Pappardelle with Lamb Ragu, Mint & Pecorino

So while I was typing up the Salt & Time post last night, my dinner was simmering away. I recently saw a Twitter post featuring this incredible looking recipe from Wine Spectator magazine. The results were great! Maybe not the best dish for a warm Austin night, but the fresh pop of mint, along with the saltiness & twang from the pecorino (aged sheep's milk cheese), and the earthiness of the lamb were a great combination, that frankly, I could eat year round!

I used the dry pappardelle noodles from DeCecco, because they were already in my pantry, but I'd love to do this dish with fresh pasta! And I substituted Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes for the canned cherry toms, again, because there was a can in the pantry.

Buen provecho!

Salumi from Salt and Time

I had the pleasure of getting some salumi samples from Ben of Salt and Time. We met at the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, and we chatted for a few minutes about his products. He uses locally sourced ingredients to produce his various meat products, which age at differing rates. He does use a tiny smidge of sodium nitrate in the salumis, both to ward off botchulism and to keep the meats from turning to an unappealing brown color as they age.

He's gradually breaking into the local markets; Odd Duck Farm to Trailer and the Hotel St. Cecila use some of his items in dishes/charcuterie plates, and he's starting to sell them at retail places like Antonelli's Cheese Shop (I still need to get north of the river and check them out....), Aviary and Apothecary Cafe and Wine Bar. Retail-wise, they run $25-30/pound, and I believe he said he's doing pre-sliced 4 ounce packages for places like Antonelli's. Thoughts of a farmer's market booth are also there. He's also making pickled vegetables, and is considering trying to get those into some of the area bars as good bar snacks. (Any suggestions on where he should try?) Keep an eye on his website for other events he'll be involved with; one coming up on May 28th. Last month, he did the Umlauf Sculpture Garden's annual fundraiser.

Here's a rundown on what I happily sampled, going clockwise from the 11:55 position (all pork products):

Lonzino -- Dry cured pork loin, this was sliced tissue paper thin! In the back notes, I could taste a subtle herbaceous flavor, and I emailed Ben, and he said he uses fennel and juniper in the cure. I knew I had tasted some herbs, but I couldn't pinpoint it!

Brianza -- This is a very mild sausage, with a slight twang to it; it had a very smooth texture, and larger pieces of marbled fat.

Tuscan with fennel -- One of my favorites! A nice sweetness about it, with whole fennel seeds; it's smoother grind than the brianza, but more marbled. Also some black pepper in it. Also cut very thin, you can see the slivers of the fennel when held up to the light.

Soppressata with chile -- A southern Italian speciality, as with the Tuscan there were little flecks of chile flakes to be seen. Great flavor, and while it does have chile in it, the chile doesn't overwhelm at all, and it wold be great on a cheese board. This is a little coarser and chewier than the Tuscan, with bigger pieces of fat. My other fave!

Genoa -- This was the largest in diameter, I'd say 2.5 inches around. Faint garlic flavor, nice swirled marbling, with a few larger pieces of fat. This one tasted more "porkish" to me, kind of like a strong Canadian bacon.

Chorizo -- A denser roll than the others, this had a nice piquant pop of hot smoked paprika. (Odd Duck used tiny slivers in a potato dish with a aioli.)

Really, all I can is they were great! Go and seek out these fine cured products! Eat them plain, make a charcuterie plate, or something of your own devices, but try them!

Thanks Ben!

May 14
After emailing Ben that I had posted on my blog, he sent me info about the May 28th event:

Hunger Awareness Blog Project, post 2

Ever since our meeting at the Capital Area Food Bank, I've struggled with the nutritional aspects in regard to are food bank recipients getting appropriate nutrition? The average bag of food from a pantry is almost pure starch -- rice, potatoes, pasta -- with a few nutritionally devoid (almost) cans of over-processed veggies. How do families with children get a proper, balanced meal? I don't have kids, but I have wondered nonetheless. I am assuming that a good majority of these children eat one (or more) meals at their schools. But we've all heard how many school districts serve poor quality meals -- pizza, french fries, "chicken" patties, etc. Is that actually what kids in the Austin-area eat?

And then in today's paper, there was my answer. The story by Addie Broyles on local school lunches, inspired by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. It turns out, "Austin schools have been working for more than 20 years to improve the quality of the food, while still meeting federal nutritional standards and staying on budget." In AISD, they do baked sweet potato fries, whole wheat hamburger buns, lean hamburger meat, and even have signs up asking students if they've eaten their fruit or vegetable for the day. They've made the conscious effort to improve the meals of their students. So thanks to Addie's story, I feel a bit more at ease, knowing kids have access to a decent meal. 

Back to the food bank project, what have I been eating? There's been a good amount of oatmeal in the mornings, supplemented by a fresh banana or canned fruit cup. The bean dip I made from dried cannelini beans (see previous post) has been eaten with carrot sticks. Dinners have been more interesting! Those russet potatoes? Gnocchi! Baked the potatoes, let them cool, peel them, put through a ricer (or food mill), toss with flour, make a well & add an egg yolk and fresh ground nutmeg, and combine. Roll into 3/4" thick ropes, and cut into 1" lengths. You can leave them as pillow, or lightly squish them with a fork to make indentations, which help to hold your sauce. I squished them, and in a not very patient manner, and they came out rather ugly! Toss them in boiling water, and about 2 minutes later when they float to the top, they're ready. The first night, I tossed them with leftover pasta sauce, and the second night I did them in a brown butter sauce. I melted 2 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet, and slowly let it brown, so it gets that nice caramelly color and deep nuttiness. I tossed in some chopped fresh sage from my garden. One tablespoon of butter actually would have been fine for one serving; both nights, I ate the fresh green beans from my original shopping trip. 

I found a can of black beans in my pantry, and made black bean burgers with them (a little protein, where the gnocchi didn't account for much). It probably wasn't the best of recipes, but not horrible; the one in today's paper in the school lunch article looks good, AND it uses oats! (Next time...) The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of salsa, but I used a chipotle sauce from the fridge. I think salsa, BBQ sauce, chipotles in adobo, etc. would all be fine -- the object is flavor. I did add too many breadcrumbs, so the burgers were a bit dry after I pan-fried them with cooking spray. Fries and burgers go hand in hand , but I wanted to do something a bit different with my potatoes, so I made potato chips. I used the slicer blade on my box grater (or a mandoline, or a very sharp knife), and tossed them with a touch of olive oil & salt. Bake at 475 for about 10 minutes, until golden. Remove to a rack, and they crisp up nicely. I sauteed a little onion and red bell pepper, and added the can of corn. The corn isn't as nutritious as say, a fresh leafy green vegetable, but it was a decently balanced meal.

And we can't forget potato salad! I boiled a couple of potatoes, let them cool, and peeled them. This recipe used a little pickle juice and some dill pickle in it, as well as red onion, celery, mayo & mustard.I swear I've barely used half the bag of potatoes, maybe not even that much. Good thing they keep well.

This challenge certainly makes me think more about what I spend on what I like to eat. I am accustomed to shopping in the bulk departments of grocery stores, but I think the average shopper is scared off by them. They see the word "bulk" and think they have to buy a huge quantity. In reality, you can buy a tablespoon of something or two pounds of it. Retailers receive the items in huge 25 pound (and up) bags, but customers can save money and space in their pantry by just buying what they need for a recipe. Get to know the bulk department of the store you shop in the most. HEB's have their "Nature's Harvest" area, which has spices, flours, nuts, legumes/beans, grains, and more. Places like Central Market and Whole Foods will have those, plus much more. Making an Asian dish? The $5 bottle of Chinese 5-spice powder doesn't exactly appear feasible when on a budget. How about a 50 cent bag instead? And now to change tracks....


My friend and fellow participant in this project makes a great point in her blog, Savor the Earth, about how Texas' economy never really tanked in this fiscal depression like it did in places like California. Yet while the state marches on, it's citizens are second from the bottom in food security. Where will their next meal come from? Can we, as some of the citizens who at least have enough food to fill our bellies, go about social change? Can we start our own food revolution to see that everyone gets what they need? The schools are a great starting point. But what about for adults who are struggling to get by? They still deserve a quality meal, made from "real food" as Michael Pollan says in his latest book (and my current read), Food Rules, An Eater's Manual. Not processed foods, real, whole foods. The quality and quantity of foods both count here.


Pick up a copy. Check out Jamie Oliver. Find out what foods are served in your kids' school district. Support your local food bank with time or money, or both, if you can. Can you afford to eat everyday? Can you afford not to?

Austin Food Bloggers Hunger Awareness Blog Project

I am a member of the Austin Food Bloggers group on Facebook, which was created by Addie Broyles, the food editor of the Austin American-Statesman. She sent out a post last week, asking if people would like to be involved in a project that raises issues about hunger in our community. The basis of the project is to cook from foods that a typical food bank recipient would receive.

A group of about two dozen met at the Capital Area Food Bank on Wednesday evening. We were greeted and given an incredibly informative tour from Lisa Goddard, their Online Marketing Director. At this point, I am ashamed to say I had never been to the CAFB before, and one of their volunteer coordinators is a friend of mine. When I was in high school, I was very active in hunger & homelessness issues, and had volunteered a bit at a food bank, and I think once in college, a one-day project took us to one. I've lived in Austin for HOW LONG now??

Let me first share some of the sobering information Lisa gave us. CAFB houses a 60,000 square foot warehouse, where they sort and organize food for donations to over 350 partner agencies in Travis and 20 counties. Of these agencies, 95% say they could not stay open without the support from CAFB, which relies on donations from stores such as HEB, Walmart & Randalls as well as the US Dept of Agriculture. CAFB is the second largest distributor of produce in the US, behind New York City. Last year, they donated over 23 million pounds of food, up from 17 million the year before. Obviously with the economy in the doldrums, the need for food and resources has increased in the past year or so. But just because some one is receiving food from a food bank, it doesn't mean that person or family is homeless. That's one of the biggest misconceptions out there....in fact 82% of the population served are not homeless. I could go on and on; please see the CAFB website for more stats and eye-opening info.

So if a family were to visit one of CAFB partner agencies and pick up food, the following list is typical of what they would receive. For a month. Yes, month.

2 cans spaghetti sauce
4 cans veggies
4 fruit cans
1 meat selection
3 drink items: choice of large bottle of cranberry apple juice and/or powdered milk (shelf stable milk) boxes and/or apple juice boxes
1 bag spaghetti or egg noodles
1 bag of pinto beans or navy beans
1 bag of white rice
1 package of jalapeno slices
1 ready-made dinner (e.g. hamburger helper)
1 bag/container of rolled oats
1 bag of cheerios
5 lb bag of potatoes

With any luck, that family would also have other funds, whether from food stamps, wages, or what have you to supplement this list as you'll notice there's not a ton of nutritional balance on this list. Fresh produce, dairy, and additional protein are kind of missing. (Though apparently fresh produce donations is a rapidly growing category at CAFB.) So my challenge: to shop for a similar list, and try to create balanced meals.

I went to HEB on Thursday...it took me an hour to shop this! I have always been a label-reader, at least in terms of ingredients. I have extreme aversions to high fructose corn syrup, additives & preservatives, and high fat & high sodium labels. I buy very little processed foods in my "normal" life. A frozen pizza here and there (but generally better quality ones with ingredients you can recognize) and some chips now and then, but I am in the habit of cooking, because it is something I am good at, and something I enjoy. And yes, I am a food snob (there, I've said it!).... I couldn't bring myself to purchase a hamburger helper type meal or canned green beans. I bought items I knew I would eat whether for this project or not, though I fully know that's not the point of this exercise. Mea culpa.

I bought:
1 lb dry cannelini beans
1 lb brown rice (why get white when you can get brown? it was 69 cents)
1 can corn (here, I bought the slightly better quality Green Giant Shoepeg corn, even though it was about 30 cents more than the HEB or Del Monte varieties)
1 4-pk canned peaches
1 lb 90/10 ground beef (I couldn't bring myself to buy the 73/27 beef that was cheaper; who needs that much fat?)
1 lb whole grain penne pasta (yes, you're most likely to receive plain spaghetti; this box of pasta was $1, and it's whole grain)
1 bottle (48 oz) apple juice (this one was the cheapest, AND it didn't have added sugars)
1 jar (45 oz) pasta sauce (I was going to get the HEB brand, then I looked more carefully at the cost per ounce, this one is 5.56 cents/ounce, the HEB 7.27 cents/ounce)
1 container (16 oz) oats
5 lb russet potatoes (it's a lot of potatoes for one person...)
1/3 lb fresh green beans
4 minneola tangelos
2 bananas

I spent $15.58 on my groceries. I shopped for items on the above list, as if I were a food bank recipient, and then I also supplemented with a few fresh produce items, with my "food stamp" money.
Some of the things I didn't buy, and would assume (though we all know where that gets us...) that clients would have oil for cooking, salt & pepper.... I had yellow onions, garlic, parmesan cheese, fresh herbs at home; luxury items, yes, but not unheard of on a food stamp budget either.

I think what shoppers don't always realize is how much they can save by shopping in the bulk foods area of a grocery store. Spices, nuts, grains, flours, often liquids such as honey, balsamic vinegar.... bulk is a bargain! Take advantage of that area! At times it may mean a little more menu planning in advance, but a jar of spices can cost anywhere from $3 on up, and often half the jar goes to waste. If you can shop in bulk and pretty much just buy what you need, you can jazz up your meal without spending a lot. Many bulk departments even have dry soup mixes or hummus mix, which is a great source of protein.

I made a ground beef pasta dish with 1/2 lb of the beef, maybe 10 oz of sauce, and 1/2 the box of penne pasta; I followed a recipe that was on the back of the pasta box. Essentially, brown the beef, add chopped onion & lightly brown, add sauce, & add cooked pasta. I took it one step further by putting it in a casserole dish, topping with a little bit of breadcrumbs & parmesan cheese, and baking for 15 minutes until bubbly. Add a fresh green vegetable, in this case steamed green beans, and you've got some nutritional balance. The pasta dish is easily 4 large servings, and more like 6 smaller ones.
I also soaked some of the cannelini beans, and made a fresh bean dip, by putting them in a food processor with garlic, fresh thyme, olive oil, salt & pepper. It's a great snack or light lunch with carrot sticks, or a multigrain cracker.Finally, I made granola from the oats. I don't know why, but granola cereals (well, cereals in general) are some of the most overpriced items! But you can make your own for pennies! I took a cup of the dry oats (say 4 oz by weight, so 27 cents worth, since the 16 oz container was $1.09), mixed it with 2 tablespoons brown sugar, a pinch of salt & cinnamon, 3 tablespoons oil (I used grape seed because I have it, but canola or vegetable would work; I wouldn't use olive oil for this), 3 tablespoons honey, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1 tablespoon of flax seeds, and about 1/4 cup flaked coconut. All of these things can be bought in bulk at someplace like Central Market, Whole Foods, Sprouts, New Flower..... and possibly even HEB. Even the Congress & Oltorf HEB, which is not a large store comparatively, has a bulk section (Nature's Harvest?), where most of these would be found. Combine everything together, and bake at 325 for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To date, Thursday night for dinner, I ate the pasta casserole & green beans. For breakfast Friday a bowl of oatmeal with a tablespoon of peanut butter added. For snack, Greek yogurt (already had it open in the fridge) with some granola. For lunch, white bean dip with carrots & a leftover piece of focaccia bread, and a banana. For dinner, same as Thursday night. And that is my start to this project. I will say now, while I will stick to this for the week as much as I can, I have some work commitments and evening plans that were already in the works, so I can't dedicate every single meal to this. But the shopping process really did make me think about the "what if's".... how can I do better with what I DO have? What can I do, and what can you do?

Cafe Racer

Trailers, trailers everywhere! One of the newest is just a few blocks from my house -- Cafe Racer at South 1st & Live Oak..... I saw it's "installation" one morning when I was out for a walk, and it opened in mid-March. There's a motorcycle theme to it, from the bike parked out front (the side you can't see in the pic) to the pics on their website.Headed home around 7:30 pm on Wed, I was hungry, and knew I wasn't going to feel like cooking. These are the times when I really miss the Baby Greens salad drive through spot that was at S. 1st & Oltorf until it's unfortunate demise last fall. Popeye's fried chicken is always tempting, but I was hoping Cafe Racer was open for dinner (I remembered it was open for B & L, but didn't know about D). To my happiness, it was open! Walking up, I was immediately greeted by Russ, who's the owner. I ordered the Cooper, a grilled cheese with bacon & pears and a potato salad to go. We chatted for a minute, and I went to sit amongst the colorful picnic tables & adirondack chairs while I waited. I had noticed a new trailer was on his corner, which was closed, but advertising snow cones. Russ said it's apparently going to be Cuban food, so we'll wait and see on that one!Fairly quickly, he brought a brown bag out to me, and I toddled on home. Unwrapping the sandwich on my kitchen counter, I snapped the picture. Then picking it up to take a bite, I found out that the entire bottom side was burned. Like not uneatable ('cause I DID eat it), but fairly dark and unappealing looking. Fortunately, there was not a burned toast taste to it, because then we would have had problems! And while it was tasty & a good combo of flavors (sweet from the pear, salty from the bacon & I guess savory from the cheddar), what I quickly realized was, these are canned pears. And while it didn't say "fresh pears" on the menu, that's what I expected, fresh. As for the potato salad, to me it had a commercial-made taste about it; a certain twang to it that makes me think it wasn't homemade (trailer-made), though I could be wrong.So maybe my expectations were too high. I checked Yelp for other reviews, and they were all 5-star and glowing, so I felt compelled to write a 3-star one, stating my feelings/opinions as above. Would love to know what others (whose food opinions I know and trust) think of the place. I really want to like it, especially because the owner was totally nice.