Cousin Leroy's BBQ Sauce

Folks, this is Cousin Leroy:



He is a local BBQ sauce purvey. I first met him at The Gibson Bar a few months ago. He was a kind-looking man sitting at the bar holding a few jars of BBQ sauce. Now, I'm not going to lie, when I saw a strong, black man sitting at a bar, holding BBQ sauce, I'm going to go up and talk to him. He proceeded to tell me all about his BBQ sauce business.

Cousin Leroy is the proud owner of a Cousin Leroy's BBQ Sauce, a saucery that makes 5 different kinds of BBQ sauce: A mild, a sweet, a spicy, a hot-spicy, and a mustard sauce. He's been making the sauces for over 30 years, and recently decided to bottle it and try selling it to local restaurants.

Turns out his mustard mop is what The Gibson Bar is using for they honey mustard dipping sauce. It was incredibly strong. If you like mustard, you're going to LOVE Cousin Leroy's Mustard Mop.



Cousin Leroy was so kind to give me a sample of the Mild BBQ Sauce. I used it a few weeks ago to make pulled pork. I threw a 1/2 a jar of it into a crock pot with a pork shoulder (a boston butt works too), a sliced onion, and some beef broth (or root beer if you've got it) to cover the roast. I cooked it for 8 hours,shredded the pork, and covered it with the remaining 1/2 jar of sauce. Bam, you have amazing pulled pork.

I made it for my friend Jen's birthday float down the Comal. You've gotta have sammiches while you float, and what better sammich to each while your floating than a delicious pulled pork sammich. Everyone raved about them and none were left at the end of the float.

Great sauce Cousin Leroy!

Lee's 1st Annual Crawfish Boil

A few weeks ago, my friend, and sometimes Dining In Austin contributor, Lee, decided to have a crawfish boil. In true Lee fashion, he went big. And when I mean big, I mean 30 pounds of crawfish for 15 people. There were so many crawfish, he had to cook them in 3 batches.. in a turkey fryer.

A giant pot of crawfish, shrimp, corn, andouille sausage, potatoes

One of three piles of cajun goodness

Fun with your food!

The food was amazing and the company was even better. I hope Lee does an another boil next year!

Tal Ronnen Serves Up Vegan at the Texas Culinary Academy

When I received an invite to attend a free cooking demonstration featuring Chef Tal Ronnen at the Texas Culinary Academy I had to read it three times to make sure I understood it right and then pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I awaited the date and excitedly told friends only to hear back "Huh?", "Who?" and "Good for you, never heard of him."

I would reply "Tal Ronnen is the chef who spent 21 days cooking up vegan food for Oprah."

Mariah's response to this was "Oh, working the day time TV circuit, eh?"

At this point I just shook my head and sighed to myself.

Chef Tal Ronnen is one of the top vegan chefs working today. His recipes are creative, inventive and cutting edge. His innovative work and humble demeanor is doing wonders for reforming America's negative diet trends.

Not only is he the guy who cooked for Oprah, he also catered Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's wedding, Arianna Huffington’s party at the Democratic National Convention, and the first vegan dinner at the U.S. Senate. He's worked in top vegan restaurants all over the U.S. and assisted Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders in opening her restaurant, VegiTerranean in Akron, Ohio. Yes, even Akron, Ohio is going vegan.

On this particular day, Tal was conducting a master vegetarian workshop (as he often does) for students and staff at Le Cordon Bleu College/Texas Culinary Academy. After driving around and around the Domain lost and in a panic, I located the Texas Culinary Academy and found my way to rows of chairs set up for culinary students and media.

Chef Ronnen demonstrates his culinary technique.

After Tal imparted his wisdom on us, small samples of his creations were served up by Texas Culinary Academy students.

Stomachs started growling and small samples were not alleviating the situation. Luckily, TCA staff invited a few bloggers to join them in a luncheon prepared by their students and featuring four courses from Chef Ronnen's new cookbook. I tried to stifle my fan geekdom and graciously accept the invitation.

First Course: Celery Root Soup with Granny Smith Apples and Chive Oil.

The apple chunks accented the light celery flavor of this creamy soup.

Second Course: Ricotta Tortellini with Saffron Cream Sauce

The tortellini was handmade and featured silken tofu with red palm oil instead of egg. The sauce was heavenly rich thanks to a generous helping of cashew cream.

Third Course: Gardein "Chicken" Scaloppini with Shiitake Sake Sauce, Braised Pea Shoots and Crispy Udon Noodle Cakes

The udon noodle cake was a little tough but the rest of the dish was off the chart. Gardein is one of the best meat substitutes out there. Although there was one omnivore at our table who testified that he wouldn't be fooled into thinking it was real chicken, to me the texture and flavor was perfect. My philosophy is that meat substitutes don't have to taste exactly like meat, as long as they taste good. Having said that, I must confess I remember the essence of what chicken tastes like but not the nuances. The shiitake mushroom sauce was a perfect complement to the Gardein and the pea shoots gave the dish that necessary bit of green flavor and color.

Chef Ronnen helped develop Gardein, which is made from vegetables and slow cooked grains. Currently it can be ordered from the distributor for restaurants. For people like you and me, we can pick up seasoned Gardein products at Whole Foods and Central Market. Boyfriend and I tried the hot wings which were very spicy. We forgot to consider if there was gluten in them which boyfriend is mildly allergic to and whoops, we found out there was. So if you've got a gluten allergy I wouldn't recommend trying Gardein. I am disappointed that average individuals can't purchase the product in it's unseasoned form and that the already seasoned portions one can buy are a little on the pricey side. The buffalo wings ended up being about $5 for 8 wings or two portions. For us it would be cost prohibitive to try and serve these products at a get together or party.

Why would a vegetarian or vegan want to eat something that tasted like meat? So many of our food habits and cravings come from the experiences we had in childhood. Certain tastes and textures can invoke feelings of comfort, connectedness, or just being taken care of.

My childhood diet involved a lot of rich foods and animal products. Although I love vegetables and I haven't had chicken in about six years, I often miss the hearty texture and savory nature but do not want to eat actual chicken. Is it moral, environmental or health reasons that steer me away from meat? It's all of the above but mostly I am just uncomfortable with current factory farming practices and how far our society has placed ourselves from the actual food process. We go to the grocery store but we have no idea how the animal was treated, where it came from or what hormones were injected in it. Also we have so much variety to choose from today. Never in history have humans had such varied diets. Why not just choose more vegetables and grains? They are healthier for us and the environment anyway.

Fourth Course: Oven roasted Banana Rum Cheesecake with Spiced Pecan Crust and Maple Rum Sauce

I have tasted some terrible vegan cheesecakes in the past (I'm looking at you Somnio's Cafe) but this was amazing. The texture was smooth and creamy and the banana flavor was finished with a lovely combination of maple syrup and toasted pecans.

I had the priveledge of meeting Tal and getting my copy of The Conscious Cook signed. I am already looking forward to recreating his recipes and making them mine.

Farmhouse Delivery

914 Shady Lane

Austin, TX 78702

512.529.8569

http://www.farmhousedelivery.com/

Although I have been known to express my love for fried foods, I do make an honest attempt at being healthy. My diet usually consists of lots of whole grains and vegetables and I love to cook. This is why I've always wanted to join some sort of food / farm co-op. I would have already if it weren't for a fear of vegetable commitment.

Farmhouse Delivery started showing up on my radar about a year ago. I ordered once from them last summer and had a good experience. When they announced that they were soon to become a members only group with a 10 week commitment, I decided to order before their policy change took place and actually document it for Dining In Austin.

Farmhouse delivery gathers vegetables from local farms, bundles them up and delivers them to your door. I received the Seasonal Farm Bushel. It is described as "an incredibly fresh assortment of the best from local farms" containing "a variety of 7-10 items of delicious just-harvested produce." You can add herbs, cheeses, meats, baked products, jams and so on. I chose to just stick to the basics for my first time around, but this time I indulged in the addition of unfiltered olive oil, blue cheese, shitake mushrooms, jalapeno tortillas, a half dozen eggs and goat milk yogurt.

The food was delivered to my door on the designated day for my zip code in a big reusable plastic container. Farmhouse Delivery requests but does not require that you leave the old plastic container out for them to recycle next time.

I was excited about my order all week. I kept wondering what would be in my bushel. When I opened the box, it felt like Christmas. I discovered green beans, turnips, butter lettuce, radishes, apples, lemons, acorn squash, pumpkin, cucumber and bok choy. Some of these ingredients I am very familiar with while others left me flipping through cookbooks and websites.

Seasonal Vegetable Bushel + a Few Extras

Reusable Insulated Bag Containing Temperature Sensitive Items

Nom, Nom, Nom, Shitake Mushrooms

Olive Oil, Blue Cheese, Plain Yogurt

The Olive Oil ($13) was terrific. The blue cheese was a little too serious for me. I can be timid when it comes to intentionally or accidentally moldy cheese. The yogurt was amazing. It is frustrating that one has to search to find a yogurt without sugar, gelatin or gelatin substitute in most grocery stores. I like my yogurt plain and non gelatinous. This yogurt was perfect.

Tortillas were a little pricey at $4 but delicious.

The first thing I did after putting away all of my groceries was make myself a salad. The butter lettuce was out of this world.

Butter Lettuce Salad with Radish, Apples, Blue Cheese and a Lemon/Olive Oil Dressing

A green lemon? The list of vegetables said it was indeed a lemon, not a lime.

Here are a few other dishes I made over the next 2 - 3 weeks.

Breakfast of Fried Egg on Tortilla.

Lots of Stir Fries. This one with bok choy and turnip greens, green beans, garlic and shitakes.

Stir Fry

Baked Acorn Squash stuffed with Quinoa.

Faux Gyro Wraps- Grilled Seitan and Onions with Cucumber and Dill Tzatziki Sauce Wrapped in Butter Lettuce - SO GOOD!

It was my first time working with turnips in the kitchen so I got in touch with my adventurous side and a few online recipe websites. I settled on Faux Bombay Potatoes for the roots and a dish I usually make with rainbow chard for the greens. I recommend the Faux Bombay Potatoes, but the greens were a little too iron/vitamin rich for me. Turnip greens are a big step up from collard greens or rainbow chard.

Turnip Greens Topped with Purple Onion, Toasted Pine Nuts and Reduced Balsamic Vinegar

Faux Bombay Potatoes- Turnips Par Boiled and Sauteed with Tumeric and Mustard Seed.

The last item left was the pumpkin. I thought about making pumpkin tarts or pumpkin pie. When I opened my recipe book, I turned straight to the page for pumpkin tofu thai curry. I took this as a sign from the universe.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds- my boyfriend got to them before my camera did.

Tofu and Pumpkin Thai Curry

The curry was great except for the pumpkin. The texture was mushy and chewy at the same time. In the future I will use the water the pumpkin was boiled in for a pumpkin laced broth and add it to the curry. The actual chunks of pumpkin I will puree for making tarts.

There were lots of positive things that came out of this experience. For one, I was forced to be creative and try lots of different recipes and vegetables I normally would not have explored. I saved money by not eating out. It did become a struggle to get through all the vegetables before they went bad, but it forced me to eat healthier. I think I even lost an insignificant amount of weight in the process. Also, I ate locally for a few weeks which has tons of benefits. I couldn't imagine getting a shipment on my own of this size every other week and actually using all of the vegetables. A biweekly seasonal bushel is the appropriate size for two adults.

If you are interested in joining Farmhouse Delivery, they are currently taking orders for Farm Memberships for the 10 Week Early Spring Season, which runs January 4th-March 12th. The deadline for signing up for the early spring season is Friday, January 1st. Space is limited.There is a one-time $20 set-up fee. Returning members will not be charged the set-up fee. Cost is currently $35 per delivery for weekly members and $37 per delivery for biweekly members. Check out their website for more information. There are a few additional perks to being a member including member only garden parties and get togethers.

Peace, Love, Gardens and Vegetables.

Laura