ebraun

My in-laws had come for a visit and had done their usual trick of making about a dozen soft-boiled eggs and had left some behind. Well, I prefer my eggs hard-boiled. So, since they were out of the shell, I figured I could put them into the microwave for a short cooking-time and solidify the yolks. So, I cooked for around 30 second and let them cool off a bit. So, on the first bite it was pleasingly warm and thoroughly enjoyable... only egg-white involved. Second bite I pierce the appearantly air-tight seal around the yolk and kablooey! The egg exploded into my mouth, onto my face and darn near the whole living room. It even made a little 'thump' sound when it blew. I had some nasty burns on my lip and nose from the noxious gas that escaped from the egg. Of course, none of those hurt nearly as much as my pride. We still laugh about it today.

Jaymes- Well, I recall from the stories around the time of the split that she came across as particularly uncompromising. But, I'd guess that neither side was terribly innocent. I wouldn't be so bold as to call the father stupid, but hey, if you're comfortable with it.... Heck, I'm just glad that there's now an extra barbecue joint in Lockhart serving serious 'cue. EB

Actually, a picadillo is a mini-loaf of bread, sort of like a little french roll, slit open along the top and filled with a spicy meat mixture. Cisco's is pretty famous for them. I've never had one, my dad says they are pretty good. It's sort of a strange little item, really.

I like the migas at Magnolia and Kerbey Lane any time of day. But now I'm all fired up to have them at Maudie's after reading the description of them. Mmmmmm.... serranos. I keep meaning to go to Las Manitas for them, I keep hearing that they have the best. On the East side I hear that Juan in a Million serves a pretty plate and cheap to boot.

In Austin people seem to put Shiner Bock in everything. I had dinner at what is one of the best restaurants in town the other night, Hudson's on the Bend, and there were several things on the menu with beer of some sort. Their Shiner Bock / Ancho mashed potatoes are really terrific. They also have a Shiner marinated rib-eye that is supposed to be fantastic. I've had the Shiner Bock Ice Cream at Amy's Ice Cream (check fat-guy's travel entry from Austin) and it was really something. I think it was just Shiner added to their Mexican vanilla recipe. I try to always drop some beer in my chili recipes. That's a natural. I'll marinate certain cuts of meat in beer, especially the tougher beef cuts. I have a recipe for Shiner Bock (yes, again) Pot Roast. It's an interesting recipe that calls for raisins too. I was out in Laguna Beach, CA last fall and had a pork loin braised in an Asian beer and it was just fabulous. It was a Thai restaurant, I think it was called Thai Bros.

My favorite bottled beer is Ommegang Abbey Ale. Rich, sweet, dark and glorious. The head on this beer is wonderuly creamy and has some serious staying-power. It's the most complex beer I've ever tasted with herbal, fruit and grain notes pounding you like waves on a shore. You have to be careful though, the alcohol is pretty high for this one. They have two other beers available too that are very good, Hennipin (Saison) and Rare Vos which is similar to the Ommegang in style with different herbal notes. The folks at Brewery Ommegang are very committed to traditional brewing and import a lot of the Belgian Ales on the market today through their Venburg/DeWulf importer biz (Duvel, DuPont, Moinette). I was surprised to see someone earlier in the thread not like the Ommegang offerings, you might want to give them another try. Also from earlier in this thread someone mentioned Celis beers brewed here in Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, Celis teamed up in an ill-fated partnership with Miller, who eventually bought controlling rights and promptly shut them down... bastards. Pierre Celis, helped bring back the traditional Wit back to Belgian breweries when he was the brewmaster with Hoegaarden starting back in the mid-60s. Losing Celis was a real tragedy for this style in the states, I have yet to find one that matches it (except at a brew-pub here in Austin that is using up the last stash of Celis' spice bags). But, you can still buy Hoegaarden at your finer shops, so all is not lost... but they don't exactly give it away either. Cheers!

You definatley want to go with the bulk chorizo, not the hard version. You still have to be careful with the chorizo, if it's really greasy it will soak through the tortilla and run down your arm ... even if you fold the end in. A lot of the taco joints around town are selling migas breakfast tacos. Typically, migas come with a couple of wheat tortillas and you can spoon your migas into them. So, now we have migas tacos... I'll get them but they aren't really as good. A lot of places serve migas at every meal and I'll eat them at any time of day. You may know that the Dallas/Fort Worth area is referred to as the Metro-Plex, a lot of people have started referring to Austin/San Antonio (only an hour apart) as the Migas-Plex because of the popularity and seemingly regional appeal of it. The other big breakfast dish here is menudo.... I haven't had the urge to try it yet, though... but I will some day.

Fat-Guy, Really enjoyed reading your report. I'm Austinite and just discovered this site today after a story the newspaper ran. Glad you liked the barbecue out at Smitty's in Lockhart. The story behind Smitty's and Kruez is that when the former owner died, he left the building to his daughter and the business to his son. Well, a couple of years ago the daughter tried to double the rent on the son and he moved out following much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the whole of Central Texas. I've been to both and the quality seems to be about equal. I'm from Kansas City where we take our brisket very seriously, but I haven't found any there that can match Kreuz Market or Smitty's. Artz Ribs on South Lamar (just south of Taco Xpress) is my favorite in-town barbecue joint, although Sam's is right up there. The breakfast tacos around here are great. You have to be careful when you order the chorizo though, if you aren't careful your hands will be orange all day and a lot of it is super greasy. Every once in a while I'll get the barbacoa tacos (traditionaly, beef cheek) but it can be seriously greasy... but thoroughly enjoyable. Great report, I'm glad to be on.