undercooking slightly so that the pasta has a nice bite and holds up well in the salad. In a small sauce pan, saute the squash or zucchini in a small amount of olive oil for a few minutes, until it’s fork-tender but not mushy. Remove from the heat and set aside.

When the pasta is done cooking, drain immediately and rinse with cold water to keep it from cooking further. Set aside. Prepare your other ingredients while the pasta cools. Toss everything together in a large bowl, adding the avocado and feta last.

Refrigerate for up to four hours before serving. This will allow the flavors to meld together.

*Feel free to riff off the theme, too, and throw in that leftover grilled corn from last night’s cook-out, or even an extra jalapeno. For a Tex-Mex twist, swap black beans for the garbanzos, cilantro for the parsley, queso fresco for the feta, and lime juice for the lemon.

Up until now, we’ve had a relatively mild summer. At least by Texas standards. Decent rains. Temperatures hovering in the 90s. And with the exception of a few flash floods, no major weather disasters. But it’s August now, and the dog days of summer are rearing their snarly heads at us. (You didn’t think we’d get by without a stretch of Century-mark temperatures did you?) So what do you do when it’s, well, hotter than Hades outside?

Some stay inside, blast the AC all day, and pray for mid-October to get here—fast. Some venture out only after the sun has set with a nice chilled (read: sweating) glass of Texas Viognier. Others submerge themselves in the closest beach, lake, river, or backyard pool and try to dull the oppressive sunrays. (These types also come armed with a cooler stocked with iced beer.) Me, I like it somewhere in between. And I’ve recently found a refreshing beverage to quench the greatest of summertime thirsts: Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka.

It’s the magical result of what happened when Sweet Leaf Tea founder Clayton Christopher teamed up with Savvy Vodka distiller, Chad Auler (Also of Fall Creek Vineyards) to marry two fantastic beverages: Iced Tea and vodka. But make no mistake, this isn’t some half-cocked concept where a distiller takes a little bit of his vodka and pours a little bit of tea into a bottle, slaps a pretty new label on it and sells it at a premium. These guys don’t play like that.

Instead, Auler and Christopher started with quality Texas ingredients including South Texas corn, Hill Country spring water, and Goodflow Honey. They developed a clean, crisp vodka, distilled 10-times in a rare column-style still, infused it with a highly concentrated black tea, and added a little honey. They bottled it, and named it after one of the most refreshing landmarks in Austin: Deep Eddy Pool, which happens to be one of the oldest spring-fed swimming pools in Texas.

If you’ve ever taken a dip at Deep Eddy, especially in August, you’ll know why the name of this sweet tea vodka is so fitting. Fill a glass with ice. Add equal parts water and Deep Eddy vodka. Swirl it around and take a sip. At first, you may be fooled. The familiar strength of the sweet tea hits you first. It’s strong and flavorful, and tempts you to begin drinking it in great, big gulps. But be careful! A heated, velvety burn coats your throat seconds later, and you’re suddenly reminded that you’re not just drinking Aunt Bea’s back-porch sun tea. Indeed, you are drinking a very a adult beverage of clean, crisp vodka. And it’s delicious.

I was introduced to Deep Eddy vodka in the late spring. And while I’ve developed an affinity for many Texas wines and love to offer them to friends as housewarming gifts, I’ve also enjoyed setting a bottle of Deep Eddy down at barbecues and backyard pool parties and waiting to watch people discover it. Once opened, it certainly draws a cheerful crowd.

Mix it with water. Mix it with lemonade. Mix it with club soda, muddled mint, or whatever you find suitable. (I wouldn’t, however, advise drinking it straight—it’s pretty strong.) Either way, you’ll find Deep Eddy is a perfect pairing for this summer heat.

And since Hill Country peaches are still in peak season, take advantage of their bounty with a little Deep Eddy-inspired cocktail the bar manager at Austin’s Perla’s whipped up for us. Cheers!

“The Easy Eddy”

Ingredients:

- 2 oz. Deep Eddy

- 1 Medium-sized Peach (peeled & muddled)

- 3 Sprigs of Thyme (for muddling)

- 1 Dash of Angostura Bitters

- 1 Dash of Lemon Juice

- Ginger Ale

Directions:

In a mixing glass combine peeled peach (pitted) with 3 sprigs of thyme, 1 dash of bitters, 1 dash of lemon juice and muddle completely. Add 2 oz of DEV and shake vigorously. Strain over ice in a collins or long glass, being sure to give time for all liquid to drain out. Top off with an all-natural ginger ale. Garnish with a couple sprigs of thyme or a peach wedge…or both.

Tagged: Chad Auler, Clayton Christopher, Deep Eddy Vodka

How do you improve on a killer grilled pastrami with cheddar and horseradish mayo? Or a gyro sandwich with Israeli salad and Tabasco tzatziki? Austin Daily Press knows how. Wrap the sammy in The Onion newsprint and sell it at a bargain to late-night downtown revelers. Oh, and add a catchy little motto to the side of your trailer: “As toasted as you are.”

But we aren’t the only ones to notice this budding enterprise. Austin Daily Press is one of the seven groups competing on the Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race for a $50,000 prize. The show, which premiers on Sunday, August 15, at 9 p.m. CST/10 p.m. EST, features the businesses as they race across the country “to convince American to step outside their culinary comfort zones and try something new—from a truck.”

I sat down with Amy Hildenbrand of the Press (the other team members are Cory Nunez and Melani Feinberg) to talk about the sandwiches, the show, and the industry’s secrets.

How did you get started with the truck? Is it something you’ve always seen yourself doing, or is it a new passion?

The truck itself is a new passion, but I’ve always been interested in cooking. I learned a lot from my grannie and just watching how she did things. I always liked it from a scientific point of view, where you take these random cold ingredients and you make something completely different from them.

The main idea we had for Austin Daily Press was something that could be easily delivered, because we do deliveries out of the cart, and grilled sandwiches came up. A lot of the recipes are based on what Cory said he used to eat when he was a kid.

Do you have a philosophy behind your food truck?

Just to have fun with it. I mean, neither of us are chefs. Cory has a background in cooking for a living, and I still cook as a hobby. But we’re not trying to pass ourselves off as high-end Top Chef–type people. We blast eighties music and serve a lot of food to drunk people, mainly.

I bet the late-night crowd can be pretty rowdy. What drives you to keep serving such high-quality food to them?

We know that ultimately they’ll appreciate it. They might not be aware that they’re appreciating it, but certainly their bodies are aware that they’re getting real food. It’s like we’re helping take care of them a little bit, which is nice. And I don’t know if they just drunkenly keep the wadded-up wax paper in their pocket or something, but they remember us when they’re sober and come back.

What would you say is your favorite street food in Austin?

Kebabalicious is great. I like Best Wurst as well. I think they’re the oldest food cart in Austin, and it’s just a solid dog.

Is there a community of food trailer vendors in Austin, or even nationally?

There’s definitely a community in Austin. I think it’s the city with the second-largest population of food trucks, right after Portland, Oregon. The restrictions down here are certainly not lax, but it’s less strict than it is in other areas, like Los Angeles. So it’s a little bit easier to get into this business.

Tell us about being on The Great Food Truck Race.

The Food Network approached us at the end of March. We later came to learn that we were not just the only ones from Texas but the only ones from outside of California, period. First of all, we’re not even a truck, we’re a trailer. We were always the odd man out on everything.

It was cool to see if this concept could actually work outside of our home base, outside of the streets and the people that we knew. And on top of that, seeing if it could work during the day, during the morning, instead of late-night.

The show became sort of a lesson on how to set up a franchise in the span of a weekend. What you’d need to do to get the word out and learn if your product could sell in a completely new town.

Do you think the trailer trend is impacting the food industry in general?

Definitely. You’ve got big corporate brick-and-mortar restaurants that are putting out trucks now. A lot of people got into the trucks because it’s a much cheaper way of getting into the food industry. It doesn’t cost a quarter of a million dollars to open a food truck like it would a restaurant. But now the big restaurants are paying attention and they’re scaling back and trying to catch the public’s eye with trucks as well.

It’s not just roach coaches anymore. There are actual full kitchens on wheels. Most kitchens in restaurants are relatively small to begin with, so if you just kinda tighten it down, put, like, a submarine aspect to the organization of it, then you can do a lot in a really small space.

Tagged: Austin Daily Press, Food Network, sandwiches, The Great Food Truck Race, Trailer Thursday