Your in Luck! Ms. P's has black eyed peas for new years!

 Today I had lunch at Ms P's Electric Cock on South Congress in Austin, Texas with Ms.P-regular Don Dickson, and my fun foodie cousin Brooke Heller, in from Vancouver.  This beautiful shiny trailer with a flashing yellow and red neon "CHICKEN" sign sets between a China Berry tree and a Spanish Oak on the 1100 block of South Congress.  You can park in a

spacious lot behind Doc's close to the music row, or bike over from the trail. Regarding Perry's (Ms. P) menu I think Don put it best: "She figured out that the art of Southern Cooking is to take something that is good for you, and make it bad for you."  When you take chicken and fry it, or take blue cheese to cole slaw, or just straight up order the mac and cheese you shouldn't count calories, just friends to share it with.

Although fried chicken is her specialty, the black eyed peas were what brought us to this popular chicken trailer.  For those new to southerly traditions, we here south of the mason dixon dish up black eye peas on New Years day.  Matter of fact, my mother always told me it had to be the first thing in my mouth in order to get the good luck it is purported to project.  We make our family's version of hot water (fried) cornbread, serve black eye peas on top and grill some sausage for the side dish.  And voila: Happy New Year.  Perry grew up in West Texas with the same Southern tradition of eating black eyed peas on new years day.  In her words, "We spent New Years losing the worst part of the last year instead of making resolutions.  That's how it should be - remember the good parts and leave the rest."  

You can order your black eyed peas through Ms. P's through tomorrow, 12/30

Get your order in to avoid bad luck in 2012.   Call her up: 512-912-7778.  A big heaping helping will serve two folks for $5 and comes garnished with sour cream, bacon and chives.  Whether you're curing a hangover, or looking for luck, it would be good to have these in the fridge ready for you when you wake up on New Years Day.  Migas are for every other day of the year.

Side note for when you go for your next fried chicken meal: Although she won't disclose the secret ingredients that create chicken-addicts out of her fans, she did say  she gets her organic chickens from Holmes Foods in Gonzales, Texas.  Thanks Ms. P for keeping it local!  

How Portland's Pods stack up

It's true! The next city in the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook series is (drumroll).... Portland, Oregon!  More stories coming soon - but until then, check out this review I wrote on Culture Map about this very cool city and how they do 'trailer food'.  I'm excited about all their contributions - from Viking Soul Food, to Pig Cone (waffles), Vegan BBQ to Banana Puddin', Aligator Jambalya to Chai Tea and home brew - we have a lot to blog about in the new year.

Battle on Burnet

Allow me to introduce guest-blogger Kelly Beener, who was able to attend the Battle on Burnet while I was in Portland collecting food cartopia recipes for the Portland edition of the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook.  Thank you Kelly! I know it was a tough assignment :) ~ Tiffany Harelik

Battle on Burnet
~Guest-blogger Kelly Beener


Bacon lovers flocked to last night's Battle on Burnet, for a showdown between Peached Tortilla and Roll On Sushi. Participants were pigging out to a 3 round tasting course featuring the salty meat of bacon and casting their votes for the favorite dish of the night.

Why bacon? "It's a great anytime kind of meat, and it improves the flavor of almost any dish" was a common theme amongst tasters. Eyes lit up and mouths dropped in eagerness to get the first tasty bites.

Chef, and owner Eric Silverstein of Peached Tortilla knocked it out of the park with pork belly and shrimp stuffed wonton's. A classic dish prepared by his mother growing up, known as "Mom's Wonton's".

I'm a total bacon snob, and I was truly excited to see what else unique was going to come out of the kitchen using the traditional ingredients from both Peached Tortilla and Roll On Sushi.

And there it came… the B.L.T.G. A take on the traditional Bacon Lettuce Tomato sammie, but rolled up sushi style. The fried green tomato and avocado encased in bacon, nori, and sushi rice was a clear winner for me. Koodos to Chip and Chad Reed, owners of Roll on Sushi. 

The 3rd round did a pork number on us! Roll On Sushi brought out "The Elvis"… peanut butter, bacon, banana, wrapped in a crispy egg roll wrap. Served with a duel of chocolate and ancho chili dust.

The pig product boared it's way into our culture last night.  Think P.I.G.

The mobile food truck Peached Tortilla serving up Asian and Southern influenced cuisines. Check them out on Facebook or Twitter for there roaming locations:

http://twitter.com/#!/peachedtortilla 

https://www.facebook.com/peachedtortilla?ref=ts 

Roll On Sushi aims to provide a unique, affordable sushi fusion experience. Check them out here:

https://www.facebook.com/RollOnSushiDiner 

Look for more Battle on Burnet events! Support local, community, and charities. Flatwater Foundation was a special guest of the evening. Half of ticket sales were donated to this important cancer cause.

http://flatwaterfoundation.org/Flatwater_Foundation.html

Gifting: a Cookbook with food truck recipes from Austin!

ABIA airport in Austin, TX

It's that time of year, and I'd love to recommend the first cookbook in the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook Series. This is the Austin edition, and it is full of recipes and factoids about their street food culture.  In addition to the great secrets about food that are shared, there is an entrepreneurial story behind each food cart that is featured along with their recipe.  

It was released at the second annual Gypsy Picnic, of which I am a co-founder.  We had nearly 30,000 festival-goers come to the picnic this year, who enjoyed everything we love about Austin: live music and trailer food, on the lake in a family- and fido- friendly environment.  

The Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook: Austin Edition can be purchased and shipped easily for great holiday gifts.  Here is where you can find them:

Shop online (it's in a soft cover or ebook format):

     Amazon

     Barnes & Nobles

Shop locally: 

     Book People

     Austin Airport (ABIA)

     Waterloo Records     

     Crofts Original             

     Progress Coffee

     South Congress Books

     Party Cat

     Tarrytown Pharmacy

     Pink West (Dripping Springs)

     Zinger

     Wanderland (both locations)

     All 10 Torchy's locations 

     La Boite

     Way South Philly

     Lucky J's (Burnet Rd. location)     

     Cutie Pies 

     La Travassa Boutique

     Austin Land and Cattle

     Mercedes Flowers