The Fourth of July may be all about American patriotism. But Texas chauvinism—and Texas barbecue—will be the order of the day on the Second of July. So fire up the TV at 8 a.m. Central and tune in to the CBS Early Show to watch Wayne Mueller, co-owner of Louie Mueller Barbecue of Taylor, demonstrate how to season and smoke Texas’s triad of barbecued meats. (The theme of the show is “Taste of America,” and he’s representing our fair state.) Since Mueller is the third generation of his family to run the joint, he does know a thing or two. After watching him live on the New York–based show, you won’t have any excuses for fixing lousy brisket on the Fourth. Oh, Mueller will also be in attendance at the second annual Texas Monthly BBQ Festival in Austin on October 30 (picture from last year). Finally, if it seems like barbecue is all I ever blog about anymore, you are so right. I promise I’ll stop for a while after this. Unless I don’t. . . .

Picture this: It’s one of those brutally hot days, when the Texas air is as still and thick as homespun cream. Far in a South Austin field, behind a row of trailers, there’s a girl. She’s standing in a tiny patch of shade, holding something in each hand. Closer, closer now. We don’t want to scare the wildlife. Now you can see the outline of the huge, fresh-baked cookies, the ice cream sandwiched between them melting faster than an ice sculpture in August, dripping down her wrists and onto her milk-studded, poorly chosen black T-shirt. On her face there’s an expression of pure, unadulterated five-year-old joy. And more ice cream and cookie spackle than there are summertime freckles.

Don’t judge. So what if I had two ice cream sandwiches? I dare you to brave Coolhaus and not flash back to the footprint of your childhood. Except, remember that bland vanilla ice cream between two chocolate wafers, the way the columns of chocolate stuck perfectly to your fingers? Those sandwiches will always have my heart, just as I’ll always love candy necklaces. But comparatively, Coolhaus’s skyscrapers are like Willy Wonka’s everlasting gobstoppers: architecturally interesting, edibly stimulating.

And here we’ve hit on Coolhaus’ shtick (every trailer has to have one, after all). A riff on the name of the famed architect Rem Koolhaas and the influential Bauhaus movement, Coolhaus serves “architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches.” Translation? A cookie roof and floor with ice cream walls, served to you from a 1985 vintage mall truck with green glass bricks on the roof.  The mini-chain started in L.A. in 2008 and now has outposts in New York and Austin. All of their offerings are made fresh with local ingredients, and their ice cream is hormone- and antibiotic-free. Plus, they serve their sammies in edible rice-paper wrappers. How tastefully green is that?

Especially in the delirious Austin summer, you’ve got to admire Coolhaus’s philosophy: When it’s as hot as an oven out, bake cookies! Then use them to anchor lusciously cold ice cream. My favorite was the ever-popular double-chocolate cookie and Dirty Mint ice cream combo. It’s hard to beat just-baked, decadent cookies with the right amount of crunch and a huge scoop of thick, minty ice cream to cool you down.

I also loved the mascarpone-and-fig ice cream: light and understated, with big hunks of juicy, balsamic fig. Though the soft, cinnamony snickerdoodle cookies were great, I was disappointed with Coolhaus’s recommended combination. Instead, I wish I’d tried the ginger cookies, which promised to be less bland.

But there to save the day was the I.M. Pei-nut butter ice cream with chocolate chip cookies, bright and shining as the Louvre Pyramid, melodious as the notes echoing in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. What else can I say? This is my dream dessert, come to life. The peanut butter was rich and creamy, a perfectly smooth compliment to America’s favorite chewy-crunchy cookies. But if you’re looking for something less traditional, don’t despair: Depending on the day, the truck serves interesting offerings like lambrusco ice cream and oatmeal cookies with baked apple ice cream, not to mention gastro-experiments like brown-butter-with-candied-bacon ice cream.

As much as I love standing by a trailer in the 104-degree heat with ice cream dripping down my arms, it is a bit ironic that Coolhaus’s architectural bent has not lent them a building with four walls and a blasting air-conditioning unit. But then again, they could just as well riff on old Corbu and say that food trailers are architecture, buildings are bourgeois.

Two trucks: “Smokey,” 3600 Lamar, Thur & Fri 3–8, Sat 12–8. “Betty” roams; for hours and location, check their website and Twitter.

Posted by Megan Giller. To read more from Megan Giller, visit her website at www.megangiller.com.

Tagged: Coolhaus, dessert, ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, Trailer Thursday

From our BBQ app and BBQ web site partner, Daniel Vaughn of Full Custom Gospel BBQ:

There’s a BBQ Hunt going on across the state, and Texas Monthly is behind it. As part of the promotion for the badass BBQ app, they are giving away large amounts of smoked meat and other prizes in various cities. Today, Thursday, June 30th there’s a giveaway at Main and Ervay in downtown Dallas. Along with ribs from Baker’s Ribs and tickets to this year’s Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, you’ll also have the chance to dine at a Dallas BBQ joint of your choice with me, the BBQ Snob. The meal and the platform with which you can openly berate me and my BBQ opinions are all free if you win. I hope to see you in downtown Dallas at 12:45pm today.

For continuing details on the hunt, follow myself @BBQsnob and @TMFood.

For the last several weeks, Aaron Franklin (he of the massive overnight success Franklin Barbecue, in Austin) has been building an additional smoker in his backyard, to increase the capacity of his perpetually sold-out joint at 900 E. 11th. Yesterday he and his wife/biz partner  Stacy were in New York for a little R&R and they met up with Gabe Ulla of eater.com, who posted a long, fun interview, excerpted below. Incidentally, Franklin Barbecue will be the featured “newcomer” at the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, to be held in Austin on October 30. And we interviewed him for our cover story Cook Like a Texan, in April, where he explained how he does it, step by step–check out his secrets of his craft here.

Franklin: I’m going to double what we do and hopefully let us open at nighttime. Right now we are doing 35 to 37 briskets, each of which feeds about 10 to 15. So this enormous, twenty-foot long smoker will hold 37. This thing is frickin’ ginormous.

Eater: It’ll be the same menu?

Franklin: Yeah, same thing, we just will be able to serve more of it, and the lines will hopefully be shorter. . . We’re also hiring a few more people.

Eater: How did it get this crazy?

Franklin: It was really through the internet and bloggers.  . . . Initially we were open until 4PM, and it just kept getting earlier and earlier.

Eater: It seems like that cycle just keeps on going.

Franklin: It does. It’s jut never enough. We’re already too big for the building we’re in right now [which we only recently moved into, from the food trailer where we started].

Eater: Everything you’ve described suggests that it’s pretty much impossible for you to open up another place.

Franklin: It would never happen. Keep it small, keep it good.  [ Read the whole interview here.]

Two weeks ago, to celebrate the launch of our BBQ app and web site, we bought three Austinites a Franklin brisket. And we aren’t stopping there. Follow @TMFood or @Texasmonthly on Twitter to keep tabs on the #tmbbqhunt. From here on out, three lucky winners will still get to take home meat, while another will receive two free tickets to the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival (October 30 in Austin).

And what we’ll tell you now is Tuesday, it will happen in Fort Worth, with BBQ from Cousins .

When it comes to Texas wine, we’ve got quite a few we’d gladly recommend. But rather than take out word for it, take it from the San Francisco International Wine Competition. One of the largest and most esteemed of its kind, winemakers around the world look to this competition for a pulse on wines of the world. More than 1,200 submissions from 29 countries (including the United States.) yielded a much anticipated award list. How did Texas fare? Better than you might think.

A Texas-sized Tip of the Hat to:

Gold: Flat Creek Estate 2009 Syrah Texas Hill Country

Silver: Brennan Vineyards 2009 Buffalo Rhône Texas

Silver: Flat Creek Estate 2010 Pinot Grigio Estate Bottled Texas Hill Country

Silver: Flat Creek Estate 2010 Muscat Canelli Texas

Silver: Sandstone Cellars Winery 2009 Red Blend VIII Mason County, Texas

Silver: Sister Creek Vineyards 2010 Muscat Canelli Young Family and Five Star Vineyards Texas High Plains

Silver: Sister Creek Vineyards 2009 Red Blend American

Bronze: Brennan Vineyards 2010 Viognier Texas

Bronze: Duchman Family Winery 2009 Dolcetto Bingham Family Vineyard Texas High Plains

Bronze: Duchman Family Winery 2009 Aglianico Reddy Vineyards Texas High Plains

Bronze: Flat Creek Estate 2010 Rosé of Sangiovese Estate Bottles Texas Hill Country

Bronze: Grape Creek Vineyard 2009 Cabernet Trois Texas

Bronze: Sandstone Cellars Winery 2006 Touriga IV Mason County, Texas

Bronze: Torre di Pietra 2009 Blanc du Bois Reserve Texas Hill Country

(Full results of the San Francisco Wine Competition here.)

And if you’re looking for other great Texas Wine suggestions, take a look at the results of Texas’s very own Lone Star International Wine Competition held by the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association. Held June 6 and 7, this annual competition not only has a Texas-only division, but an International Division as well with nearly 600 wines from around the world. Yet again, Texas wines did well against International competitors with 20 of 58 Gold Medals, 76 of 171 Silver Medals, 124 of 244 bronze medals, going to Texas wines and Grand Star Awards going to:

Dry Comal Creek Vineyards Petite Verdot, 2009 – International Red Table Wine category

Dry Comal Creek Vineyards 1096 White Port, NV – International Fortified Wine category

Bending Branch Winery Tannat 1840 EM Bella Collina Vineyards (Paso Robles grapes), 2009 – Limited Production Red Table Wine category

Georgetown Winery Texas Reserve, 2010 – Texas Fortified Wine category

Salado Creek Winery & Vineyard Salado Frost, NV – Late Harvest, Dessert & Ice Wine category

Llano Estacado Winery Viviano Superiore Rosso, 2007 – Texas Red Table Wine

McPherson Cellars Roussanne, 2010 – Texas White Table Wine

(Full results of the Lone Star International Wine Competition here.)

- Jessica Dupuy

Image courtesy Flickr user TheGiantVermin

If you’ve been to half as many trailers as I have, you know one sad little fact: Many of them are never open. Oh, all right—maybe “never” is an exaggeration. But many times, finding a truck that sticks faithfully to its hours is almost as tricky as gracefully eating those bulgogi chili-cheese fries once you find said trailer.

So before I continue with my “epic trailer quest” and review another delightful food truck, I thought I’d pause to acknowledge the places that I would like to try, if they’d ever raise their darn gratings and start dishing out food when they say they will.

Before I call anyone out, let me first say that it’s hard to be a trailer. Especially in the summer. In Texas. When it’s 104 degrees out. In many cases, these are ordinary, plucky folks running homegrown businesses and serving gourmet shoestring fries on a shoestring budget, and I admire the work that they do. I admire it so much that I would like to put the fruits of all of that labor into my mouth and enjoy it for lunch or dinner.

For example, Diner on Wheels, I would love to try your spinach-ricotta enchiladas, with green chiles on a blue-corn tortilla. Your Grill Fiesta, with green (more…)

Tagged: Dan's BBQ, Diner on Wheels, Fat Cactus, Not Your Mama's Food Truck, Trailer Thursday

Could the insanity over Franklin Barbecue spin more out of control than it already has? Totally. For one thing, we’re piling on. Yesterday, Texas Monthly named the riotously popular eighteen-month-old Austin joint as the designated “newcomer” at the second annual Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, coming up October 30. That means Aaron Franklin will be there, handing out samples of his mouth-watering, shirt-staining, chin-dripping brisket. He’ll join the twenty-odd other participating joints from our list of the top fifty barbecue joints in Texas and the runners-up. (Check our cover story from June 2008.)

If you’re not from Austin, you may be asking yourself, What the hell is Franklin Barbecue and what does Sharpe mean by “insanity.” Just this: Bon Appétit magazine just named Franklin “the best bbq restaurant in America.” Full Custom Gospel BBQ, one of the most respected barbecue blogs in Texas, gave Franklin six out of six stars (six means “reconsider your honeymoon destination”). Other major blogs like Texas BBQ Posse and Man Up Texas BBQ are in agreement that it is one of the best, if not the best. AND we featured it in our Cook Like a Texan cover story this April. And, oh, did I mention the lines? That Franklin regularly sells out in an hour or two almost every day?

So check it out, readers. If you’re in Austin, queue up starting at 11 a.m.  at 900 E. 11th (closed Mondays). If you’re from out of town, come and get some of that brisket, and more,  at our fest on Sunday, October 30. General admission tickets go on sale August 10 ($58); VIP tickets are on sale now ($118). Hint: When you get to the page, scroll down a bit and click on the little box for “Texas Monthly BBQ Festival.”

La Tasca may not be the most original name for a Spanish tapas locale, but the Texas-inspired, absolutely decadent, and beautifully presented food at this Central Austin station is a refreshing surprise. No longer do you have to travel to a certain odd spot on South Lamar to find gourmet small plates from a trailer. Plus, La Tasca and the other trucks at the Feed the Soul trailer park have the hottest commodity you can trade on these hot summer days: shade, shade, shade. And tons of picnic tables.

It was quite a romantic setting as I sat down to the watermelon salad, a fresh assortment of baby greens in a light vinaigrette, topped with several thick slices of watermelon and great hunks of rich feta. And I was passionate about the salty Marcona almonds and tiny green olives served on the side.

But the real love at Alex Gates’s trailer is the bread, which she has flown in parbaked from Tribeca Ovens, in the Northeast, and then bakes fresh herself daily. (For locavores, Gates mentioned several times that she’d like to source bread locally but hasn’t yet found the right fit.) She serves the baguettes and French bread with everything, and it’s a carb lover’s dream: yeasty and soft, with a crust thick enough to make you think you’re picnicking in the Tuileries.

Dipped in the peppery sauce that accompanied the bite-sized Richardson Farms meatballs (served with roasted orange and red peppers), the bread was sublime. And it definitely elevated the “surf and turf”—an open-faced sandwich with tender grilled skirt steak, a pile of thinly sliced grilled onions, two fat shrimp, and a pour of a very orange smoked-paprika-and-crushed-red-chile aioli.

The only slight disappointment was the haricots verts. Now, don’t get me wrong. Nothing at La Tasca could actually disappoint. But in the face of so much fine food, I had higher expectations for the dish, with chilled haricots verts, a too-heavy truffled mayonnaise, smoked salmon, and a dense, bland duck egg salad.

Fortunately, just one bite of the flavorful Spaniard sandwich restored everything to order. A simple trio of serrano ham, manchego cheese, and quince served on toasty French bread, it was addictive. In particular, I liked the dark purple, sweet quince paste (called membrillo in Spanish), with its overtones of pear and apple.

La Tasca’s menu rotates, but most days you’ll find sandwiches, meatballs, other traditional dishes, and the most important staple: French bread. La Tasca and the rest of the Feed the Soul lot might be moving locations soon, based on the city’s zoning laws. But the park is definitely open through June 26th, and hopefully much longer. Hurry over to lounge under those big, leafy trees and enjoy some Texas shade with your Spanish tapas.

For now: Feed the Soul trailer park, 1508 Rio Grande (512-426-5841). Open Mon–Thur 11–2, Fri 11–2 & 6–10, Sat 6–10. Closed Sun.

Posted by Megan Giller. To read more from Megan Giller, visit her website at www.megangiller.com. Photograph by Christian Bowers.

Tagged: Feed the Soul, La Tasca, tapas, Trailer Thursday

Who said you couldn’t have good Cabernet in Texas? Well, actually, a lot of people. And in many cases this is true. But there are a handful of Texas wineries that continue to make a statement with this big, bold grape despite what the critics say. And Becker Vineyards is one of these exceptions. This month’s wine of the month selection was chosen with the help of Lüke restaurant’s Stephen Jeffcoat, a recent New Orleans transplant with the esteemed Besh Restaurant Group who moved to San Antonio to open Lüke with executive chef Steven McHugh last fall. (Of course owner and celebrity chef John Besh is very involved as well.)

When opening Lüke, chef McHugh forged a number of relationships with local farmers and purveyors to help supply his kitchen with sustainable food sources. Jeffcoat’s vision for the beer and wine program was similar. Though Lüke has more of a beer focus with Texas-based beers, Jeffcoat’s wine list includes a number of German and Central French wines to compliment the predominantly German-style food. And he has also selected a few Texas wines as well, including a couple from Becker Vineyards.

“Becker Vineyards is loosely tied to Lüke restaurant in that the vineyard is located in a very German part of Texas on a site of native mustang grapes that were used by German settlers in their process of winemaking,” says Jeffcoat. “Lüke restaurant is primarily inspired by the French region of Alsace, which borders Germany, and you see a great representation of French as well as German food on our menu.”

Which is how we arrive at this month’s Texas Wine of the Month: Becker Vineyards Iconoclast Cabernet 2009.

In Jeffcoat’s own words, “This is the number one selling wine at Becker Vineyards, and with good reason,” he says. “The nose on this wine gives off warm spices and a hint of blueberry. The mouth reveals black berry, dark cherry and plum. It sits on the tongue just begging you to take another quick bite of that grilled Texas ribeye! But it also has a mild, long finish. For those non-beef eaters, you will be surprised at how well this wine goes with fried Texas quail.

“It rivals all the household name California producers that have been producing wine for decades. I’ve had many people come into our bar asking for a great cabernet by the glass. They taste the Iconoclast and say the same thing every time, “this is from Texas?”

In July, Lüke will host its first wine dinner and will be showcasing Becker Vineyards wines for their pairings. But you don’t have to wait until then to check this wine out. At a very affordable $10.95, this fantastic wine is available at most Texas-based grocery stores as well as Spec’s, Twin Liquors, Central Market, and Whole Foods.

Winery: Becker Vineyards

Price: $10.95

Availability: Most Texas-based grocery stores, specialty markets, and liquor stores.

- Jessica Dupuy