FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Lockhart BBQ Tour

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Welcome to the BBQ Capital of Texas!!  Hansell, Dickie and I went on a mini-roadtrip to Lockhart, Texas on Friday for a little best of the best research.  We decided to hit up three of the most talked about BBQ places in town and document our favorites at each place.  After 45 minutes of driving and discussing strategy, we arrived at our first stop.

We walked into Smitty’s completely starving, but agreed to stick to the plan of not over-eating at our first stop and ordered 1/2 lb of brisket, 1/2 lb of pork ribs, 1 sausage link, and a few sides.  After we finished eating, I fired up the Notes app and the discussion began.

We finished off every bit of styrofoam and brown paper and, still feeling hungry as planned, headed to our next stop: Black’s.  We ditched every ounce of plan we had when we stepped into Black’s and Dickie saw a two pound cow rib (single, one rib) and I saw mac and cheese and nanner pudding.  The boys got primal and ate some meat straight from the bone.  We jotted down a few more notes and left feeling full.

Our last stop was Kreuz, where I had visited during SXSW.  I didn’t feel like I could possibly eat one more bite, but we ordered very similarly to our first stop: 1 jalapeño sausage link, 1/2 lb of brisket, and 1/2 lb of pork ribs.  We didn’t do nearly as much damage as we did at the other places, but ate enough to document our final decisions.

Smitty’s

– Best pork ribs

– Best sausage texture

– Best tasting sides

– Best Dickie quote “atmosphere is banging!”

Black’s

– Best beef ribs

– Best selection of sides

– Best BBQ sauce

– Best Dickie quote “best beef rib in the entire history of the world (even better than caveman days)!”

Kreuz

– Best brisket

– Best sausage flavor

– Best Dickie quote “no sauce given, no sauce needed!”

I couldn’t believe how easily we came into agreement on everything.  But I think it’s safe to say that what we agreed on most was the experience.  If you’re an Austinite, I highly suggest taking your next visitor on an unofficial BBQ tour!

The Hanz Is Here!

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“Could this place be any more you?”, Hansell said as we sat down at Elizabeth Street Cafe to order his first meal in Austin, ever.  “Even the waitress’ outfits are you”.  Flattered, I encouraged my old Tampa roommate to look at the menu, assuring him that the food was every bit as good as the atmosphere.

I didn’t give him much of an option as far as apps were concerned, we were going to order escargot.  Not only is their broiled escargot flawless, but the first time I ever tasted escargot was with Hansell and Lex at a crazy little place in Tampa called Front Porch Grill.  It was a sentimental order backed up by extreme goodness.  Hello, Thai basil curry butter, how does it feel to be perfect?

Hansell ordered the waitress’s suggestion of Singapore noodles.  There was a solid flow of yummy noises coming from his direction, so I made the safe assumption that he was happy with his selection.  I reached over with my chopsticks for one of my infamous bites and decided to see for myself what it was all about.  Elizabeth Street is spot on in every flavor department – wonderful balances of strong flavors with subtle flavor highlights.  Everything is bold without being the slightest bit heavy.

I ordered the poached shrimp and hard boiled egg banh mi and coated every inch of freshness with sriracha and the occasional dollop of hoisin.  This sandwich was so fresh and totally up my alley.  You could think of it as the Vietnamese version of a chicken salad sam – cool, filling and fulfilling.

Lastly, we ordered one of each of the daily macaron flavors, chocolate curry and peach cinnamon.  I’m not the hugest macaron fan, but there just so darn cute I can never resist.  Both of us agreed that the peach cinnamon was where it was at, which made think a homemade peach pie is in The Hanz’s Austin future.

We’re off to adventure!  Have a happy (early) weekend!!

FoodGawker

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As soon as I bought my first fancy lens, I thought for sure I was ready for FoodGawker.  I hand selected, what I thought, were my finest photos and clicked submit.  Seven rejections later, I gave up.

Fast forward to today, a year later, I randomly decided to face more rejection give it another shot.  I submitted a Wild Harvest quiche photo on Sunday morning and didn’t give it a second thought.  When I woke up on Monday morning, groggy from a full baking weekend, I checked my phone and sorted through emails.  The usual.  Spam, spam, boss, spam, FoodGawker?!  Wait, what?

Upon reading accepted and clicking over to my FoodGawker profile, I felt accomplished.  Perhaps more accomplished than my blogging self has ever felt.  I looked through my old rejections, nodding in agreement with their feedback.  Lighting issues were a biggie – I know how to combat that now.

I submitted six more photos, three of which were approved.  This is an approval percentage that I can live with, an approval percentage that keeps my ego in check.  I have a lot of learning, practice, patience, etc. etc., ahead of me before I feel comfortable writing a How to Get FoodGawker to Approve Every Photo post, but in the meantime…  Here’s what I’ve learned:

1.  Lighting.  Natural light is key.  Unless your kitchen has a gyrnom window, avoid taking pictures where you’re cooking.  Find a window in your home that lets in a good amount of soft light.  Avoid windows that let in too much light or you’ll find yourself with a ton of harsh shadows.

2.  Composition.  FoodGawker is not a fan of a tight photo.  Judging from the photos above, I’d say that the area of interest is about 50-75% of the frame.  The remaining 25-ish% is clean and doesn’t distract the viewer.  Also, cropping the photo before submitting will allow you to  have more control.

3.  Sharpness.  Other than the blurry lemon in the salmon cake photo, I haven’t had much luck with photos that have blurry backgrounds.  If you’re like me and you’re into the low aperture look, try snapping shots with a high aperture that you plan on using solely for FoodGawker.

I hope, hope, hope that in another year I can write that How To that a sarcastically mentioned above, but until then, I hope these mini pointers help!