http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm Food journalism out of Austin, Texas. en-us Wed, 22 May 2013 04:21:53 -0700 Mon, 20 May 2013 13:26:00 -0700 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss russell@scrumptiouschef.com russell@scrumptiouschef.com russell@scrumptiouschef.com no http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2013/5/20/Recipe-The-Worlds-Best-Banana-Pistachio-Tea-Bread I've spent the last 15 years lining up secret cooking weapons across the USA. Bourbon barrel aged vanilla is my latest treasure. At the dawn of my cooking career, I pulled down my grits and greens money via working as an overnight baker in Birmingham, Alabama. Recipes Dessert Mon, 20 May 2013 13:26:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2013/5/20/Recipe-The-Worlds-Best-Banana-Pistachio-Tea-Bread http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2013/4/15/Strawberry-Cobbler-Recipe-From-The-Kitchen-Of-Ruby-Lee-Adams We met Ryan Adams of Nose To Tail At Home the way we've made friends with lots of folks: through the internet. Adams was at the center of a food-based media firestorm last year (detailed here http://www.nosetotailathome.com/2012/10/08/when-life-gives-you-wild-game/) so we inquired as to whether he was game for an interview. He was. We've been friends ever since. recipes,vegetarian Dessert Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:03:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2013/4/15/Strawberry-Cobbler-Recipe-From-The-Kitchen-Of-Ruby-Lee-Adams http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2013/1/26/Austin-Daily-Photo-Recipe-Kellogs-Cocoa-Krispies-Logs-Courtesy-Of-Yogi-Bear We were always in the plain Rice Krispies camp. Versatility rules when you're a young, cold breakfast cereal gourmand, and once you commit to the cocoa there's no going back. The "chocolate" suffuses the flavor profile of the whole bowl, and add-ons are next to impossible to integrate into the dish. Recipes Dessert Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:24:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2013/1/26/Austin-Daily-Photo-Recipe-Kellogs-Cocoa-Krispies-Logs-Courtesy-Of-Yogi-Bear http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/12/23/Austin-Daily-Photo-Recipe-York-Peppermint-Patty-Stuffed-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies I no longer earn my living as a baker but I still absolutely love the process of baking. You can't freestyle if you want to achieve consistency in your baked goods. There are rules and precepts that must be adhered to if you're going to be successful. I find it oddly liberating to have to rigidly follow a recipe. It's the opposite of how I normally cook where I just fling myself all over the kitchen wildly chopping and sauteing everything in sight. This is one of my favorite holiday baking recipes. These cookies stand about 2" tall and are stuffed with one of the great commercial candy bars: York Peppermint Patties. Obviously you may substitute any number of other bars if you're some kind of commie who doesn't like peppermint patties. Zero bars work really well as do Clark and Zagnut. I wish I could lay my hands on some Goldenberg Peanut Chews. Now that was a candy bar. Recipes Dessert Austin Daily Photo Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:09:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/12/23/Austin-Daily-Photo-Recipe-York-Peppermint-Patty-Stuffed-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/11/19/Recipe-Bulleit-Bourbon-Bundt-Cake-With-Buttermilk-Praline-Sauce Rifling through my albums, comic books and old hot rod magazines, I stumbled upon some vintage index cards filled with a curious scrawl. I'm not sure of their provenance-I'd like to think they're my grandmother's, she was a professional cook-but their origin is a mystery. They're recipe cards, yellowed with age, and feature all sorts of delicious, old timey dishes like flitter cakes, friendship fruit, shoo-fly pie, hummingbird cake-that sort of thing. But the one dish that really intrigued me was bourbon cake. Recipes Dessert Mon, 19 Nov 2012 23:14:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/11/19/Recipe-Bulleit-Bourbon-Bundt-Cake-With-Buttermilk-Praline-Sauce http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/10/29/Recipe-Tres-Leche-Pumpkin-Bread-Pudding-With-Salted-Pecan-Praline-Sauce I run as close to a zero waste kitchen as is possible. It's been ingrained in me from years of working in places where rubber spatulas are referred to as million dollar tools due to their ability to deglaze every last ounce of useable goods from the crannies of cans, vessels and bottles. At the end of a busy year it's untelling how much much money a busy kitchen can save with one of these tools. Enter bread pudding. I became a slave to this dessert as a child when my family vacationed in New Orleans. Thousands of baguettes make their way from busy bakeries like Leidenheimer's through the Creole kitchens of the Crescent City, and if they get stale before they make the bread service part of the meal? They get chopped up, submerged in a variety of sugars and milks then baked ,sauced and served. Recipes Dessert Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:04:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/10/29/Recipe-Tres-Leche-Pumpkin-Bread-Pudding-With-Salted-Pecan-Praline-Sauce http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/10/26/Recipe-How-To-Make-Porridge Lo those many years ago. Before we entered the pop up restaurant business we got famous via a backyard cooking series we called "Explore The Classic Cuisine..." We tackled a host of countries {Mexico, Vietnam, Korea, Argentina, Cuba et al} before rolling back into our wheelhouse and giving Texas the treatment. We scheduled a Texas Roadhouse party and started smoking the briskets, frying the chicken fried steaks and simmering a giant kettle of Texas Red chili-then the shit hit the fan. December, normally one of Austin's prettiest months, turned surly when a north'r blew in and we had to figure out how to lodge a few dozen people in our old wood frame house in French Place. Recipes Dessert Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:48:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/10/26/Recipe-How-To-Make-Porridge http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/10/3/Recipe-How-To-Make-Chocolate-Bourbon-Pecan-Bars I still fondly reflect back on one of my first jobs in a professional kitchen. I worked the graveyard shift as a baker/pastry chef making cakes, pies, tarts, tortes, cookies and tea breads. I'd roll into the kitchen around midnight, often after tying one on at a nearby bar, crank up some Beasts of Bourbon and set about my tasks. An ancient Black man came in around 3am to knock out the baguettes and he'd regale me with stories of what it was like when he was a young man growing up in rural Alabama. It wasn't pretty but it was certainly compelling. He kept an old harp in the glovebox of his car and sometimes when he needed a break, he'd go out back and roll up a cigarette and start blowing lonesome from the front seat of his old Buick. He got a kick out it when I'd discover a "new" musician like Big Boy Crudup or Slim Harpo. Recipes Dessert Wed, 03 Oct 2012 10:30:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2012/10/3/Recipe-How-To-Make-Chocolate-Bourbon-Pecan-Bars http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2011/10/26/Today-Is-The-Day-Real-Ale-Coffee-Porter-Goes-Live-In-Austin-Texas One of our favorite seasonal brews just released in Austin today. Real Ale Coffee Porter is all roasted malts, chocolate notes and plentiful coffee flavor. We absolutely love this beer. We do wish it had a little more of a bread thing going on but we're not going to let that dissuade us from pounding a few gallons of it while it's available. Austin Craft Beer Recipes Dessert Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:52:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2011/10/26/Today-Is-The-Day-Real-Ale-Coffee-Porter-Goes-Live-In-Austin-Texas http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2011/8/4/The-Kentucky-Kitchen-Part-FourSweet-Batter-Pudding-With-Fresh-Blackberries Growing up in the Cumberland Highlands of Eastern Kentucky means when July rolls around it's time to hit the strip mines with a big plastic jug and go blackberry picking. When we say strip mines, we are speaking of what's left of a mountain top after the coal company has ripped the side of the mountain free, stripped all the coal out, planted a few trees, installed a silt pond and called it a day. Kentucky Recipes Dessert Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:39:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2011/8/4/The-Kentucky-Kitchen-Part-FourSweet-Batter-Pudding-With-Fresh-Blackberries http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2011/5/5/512-Brewing-Company-Pecan-Porter-Chocolate-Brownies Standing in a dark, smoky Lovejoys Taproom a couple years ago I spot a tap handle from a new brewery here in Austin: Pecan Porter from local brewhouse 512. Any time a new brew arrives it's always a good idea to knock back a beer shot with the staff which is of course what we do, which in turn sets me to thinking. This is undoubtedly a good drinking beer but what would it be like as a baking agent? That's when it really comes to life. The complexities of this porter are intensified through the baking process. The inherent pecan flavors marry nicely with the chocolate and the espresso making a very fine brownie. After a few test runs this is the recipe I developed. Austin Craft Beer Recipes Dessert Thu, 05 May 2011 18:31:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2011/5/5/512-Brewing-Company-Pecan-Porter-Chocolate-Brownies http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2009/12/14/Doll-Reeves-Made-Ice-Cream-From-Snow My grandma Doll is a cipher to this day. Her dying before I was born doesn't help matters any.Whereas I have a big collection of my mom's mom's recipes I have nary a one of my dad's mother. I've been meaning to rectify that and this is the start. Back in the 60's when my dad was a young buck the winters in Kentucky were quite a bit different than they are today. It snowed. A lot. Up in the Billy holler that meant one thing;time to make some snow cream. I grew up eating it myself and as it was snowing in Austin last week it set me to thinking.How many people have eaten or even heard of snow cream? The ingredients are simple.So simple any kid can make it.Good milk,sugar,vanilla and a giant bowl of freshly fallen snow are all you really need. Unless you're Grandma Doll. She made a stovetop custard for her snow cream and incorporated chocolate into it for a sort of rural Neiman Marcus-esque luxury version. I've been plumbing the cobwebs out of my dad's recollections recently and have now assembled a recipe for snow cream Grandma Doll style.While it's not truly her recipe since we have the same blood flowing I reckon it'll serve just fine. Recipes Kentucky Recipes Dessert Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:49:00 -0700 http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2009/12/14/Doll-Reeves-Made-Ice-Cream-From-Snow