So we've had a pretty sweet last couple of days that have been packed full of things so I haven't been able to write as much as i'd like to. We had a wonderful time in Austin Texas with our friend Erin and her boyfriend (our new friend) Mike. We stayed pretty busy eating good food and seeing the sights. We got to go to the Botanical Gardens in Austin that was part of a HUGE park. There was a wonderful group of exotic plant life and some animals. The heat was never that pleasant for me but it was a little more tolerable in the shade of the giant palm trees or bamboo.
It was nice to take a walk amongst the plants though, in a way it reminded me of walking through the woods at home (although there are less bugs because it's so hot). After circling the botanical gardens we walked to the other side of the park where there is a local swimming area where we didn't swim but we bought snow cones and did some people watching. Apparently it costs money to swim there but just to the end of it there is a body of water (the same water) where people swim for free and bring their dogs to get some social interaction with other dogs. It was a happy sight...but there were a LOT of people....so we just waded in the water a bit and then headed back to town and went to an amazing store called "Whole Foods". It was a massive store full of super fresh produce, meats, seafood, and really....anything you could think of...if you can eat it....it is probably there. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a particular affinity for a certain mineral: NaCl - Also known as Salt. They had a large variety of unrefined salts from around the world. I ended up getting a little over a pound of some gorgeous Sal Gris or Gray Salt. This made me a pretty happy camper. I then went to the meat section and decided that I had to have two of the grass fed beef tenderloin filets. I grabbed a small peice of blue cheese that I thought would be excellent for making a sauce from the caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan. We went back to the apartment and I did the following.I seasoned the beef with some of my new gray salt and some black pepper while I was pre-heating a nice thick-bottomed pan and added olive oil to the pan and I seared the tenderloin on all sides just until all sides were browned and left the inside of the meat hot, but rare (the way I believe all tenderloin should be cooked). After this I plated them in the center and I proceeded to make the sauce. One of the easiest and tastiest sauces to make. I deglazed the pan with some Oregon Pinot Noir (thank you Eli for turning Auri and I onto this), after the wine and all the little brown bits from the meat were co-mingling nicely as a dark brown sauce on their own I added some heavy cream to the mix and stirred it with a wisk until it was thoroughly emulsified and then added about a teaspoon of liquid aminos (similar to soy sauce or worechestershire sauce) . Finally after all of that was a smooth light brown color I crumbled in the already creamy blue cheese I had cut smaller (to help melt in). I tilted the pan over the heat so all the sauce would go into the corner of the pan and started to whisk in all of the cheese to help it melt and make the sauce a little more emulsified. After it was all combined I turned off the heat and let the residual heat condense the sauce a little further. I brought the pan over to the plated meat and with a tablespoon I spooned a ring around each of the tenderloins and added some cut chives to the top for a slightly oniony garnish. We then proceeded to induldge...partnered with the oregon pinot, this was our mid-afternoon "meal".
Following our food we played another game of quiddler and got ready for our nightime plans of going to the Alamo Drafthouse. It was a theater that was also a full service restaurant. We got there a little early to make sure we could get seats (it gets sold out pretty fast) and while you're waiting there is a full bar with drinks available so I had a local beer that Mike had bought for me. The orders were taken during the previews and was delievered once the movied started. The movie was probably one of the most comical "make you jump" horror movies i've seen in a long time. It was called "Drag me to hell". Just so you all know....it was terrible....and if you like getting startled and then laughing.....then maybe you'll like it. The theater was an overall fun experience though because of the pure novelty.
We went back to the apartment and watched an episode of the original miniseries "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It was...brilliant...they just don't make TV/movies like they used to. Yeah there are scale models, yeah there are terrible special effects, but the movies had definitive atmosphere, style, and general good taste.
The following day Erin had to work so we hung out Mike and just kinda took it easy. We had a small snack instead of breakfast because we slept in for a little while and we were going to have lunch with Erin when she got on break. We went to a really tasty place called "Magnolia's." I got a couple chicken enchiladas that were covered in queso and a chipotle sauce with a side of black beans and spanish rice. We went to check out a store next door afterwards that was kindof a gift/novelty shop. I got something that I could not resist getting because myself and many of my lunchtime compadres from school had spoke of just such a thing as being a fictional desire: Bacon flavored gum balls. Yes....I found it....and if you want some....I will share it with you...
When it was time for Erin to go back to work for another appointment we went with her to check out the shops around where she works. I ended up getting one of those elastic bands that goes into the poles for my tent (one of them snapped and they are a pain to fix). We also got the audiobook "Lies my teacher told me" which is about all of the political biases that are in American text books. After shopping Erin was done and we went to a little ice cream shop similar to cold stone called "Amy's." I got a sundae with gingersnap cookies, heathbar, and Chocolate whipped cream all in mexican vanilla. We went home to pack things up as we were hoping to take off for Houston at around 7. The short 3.5 hour drive would be a breeze after driving 17 hours straight from Illinois. It was a great experience staying with Erin and Mike, they were great hosts to us. We only hope when they come to Vermont we can do something similar for them.
Austin was great....now on to meet my Uncle for the first time (that I can remember) in Houston!
No comments:
Post a Comment