Arancini

I had never heard of Arancini until one random night I came home to a kitchen full of them.

Native to Italy, they are amazing little balls of heaven. I actually mention here except for Red House calls them Risotto balls....You basically make some meat sauce, rice, and make sure to have fresh mozzarella around. You form the rice into a ball and stuff with a bit of sauce and a piece of mozzarella. Roll it in a little egg wash, dump it in some bread crumbs and fry the heck out of it!

So when a trailer rolls into Austin actually called Arancini, we had to check it out.

The trailer is ADORABLE and the table set up I wanted to have in my own yard. They hand-picked tables and chairs from around Austin and painted them adorable turquoise and brown colors. Cute.

To Italianini's surprise they had sold out of Arancini, so we tried the Meatball Slider, the Roasted Veggie flatbread, and the Fried Artichoke Hearts with Lemon Aioli.

The Meatball Slider was weird. It was a meatball stuffed with Mozzarella and topped with chopped pork? It was charred on the outside and juicy on the inside, but the flavor wasn't incredible. It hit the spot for sure, though.

The Roasted Veggie Flatbread consisted of artichoke hearts, asparagus, onions, and a teeny bit of mozzarella. It was large and could definitely be a meal in itself. The Fried Artichoke Hearts with Lemon Aioli were delicious. It's a great little snack and they totally count as my veggies for the day!

Prices are SUPER reasonable and the owners are lovely people. 

Give this place a try.

http://eatarancini.com/

Lucky's Puccias

Italianini and I needed a quick bite one random weeknight... and decided to make a quick run to Lucky's Puccias. 

The tiny little trailer sits next to Tiniest Bar in Texas (totally no the tiniest! and, they just got real floor, and even a concrete wall to replace their wooden frence) houses a brick oven... yes, for your baked-to-order bread, a fridge full of goodies, and the two people who run this little operation. 

 

I had the Lucky's, which consists of your basic caprese, throw in some prosciutto and sundried tomato pesto. 

Italianini had the Contadina- Turkey, provolone, arugula, tomato, and olive tapanade.

The bread is good, but we had to wait quite a bit for this freshness. The sandwiches are tasty, but very simple. At $8 I could have had two slices and a soda at Home Slice, or a Banh Mi and spring rolls at Me So Hungry. To each their own. 

If you're in the neighborhood (W. 5th) and craving some Italian love between freshly baked bread, give them a shot.

http://www.facebook.com/LuckysPuccias

El Naranjo

I attended the Foodways of Mexico: The Culinary Birth of a Nation: Gastronomy and the Making of Mexican Identity with Chef Iliana De la Vega (owner of El Naranjo formerly in Oaxaca, now gracing us with its presence on Rainey Street) on September 9th at the MACC and left captivated, truly inspired and so proud to be Mexican!! Following her super interesting and funny talk, we had the opportunity to sample her Chiles en Nogada (btw, my grandma's are still the best)and Mole Poblano. What a tease!!! I, of course, wanted to try her entire menu immediately!!! 

So, the other night my LWers and I went to El Naranjo to have ourselves a mini-feast. 
I had such a hard time picking just one item... so I chose two, ok, maybe three, and then poked my fork into everyone else's food :). 


I started with the infamous Molotes Veracruzanos- plantains, black beans, and cheese mixed into the masa. They top them with crema and queso fresco and give you a generous side of salsa. This is like the Mexican mozzarella stick, only this one is ridiculously good. 


Then I moved on to my Tacos de Nopales- cactus with tomatoes, cilantro, and lime topped with queso fresco. Yummy yummy! These were really good and healthy-ish... I had corn tortillas, so I'm going to call it my serving of veggies for the day, ok? 

Morritow and Huemasita told me I was going to need more food, guess they know me well, so I ordered the Tacos de Tinga Verde- chicken in green sauce. They were tangy, spicy, and delicious. We also tried the Gringas (basically a quesadilla with al pastor meat) and the Cochinita Pibil tacos. Ok, the Gringas were good, but the Cochi has a long way to go. If you want good Cochinita, go to La Condesa.


Morritow got one of the specials- Tacos de Cecina Adobada. They were very good, the adobo was amazing and the meat was tender. Ro got the other special- Tacos de Tasajo. Holy crap, the meat was tender, thin, juicy, delicious, perfectly seasoned... it was so good. The tortillas were ok, but fell apart easily and didn't taste like they came straight from the comal.


While the food was awesome and the conversation was interesting, the mosquitoes biting our legs were a little more than ANNOYING! 
Apparently they're trying to move into the house (If you haven't been there, the trailer is on the drive way of a cutie patootie house that is still under renovation) by January.

 If you love Mexican food, you'll love El Naranjo. She knows a thing or two about this stuff... after all, she did give a 'talk' on Mexican culinary history! I even learned how Mole was accidentally invented by a nun in Puebla.


*Note: The taco specials for the night are the only ones served with beans and rice*

 http://twitter.com/elnaranjoaustin

4th of July: The Shed

So, I really wasn't planning on blogging about my 4th of July, but the bbq sandwich I had at the Seaholm Power Plant that night just had to be posted!

There was pizza (we had Home Slice for lunch), Tex-Mex (gotta be super in the mood to enjoy that..), and The Shed.

I had never heard of it, but this little busted truck covered in license plates with a sign that reads 'Dirty South in Yer Mouth' had a line that kept growing. Considering the other vendors had no line, yet The Shed kept people coming, I HAD to try it. 

The original is apparently in Ocean Springs, suuuper South Mississippi, and they added this trailer on East 6th to their long list of locations 

 Italianini and I contemplated splitting a pulled pork sandwich, but let's get real here. I got mine with cole slaw and a whole lotta sauce. Italianini did the same but added pickles.

The bun was not soggy or covered in butter, it was fluffy and perfect. The meat was incredibly moist and tasted heavenly. The sauce was not too vinegary  and not too sweet, and the slaw (which was not drowning in mayo) gave it that awesome crunch. The three had a love affair in my mouth.

Full belly, live music, beer in hand, fireworks, and my Italianini, what else do you need for a great 4th of July?

East Side King

Did you really think rain and mud could stop me from going to the East Side King? Pfff, you silly.

The Iranian and I made our way through the Liberty out to the patio and to the tiny East Side King window.

There was a really long line behind us, so I felt pressured and had to order far too quickly (Didn't get the tongue steamed buns, damn!). So here's what we had:


Thai Chicken Karaage
Fried chicken thigh with sweet & spicy sauce, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeño.

Poor Qui’s Buns
Roasted pork belly in steamed buns, Hoisin sauce, cucumber kimchee & green onion


Beet Home Fries
Deep fried roasted beets, kewpie mayo, schichimi tougarashi and green onion

I really liked everything, but the beets stole my heart. 
I could eat these suckers every day for every meal. Holy mess these are so good! The chicken was tender but I kept dipping it in the mayo. The buns perplex me (in a good way). I love the color, the texture, the size, and the yummy pork belly inside! 


Sucks I can't take my food-loving brother there since he's not 21...buuuuut, they did tell us they may be making a move to Rainey Street?!?!?!