Food Photo Friday - Café Blue

Hey look, it's time for Food Photo Friday and THERE IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING HERE.

Sorry, dear readers; it seems that every year around this time, the heat saps all my creative energy and I'm destined to stare blankly at the empty screen in front of me, willing the letters to pour forth from my fingers. In stark contrast, my love of eating never wanes, so here you have a couple of fresh new photos from a recent visit to Café Blue in the Hill Country Galleria.

This may not be the best photo specimen that ever graced the internet, but the calamari that it depicts was a standout for this calamari-lover. The breading was light, not greasy, and replete with sesame seeds and crushed red pepper flakes, giving each bite a lovely flavor and crunch.

Calamari appetizer ($11)
I thought my blue crab cake caesar was slightly less successful, but that's not to say that it was bad. The salad was generously sized and nicely dressed, although I thought that two or three really small crab cakes might be psychologically more pleasing than the singleton I received, perched all lonely-like atop Mount Romaine.


Crab Cake Caesar Salad ($14).
Café Blue has a HUGE space and - sadly - there was nearly nobody in it the day I was out there. I vote we all converge on the place and buy out all their calamari. Who's with me?

Café Blue
Hill Country Galleria (there is also a second location at Sandy Creek Marina)
12921 Hill Country Blvd, Suite D2-120
Bee Cave, TX 78738
(512)366.5230
Their Website

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Lettuce Eat: Salads in Austin

Feeling a little roughage around the edges from all that heavy food you've been eating? Then my second post for this year's Austin Food Blogger Alliance City Guide should provide you with some re-leaf. Yes, it's a tribute to the best salads in Austin.

I'll admit it: in general, a plate with a few feathery green things typically leads to me snacking later in a bad way, so I favor salads with a bit of substance to them. Here are a few of my favorite spots to get my greens (plus) on:

Leaf - all salads all the time, and they do them well. Their Abbi's Asian chicken salad is the only salad I've ever met that I'm consistently unable to finish in a single sitting. Leaf's ingredients always taste super fresh, and in addition to their pre-conceived salad offerings, they've got a build-your-own option so you can get yours just the way you want it. Leaf also took top honors in the salad category in a restaurant poll of Austin Food Blogger Alliance members, so you know it's gotta be good!


Abbi's Asian Chicken Salad at Leaf.


Zax - on my short list for excellent salads; their shrimp remoulade salad is just the right size and always makes me feel a little better about my health afterwards. If I'm feeling more indulgent (much more indulgent), their steak salad is also a winner in the taste category, although I'm less sure about its caloric minimalism.


Shrimp remoulade salad at Zax


I'm similarly suspicious about the calorie profile of the Interior Mexican Grilled Chicken Salad at Corazon, particularly since it's served with a couple of blue corn empanadas that have most definitely taken a bath in the deep fryer. But oh, man. It's totally worth every bite.


Suspiciously delicious salad at Corazon


Finally, they'll cook the salmon just the way you want it for the Miso-Hi Salmon Salad at The Grove. Yes, those are panko-crusted onion rings on there. Maybe they shouldn't have let me write this category...


Busted!


Some of my other very favorite salads in Austin include the Greek salad at Milto's (add tender grilled chicken for just $1; the dressing is excellent and the rolls they serve with it are perfection); the grilled salmon salad at Café Josie; the hacked chicken salad at Hangtown Grill; the maytag blueberry salad at Chez Zee (best with pecan chicken on top, but then it becomes awfully $$$); the smoked salmon and shrimp cake salad at East Side Café; and - I'll admit it - the cilantro lime shrimp salad at Nordstrom's Cafe Bistro.

Other top salad picks in the Austin Food Blogger Alliance poll included Alamo Drafthouse, Fogo de Chao (which I really think ought to be renamed Fogo de Chow); and Blue Dahlia Bistro.

Where's your favorite salad in town?

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Apple Fennel Panzanella

A couple of summers ago, my neighbor Jackie gave me some lovely bulbs of fennel that she'd received in her CSA box. Not having ever cooked with fennel before, I did some Googling and came up with a few recipes that sounded interesting, including this one for an apple fennel panzanella (bread salad) from Bitchin' Camero. I gave it a whirl and really enjoyed it, so I broke it out again for a holiday potluck we attended recently. The red and green are rather season-appropriate, and it makes for a nice, reasonably-healthy addition to the heavy trappings of the typical holiday table. I love the way the dressing soaks into the bread, giving the whole thing a delightful mustardy-garlicky kick, which is nicely tempered by the sweet apples and mild fresh fennel.

I tweaked the recipe a bit, so am reprinting the recipe here with my comments/changes.

Apple Fennel Panzanella

• 1/2 loaf stale Ciabatta bread (fresh Ciabatta works just fine, too)
• 1 Macintosh apple, thinly sliced
• 1/2 large fennel bulb (or 1 small one), thinly sliced
• Handful of salad greens
• Small bunch chives, snipped into small pieces
• 1 tsp. poppy seeds (I always forget to put these in, as you can tell from my photos)
• Finely chopped fennel fronds (for garnish)

Dressing:
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar (I didn't have any white wine vinegar, so used apple cider vinegar, which I thought worked just fine)
• Fresh garlic cloves, finely minced (The original recipe called for one clove. I love garlic, so I used five (!). Adjust according to your own garlic taste.)
• Salt (to taste)

Preheat the broiler. Slice the bread into 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch cubes. Arrange them on a cookie sheet and pop them under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the completely dry out and begin to brown slightly. Keep your eye on the bread – it burns quickly.

In the meantime, whisk together the olive oil, mustard, vinegar, garlic and salt. Toss the bread with the apple, fennel, greens, chives and poppy seeds, then drizzle with the dressing and give it a good toss, making sure everything is evenly coated. Garnish with bits of fennel frond.

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