These images from the New York Times web site are amazing. (From May 14, Dining.)

The best thing about this box of chocolates? No calories. Ever. Why? Because these bonbons and truffles from Hulet are made of glass. Check them out. The pictures are amazing.

I pity anyone who doesn’t live in Austin, because they can’t have lunch at La Traviata. Today chef-owner Marion Gillcrist did ravioli with lamb shank in ragu, a marvel of parchment-thin pasta filled with fluffy ricotta in a deeply meaty sauce swimming with fava beans, crisp green peas, and minced carrots, all under a dusting of parmigiano reggiano. The meat fell to pieces as you scooped it and you never wanted to stop eating. 314 Congress Ave. (512-479-8131). Lunch Mon-Fri. Dinner Mon-Sat. Closed Sun.

Oh heck. I missed April Fool’s. Actually, this is for real. Don’t gag, but there is a recipe for Spam fajitas on the Internet. Yes, people, you cut Spam into strips and saute it with (get this) bell peppers and Chi-Chi’s salsa (another unforgettable product of the Hormel company) and put it in flour tortillas with YOGURT!!! Oh, wait, this is really depressing: If you Google “Spam fajitas,” there are 98,000 hits! The mind reels. The stomach churns.

I ran into the Fat Turkey Chocolate people at a little farmers market behind Casis Village in Austin last Saturday and they said they had some new combos, including a truffle with a dark chocolate shell and dark chocolate ganache as the filling, blended with, get ready, sweet potato and cardamom. Actually, the sweet potato was hardly detectable except for a slightly thicker texture, but the cardamom was a nice touch. Check it out. The Austin company has a truffle-of-the-month program, too. (Hmmm, I didn’t see the sweet-potato one, which is brand new, listed on their website, but they have a lot of other choices.)

Here’s a proudly biased and partisan assessment of the “Iron Chef America” showdown last night between Austin’s Tyson Cole and iron chef Morimoto: Our boy wuz robbed! The loss by the executive chef of Uchi Japanese fusion restaurant to Morimoto was roundly booed by all those assembled at Uchi for a show-watching party, for which the Uchi kitchen prepared all the dishes that Tyson cooked for the contest. The cookoff’s “secret ingredient” was ginger, and every morsel that Tyson prepared–from the pan-seared black bass with gingered lemon puree to the ginger-cured smoked baby yellowtail with ginger-dusted yucca chips–was fantastic. (And that’s only two of the five.) One of the Iron Chef judges in particular seemed strangely deficient in taste buds; she kept saying, “I can’t taste any ginger.” Granted, we didn’t eat the exact same food she did, but everybody in Austin thought the ginger came through loud and clear. Are you curious now? Uchi is doing an Iron Chef tasting menu for the next four Sundays, so get your reservation in. The cost is $65 per person, with wine/sake pairings for an additional $31 per person. The dates are March 30, April 6, 13, and 20. 801 S. Lamar Blvd (512-916-4808).

I got a couple of notes this week from the folks at Max’s Wine Dive in Houston, which we had named one of our top ten new restaurants in the year in Where To Eat Now (March 2008). They’re hoping to open up a location in Austin in the fall. It’s a perfect fit for us–classy grub. Keep your fingers crossed.

The April issue of Food & Wine has a feature on Hill Country barbecue and wine. Ok–so they really focused more on the wine. And they were surprisingly positive about it. By and large, I think they gave proper credit to those vineyards that are making great strides in their national standing. Particularly Alamosa Vineyards with their bold and hearty Tempranillo blend, El Guapo and the fruity Jacques Lapin (Chenin Blanc). Fall Creek’s Meritus Cabernet blend also got a well deserved nod. 

Yesterday, I saw the future of Texas chefdom. I was blown away. The occasion was the final cook-off for the $15,000 Stephan Pyles Culinary Scholarship, which is named for the famous Dallas chef and awarded through the auspices of the Wine and Food Foundation of Texas. The finalists, three culinary students (all looking about 15 but probably in their twenties), each cooked a three-course menu for four judges and we selected the winner. I’m here to tell you that all of them–two women, one man–were top-notch. But there can be only one blue ribbon, and it went to Amol Thanky, a student at the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin. Here’s one of his three prize-winning recipes (note–I haven’t home-tested this; you’re on your own).

Peach-Chipotle Glaze
3 ripe peaches, blanched and peeled
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 canned chipotle (reserve 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce the chiles come in)
squeeze lime juice
salt to taste

Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add peaches, sugar, and honey and bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about an hour, or until peaches are completely soft and syrup is thick. Add chipotle and simmer another 3 to 5 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer; discard chipotle. Season to taste with lime juice, salt, and reserved adobo. Cool.
Quail
5 quail, boned
salt to taste
1 tablespoon peanut oil

Tuck each quail’s wingtips under to prevent burning, and–making a small slit in one leg–slide the other leg bone through to truss the bird. Season with salt and sear in peanut oil until golden brown.
Place quails on rack, brush liberally with peach-chipotle glaze (previous recipe), and broil until glaze starts to caramelize. Remove, brush with glaze again, and broil until golden brown. Let rest, loosely covered in foil, for 5 to 10 minutes. Serves 5.

This is from someone who never eats French fries (you might as well glue them to your hips). But today at lunch at Louie’s 106 in Austin (106 E. 6th, 512-476-2010), my steely resolve crumbled. These frites de les frites (is that a term?) were about the diameter of a No.2 pencil, golden-brown, salty, and perfect. They even had a little batter coating so the crunch lasted the whole meal. You can order them as a side, and they also come with the Philly cheese-steak (itself delish). Yeah, Louie’s isn’t necessarily the hippest place in town, but I eat there at least once a week (it’s close to my office) and I am hardly ever disappointed. The chicken Caesar (made with moist, juicy rotisserie-cooked bird, not dry, leftover grilled chicken breast) is fab, too. But those fries: Run, do not walk.