Buenos Aires Cafe in Austin

I recently visited Buenos Aires Cafe's South 1st Street location (2414 South 1st) and had pretty tasty Argentinean food.  I first tried their empanadas and desserts at Tour de Vin a few weeks ago, and I wanted to try them again.  I tasted four of the dishes offered, and my surprisingly, the spinach salad (no photos) was one of my favorites.  The salad combined fuji apples, candied pecans, and goat cheese with a sweet and tart vinaigrette dressing.  The dark and spicy creme brulee was also delicious with a slow creeping burn.  The waiter caught me licking the ramekin, and I had no shame.  No shame because he said he does it too.  This Quilmes Pils was alright.  It was a little too light to be paired with the food we ordered. Pastel de Papas - Argentinean style “Shepherd’s pie.” Ground beef, green onions, raisins, green olives, herbs, and spices topped with mashed potatoes and baked until golden.  This dish was made for rainy days. Milanesa a la Napolitana -Two tender and breaded beef cutlets blanketed with ham, mozzarella cheese, and homemade marinara sauce, baked until melted. Served with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and broccoli florets. My only complaint about this dish was that it arrive kind of lukewarm.  Dark and Spicy Chocolate Crème Brulee - Dark chocolate and spicy pasilla and cayenne peppers. Lick the bowl.  I won't judge.

Boar meets Beer at Uncle Billy's

I had the great pleasure of being invited to attend the Boar meets Beer dinner at Uncle Billy's.  This is the dinner for the ultimate beer loving carnivore.   The reception started off with smoked venison wrapped around asparagus and cream cheese.  The smoky and peppery simple venison with vegetables was paired with their 2009 Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal Winning Hell in Keller pils.  I found the crisp, clean, and hoppy beer to contrast nicely with the mild meat, creamy cheese, and sweet veggies.  This particular batch of Hell in Keller was brewed right when Brian Peters returned from GABF back in September.  Brian gives a few words of advice about brewing lagers.  1. Use a German Pils Malt. 2. Only use one malt.  Hell in Keller is a lager that was brewed for 4.5 weeks, and not always available.  Lagers (because they require a longer period of time to brew) take up precious tank space.  So get down to Uncle Billy's and try this award winning beer before it's gone.  Next up was the smoked duck breasts with phyllo-wrapped roasted vegetables and heirloom tomato napoleon, accented with a bourbon demi and served with Hill Country organic Amber.  The flavorful duck breast was unbelievably tender and lean.  What I like about this dish and the venison was that meat wasn't too dressed up, over spiced, or over-cooked.  Both meats were perfectly prepared with just the flavors of the meat and smoke coming through.  The extra creamy pumpkin soup was served in a gigantic sourdough bread bowl.  I'm taking about the size of a football.  Uncle Billy's doesn't play games with serving sizes around here.  The delicious soup was topped with a creme fraiche and served with the Hop Zombie IPA.  The mellow soup contrasted nicely with the sourness of bread, tartness of the creme fraiche, and the citrus-y hop flavor of the Hop Zombie IPA.  The different flavors were nicely balanced with the soup, bread, creme fraiche, and beer.  This is the kind of soup you need on a cold winter night.  Hearty, tasty, and comforting.  Stuffed wild boar chop with Swiss chard and Okinawan purple potato au gratin.  Just the sounds of it should make you drool.  The tender wild boar chop was stuffed with button mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, onions, garlic, green onion, red onion, butter, and pinot gringo and topped with a sweet apple sauce.  My favorite side was the purple potato au gratin that literally tasted like butter.  That side dish was fantastic.  This entree was served with the Bitchin Camaro.  This recipe is the same recipe from the Bitter Ends using crystal hops.  Delicious. The final pairing of the night was a dark chocolate mousse in a white chocolate cup (more like a big mug) with cranberry whipped cream served with Insomniac Coffee Stout.  Chocolate and stouts are a  natural pairing, and this one was particularly nice with the cranberry whipped cream.  The Insomniac stout was lusciously creamy as it is carbonated with nitrogen and CO2.  It gives for smaller bubbles and a creamier head.  The coffee flavor that is added to this beer using cold extracted Austin Java Coffee.  I won't give away other details about how it is brewed, but I will tell you to try some of this Insomniac Coffee Stout.  I've used it many times to make cupcakes, brownies, and chocolate mousse. As a surprise, diners were also treated to a sample of last year's anniversary ale (2008), the Boozer Chavez.  It a Belgium strong ale with sweet sugar, toffee, and caramel aromas.  The other flavors that I got were deep raisins and somewhat bourbon-y.  I smelled just like a bourbon to me.  Very tasty.  Very strong (~10%). And very unique.  It was a great way to end a wonderful meal.  A big thanks to Uncle Billy's, Brian Peters, and the staff.

For your salad and pasta eating pleasure:Beer Dressing

Here's a few beer dressing ideas for ya.  This dressing can be used on regular green salads or pasta.  I'm offering you two versions here, one from Marshall Wright at EatthisLens.com and myself.   For my beer pasta, I boiled the beer in (512) Wit until the pasta is al dente, combined with a 15 oz can of drained garbanzo beans, one pint cherry tomatoes, a 7 oz can of drained and sliced black olives, and chopped scallions. Then I sprinkled with malted barley. Marshall's Beer Dressing 1/2 cup Beer 1/2 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon mustard 1/2 teaspoon vinegar Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until emulsified.  My beer dressing: This is a little hoppy, but still pretty yummy. 1 cup light beer. I used (512) Wit 1 cup olive oil 1/3 cup malt extract 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 1 shallot, minced 6 cloves of garlic minced pinch of salt Reduce the beer for about 30 minutes in a small saucepan.  It may become fairly hoppy.  In a frying pan, sauté the shallots and garlic in olive oil just until it releases it's fragrances.  Watch out that it doesn't burn at all or else the dressing will taste bitter.  I would recommend putting the shallots in the pan first to cook for a few minutes before adding the garlic.  Combine the malt extract, salt, apple cider vinegar, shallots, and garlic in a bowl and whisk together, slowly streaming in the olive oil.  Once you have about half a cup of olive oil into the dressing, start adding the reduced beer into the mix.  Be careful as it can be very hoppy.  If you add too much of the reduced beer, you can offset the hoppiness by adding more malt extract.  If you don't want to use malt extract, agave nectar or honey will suffice.  Add more or less olive oil to taste.  Olive oil can also help mellow out some of the flavors if it is too strong.  Serve over pasta or green salads.  The dressing, made with a (512) Wit. Pasta boiled in (512) Wit, tossed with cherry tomatoes, olives, garbanzo beans, and scallions,sprinkled with malted barley.

BeerCloud for Iphone by Great Brewers

O.M.G. BeerCloud is here.  BeerCloud for the iphone is an application that is a data base for beer and breweries, a GPS beer finder, a beer sommelier, and guide to beer styles.  With the selection of craft brewers growing exponentially, keeping all your beers straight can be quite a task.  The feature that I find most appealing is the beer sommelier application that recommends complementary beer styles for 250 + types of food.  No more googling pairings when I'm at a restaurant (yes, I'm just that nerdy).  Nor will I have to google the new beer selections when I'm at Twin Liquors, Specs, or Whole Foods.  Thanks@ Great Brewers. 

Click here to check it out for yourself.  The iphone application is free.