Food on Screen: Fresh

Thanks to my St. David's peeps for putting together a wonderful screening and potluck for the new food documentary Fresh. It was really inspiring to see such a big crowd gathered, and hear about the success that local farmers are having with CSAs. The two organizations who came to the screening were Johnson's Backyard Garden and Farmhouse Delivery, both of which have blogs and post recipes.

Check out clips from the movie here. (Embedding was doing funky things to my blog's formatting)

One thing I learned from the film is that produce sold in supermarkets today has 40% less nutrition than in the 1950s - due to agricultural practices. Yet another reason to buy organic and local if possible.

Chocolate Atole

Despite Texan roots, there are plenty of things I don't know about the great cuisines to the south of here - in Mexico and Central America. Atole, a thick, hot drink that incorporates corn meal or corn starch, is a dish I had heard about but never tried - until recently.

This recipe, from the late Matt Martinez, Jr. 's cookbook, uses Mexican chocolate (which already has cinnamon in it), as well as an additional cinnamon stick...

...and masa harina, mixed with milk and water, and boiled for a while.

Add whipped cream and cinnamon, and voilà! A thick, delicious hot chocolate.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all that leftover masa harina!

Dining Out: Tâm Deli

Based on numerous good reviews over the years, including a recent one from the Austin Chronicle, I decided to try out Tâm Deli for their banh-mi sandwiches.

Shrimp and egg sandwich; vegetarian tofu sandwich

Allison kindly held her halves up for the necessary closeup

Tâm Deli has a nice, large menu with several things that look tasty. The sandwiches were good, but not very substantial - even with a spring roll to start and a dessert, I left hungry. Still, I'll look forward to going back and trying new items on the menu - and maybe taking a closer look at the sandwiches to see if I can make them at home.

More From France

A few more pictures of delicacies from France, just to make you jealous... We made it to a few very good restaurants and managed to eat well nearly the whole time we were there.

First up, the Breizh Cafe, a Breton restaurant specializing in galettes (buckwheat crêpes) in the Marais. This one was found on David Leibovitz's recommendation.

They also have an extensive selection of cidre, the traditional slightly-alcoholic apple cider also known for being a Breton specialty

My galette had mushrooms, egg, cheese, cream, and a little red pepper

Maman got one with some rustic sausage, a hash of fishy potatoes, and greens

Another stellar dining experience was at the cafe for the Jacquemart-André Museum. Their menu consists mostly of beautiful salads, a lovely dessert tray and a nice selection of teas.

My salad had smoked salmon, a lobster terrine, and a small spinach souffle.

Mom got a meatier one.

A slice of the pistachio-flavored bûche.

Let's end with something sweet, shall we? Berthillon is very famous but I never made it there during my study-abroad sojourn, so it was on my list of must-do's for this trip. We went to the little Berthillon storefront on the Ile-St-Louis. It was a lovely room, and not crowded late on a Monday night.

Mom got apricot and fig sorbets - and I think would have been ready to eat here for the rest of her life.

Pour moi, the mandarin sorbet and nougat-honey ice cream, with whipped cream (crême chantilly) and raspberry coulis

Holiday Greetings from France

I was lucky to spend Christmas week in France this year, and got to sample some of the holiday foods associated with the season in that country, that I'd never had before...

The bûche de noel, a staple item in window displays all over the city, all decorated differently and in different flavors.

Pretty holiday cakes, also with decorations on top

It wasn't just sweets that were on display - many stores were selling prepared foods, including stuffed lobsters, foie gras, and escargots...

And nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a dessicated pig leg

In the Marais, Jewish bakeries had goodies on display as well

Not special for Hanukkah, I'm guessing, but I did lust after those donuts

I've been curious about marrons glacés for a long time, and got to try one from Fauchon. This one was "nature" i.e., not flavored with anything - and it was cultivated in France (yes, I got to choose the "terroir" of this candied chestnut)

It was kind of tasty on its own, but, having purchased two, I ate the second one with some thick yogurt, and enjoyed its nutty sweetness more that way.

Urban Gardening

Urban gardening is a trend that I hope continues in 2010. Places like Austin's Sustainable Food Center are doing good work teaching kids and families how to garden, and yards are being transformed into little plots for growing veggies, like this one near where I live.

It's a bit of a tangle, but definitely a better use for the space than the overgrown bamboo (hiding trash) that was there before

When seeds can sprout in the least likely of places (like the hood of my trunk) it makes gardening in small urban plots seem that much more realistic...

Happy holidays, and look for pictures from France in early January!

The Perfect Hostess - Part 2

As promised, here are the results of the baked egg in tomato recipe from The Perfect Hostess.


The recipe is a bit vague, as older recipes can often be: scoop out the innards of a tomato, crack an egg into it, cover with breadcrumbs and bake at 350 until the white is firm. Cross-referencing with a recipe from the JOY I decided to forego the breadcrumbs and instead topped the egg with a little butter, salt and pepper.


Thirty minutes later, I pulled the dish out of my toaster oven and enjoyed it with buttered, toasted English muffins. Unfortunately the pictures are not very appetizing - you'd probably have to bake 50 of these to get a pretty one. But they are tasty.