I bought a new pie dish last week and was immediately inspired to put it to good use! With a smidge of fall-like weather in the air, I thought I would try to summon more cooler temps and less humidity by making something autumnal. I am not a fan of pumpkin, so that was immediately out, and I know I'll be making pecan pie for Thanksgiving, so I decided to pass on that too. Going though some of my saved recipes (three binders worth, and then some!), I came across Pear Butterscotch Pie that had appeared in Gourmet magazine in 2009.
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The one note I left on my printout when I made it before was "yum!". Not very descriptive, but it was precisely that. Especially when served a bit warm with fresh whipped cream.
I think I can now add "Yum, YUM!" to my notes. It's a very easy pie to make, only made complicated by the crust. I made my own crust, because I am a pie-purist in that respect. I use Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe, though I use half butter and half vegetable shortening. And I used Bartlett pears and fresh grated nutmeg, which I think always makes a difference. But if you are not a crust maker, the refrigerated pie crusts will certainly do, and you could do a lattice or other fun, fall-like motif. Do try to use the fresh nutmeg though!
And thanks to the Austin American-Statesman, who featured my Instagram photo in the newspaper, as part of their #austin360cooks hastags.
Enjoy! And meanwhile, I am still waiting for sweater weather........
* I was invited by Capital Grille to experience their current promotion. All opinions are my own.
Now through November 20th, Capital Grille is offering #WagyuandWine, where you can get a Wagyu burger with a glass of either Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon or Goldeneye Pinot Noir for $25.
Photo courtesy of Capital Grille's Facebook page.
Do it!
My friend and I started with the calamari with hot cherry peppers, which was also delicious.
You have your choice of three Wagyu burgers, and I had a huge tender, perfectly cooked medium-rare burger with fried egg, havarti cheese and crispy onions and the Pinot. Oh, and the fries were perfect too.
And save room for the chocolate cake with port wine infused cherries!
Capital Grille is located at 117 W. 4th Street (a block west of Congress), in the old Spaghetti Warehouse space for those who have been in Austin a long time!
I just spent a long weekend in Kittery, Maine with family and friends. I haven't been up there in over thirty years, and it will NOT take me that long to return! The whole Portsmouth, New Hampshire/Kittery + York, Maine area is charming AND filled with great food! The three towns are about a total of 15 minutes apart along the Atlantic coast.
This is the back side of my friend's house originally built in the 1700s, which overlooks a cove on the Piscataqua River.
Photo taken by my father! Thanks, Dad!
And my view of the "backyard". That's the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the distance, where they repair submarines.
Friday night dinner was at Warren's Lobster House, which sits right on the Piscataqua River, which is the New Hampshire/Maine dividing line. Most of our group had lobster, but I was still feeling full from meals with college friends in Cambridge (sticky bun from Flour and lunch at Shanghai Fresh), I opted for the salad bar and a crab cake, which was almost entirely crab. Check Warren's website for coupons! I also couldn't resist a picture of the fabulous latch hook wall hanging depicting Warren's!
Saturday morning, someone was up early to make a run to local bakery Lil's Cafe in Kittery for crullers. The day was off to a good start! They were warm and yeasty and eggy and soft and crunchy all at the same time!
My friends have been spending summers in this area for generations, and they've been going to Flo's Hot Dogs up the road in Cape Neddick on Route 1 (just north of York) since the 1960s. It's basically a shack, and Flo's grand daughter is now running the place, and she's kinda the hot dog nazi! There are specific rules on how to order (which are posted!) so you best pay attention (and step #2 comes several minutes after #1... glad I was with locals!). The House Special are steamed hot dogs, on a steamed bun, served with their relish, mayo, and a dash of celery salt. And honestly, the combo was fantastic.
On the way back, we stopped in York at The Goldenrod, which I remember from when I was a kid. They're famous for their salt water taffy, aka Goldenrod Kisses, and they still have the machines in the windows pulling the taffy and cutting/wrapping them into pieces, just as I remembered. Given that they've been around since 1896, I guess they're entitled to closing for the season at Columbus Day. Check their website for hours, and don't forget the penuche fudge!
So as not to be entirely gluttonous, we then went for a walk through the woods where some leaves were turning into fall colors, and the trail ended at an overlook of some salt marshes.
And then a drive over to one of Maine's few sandy beaches, where I dipped my fingers in the Atlantic. Definitely chilly!
Some of us then went into Portsmouth and to the Great Rhythm Brewing Company for a flight of IPAs, and they picked up some special release cans.
For dinner on Saturday night. all eight of us went to Anneke Jans in Kittery, which got a very positive comment from an Austin restaurant on my Instagram photo! The entire meal was wonderful. I would have never thought to put blue cheese with mussels, but it worked really nicely, along with a very smokey thick cut bacon. Yum.
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Dang the comments don't pop up here, but the Bonneville from here in Austin called Anneke Jans one of New England's best spots!
We took it a little easier on Sunday -- gotta save up some energy for lobster! Some of us make a trip to the farmer's market, where I saw my first ever lion's mane mushroom live and in person!
We went to Sue's Seafood in Kittery, and ordered lobster (LOBSTAH) rolls to go. These things were stuffed with big pieces of lobster, and were served on a nice soft toasted buttery bun. And the best part -- you wanna know how much these cost? $11.99/each. OMG.
While we were at Sue's we went ahead and placed our order for dinner. Steamed lobsters, the "chicken" size, so under two pounds for $5.99 each. EACH. And they came neatly packed in this plastic container, all ready to eat. We added corn, cole slaw, and melted butter, duh, and had a feast!
Sadly we were fewer in number on Monday, but four of us went back to Portsmouth and to Geno's for a last meal together. I took advantage of the lobster, and had this fine chowder. And that's the meat, not the shell!
And we couldn't resist a stop at Kate's Bakery, where the bars were literally five inches square and a mere $3 each. Raspberry bar and peanut butter chocolate one.
And after that, I headed back to Cambridge to stay one night with another college friend, and I headed back to Austin the next day. It was fabulous to get away for a few days, and even better to catch up with old friends (who love to eat too!) and to see my parents! Where's your next adventure taking you?
I was excited to hear that Fresa's Chicken al Carbon was coming to my Bouldin Creek neighborhood, taking over the old Freddie's location at 1703 South First Street. I've always enjoyed the food at the original location at Lamar and 9th Street, though have never frequented it. The team behind Launderette is spreading their wings so to speak with a full-service restaurant and expanded menu. How did my first experience stack up?
My neighbor and I wandered over one recent warm weeknight. The expansive patio has undergone a beautiful transformation, and with a table open near a cooling fan we opted to sit outside. Currently, there are no happy hour specials, but hopefully that will change! We had the Rose Sangria and the Smoky Paloma, and were both quite happy with the quality of the drinks.
Their kids menu says items are for kids of all ages, so we took advantage of the tiny-sized chips and queso offering, which turned out to be the perfect size for two people knowing other food would be involved. It was a very nice queso, gooey enough, but not slick like Velveeta.
We split the La Mari shrimp taco, which I am not sure I would get again. The shrimp were room temp, and it doesn't really seem like an item that shrimp should be lukewarm, though I could be wrong. The pickled onions and greens were nice, but the whole thing left me cold.
The chimichurri skirt steak plate is available in different sizes, depending on the number of eaters. We got the smallest plate, which at 1/4 pound of beef is the suggested size for one person. The beef was good, still pink, and maybe a touch tough. But the real standout was the chimichurri sauce, which was nice and bright in color and flavor. Copious amounts of grilled onions. The disappointment though was the corn tortilla, which was very gummy, possibly from the condensation of being served in tin foil. I think they should ditch the foil and just serve them in the cloth tortilla warmers.
And we also had the Mexican street corn, with cotija cheese and a touch of chile powder. Very tasty!
Topping things off was the Tres Leches Tropical cake for dessert, with a coconut lime sponge cake and exquisite mango passion fruit curd. Really, don't pass this by!
I think we can all agree that the hallmarks of any good restaurant are the quality and consistency of the food and the caliber of the customer service. I thought our server was quite decent up until the point he accidentally knocked the water carafe off the table as he was clearing our main course dishes. It hit the chair where my purse was sitting and the glass broke. I immediately grabbed my purse and started drying off the strap, which was wet, but not damaged. Our young server's comment was "Oh, how did that happen?" though he must have known he clipped it while clearing plates.
There was no apology for the mess or wet purse strap from him nor the other two servers/bussers who came to sweep up the glass (or an inquiry as if either of us had been cut). Nor was the carafe replaced automatically, and said server knew we still had dessert to come. We had to flag down someone who was carrying a tray of five carafes to ask for one, to be given a slightly dirty look (seriously, my neighbor and I both caught it) and the response that those were for another table, and she'd get us one when she could. Oh my.
While not every restaurant has to exhibit the gold-star Uchi levels of service, it would be nice if more restaurants paid attention to service from the get go and made it more of a priority. I spoke to my neighbor today, and she's been back to Fresa's since our visit, and she said both the service and queso were mediocre. Which is a shame, because my last experience at Launderette was delightful in every way. Yes Fresa's is only a couple weeks old, so let's hope they're still just in the growing pains stages as far as service.
But as far as value, I am not sure it's there. I also got a quarter of a chicken, with rice and beans to take home, and while it was tasty for lunch the next day, it was certainly a small portion of meat. I remember when the drive through first opened several years ago, its hallmark was hormone and antibiotic free chickens. And it said so on the website. Now I don't see it listed on the menu or online (and they don't pay much attention to their Facebook page). So I called as I was writing this up, and was told that yes, they are hormone, antibiotic free, and sourced locally. Then why not proudly say it where all can see it? Though looking back on my 2012 blog post on Fresa's, I forgot they were under different ownership then. Times change.
So kind of like the shrimp taco, I'd call this whole experience lukewarm. I'll give Fresa's another shot though. But not the taco.
Pizza.
Soft serve ice cream.
It doesn't get much better than that for kids and adults alike.
The Elena, Honey Bastard, and Ella pizzas
The latest pizza player in Austin is a Dallas import. The well-regarded Cane Rosso Pizza which has several spots in the DFW area, was so impressed with the ice creams at Cow Tipping Creamery, that they bought the Austin-based food truck and have installed CTC storefronts. Conveniently for those of us in Austin, CR just opened in the old St. Philip in Sunset Valley with CTC going next door, in the old bake house spot.
These 900 degree ovens cook a pizza in about 90 seconds.
CR was packed on a Saturday evening at 5:30 pm, but fortunately our group of seven was able to snag a table fairly quickly. Five adults and two kids demolished four pies and a salad -- Margherita (pictured below), the Elena, Honey Bastard, and Ella above. The HB is an off-menu pizza, a white pie with soppressata, bacon jam, and habanero honey.
These are Neapolitan-style pizzas with a soft crust due to the use of Italian "00" flour, and they consider it to be a fork and knife experience, according to the waitress. My one critique is that the toppings are not evenly dispersed, particularly the bacon jam on the Honey Bastard. And I 'd say the Elena doesn't have enough of local BBQ spot Valentina's Tex-Mex BBQ brisket on it to justify it's cost, but both are still delicious.
A Thursday lunch at 12:30 pm, it was only about half full. So if you can get there for lunch, it was a little more relaxed and a lot quieter. Three of us split the Honey Bastard (but note the uneven distribution of the bacon jam) along with a Capra salad; both times the salads were nice and fresh.
October 2017 update:
New chef Josh Healy has unveiled some new menu items. I was invited to a media tasting to check things out. Great happy hours, Monday through Friday, 5 - 7 pm, where several pizzas are only $5!
Crispy potatoes with a fabulous green sauce, which adds a lot of brightness.
Wood-fired St. Louis ribs; very tender, Asian flavors. I enjoyed them but our table was sort of split on these.
HUGE burrata! Super creamy and nice with balsamic drizzle and cherries. This thing was a monster, but we ate all of it!
The Honey Bastard, still my favorite pizza there, with soppressata, bacon jam, and hot honey.
The Metro Pizza, a three-foot long creation with your choice of toppings. Here we have Margherita, the Street Taco (with Valentina's Tex-Mex brisket and mole sauce), and arugula + prosciutto. Great for a crowd!
The lovely and decadent truffle carbonara. Supple pappardelle pasta with loads of truffle flavor. By far the best of the pasta dishes we tried that night.
Chef's special: butternut squash puree + goat cheese tortellini with beet puree and beet "dirt". Pan-toasted which gave them a great texture. Chef explained that he wanted the nightly specials to be plated differently so they stand out.
Cow Tipping specializes in soft serve and makes sundaes known as stackers. Fortunately, they have a kiddie size, which is still plenty of ice cream! I've also had the mint chocolate chip milkshake which was heavenly! Pictured below are the milkshake and a kiddie stacker.
Check out both Cane Rosso and Cow Tipping Creamery at 4715 S. Lamar Blvd, which is really the Hwy 290 eastbound frontage road, between Kohl's and the Toney Burger Center. While I don't see anything mentioning it online, on both visits to CR, I've seen people picking up to go orders, so it appears you can get your pizza to take home. Likewise, CTC has a freezer door with pints ready for take out. Make the kid in you happy with pizza and ice cream!
