May 24, 2011

Trailer Food Diaries the SHOW

Trailer Food Fans, I'm heading to Miami and Peru to check out how they do street food.  While I'm out to lunch, I thought you guys might like to have a sneak peak at the TV show the trailer food team is pitching.  Special thanks to Keith Maitland (Directing) and Lisa McWilliams (Producing) plus all the crew and wonderful vendors for putting this cool piece together.


Trailer Food Diaries from keith maitland on Vimeo.

May 21, 2011

Buffalo Bob's Chalupa Wagon

This is a menu you'll want to take a good look at as you make your list of favorites. RJ, “Buffalo Bob” himself, has combined all my favorite things: healthy choices, traditional Mexican food, authentic Texan recipes, locally sourced ingredients on a Chalupa. I stopped by his ‘wagon’, which is sitting at 600 S. Lamar Blvd. next to the Bananarchy trailer in front of the old Urban Moto shop and ordered ‘the Cretian’ which has hummus, flax seed meal, chopped green olives, ground bison, chopped spinach, onion, tomato and parmesan cheese. He’s serious about his hummus – it’s good and spicy. Even spicier is the dang good Cowboy hummus RJ created by thinking about what a good old country boy would do if he were challenged to make hummus on the spot. You’ll have to ask him for specifics, but I’ll peep and tell you it’s got some peanuts, beer and something good and hot in it all in a true hummus consistency. It’s good stuff.

With 18 varieties of the Chalupa ranging from the traditional version to a selection of healthier alternatives, 65% of his menu is gluten-free and built on low fat tostadas. Even cooler, he uses only range fed bison (Madono ranch) and chicken (Buddie’s) that are all locally and humanely produced sans hormones and anti-biotics. And only organic produce tops his Chalupas. Next time I’m there, I’m going to try the Istanbul Chalupa, which has hummus, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, flax seed meal, chopped green olives and other yummy ingredients. Tell the guy with the curly stache that Trailer Food Diaries sent ya!

May 16, 2011

Eat Street is coming to Austin May 17-21




Hit TV series Eat Street is filming right here in Austin, Texas this week.  I'm honored to be part of the Austin-trailer-foodie team that the crew from  Food Network Canada will be featuring.  Here are some fun opportunites to come out and support the local trailer food scene while they are being featured.  Meet me at the Jalopy tomorrow (Tuesday) at 2p!

Tuesday, May 17th
The Jalopy: Lunch:  Noon – 2pm
Mike from http://willruntoeat.wordpress.com/ will be interviewed at the big 18-wheeler at 1pm, and yours truly will be interviewed  live  starting at 2p. 

Tiff's pick - The Gaad Thai  Chicken Sandwich (We have this recipe in the Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook!) mmmmm- peanut sauce, cilantro, sriracha, pickled onions- $6.... Says the Jalopy Menu online:  "Created in adoration of a super cool guy named Ryan Gaad. Our love for him, and for spicy peanut sauces are unmatched and incontrollable. With that, we have created one of our most popular sandwiches replicating a Thai sauce typically used in stir fry or marinade but just so happens to miraculously meld together with our onions and cilantro to deliver a blissful combination of flavor."


Wednesday, May 18thThe Evil Wiener: Lunch:  Noon – 2pm
Tiff's pick: These guys are still new, but the Revolucion Dog is going to be their best-seller.  It's also a favorite among the owners, as it's namesake is a street on the main drag in Tijuana where they had their first bites of a bacon-wrapped hot dog.  The Evil Wiener's version of the Revolucion is a frank wrapped in bacon with mustard, mayo, ketchup, pico de gallo and tapatillo sauce on top 


Thursday, May 19th
Cazamance: Dinner: 5pm – 7pm
Tiff's pick: Whatever Iba is making! I haven't had a bad Cazamance experience yet.  Keep your fingers crossed for steak, or go with the bunny chow which is a staple on his menu. 

Friday, May 20th
East Side King, Liberty Dinner: 5pm – 7pm
Chef Moto’s band will be playing after the dinner rush
Tiff's pick: I've got their recipe for Thai Chicken Karaage but it tastes better when they do it... – $8....Deep fried chicken thigh with sweet & spicy sauce, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeño.


Saturday, May 21st
Pig Vicious - Dinner: 6pm – 9pm
Tiff's pick: The Mescaline High Hat will make you squeal.  A quesadilla with smoked bacon, spicy homemade sauce, tomato, cheese and avocado. Things that make you go mmmmm.

May 5, 2011

Where can you get rattlesnake sausage? Wurst Tex

Confesison: Part of my colorful past includes a stint in the snake pits of Sweetwater, Texas competing in the Rattlesnake Roundup beauty pageant and scholoarship awards.  (Thats a picture of me in high school holding one of the rattlers just before 'milking' it's venom in that little glass dish.)  So! I was thrilled to talk to Sam Raver of Wurst Tex, who is serving up this West Texas tradition in a sausage.
Without a wealth of culinary expertise, Sam and fiancée Leslie along with Sam’s step-Dad set out for a new chapter of their lives and developed a straightforward sausage concept for their first shot at the trailer food business. Their menu of exotic game sausages, however, is miles from the standard bratwurst experience. From rattlesnake, venison, rabbit, duck and more to regular sausages and extraordinary vegetarian options the Wurst Tex menu is truly unique.


The ‘predator and prey’ is Sam’s personal favorite. It contains rattlesnake, rabbit and pork with jalapenos.  Two fun options for vegetarians that look like real sausage links are the ’04 delight’,a combination of smoked apples, sage and potatoes, and the ‘Veggiano’, which contains eggplant, fennel and garlic.

May 1, 2011

All City Subs

Address
Phone
512-516-3660
Website
Hours
Mon - Tues: 11:30 am-7:00 pm
Wed - Thurs: 11:30 am-1:00 am
Fri - Sat: 11:30 am-2:00 am

As a drummer who had played in Austin several times while on tour, J.K. Bellucci moved here and opened All City Subs to fill a need for readily available good sandwiches in Austin.  Having worked in every facet of the service industry for 20 years along with learning some tricks of the trade from family recipes, J.K. put together an all-star menu featuring some of his favorite sandwiches.  

His pork sandwich is hugely popular.  It was influenced from ‘the Mix’, a restaurant in Philadelphia.  Although J.K modified the broccoli rabe to a more southern taste by using collard greens, the sandwich is similar.  He takes a sweet Italian roll and toasts it with a garlic infused canola oil and builds the sandwich with homemade mustard, collard greens, slow roasted pork dipped in au jus, sweet pickled onions, and smoked provolone.  He learned how to slow roast his pork from a family-owned restaurant in Rhode Island that made their roast beef similarly: brine the meat for 6 hours, season and slow roast it for four hours, and let it cool overnight.  It takes a full day to develop the product for proper serving.

J.K and his crew aren’t afraid to color outside of the lines a little bit.  Their 4/20 sandwich was so popular last April 20th, they brought it back a week later for Willie Nelson’s birthday (4/30).  The 4/20 is a roast beef/pastrami with mustard, cheese, pickled onions, fried egg and Cheetos.  Their favorite reaction to the sandwich was a patron proclaiming “I now know what God eats.”