South Shore Eatery (Trailer Park)

Three's company at the south shore eatery and trailer park, which is home to That's Amore, Lil Mama's and the Giggling Goat. This is my kind of trailer park - three stellar options with a wide variety, some shade, close to the water and easy to find on the bike. They are situated at 1620 East Riverside Dr. (78741) right by the Amli off the hike and bike trail. I'll admit it, at this stage of the game it takes something odd or unique to get me excited. This trailer park is the newest must-do on my list.

This cannoli and panini to the left is from Angela Melia's 74' airstream 'That's Amore'.  I was fortunate to be there when both Angela and chef Josh Rippie were there to spoil me with some of the best Italian food I've ever had.  Ok fine, I'll go ahead and say it.  This was the best Italian food I've ever had.  Some of you know that I trained horses the majority of my life, and one of my teachers was from Rome.  We would go to her house for 'dinner' and start with wine, cheese and sausages. I would be completely full and half cocked by the time the first salad came out.  I somehow would get that down and then came the chicken.  Nibbling and at this point trying not to offend the Italian-only-speaking- alpha female, I would go on to eat her lasagne, souffle and dessert - all with wine of course.  Eating at Angela's trailer brought back those precious memories of being at an Italian home for dinner.  Their food not only tasted good and was made with heart (and tradition), it was big enough for two - typical Italian.  I had a wonderful panini, 'the Sicilian', which has italian sausage mixed with bell peppers, fennel and mozzarella.  I've been craving the house salad ever since I left.  (I think it was the creamy herb parmesan dressing).  The salad has a romaine and spring mix, with celery, tomatoes, hearts of palm, cucumber, pepperocini and kalamata and green pimento stuffed olives. I had a spoonful of the cherry pistachio cannoli and that was pretty incredible too.  Oh! and I snuck a taste of the pine nut gorgonzola spread (I'm a sucker for gorgonzola!)  Angela's menu is inspired by her Sicilian grandparents (all of which have an item named after them).  I can't wait to try everything else she offers and you'll be able to make her olive tapenade and basil lemonade at home because they are featured in the trailer food diaries cookbook. 

I'm equally excited about the Giggling Goat. I felt obligated to go with the Cabrito Burger (grilled and topped with tomato confit, baby greens, honey mustard, jack cheese and japanese fries) and was not disappointed.  Goat is a lean meat and because of it's lower fat content can easily dry out upon cooking.  But this burger was not dry at all.  If you're looking for an even livlier choice, Chad's menu contains such exotic cuisine as a soft shell crab sandwich, sweet breads, zucchini fries with a poblano ranch sauce and rabbit egg rolls, a little foodie parody containing local rabbit, cabbage, carrots and ginger.  Chad gave me the Cordero burger, which is a lamb burger to share with you all in the cookbook.

Speaking of good recipes that will be in the cookbook, Heather from lil Mama's has contributed her version of cheesecake and her grandmother's poundcake.  This gal started her dessert trailer because it has been a dream of hers since she was in middle school.  Heather started baking when she was thirteen and she has worked for Texas French Bread here in Austin as well Walt Disney World in Orlando where she was a baker and cake decorater.  You'll know her truly special breads and treats are made from the heart with the first bite. She's open Thursday thru Saturday 5pm to 9pm.

This trailer park is a triple win - check them out!

We did it! The cookbook is funded!

Just a quick note to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who helped promote and pledged toward the kickstarter campaign.  We did it! The production has been funded - the writing is done - you will all have a fun collectible cookbook for this fall.  I can't wait to show you the cover. 

Campaign to fund the Trailer Food COOKBOOK ends this Wednesday - (get you a copy!)

Most of you know I have bootstrapped my way through the last year as an entrepreneur in the trailer food scene.  I started my company, Trailer Food Diaries, with this very blog.  We expanded to co-produce the first annual Gypsy Picnic trailer food festival with C3 Presents (free).  We have printed two guides/magazines on trailer food in ATX (also free).  I have collected beautiful pictures from local photographers and oddly-gourmet recipes from all of our favorite street food vendors in Austin and pieced them together to create the first volume of the Trailer Food Diaries: COOKBOOK.  It is being published & printed locally through Greenleaf Book Group.   And this is where I need your help.  We created a kickstarter campaign so that you can prepurchase the cookbook while helping me pay for the production and printing of this fun project. 

***The campaign ends this Wednesday 4/27.  Please pledge your support of $25 or more here (via this link) and I'll send you a signed copy from the first batch that is printed.***

Or - go to www.kickstarter.com and search: trailer food diaries.  The more you pledge, the more fun stuff you can get rewarded with.

Why might you snag a copy of this cookbook?

- you LOVE trailer food as much as I do

- you love Austin
- you love trailer food and austin
- you collect cookbooks
- you need some gifts for your peeps (birthdays, christmas, mothers day)
- you want to give your sweetie some ideas in the kitchen
- you want to support a hometown girl and her vision to help inspire entrepreneurs while eliminating childhood hunger while providing scoop on the trailer food scene
- you believe in paying it forward and good kaaaaarmaaaah (most days)

Recipe teaser: Homemade Basil Lemonade
Courtesy of That’s Amore on East Riverside by the Amli

• 2 C fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 C basil simple syrup*
• 2 C cold San Pellegrino sparkling water

*To make simple syrup:

• 1 bunch fresh basil
• 2 C sugar
• 1 C water

Cook on stove top, bring water to a boil and add sugar and basil, stir until sugar dissolves. Place in a bowl on an ice bath. Run liquid through strainer when cooled.

To make lemonade:

Mix simple syrup into remaining ingredients. Serve over ice. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

 

Cazamance

I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Iba, owner/creator of Cazamance food trailer in the Rainey district downtown the other night.  Iba is a self-taught foodie from South Africa who knows the importance of nutrition and relationships.  He practices being kind to all who come to his 'table', which is one of my favorite things about eating at the trailer - you get treated like family, and you get to eat really well. 

His menu is African influenced, and yet Iba develops the menu with his own creativity and persuasions.  For example, his recent options include a cinnamon rosemary smoked brisket, and a red curry smoked brisket.  A little Texas, a little Africa, and you've got a meal to be remembered.  He also likes to shop at the Asian market on North Lamar to utilize their wild spices in his creations.

We talked mostly about his Mafe' ('ma-fay'), otherwise known as Peanut Soup. It is an authentic dish from West Africa that he relates to mashed potatoes of the states.  It's a dish that makes you think of family and home, but each region will do it a little differently.  He gives the example of New Orleans mashed potatoes having different spices and flavors than perhaps the way New York does their mashed potatoes.  Same thing with peanut soup.  He did give me the recipe which will be featured in my upcoming cookbook - and I have to say I'm excited to start making this at home.  You'll have to wait for the publication to get the measurements, but one tip for home-chefs is to make sure the peanut butter is fully dissolved in water before adding it to the soup.

So what is Iba's version of African peanut soup?  He says, "My mom cooked it way differently than my recipe.  She slow cooked the vegetables like a stew, cooking them for hours.  But when you cook vegetables like that for so long, you lose the nutrients.  So I prefer to steam the veggies while cooking the body of the soup.  I make my soup in 30-45 minutes instead of 5 hours, and mine is healthier," he says with a genuine grin. 

Also on his menu is yassa, which is a dish that was developed from food they grow in Senegal: clear-water river fish, lemon, onion and of course the staple rice.  I have tried his delicious 'bunny chow' a few times, which is a beautiful plate of meat stuffed in bread. Iba told me this orginated during the Apartheid time when many poor blacks worked in the kitchen and would hide meat inside a loaf or piece of bread.  This way, when they were seen giving other blacks food, it just looked like bread.  They would add curry and beans as well, making a wholy delicious but secret meal. 

'The eyes eat first," he says, so everything that is plated at Cazamance comes out appealing to look at.  Every dish that walked by made my mouth water.

Eating at Cazamance gives you the full trailer experience of community, good food, and a friendly Austin vibe under the shade trees.  It's across the street from Clive bar (where you're sure to find a friendly bartender), and smack downtown off Red River and Caesar Chavez - super easy to bike to from just about anywhere.  Also, Iba is open on Mondays when most trailers are not - so if you're hunkering for something different and nourishing I absolutely recommend trying Cazamance at your next trailer outing. 

the Evil Wiener & "Feed the Soul" trailer park

Tex-mex weiner

I missed opening day yesterday, but I was there for the evil wiener's 2nd day of official business at 15th and Rio Grande for a late lunch today.  I met with owners Anna Cummins and Roger Zapata who along with their spouses and their combined 6 children created this recent hot dog truck.  Although they have only been open one day they can tell the Revolucion Dog is going to be a 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.  I had the Tex-Mex, which includes Roger's carne guisada, cheese and a spicy jalapeno relish that had me reaching for a coke.  My daughter Callie had the french fries, seasoned with 'evil dust'.  For that recipe Roger said would have to kill me, and since he was a marine for 20 years, I'll take his word for it.

Anna's husband Jeff has more than 15 years experience in fine dining.  It was Jeff and Roger who created the evil wiener concept over beers one night, after having worked in the kitchen together.  One thing Anna stressed to me was the importance of putting their families first.  In her words,"The restaurant industry takes you away from your family, so we decided family first, then food."  Their kids have been part of the research and development with family dinner parties and have some summer jobs to look forward to in the trailer.

Anna and crew will be managing the "Feed the Soul" trailer park which is owned by St. Martin's Lutheran Church (across the street).  There will be a total of 8 trailer vendors and the park will be open for business in mid-April complete with picnic tables, trees, public restrooms and shade trees.  She said their would be diverse and unique food trucks including mexican enchiladas/burritos, tacos, philly cheesesteaks, and more to be released soon.  We wish the 'feed the soul' vendors the best of luck in a great new location downtown!

Trailer Food on your FACE: the trailer facial

Leftover guacamole is not normally a 'problem' in my household.  It's one of those favorite tex-mex foods I just can't get enough of.  But alas, I had some leftover guacamole from my trailer food adventures today and upon remembering a famous journal entry from 1st grade I was inspired to create the trailer facial.  Said journal entry went something like this: "My Aunt came over and put wokamole all over my mom's face.  I will never put wokamole on my face."  Despite this 20-something-year old vow, I smeared guacamole infused with some other favorite ingredients on my face.  It was emollient, luxurient, and I will definitely be doing this again.  Meanwhile,  I wanted to share the recipe with you, that is good enough to eat and will produce cleopatra-like results on your skin:

Tiffany's Trailer Facial

• leftover guacamole from your favorite trailer
• agave
• coconut oil
• rose water
• orange flower water
• bach flower essences (your choice)
• lavender essential oil
• fresh squeezed lemon juice 

SXSW trailer food crawl for Lucky J's Friday 3/18/2011

Close to 30 trailers are joining together (separately) to show their support for one of their colleagues: Jason Umlas of Lucky J’s Chicken and Waffles this March 18th (Friday) during South by Southwest. You may recognize Lucky J’s from being in the news recently when one of his trailers was stolen on Christmas day, but that was just one of a series of unlucky events in 2010 that led to the current fund raising quest. After losing his youngest son Lev to cancer, his marriage, and then his trailer in 2010 no one would blame Jason if he gave up. But Jason has been given a new opportunity with the GIFT of a brick and mortar restaurant. When I have spoken with Jason, his spirits are humble and he is optimistic. In his words, “I don’t want help cleaning up my past; I want help with my future.” So in efforts to support a fellow trailer food vendor, these business owners (listed below) have agreed to give up to 10% of their sales to friend Jason for help starting his future.
I have been heavily involved in the trailer food scene in Austin since February of 2010, and can tell you whole-heartedly this community is one of the things that makes me proud to be an Austinite. Not only are the business-owners giving with open arms a percentage of sales on one of their busiest days of the year (arguably their biggest opportunity for income in 2011) to help a friend in need with a huge opportunity on the table, Jason is grateful that something that was meant to benefit his future was also going to help create traffic flow to his cohorts.

Whether you live in town or are visiting our great city, please mark Friday, March 18th on your calendar and eat at one or more of the following trailer food venues with a ‘choose your own adventure’ trailer-style. Below I have listed each of the participating trailers with links to their stories. Please check with each of them for location and hours as things may change during the fun chaos that is SXSW.


East

Lucky j’s
The local yolk
Iggi’s Texitarian
Old School BBQ & Grill
Trailer Perk

Downtown

One Taco
Colibri Cuisine
South Lamar
LaBoite
Texas Cuban

Soco

The frigid frog
Crepes Mille
Flying Carpet

Sofi

Man Bites Dog
Holy Cacao

Barton Springs

Kate’s Southern Comfort
Sushi A Go Go


Roving/Unsure of location

The peached tortilla
86 This
Short Bus Subs
Ice Queens
Mmmpanadas
Ugly Banjos
The coffee trailer / hallowed grounds
Bananarchy
North-ish

Counter culture
Zubikhouse
Elixer Coffee