Archive for May, 2010
2010
05.31
Tags: breakfast tacos, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cilantro, Crema Salvadoreña, cumin, Diet-of-Insects, El Salvadorean creme fraiche, garlic, great homemade tacos, ground beef, ground coriander seed, guacamole, Herdez salsa, homemade tacos, I hate pre-packaged taco seasoning, La Vaquita, lettuce, Mexican cooking, Mt. Olive mild banana pepper rings, Old El Paso, onion, oregano, pepper, recipes, salsa, Salsa Casera, Salsa Verde, salt, shallot, Shim, spices, spicy tacos, taco seasoning, Tex-Mex, the secret to making great tacos, the world's best tacos, tomato, white cheddar cheese
Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »
The secret to delicious homemade tacos does not, number one, lie within:
Old El Paso isn’t being particularly singled out here; it’s just one example among many. People seem to think that you need “taco seasoning,” purchased in a packet such as this one, in order to make great tacos.
This is a lie.
The way to great tacos, my friends, lies in combining just five important seasonings you probably already own. They are:
- chili powder
- cayenne pepper
- cumin
- oregano
- salt
You can also toss in some ground coriander seed, to bump up the corianderliciousness of your cilantro leaves (sprinkled over the top of the finished dish), but it’s purely optional. If you’ve got chili powder, cayenne, cumin, oregano and salt, you’ve got it made in the shade. Enough with the pre-packaged “taco seasoning”! Free your kitchen of this sodium-laden packet of injustice, and marinate your meat in deliciousness.
DIRECTIONS:
- Brown about a pound of ground beef (or pork, or chicken, or whatever) in a buttered skillet.
- Chuck in your minced garlic (2 or 3 good sized cloves) and chopped red onion or shallot.
- Add your spices, as mentioned above, plus about a cup of water to create the “sauce.” My spice ratio is about a teaspoon to a tablespoon each of the coriander seed, oregano and cayenne pepper, plus about 1/8 of a cup of both cumin and chili powder; adjust these as you please for heat and general taste, adding more if you like it more savory. Simmer down your sauce, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has evaporated—about 10 minutes or so.
- Spread on your favorite tortilla, garnish as desired, and enjoy. Suggested garnishes include: lettuce, tomato, white cheddar cheese, cilantro, guacamole, salsa (I enjoy both red Salsa Casera and green Salsa Verde from Herdez), pickled banana pepper rings (I’ve been using some from Mt. Olive), and Celebrity Intern’s favorite, La Vaquita’s Crema Salvadoreña, a kind of El Salvadorean crème fraiche.
That’s it, that’s all. No fuss, no muss. Just great tacos. You’re welcome.
Also, if you’re looking for a great recipe for breakfast tacos, my fellow blogger Shim’s got you covered, over at Diet-of-Insects. (And no edible insects, I promise.)
2010
05.30
Tags: Butter Chicken, Central Market, cooking magazines, coupons, domestic chores, fictional letters to the editor, food magazines, free magazines, H-E-B, H-E-B brand products, honeymoon, learning to cook, My Texas Life magazine, Penthouse Forum, Shoestring lifestyle
Posted in Books & Lit, Groceries | No Comments »
Friends, I love me some free magazines. Especially the type that come with coupons, to indulge my Shoestring lifestyle. And I’ve got nothing against H-E-B; they have great low prices, and lots of excellent items like my favorite Butter Chicken sauce (not to mention delicious Central Market wares). But I’ve gotta say, I’m not sure what’s going on in their My Texas Life letters section.
Seriously, I haven’t seen such indulgent, over-the-top fantasies since Penthouse Forum.
Exhibit A:
From the May 2010 issue of H-E-B's My Texas Life magazine
The text of the top letter reads as follows:
Dear My H-E-B Texas Life Staff,
My boyfriend and I have talked about an engagement and marriage for over a year. However, a ring hadn’t been in our budget, much less a wedding! Thanks to the in-store savings and the coupons in your magazine, I am finally engaged and have a ring to show off! The night that my fiancé proposed, I prepared the Moroccan Roasted Chicken Dinner. The evening turned out perfect! Thank you for everything! Especially the super savings and delicious recipes!
Brittni, Cherokee
While I, too, appreciate the magazine’s savings and delicious recipes, I question the idea that shopping at H-E-B and reading this magazine magically created enough money for a wedding ring. How much did this wedding ring cost, 40 bucks? I mean, there are some good coupons in there, but it’s not like they are giving away groceries for free! A dollar off here and a two-for-one there doesn’t really add up to that much cash, and if the coupons are for things you wouldn’t normally buy, it’s not really saving you money, is it?
But maybe I’m missing the point, which is actually in the left-hand sidebar on the same page:
Aha! Brittni received a $25 H-E-B gift card for writing in, plus an unspecified “small gift”! Maybe the gift was an H-E-B wedding ring?
I’m gonna have to write a letter to My Texas Life myself and see what crops up!
So, Brittni, if you’re out there, please share your secrets with the rest of the class. And if you’re imaginary (as I suspect you may be), well… at least there’s still plenty of dollar-off coupons for H-E-B brand products in the mag to keep my hopes of one day affording the honeymoon my husband and I never had alive.
P.S. The letter from “George and Alice” is pretty fantastical too. Her husband learned how to cook from reading the H-E-B magazine?! I suspect he just never put forth the effort in the first place, to avoid a domestic chore, but maybe I’m just being cynical.
2010
05.27
Tags: 3-day weekend, A Wild Soap Bar, Acadian Family Farm, Alan Roy, all our vendors must grow or produce what they are selling, Attagirl, Barton Creek Square Mall, Beets Café, Bonita Sarita, Bush Farms, Capital of Texas Highway, Caskey Orchards, ceramic artist, Comanche Creek, coupons, fingerstyle solo guitar, Flickr, Food Inc., Fruitful Hill Farm, Full Quiver, Gardener's Feast, get involved, go organic, GO TEXAN, Gundermann Farms, High Country Bison, Hot Rock'n Kettle Corn, It's About Thyme, Jiminy Crisket, Jimmy Joe, Lenny and his Hot Rock'n Kettle Corn, live music, Loop 1, Loop 360, Market to Menu event, Memorial Day, Mopac, mysticwit, Rocking B Ranch, Rocky Hill Orchards, Roger Holcomb, Smith & Smith, Star Market, Sunset Valley Farmers Market, TGIF, Village Baking Company, Way Back When Dairy
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
TGI-friggin-F, peeps. I normally wouldn’t use this expression, but I’ve been working non-stop for over 7 days, and yo! I need a BRIZZEAK!
Luckily, it’s a big-ol’ 3-day weekend for us working stiffs, and I plan on spending at least part of mine hitting up the Barton Creek Farmers Market (formerly the Sunset Valley Farmers Market) for their annual GO TEXAN “Market to Menu” event.
Just try to tell me you've seen anything THIS good-looking at your local grocer! (photo by Flickr user Bonita Sarita)
As if you needed an excuse to buy organic (you don’t, do you? if so, you may want to check out Food Inc., and particularly their “Get Involved” section), farmers markets are a great way to get to know your farmers in person and buy real food straight from the source. Starting bright and early at 9 AM (rain or shine!) on Saturday, May 29, the Barton Creek event will be featuring the food magic of Beets Café chefs, as well as a wide variety of local vendors, including:
- Way Back When Dairy—fresh springtime butter plus non-homogenized, low temp pasturized milk, cream, buttermilk and yogurt
- Rocking B Ranch—chuck steak, ground beef and beef ribs on special for Memorial Day cookouts
- Smith & Smith—lamb and fresh chickens
- Lenny and his Hot Rock’n Kettle Corn
- Full Quiver—fresh and aged cheeses, grass fed pork and beef, and cultured products high in probiotics like sauerkraut, kimchi, salsa, ginger carrot, pickled beets and beet kvass
- Gundermann Farms—peaches, herbs, a small amount of tomatoes and much more
- Acadian Family Farm—field-grown cucumbers (come early!), green beans, fresh 1015 onion bunches, yellow and zucchini squash, french carrots, beets, radishes and swiss chard
- Fruitful Hill Farm—summer squash, cherry tomatoes, white salad turnips, onions, garlic, beets, radishes, basil and eggs
- It’s About Thyme—antique roses, tomato and pepper plants, potted culinary herbs, spearmint (mojito) baskets and sweet basil
- Star Market—strawberries, new potatoes, squash, onions, cucumbers, fresh garlic, green beans, kohlrabi, turnips, beets, collards, blackberries and peaches
- Caskey Orchards—peaches, apricots and blackberries (limited supply)
- Rocky Hill Orchards—Fredricksburg peaches
- Comanche Creek—pickling cucumbers, green beans, and other veggies
NEW VENDORS include:
- High Country Bison—grass fed and finished ground bison
- Bush Farms—potatoes and tomatoes
- Attagirl—natural line of body and home products
- Gardener’s Feast—all-natural tamales
- A Wild Soap Bar—wildly aromatic, truly natural, native soaps and body balms (with special farmers market pricing!)
- Village Baking Company—”the most delicious bread in Texas,” according to the Barton Creek Farmers Market email! The newsletter goes on to note that Village Baking Company is “an artisan boulangerie producing the finest quality all-natural, Old World style bread. They search for the very best hard white winter wheat flower from farmers across the Great Plains. From mixing the ingredients to baking, their breads are handcrafted by artisans obsessed with quality.” Gotta try some!
ACTIVITIES, for those looking for a good time (outside of shopping for delicious foods, that is), include:
- Jimmy Joe and Alan Roy play at 9:09 AM
- Jiminy Crisket at 10:10 AM
- Special guest at 11:11 AM will be Barton Creek Farmers Market’s very own ceramic artist Roger Holcomb on fingerstyle solo guitar
Fore more info on all the farmers featured at this outdoor market, please check their farmers’ listings here. And don’t forget to download (and print up) the latest coupons direct from the Barton Creek Farmers Market website before you go!
This is why the farmers market is your best bet (photo by Flickr user mysticwit)
Barton Creek Farmers Market is located at the back side of the Barton Creek Square mall parking lot overlooking the city, at the intersection of S. Loop 1 (Mopac) and S. Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360).
P.S. If you’re not feeling up to an early-morning trek to the farmer’s market near you, you may want to consider shopping online with our sponsor, FromTheFarm.com, which brings premium agricultural products directly from family farms across the country straight to your door. How’s that for time-saving convenience?
2010
05.23
Tags: best breakfast tacos in Austin, breakfast tacos, carne guisada, Celebrity Intern, Don Juan tacos, El Taco Grande, enchiladas, fajitas, Flickr, foodie banker, guacamole tacos, Juan in a Million, Mexican, Mike Barish, O. Henry, O. Henry Pun-Off, parking nightmare, tacos, Tex-Mex
Posted in Restaurants | No Comments »
I’ve been meaning to post about Juan in a Million for a while now, as it was one of the original suggestions from our Foodie Banker, and Celebrity Intern and I hit the place hard fiending for some breakfast tacos on a lazy Sunday.
A word to the wise: Go early. I mean, like, buttcrack-o’-dawn early! (They open at 7 AM, daily.) Otherwise, you will regret the error of your foolish, foolish ways. Especially if you’re looking for parking. OY!
Now, aside from having the most awesomely punny name in town (and me having missed this weekend’s O. Henry Pun-Off, scandal!), Juan in a Million has reportedly The Best Breakfast Tacos in Austin. This has now officially been confirmed by my co-workers, who reguarly bring in a couple of the Don Juan tacos to share. At 3 bucks (and 60 cents) a pop, and with multiple tortillas supplied to divvy the booty from “El Taco Grande” up, they can squeeze 4 breakfast tacos out of one Don Juan, so that’s some mighty fine bang for your buck!
The Don Juan and its not-so-secret ingredients, revealed! (photo by Flickr user Mike Barish)
The Don Juan comes with “a secret combination of potato, egg, bacon and cheese,” but you can also try the fajitas (beef or chicken), beef or chicken tacos, carne guisada, or guacamole tacos for significantly less fat cash (i.e. $1.95 and up). Mix and match ‘em for maximum satisfaction.
I’ll admit that I was a silly billy and went for a lunchtime menu item, the chicken enchiladas, when we first stopped by Juan’s fab taco house, but having tasted the (not-so-)secret sauce, I’ve seen the error of my ways. Sure, enchiladas are always a good bet, but their breakfast tacos are truly divine. Grab ‘em to go and win the undying loyalty of your staff by sharing them around the office!
2010
05.10
Tags: Austin Film Society, Austin Public Library, best free movie sites, Blu-ray player, classic films, free movies, freegans, Frugal Fun, gaming system, Harry Ransom Center, Making Movies, Netflix, Paramount, Paramount 2010 Summer Film Series, screening calendar, Slackerwood, Slackerwood's 2010 Guide to Free and Cheap Summer Movies, SXSW, The Force, The Movie Outsider
Posted in Freebies, Movies | 4 Comments »
As a conoisseur of the freebie lifestyle, and an unreformed member of the spoiled Press Club who simply refuses to (over)pay to see movies, I was beginning to think that Austin’s freegan claims had been vastly overrated. The SXSW film end of the fest is clearly no place for bargains (nor entry sans badge, harumph!), and for those who love film, I began to suspect that free flicks were just another rainbow-colored pipe dream.
But after a fateful tip from a guy on the bus (the source of many an insider tip, Chez Shoestring, btw), I discovered the wonderful world of gofobo.com. Film-related sweepstakes and free screenings abound here, but alas, they are only accessible with a magical (and rather mysterious) RSVP code.
Curses, Batman, foiled again!
Luckily, using my mighty memory, I recalled that my mystery bus man had informed me that gofobo.com was just one of several sites he regularly cruised for access to freebies in the movie world, implying that there were others, were a young Jedi so inclined to look for them. Thus, with a quick flick of the Google button I discovered the untold riches at The Movie Outsider’s Austin page.
As The Movie Outsider notes, freebies may not always be easy to come by, but they sure beat the heck outta paying full price for admission. If you’ve got to dig a little, you may just appreciate those hard-earned tickets a bit more, too. Or at least avoid the truly terrible pap that Hollywood deems to dish out.
Whatever the case, here were some of the best sites I found in my mission to uncover movie freebies, to help you along your way:
Tell 'em Shoestring Austin sent ya!
If all else fails, Netflix is still offering a pretty sweet one-month-free subscription, where you can instantly stream movies straight from your computer (or Blu-ray player, or gaming system), or rent movies with no late fees and free shipping to and from your house. Set up your home theater and you’ll be set; at only $8.95 a month, that’s still way cheaper than paying for admission at your local theater.
Still too rich for your blood? Hit up the nearest branch of the Austin Public Library for a selection of totally free movies and TV shows, which you can keep for a full seven (7) days. With the Interlibrary Loan system, you can even snag flicks from far-away branches (provided you agree to pay a $1 fee if you fail to actually pick up your items within 10 days of your notification email), all from the comfort of your Internet connection.
Friends, freegans, countrymen: bemoan your free movie quandary no more, and may The Force be with you.
2010
05.09
Tags: aromatic spices, Butter Chicken, Butter Chicken on the cheap, Celebrity Intern, chickpeas, garbanzo beans, garlic, ginger, H-E-B, HEB, Home Cookin', Indian cuisine, Indian food, Kitchens of India, lentils, Tasty Bite Chunky Chickpeas
Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »
I’m a big fan of Indian cuisine, but I hate paying restaurant prices. It’s worse than hitting up your local sushi bar! I mean, seriously, $12 for a plate of chicken with spices (aka Butter Chicken)? I can make that shizzle at home—and better!
So I did, with the aid of Kitchens of India, an inexpeez ready-made spice packet for Butter Chicken found at my local H-E-B.
THE METHOD:
In a pan, we combined approximately 1 lb. of boneless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks, with 3 T butter (slightly more, due to Celebrity Intern’s heavy hand!), plus the contents of the Kitchens of India Butter Chicken Curry Paste packet. We mixed it up and simmered for 20 minutes under a lid. We then simmered on high for another 5 minutes, before removing from heat, covering, and letting sit for another 3 minutes. We also combined a packet of Tasty (i.e. NASTY) Bite Chunky Chickpeas, supposedly with garlic, ginger and “aromatic spices,” which I had lying in wait after a run-in with their doubly-nasty chickpea & lentil combo (a word to the wise: avoid this product at all costs and just buy yourself a can of plain chickpeas instead!). After fine-chopping some freshly-washed cilantro, we plated it up and got this:
(Photos by Celebrity Intern, who complained about the lack of natural sunlight.)
Superb! Stupendous! Only $8 for dinner for two!
Seriously, yo. Stop overpaying for Indian cuisine, and make it yo’damn-self. It’s delish, it’s inexpensive, and it’s easy to do.
Suggested wine pairings:
2010
05.02
Tags: Bitty, Celebrity Intern, cookbooks, cooking apps, food writer, fresh ingredients, great cheap apps, How to Cook Everything, How To Cook Everything On the Go, iPhone, iPhone cooking apps, iPod cooking apps, iPod Touch, iTunes, Mark Bittman, minimalist recipes, New York Times, radish salsa, recipes, stocking your kitchen, Thai-style salsa, The Minimalist, yellow tomatoes
Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »
Here at Shoestring Austin, we like to blend deliciousness with cheapness. In our quest for delicious, cheap food, we have naturally downloaded many a free cooking app from the iTunes store. Unfortunately, as with many things in life, when it comes to free cooking apps, you get what you pay for.
Enter Mark Bittman, aka “The Minimalist.” New York Times food writer Bittman is all about cooking inexpensive, minimally time-consuming recipes with good, fresh ingredients, and has written several excellent books on the subject, including the brashly titled How To Cook Everything. And now, there’s an app for that: How To Cook Everything On The Go. (Click on the link or image below to download from the iTunes store for the iPhone or iPod Touch.)
For just a buck ninety-nine ($1.99), Bitty will literally teach you how to cook everything, without having to connect to the Internet. It’s a great self-contained app that offers easy access to a wide variety of recipes, kitchen basics, ideas for quick dinners and even lists compiled by Bittman like “Top 102 Essential Recipes,” “10 Soups to Eat Hot or Cold,” “16 Sauces for Any Simply Cooked Tofu,” and “15 Meat Dishes That Are As Good or Better The Next Day.”
With Bittman’s cooking methodology, it’s all about getting good, fresh ingredients and not screwing them up. His recipes are simple (or minimalist) mainly because he will teach you how to mix and match recipe ideas with whatever you’ve got in your cupboards, how to keep the right ingredients stocked at all times, and how to quickly and easily prepare straightforward meals. Most recipes offer a “variations” tab that will show you how to change up your old favorites, to keep things interesting, and they’re often cross-linked to accompanying dishes that pair well.
Truly, a great app to invest in, and at $1.99 it’s well worth the price.
One of the recipes I’ve recently tried from the app is the Radish Salsa, which offers a unique take on an old favorite. While Bittman doesn’t include tomatoes in his recipe, Celebrity Intern saw yellow tomatoes on sale at the grocery store and couldn’t pass up a deal, so we tossed in a few for the following colorful and tasty results:
Photo (and yellow tomatoes) by Celebrity Intern
Looks great, tastes great, and can be served up solo or stuffed into the taco of your choice. Yum!
Ingredients for this salsa include: chopped radishes, English cucumber (the long skinny kind), red onion, scallions, garlic, jalapeños or serrano chiles, lemon juice cilantro and salt and pepper. Toss in a few tomatoes (red or yellow) if you like, or download the app to check out Bittman’s unique Thai-inspired variations on the theme.
2010
05.01
Tags: 1921 Cedar Bend, Austin, Austin's Pizza, bacon, bleu cheese, chicken chunks, not crap on a stick, pizza, Pizza Paradise, thin-crust pizza
Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »
There’s a new kid on the block when it comes to Austin pizza, and its name is Pizza Paradise. Located at 1921 Cedar Bend, with delivery to Austin’s north side, this pizza parlor isn’t quite the slice of heaven its name implies, but it’s not exactly crap on a stick, either.
Celebrity Intern and I sampled their wares on a lazy Sunday evening when we didn’t quite feel like cooking. We called up, ordered a Chicken Bacon Bleu pizza (large), but were flummoxed by the fact that our phone order-taker informed us that they could only do a thin crust for medium sizes and smaller. Jigga-what? What diff does it make what size the pie? Serious. In NYC, this shit would be no probs, bobs.
Anyhoozle, we said “OK, whatevs,” and had them send out a large pie. We got it within the 40 minute predicted period, and the delivery dude was sweaty, but nice. Granted, he did have to climb 3 flights of stairs to reach us. And called to ask where the eff we were, in relation to the tennis courts (ed note: we ARE way hidden in our complex, and expect these types of frantic phone calls). We tipped generously, and then commenced to chow down!
The nomming was tasty, though not quite the Chicken Bacon Bleu of our dreams. Celebrity Intern complained about the lack of bleu cheese in every bite, and I felt it was somehow too much, yet not enough simultaneously. Perhaps it was the salt content? Rich, but ultimately not satisfying. Celebrity Intern pointed out that the chicken chunks were uniformly rectangular, a suspicious strike against them.
They are no Austin’s Pizza. No offense: the toppings that are there are plentiful, no doubt, but sub-par in quality. The bleu cheese was probably just some moldy cheese they had lying around. It was “clearly out of a can, or perhaps a sack,” according to Celebrity Intern. The bacon was tasty, though super salty.
We would like to see Pizza Paradise go whole-hog with their claims of greatness. Paradise = heaven! Let’s see some hustle, Pizza Paradise.
Overall grade: C-, or 3.2 out of 5 stars.
