Dinner: Tina cooked a green bell pepper, dried bean curd, and pork (Berkshire loin) stir-fry.

We ate that with leftover vegetable biriyani and sauteed broccoli rabe.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 30, 2009

Dinner: I cooked a large (2-1/2 pound) USDA Prime bone-in ribeye steak. Low and slow in the oven at 200°F until the interior was a little over 130°F. Then I finished it on the stove top in a fry pan with half a stick of butter. This piece had the largest spinalis dorsi (the ribeye cap) that I've ever seen. I trimmed the cap off the ribeye and served that to Tina and myself. This is the best steak I've cooked since moving to Texas and one of the better ones I've ever done. I'm especially proud since I previously did steaks only on the grill (which I don't have anymore) and it's been difficult for me to get my steaks to where I like them to be with my indoor cooking equipment.

I sauteed fresh okra pods that I purchased yesterday with a chopped up jalapeno chile in the butter that I used to form the crust on the steak. The beef and the okra together made one of the most satisfying dinners I've had in a while.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 29, 2009

Lunch: We went back to The Salt Lick for lunch. This is probably the last time for a while. The food's still good and the environment is a lot of fun, but there are a lot more restaurants in and around Austin to try, so we're going to take a break. The only reason we even went was last Tuesday's episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network.

We weren't surprised that The Salt Lick was featured on an episode about the best barbeque celebrity chef's have had, but we were surprised that Bobby Flay chose it (two chef's chose The Salt Lick) for their Beef Ribs which are only available on Sunday afternoons. On Sundays, we always get the Baby Back Ribs (also a Sunday only special) which we think are the best barbeque at The Salt Lick. So, I made us go back again and order the Beef Ribs.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 28, 2009 (The Salt Lick)

Dinner: Tina and I attended a vegetarian Indian cooking class taught by Chaya Rao in her lovely home. Chaya used to be an IT instructor before changing careers and now teaches Indian Cooking (she's been an instructor at Whole Foods and Central Market in the past) as well as running Vegicurean.

I was photographing most of the time and didn't write anything down (Chaya will email the recipes to us later) so hopefully, I'll correctly identify what I ate. (If anyone else who was at the class reads this and can put in there two cents, I'd appreciate it!) Chaya started off the dinner by showing us how to make these deep fried potato appetizers. Seasoned Yukon Gold potatoes were riced, seasoned, rolled into balls, then dipped into a batter of chickpea flour, rice flour, salt, and baking powder before being fried. They were soft and fluffy and incredibly flavorful. She served them with a simple (but incredibly flavored) carrot salad and two chutneys she prepared beforehand.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 27, 2009 (Chaya's Indian Cooking Class)

Lunch: Chicken Marsala, Capellini, and Okra

Dinner: We went to the Luling Watermelon Thump and had street food for dinner. It was pretty hot out there so we started off with a large serving of shaved ice (with watermelon and strawberry syrup) followed by some pork rinds (we couldn't resist - Tina and I had been craving chicharrones for the last week). On our way out of the festival, we passed a stand selling pupusas - a Salvadorean flatbread stuffed with meat and cheese. We each got ourselves a pupusa de chicharon con quezo (according to the sign). There is definitely a joy to eating street food that I can't get elsewhere. We also had several large cups of aguas frescas - horchata, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple.

Dinner: Pan fried leftover dumplings

Silken Tofu in Oyster Sauce

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 25, 2009

Lunch: I made myself open-faced smoked salmon sandwiches out of an everything bagel (from Whole Foods - it was dense - I didn't like it) sliced in half topped with Philadelphia brand whipped cream cheese, capers, fresh cucumbers, and a bunch of smoked sockeye salmon.

Dinner: I cooked dinner tonight: Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms (see recipe on Cooking For Engineers) served on capellini with olive oil with a side of baby spinach salad with roasted beets and capricho de cabra ("whim of the goat" cheese) dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Lunch: Tina cooked pork ribs in a soy sauce cooking liquid and served it with broccoli stems and corn.

Dinner: I joined some Austin food bloggers for trivia night at Flying Sauce Draught Emporium (815 W 47th St # 100, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 454-8200‎).

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 23, 2009 (Flying Saucer Draught Emporium)

Lunch: Two leftover Domino's ExtravaganZZa Feast Pizza slices (followed by a bowl of cherries).

Dinner: Pan fried pork, shrimp, and garlic chive dumplings (and later boiled dumplings).

Lunch: Cissi's Market (1400 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX‎ - (512) 225-0521‎). On Sunday's they serve brunch, so we tried a couple items on their brunch menu.

Batting Club Sandwich The BAT (house-cured bacon, arugula, and tomato on grilled sourdough) with roasted turkey and avocado with gaufrettes (their thin, super-fine weave waffle cut potato fries) ($14). The bacon was overpoweringly salty compared to everything else in the sandwich. (Also, the tips of the bacon pieces Tina ate were a bit burnt.) Once past the bacon taste though, the sandwich was pretty good.

Click here to read the rest of
What I Ate: June 21, 2009 (Cissi's Market)