The authors of the various Roadfood books, the intrepid Jane and Michael Stern (two of the most fun writers I know), put this item in their Roadfood.com email newsletter today. In case you don’t recognize their name, the Sterns travel the country seeking out iconic and quirky eateries. (They used to write for Gourmet, before its sad demise.) Anyhoo, here’s a story they tell on themselves:

“We were eager to locate an eatery that reflected Idaho’s signature crop, the potato. Research led to a small Yellow-Pages listing for The Spud Bowl. Perfect! Rather than telephone the Spud Bowl to inquire further (duoh), we drove 2500 miles to Boise, only to discover that The Spud Bowl was a bowling alley and the only tuberous item on the lunch-counter menu was potato chips by the bag. It was on that trip that we came across an Asian restaurant in Sheridan, Wyoming named Ae Suck.”

I just received an email from Side Dish, part of the D magazine web site, reporting the death of Gina Campisi, a member of the famous Dallas restaurant family. Side Dish wrote: “A Campisi family friend confirms that Gina Campisi, of the Egyptian Lounge Campisis and owner of Fedora Restaurant, was found dead today of an apparent suicide in her East Dallas home. Our thoughts are with the family.”

This is what Pulitzer prize-winning food journalist Jonathan Gold wrote on Dec. 27, 2009. “While nobody was paying attention, food quietly assumed the place in youth culture that used to be occupied by rock ‘n’ roll–individual, fierce and intensely political, communal yet congenial to aesthetic extremes: embracing veganism or learning to butcher a cow; eating tofu or head cheese, bean sprouts or pigs’ ears. I could happily go the rest of my life without hearing about another celebrity potato farmer or rock-star butcher, about 15-year-old cheddar or 150-year-old Madeira. And I am not alone. ” I second that emotion, Mr. Gold! There is much to be said for the glorious enthusiasm of youth.

The Hill Country Wine and Food Festival is Austin’s big food event of the year. Read all about it at the web site—lots of fun events this year, which is the twenty-fifth anniversary—including vineyard luncheons, a star-chef dinner, a wine tasting/talk on taking your cellar to the next level, how to pair wine and cheese, a cocktail showdown with five local mixologists, a sip-and-stroll courtesy of major Texas chefs, and—the reason for this posting—the Sunday Fair. To be held Sunday afternoon, April 18, it’s one of the most popular events of the entire Festival and showcases Texas food products, wines, beers, and, but of course, live music. If the fair sounds like something you’d like, jump on the bandwagon now while tickets are still being discounted. They are $25 through January, then they go up to $45. Act now or forever hold your peace.

Tagged: hill country wine and food festival.

Don’t delay, you have just about a week left to sign up to attend the ‘Shroom Throwdown in Houston on Monday, February 1, at Vic and Anthony’s Steakhouse.

What the heck IS a ‘Shroom TD? A cookoff–with fungi as the not-so-secret ingredient—pitting ten of the city’s most fabulous chefs  against each other for the title of  ‘Shroom TD Champ. It costs $30 a ticket, and you get to wander around, nibble the contestants’ food, hobnob, and sample the wares of a cash bar. (Water’s free.) Lasts from 5 to 9:30 p.m.

The sponsor is the Houston Chowhounds, that manic food club (they have so many events I can’t even keep up). Yours truly is one of  six judges. (By the way, there’s still an opening for a “wild card judge,” so if you think you’re hot stuff, send head Hound Jenny Wang  a clever answer to the question: “Why should I be a STD ['Shroom Throwdown] Judge?” Forward it to imneverfull@gmail.com by—eek—tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 22.)

For full info, check out the ‘Hounds Web site.

Here are the competing chefs:

Mark Cox – Executive chef of Mark’s
Robert Del Grande – Executive chef/owner of RDG
David Grossman – Executive chef/partner of Branch Water Tavern
Grant Hunter – Executive chef of Brenner’s on the Bayou
Michael Kramer – Executive chef of Voice  *Previous TD champion*
Rebecca Masson – Pastry chef
Carlos Rodriguez – Concept chef of Vic & Anthony’s
Chris Shepherd – Executive chef/partner of Catalan
Cunninghame West – Executive chef of Valentino Vinbar
LJ Wiley – Executive chef/partner of Yelapa Mexicana

(And by the way, if that picture I posted is of a poisonous mushroom, I don’t even want to know about it.)

Tagged: shroom throwdown, vic and anthony’s steakhouse.

The most intriguing email of the last week came to us from John Mueller (yes, one of those Muellers, as in the barbecue dynasty of Central Texas).

It said, in its entirety: “Have a very Happy New Year. Look for John Mueller BBQ in the very early 2010 in some form. Taking it to the streets and using Joe Nick’s advice of 1 brisket at a time.–Have a great day–John Mueller.”

So, I emailed John with a few questions and just heard back. He says: “Yes [the new operation] will be in Austin. I’m taking this slowly to ensure a successful comeback. My first plan is to vend in local clubs so I can reestablish my reputation and confidence. I will be looking for the exact right opportunity for a building.”

(”Joe Nick” refers to Texas writer Joe Nick Patoski, a noted barbecue expert.)

Tagged: john mueller.

Out of the blue, I got an email from Scott Cohen, executive chef of Pavil, a brasserie I like a lot in San Antonio. This is what he said:  “I was thinking about Christmas and decided to make this lamb shank recipe at home so my wife can relax this year. It’s really awesome.”

He included a recipe for the lamb, and given the season, I thought it sounded too good not to post. (It’s a little complicated, but I’m sure it’s fun and worth the time if you’re an avid cook.) It’s on the menu on Thursdays at Pavil, by the way.

Braised Lamb Shanks

For the lamb shanks:
4 lamb shanks
6 tinned anchovies, cut into halves
12 small rosemary sprigs
12 slivers garlic
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces duck fat, butter, or drippings
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
2 onions, roughly chopped
1 head garlic, broken up into cloves
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
½ bottle red wine
1 pint chicken or lamb stock or water

For the sauce
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4oz streaky bacon lardons, blanched
1 carrot, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 thirteen-oz tins flageolet beans, drained and rinsed

For the gremolata
3 cloves garlic, chopped
5 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
zest of 2 lemons

For garnish
2 tbsp grated Parmesan

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees .
2. For the lamb shanks, first remove the majority of fat from the shanks. Make three deep incisions in each shank and insert in each half an anchovy wrapped around a sprig of rosemary and a slice of garlic. Season the meat with salt and freshly ground black pepper;  you will not need too much salt as the anchovies are very salty.
3. Heat a little duck fat, butter or dripping in a casserole, add the shanks and brown all over. Remove and set aside.
4. To the casserole, add the carrots, celery, leek, onions, garlic cloves and herbs and cook over a high heat until the vegetables are browned.
5. Deglaze the casserole by adding the red wine, scraping the residue on the bottom of the pan and stirring well.
6. Add the stock or water to the casserole, place the shanks on top of the vegetables, cover and cook in the oven for two and a half hours.
7. When the lamb has finished cooking, remove the four shanks to a dish and keep warm. Pass the vegetables and cooking liquor through a mouli, or blend in a food processor, and set aside.
8. For the sauce, heat the oil in a large pan over medium to high heat. Add the bacon and fry until browned. Reduce the heat and add the carrot, celery, onion and garlic.
9. Cook for eight minutes until the vegetables have softened; then add the thyme, rosemary, tomatoes and flageolet beans. Heat through.
10. Pass the blended lamb cooking liquor and vegetables through a strainer or fine sieve onto the bean mixture, stir together and pour over the lamb shanks.
11. Mix the gremolata ingredients together to make the gremolata.
12. Serve the lamb garnished with the gremolata and parmesan.

The carts go around and around, delivering steaming platters and bamboo boxes filled with sumptuous morsels: baked barbecued pork folls, fried taro dumplings, shrimp pancakes, wonderful eggplant thingies stuffed with some sort of minced shrimp–we were so mesmerized that we hardly noticed an hour and a half had passed. Dim Sum is Chinese brunch, for you youngsters who haven’t tried it yet, and instead of you going to the food, the food comes to you. At Fortune, the rolling carts are wheeled through the room, making the circuit until they’re depleted, then going back to the big, busy kitchen for more. You choose by pointing, a helpful server puts it on your table, you devour it. The portions are designed for, usually, three to share. And they’re all small, so you have a variety. It’s quite jolly, lots of fun if you have friends in town for the holidays. I can’t think of a better dim sum in Austin, certainly not one with this much variety. (And if you’re a native of China, or just adventurous, you can get the serious stuff like chicken feet in special sauce or beef tripe with ginger and scallion. The last sounds like Chinese menudo to me–bet it cures a hangover.)

Usually I get the green enchiladas at Julio’s, which is a little hole in the wall on Duval, not too far from the office. Today, the weather was so miserable–though less so than awful, bone-chilling yesterday–that I thought: caldo, yes! I love Julio’s Mexican chicken soup–it’s got a fabulous broth, nice strips of meat, white and dark, and yellow squash that they’ve cooked absolutely to death. Carrots, too. I wish it had cabbage, because that’ s one of my favorite things in chicken soup, but, oh well. It did the trick. And you know what, tonight I’m going to stop by there on my way home from the office and get a whole rotisserie chicken for the weekend. In fact, I’m blowing this joint, right now!

Our stalwart and somewhat chilly Big Bend correspondent Fern McDougal writes, ” Far West Texas was hit with a soggy snowstorm Dec. 1, but diners at the Food Shark in Marfa were snug, warm and, I would think, rather amused.

“The Food Shark Dining Bus, a rolling dining room, was used for the first time that day.  Eventually, it could rival the Food Shark food truck as one of the most photographed Marfa icons. That Food Shark truck, a’74 Ford van retired from delivering Butter Krust bread, has been refitted with a kitchen and serving window. Proprietors Krista Steinhauer, the talented cook, and muse Adam Bork, the guy with the wrench and paint sprayer, serve lunches under a canopy on Highland Avenue.

“Bork said unpleasant weather was deterring potential customers, so the Dining Bus was conceived to get diners out of the weather. He bought the ’89 Bluebird school bus at auction three weeks ago and refitted it to seat 29.

“Here’s a foodshark slide show, with flashbacks to the original appearance of the bus: http://bit.ly/4uuMSe

“For photos of the bus and other vintage vehicles in the Shark fleet on Dec. 1, see http://tinyurl.com/y9gp44y.

Thanks, Fern. Stay warm! Pat

Tagged: food shark, marfa.