Cazamance

A friend and I went to the Senegalese trailer, Cazamance, last week. Raise your hand if you've eaten food from Senegal before? Uh huh. Thought so. Well, this charming trailer and it's equally personable owner Iba, will make you venture over to Rainey Street and attempt to find parking just so you can eat there. 

Cazamance has a nice corner lot, a stone's throw east of the Gara'j Mahal Indian food compound. They're got ample seating, some of which is under a shade awning, all of it under some twinkle lights. We started with the hummus, olive and cheese plate; perhaps not authentically Senegalese, but a good vegetarian beginning. (The picture was saved landscape-style, and I've reposted it like 5 times now, and I can't figure out why it's posting portrait-style. So just turn your head to the right....)

For our main dishes, we got the roast curried vegetables in a coconut milk reduction (on the left), the lamb sausage with tomatoes and harissa, served "bunny chow" (in a bread pocket), and a side of plantains.

 

The curried vegetables were fantastic; the sauce had great coconut flavor, but wasn't predominantly so. The lamb sausage was a little dry, and it comes with a lot of bread, but it's an interesting concept. For items on the entree menu, diners actually have their choice of how they would like the dish served -- over rice, in a wrap or bunny chow-ed.  It is nice that you can pick how you'd like it. The plantains appeared to have been cooked on a flat-top griddle, and had nice flavor; they are one of a few side dish choices.
It was a nice night out, and it was pleasant to sit outside with a bit of a breeze. It was also nice to see the place fill up with customers of different ages and ethnic backgrounds. Rainey Street may have enough of that funk to keep things interesting over there, and not get too homogeneous. Iba and his crew made it welcoming and comfortable -- reason enough to return!

Second + Congress

Got invited to a tasting at Second Bar + Kitchen by the Google Places last week. It was a fun time, and great to meet some new blogger friends!  Google Places is a personalized local recommendation engine, that can also help you to find local businesses based on the ones you already know. It's similar to Yelp, but from what I can tell thus far (and not being a regular Yelp user), GP has the ability to do much more. They were a wonderful host for the evening, as we enjoyed the semi-cooling breezes up on the second floor private balcony.

It began with cocktails, which is always a good start. The bar made three different cocktails that aren't on the current menu, and over the course of the evening, we tried them, and rated them; the winner will be included in the summer menu. First up was Forever My Queen, with chartreuse, reposado tequila, and orange juice. Sort of like a tequila sunrise.

There were some cheese plates, which I wish I had gotten the names of all the cheeses, because they were delicious! The dish on the right is the avocado fundido, which was layered guacamole with chorizo, and queso fresca on top.

The waitstaff began with some passed appetizer dishes; my compliments to them, because they were extremely patient and gracious about us (most of us!) taking pictures and asking what things were. This little bite was a sensational combo of flavors -- beet and watermelon with arugula, blue cheese, and Maldon sea salt.

Next we had veal meatballs arrabiata with a fennel gremolata, and grana padana cheese. Loved the little whiteware serving dishes.

Buffalo fried pickles with a gorgonzola sauce arrived next; the pickles were marinated in a house-made hot wing sauce, battered, and fried, with the sauce at the bottom of the cup. 

Another delicious bite was the beef short rib sitting on truffled grits. 

Various pizzas started arriving, these were the pulled pork shoulder with green chiles, asadero cheese, and tobacco onion rings, and the pomodoro with fresh mozzarella and basil. Nice crust, with generous amount of cornmeal sprinkled on the pan before baking. 

Then the bianca with gruyere, grana padana, and arugula. There was also French fries with black truffle aioli.

Midway through the food, the Dickel Daisy was -- Dickel whiskey, powdered sugar, lemon juice, marachino liquor. Tasty, but I am just not a huge whiskey person. 

The last drink however, the Gin and Jam, has made a gin drinker out of me! It was Citadelle Gin on the rocks, with a spoonful of homemade raspberry jam in it. Fantastic! And this was hands-down the best of the drinks! Too bad this was the last drink served, because I could have had multiples of these!

As the sun was beginning to set, there was a huge storm cloud that had formed to the south east. I got a few pictures of it, and then thought it would be best to beat it home, in case it started to storm. I really thought we might be in for tornadic activity, but fortunately it dissipated, though we could use the rain!

I would really like to go back to Second and have a full meal; I enjoyed all of the items that were served, but nothing absolutely knocked my socks off. I hope that David Bull and his team's efforts did not all go into the pricey Congress restaurant, so a return trip is needed!

Hunger Awareness

Last year, a group of food bloggers were invited to the Capital Area Food Bank for a tour and an education. We learned what types of foods a food bank recipient would actually receive, and we were challenged to shop and prepare meals as if we were recipients ourselves. (My posts from last year are here and here.) It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least.

That group of food bloggers are now part of a non-profit organization, the Austin Food Blogger Alliance; one of the missions is that of philanthropy, and this was the kick-off event. We met at the CAFB on April 20, with presentations from Lisa Goddard, their Online Marketing Director, a discussion of SNAP benefits, a mock nutrition class (more on these in a moment) and a tour of the facility. Some of the things I learned and was reminded of:

-- The face of hunger is everywhere, and can be anyone. 

-- One of every two people will have been on food stamps, even if just on an emergency basis, at some point in their lives.

-- Food stamps, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is administered via the Lone Star Card here in Texas; it is federal dollars, not city or state funding. (You may hear someone say: "I am on food stamps/SNAP/Lone Star card" -- it's all the same thing.)

-- Only half of the eligible people are actually on SNAP in our area.

-- The food bank encourages people to fill out the application for SNAP (and has trained counselors to educate people about it and assist with the applications; they work the 21 counties that comprise Central Texas). The use of food stamps creates more economic activity, otherwise federal dollars designated for the SNAP programs are left on the table, which could lead to under-funding in future budget cycles.

-- The application process is NOT user friendly. The state of Texas has a 10 page application, that generally has to be re-submitted every 6 months; the average family of four receives $306 per month in SNAP benefits. (SNAP applications for other states were passed around at the meeting; they were all much, much simpler apps. Pathetic that the state of Texas allows this to continue, but clearly they are trying to limit access to the funds. That's a whole different soapbox that we could get into....but I'll just say, I am really disappointed with our state government and legislators. As Lisa so passionately put it: "There are barriers in place to prevent people from applying.")

-- If there is ANYBODY who you know in Texas who you think would be eligible for SNAP benefits, please encourage them to apply. You can start with the Health and Human Services website to see if you/they are eligible. Then complete the application, and then wait for an interview with HHS. If you're eligible, why NOT apply? It's "free" money.

-- You can't buy just anything from the grocery store with SNAP funds; no prepared foods, such as rotisserie chickens, but raw chicken is fine.

We also had a presentation from Angela Henry, who, as a registered dietitian, conducts classes in the community on how to make healthy meals. She goes into the community to teach basic nutrition, meal planning, kids classes and more. And these are all free classes to SNAP recipients.  Angela and Lisa challenged us as food enthusiasts to come up with healthy, nutritious meals made from items that a SNAP client would be able to buy. We also need to consider that some clients will only have a stove top available to them, no oven or other equipment beyond the basics. CAFB's goal will be to take our recipes and incorporate them into the classes that Angela teaches.

What I've decided to do is to look at some dishes that regularly cook, and see how they can be stretched with a few basic additions. I started with polenta (or you could use grits; they are practically the same, but there are some technical differences). I like to prepare my polenta with half water, half milk, because they come out creamier, and they can easily be made on the stove top in a saucepan. Follow the instructions on the package; I buy the instant ones, that take about 5 minutes; all you need to add are water (and milk if you wish) and salt. By themselves, they're a great filling dish, and organic ones run about $2/lb, and that makes a lot of polenta.  

You can add things like cheese (a nice sharp cheddar, shredded) and herbs (chives, especially) to your polenta to give it more flavor.You can also add protein; this requires an additional skillet or other pan. I've chosen turkey sausage, because it's lower fat than pork sausage.  I removed the turkey sausage from it's casing, and browned it in the skillet with about a teaspoon of oil. Frozen (or fresh) shrimp would be a great one too -- shrimp and grits! 


Add your protein to your polenta/grits, and you've got a good meal. Or, you can keep going. Do you have tomatoes, either fresh or canned (canned are easier for this)? Once you've browned your sausage, add some chopped tomatoes to the skillet as well, and let them heat through.

But wait! Do you have any kind of leafy green? Whether it's a bunch of kale, or loose leaf greens, you can add them in. If you're at the grocery store and you have the choice between romaine lettuce and spinach, get the spinach! Lots of nutrients in the spinach, not so much in the lettuces. Try spinach, arugula, kale, collards, chard -- all good leafy greens. Chop some up, and add it to the sausage and tomato mix; put the lid on the pan for a few minutes to let the greens wilt down. 

When you add this to your polenta, you get a hearty, filling, nutritious meal, with lean protein, vegetables, and grains/carbohydrates. You'll notice I haven't given any measurements for these meal suggestions. Again, follow the package directions for making the polenta/grits, based on the number of people you are feeding. For the protein, a serving is about 4 oz, or the size of a deck of cards. Then add as much tomatoes and greens as you wish. Baking is a science, but cooking is much easier!

Back to the protein for a minute. If you can't find turkey sausage, you could easily use ground chicken or turkey, even ground beef, if you get a leaner one. These meats also freeze well; you can portion them out, wrap in plastic wrap, and put into a freezer bag (label it so you know what it is!)


When shopping, go check out the Bulk section of your grocery store. Stores buy these items in bulk, so you can buy as much or as little of the item as you need. This is a GREAT place to get spices and dried herbs. Say you are using ground chicken, which on it's own is fairly bland; you can get a couple tablespoons of Cajun spice for about 50 cents, and use maybe a teaspoon to season the chicken. Or buy a bottle of Mrs. Dash; there are tons of flavor options, and they don't have sodium. Things like dried beans are usually cheaper in the bulk section than the prepackaged ones, same with rices. Can you plant an herb garden, or pick up some potted ones at the local garden center? This is a great way to get kids involved -- have them care for the plants. Then you've got easy access to great flavor enhancers! Think fresh and think flavor -- those will take you a long way in making a nutritious meal.

Updates

Well, you may have noticed this here blog has a new look to it! After three years, I figured it was time to change things up a bit! The background tile with the plate and silverware is what I use for my Twitter logo, so it seemed like a good idea to streamline things a bit. I also added the Austin Food Blogger Alliance logo, as I am now a dues paying member! I think I am happy with the changes; if you have any feedback or suggestions, please let me know! (I am not a computer whiz, but Blogger makes it fairly easy.) And hopefully a Facebook page for the blog coming soon!

The main "real" news that I ran across this morning on Twitter is the forthcoming Thai restaurant from Rene Ortiz of La Condesa, and it will be in my neighborhood! The northeast corner of South First and Elizabeth, in what has been an abandoned property for years, will become a Michael Hsu-designed Thai spot. I've lived in the Bouldin area for almost 13 years, and I don't think that location has ever had anything functional on it. 

The irony, is this place will be directly across the street from a new Vietnamese place in the old Bouldin Creek Cafe, which is being put in by the team who owns Lambert's and Perla's. The bigger irony is La Condesa and Lambert's are directly across the street from each other on 2nd Street, downtown.

tenOak

I recently received word there was a new bar downtown -- tenOak took over the old Cuba Libre spot on Colorado, between 4th and 5th (next to Frank). I made a date with a friend for happy hour, and we went to check it out.

And the quick verdict: yum!

They've got a daily 4 - 7pm happy hour, and while the menu for food and drinks is abbreviated, everything is $5, though you can order other items too. I started with the Water Cooler cocktail -- vodka with muddled berries, St. Germaine, blue curacao, and a bit of prosecco. From there, I moved on to Office Politics -- vodka, pomegranate liquor, pineapple juice, and a dash of sweet + sour. I liked the second one a bit better, but would happily drink either of them again!

We had the Jester King beer braised pork sliders, which were absolutely delicious, though rather spicy (and the spice isn't mentioned on the menu so it may some as a surprise to those with more delicate palates); you get these two, nice fat sliders! Messy to eat, but perfect for sharing! We also had the Fig in a Pig, where figs are stuffed with blue cheese, wrapped in bacon, and grilled. This is almost heaven for me, incorporating my love of both pork and sweet and savory flavors melded together. Could eat a whole lotta those, and hey, you're eating fruit!

We finished the affair with a dessert -- a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. Amy's ice cream too. It's really hard to go wrong with that kind of classic, especially when it's drizzled with caramel. All items on the Texas-inspired menu are nicely priced at under $10.

TenOak's decor is inspired by a Texas oak tree, and pays homage to oak barrels.  It's a masculine design aesthetic, but certainly not overbearingly so. Three televisions ring the bar, and fortunately, the sound was off on all of them. For the bourbon and whiskey fans, they've got the largest small batch collection in town. There are different types of seating areas -- about 8 booths along the right of the bar, seating at the bar it's self, patio tables up front, regular tables to the left of the bar, two couch/lounge areas towards the back, and a whole separate room at the back that looks to be bar/live music space when needed.

So head downtown for a cocktail or two! The prices are right, the service was friendly, the food creative, and 80s rock music on the speakers. What could be bad?