Foodie Stamp Tour

The Ins and Outs of Stretching Your LoneStar Dollars

Description:  Ever wonder..."Do my stamps cover hot meals?"  Yes and no.  Let me explain.  Not every store that provides LoneStar swiping privileges is created equal.  Some let you get a ready-made, hot meal, or DIY meal from the bar, but some do not.  In this article, I am going to walk you through some things you may want to know about the LoneStar card.

Foodie Exposé: "Qui" Bono?

An Inside Look at Paul Qui's Culinary Progeny

Description:  Who benefits?  Well, if there is a crime involved, it's getting too much of a good thing.  But, Austin, TX benefits.  Foodies all over are gravitating towards the food trucks in Austin, many of which are housed in the "backyards" of popular bars.  But, those food trucks, though more easily accessible, are not Qui's only epicurean establishments that have be blessed by his influence.  Qui had risen in the ranks of Uchi and Uchiko (Tyson Cole's famous restaurants), where he honed his specialization in Japanese cuisine.  Though, his modernist approach ensures a creative liberty with his own cooking that melds his roots in Filipino cooking, his other specialization in French cuisine, European, and Southeast Asian influences that get people hooked.  Since then, he has launched an eponymous flagship restaurant, Qui, cooking local foods grown with sustainable agriculture methods.  He won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southwest 2012, won StarChefs.com Rising Stars Award in 2012, and of course has the recent Top Chef acclaim notch on his belt.

Guaco de Gallo

A Delectable Marriage of Tex-Mex Favorites

'Za Mon! (A story about a love for pizza)

Cilantro Pesto - Roasted Red Pepper - Belgium Goat Cheese - Pizza

Some would call me a pizza connoisseur. Pizza is so simple to make and the options for creativity are endless. Not to mention, in 2011 Congress passed a bill that would allow a slice of pizza to be considered a full serving of vegetables, dispelling any grief I could have for consuming my favorite food.

Austin is a fantastic place for pizza lovers. Establishments like East Side Pies and The Parlor immediately come to mind as being top-notch in terms of creative, quality 'za. Unfortunately, as you may have learned from reviewing your monthly bank statements, being a VISTA makes regularly patronizing these types of places a bit difficult. However, I highly encourage you to save $20 and indulge yourself to gather ideas and inspiration to bring back to the kitchen.

Ok, now on to the details. This pizza begins with a garlic and butter base and ends with the most succulent combination of roasted sweet red peppers and artisan goat cheese. In the middle of this goodness lies a homemade cilantro pesto that is as versatile as a six armed monkey. 

Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers

Well hello there!

It has been quite some time since our last posts, and for that we are truly apologetic. Between holiday travel, and getting settled into the New Year, our aspirations to regularly post our recipes have been neglected.

However, this does not mean we have not been busy creating new, inspiring, and delicious treats.

In order to get "up to speed", I will post a recipe for our Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers. This dish received many accolades at the D.D.C.E. culinary exchange in December.

Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers

Description:

Celebrate the season with four of your closest friends: sweet potato, nutmeg, sage and cinnamon! This deliciously diverse treat will be sure to please your senses and your guests at your next potluck.

Ingredients:

1 (1-pound) sweet potato
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
24 wonton wrappers
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
6 quarts water
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Sage sprigs (optional)

Categorization:

Type: Appetizer, Side
Dietary Orientation: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes - 1 hour
Eating Time: Mere seconds

Relative Itemized Cost:

I have long since lost the receipt for these ingredients, but this is dish certainly embodies the saying, "ballin' on a budget". Since most of the ingredients are spices, which are available in the bulk food section of most grocery stores, the total cost of this dish per serving is almost negligible.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:
Calories: 159
Calories from fat: 17%
Fat: 5.1g
Saturated fat: 3g
Monounsaturated fat: 1.3g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.4g
Protein: 4.1g
Carbohydrate: 24.3g
Fiber: 1.9g
Cholesterol: 15mg
Iron: 1.3mg
Sodium: 356mg
Calcium: 45mg


Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Pierce potato several times with your sharpest fork; place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until tender. Cool. Peel potato; mash potato, DO NOT toss potato. Combine potato, cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl.

3. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover re-maining wrappers with a damp towel to keep them from drying), spoon 1 tablespoon potato mixture into center of each wrapper. Brush edges of dough with egg white; bring 2 opposite corners to center. Press edges togeth-er to seal, forming a triangle. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton wrappers, potato filling, and egg white.

4. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil. Add 8 ravioli; cook 2 minutes or until done. Remove ravioli from pan with a slotted spoon. Lightly coat cooked wontons with cook-ing spray; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remain-ing ravioli.

5. Melt butter in a small skillet over high heat. Add chopped sage to pan; cook 1 minute or until butter is lightly browned. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, juice, and pepper. Drizzle butter mixture over ravioli. Garnish with sage sprigs, if desired.

6. Share and Enjoy!

The MBC³

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie


Description: 

This recipe was supposed to be entered in the Decidedly Delicious Culinary Exchange competition, but evidently punctuality precedes prowess. As a DDCE-funded VISTA at UT, this is the description I wrote for the competition, "In the DDCE, as well as in cooking, we champion the value of diversity--The MBC³ is the confectionary representation of those values. A mixture of texture, flavor, smell, and post-consumption joy, this cookie has the multi-dimensional notes of maple syrup, salty bacon, and semi-sweet and white chocolate coupled with the crunch of the bacon, soft and chewy body, and melty collapse of the chocolate chips. The combined ingredients differ in size, shape, consistency, and taste that when mixed together with the dough, shaped, and baked, one will not know exactly what marriage of elements will come out, making not only each bite impossible to predict, but also impossible to experience again." Not an ounce of deception was added to this recipe; it is all true. An evolution of another cookie from New York's Schmackary's dessert shop on 9th Ave. that skimped on the bacon and maple syrup elements, I brought my own flavor, my own game.


Ingredients needed:

2 cups+2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
11.4 (just under a half) tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup packed-in brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 large egg+1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup (scant) white chocolate chips
1 lb package of bacon strips
½ cup powdered sugar
Legitimate maple syrup (do not get "maple flavored")


Categorization:
Type: Snack
Dietary Orientation: Carnivore
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Cool Time: 15 min
Eating Time: 5 s
Servings: 12 (2 per person)


Relative Itemized Cost: 

$0.50 - eggs
$2.00 - maple syrup
$1.00 - whole wheat flour
$1.00 - brown sugar
$0.25 - granulated sugar
$0.15 - powdered sugar
$1.00 - butter
$4.50 - bacon
$1.75 - white chocolate chips
$1.55 - semi-sweet chocolate chips
$1.50 - vanilla extract
$0.05 - baking soda
$0.05 - salt                                     

$15.30 - Total

$1.28 - Cost Per Serving



Cooking Instructions:
1. Slide around oven racks to upper and low-mid slots. Preheat oven 325°.



2. Cook the bacon until sufficiently crispy (for the crunch in the post-bake consumption). Using the bacon grease, apply thin layer of bacon grease to the metal cookie sheets (using paper towel, dab in grease and wipe onto sheets). Also, break apart all of the bacon to get it out of the way. For the cookies (1 cup worth), you want slightly bigger pieces, and the rest (goes on top of glaze) you want to be in even smaller pieces.













3. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in a mixing bowl and lay to rest (only to awaken later for the dough).



4. With an electric mixer, combine butter and sugars thoroughly. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until it looks assimilated. Then, awaken dry ingredients and add them to the mix. Stir at low-speed until it starts to look like cookie dough. It will seem somewhat firm, but that is the consistency you want. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate chips and 1 cup of the bacon.







5. Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet. The dough will spread out at least another half-inch, so accommodate.













6. Reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking and switching the position on the racks (upper to low-mid and vice versa), bake until the perimeter of the cookie looks to have been cooked and outer edges start to harden, yet the centers are still soft and oily (approximately 10-12 minutes). This happens a lot, but do not be afraid to take them out if you feel they have met these guidelines.







7. Take them out and leave them on the cookie tray (they are still cooking) until they are ready to be lifted off in one piece. Do not try to take them off early, you could compromise the shape of the cookie.









8. After they are ready to be taken off the baking sheets, transfer to cooling racks for at least 10 minutes before moving to glaze phase.











9. To make the glaze, add a tablespoon of maple syrup to a ½ cup of powdered sugar. Mix well. For the glaze, place a Ziploc bag in a cup and fold edges around the outside. Spoon in the glaze and cut a very small hole off the corner of the bag (I mean small), and then apply in criss-cross pattern. Immediately after, drop on the bacon bits sparingly (and reuse the ones that fall off).







10. Serve and consume!

D.D.C.E.

Decidedly Delicious Culinary Exchange

Yesterday, Cameron and I decided to enter into an appetizer and dessert competition hosted by The Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at UT Austin. We had a remarkable plan, a couple of dishes that would showcase our culinary skills and create a buzz around our Foodie*VISTA blog.

Well, we almost pulled it off. The dishes came out superb, but our timing could not have been worse. We missed the competition by 10 minutes and our chance at becoming Foodie*Superstars fell to the wayside, at least momentarily. "Better luck next year", were the consoling words we were left with.

Although we were late to the party, many words of praise were also awarded. In fact, the Vice President of the DDCE, Dr. Gregory Vincent, assured us that we would have absolutely won in our respective categories. Another good sign was that within seconds of displaying our dishes, swarms of people "oohing and ahhing" surrounded and subsequently engulfed our platters of potsickers, and cookies.

To all that enjoyed our Texas Sweet Potato and Sage Potstickers and Maple, Bacon, Chocolate Chip Cookies (MBC^3); THANK YOU! We will be posting our recipes on the blog within the next couple of days, so stay tuned!