Did you say pie-ro-gee? - Hill Country Pierogi Truck

I learned about the Hill Country Pierogi trailer from my roommate last fall. She really wanted to visit the new trailer and told me I should come with, so I could tell you wonderful people all about it.

Delicious new food? I’m there, but what the heck are pierogi?

The roomz described pierogi as a traditional Polish food, similar to ravioli, but in a half-moon shape, filled with potato and cheese and pan-fried in butter.

Potatoes, cheese, butter. It sounded like a Paula Deen dish all wrapped in a noodle- let's go.

A week or so later I saw that Hill Country Pierogi was having a Twitter contest for fans to send in pictures of the Austin skyline in exchange for free pierogi. Challenge accepted.

I sent in this pic I found on an 'ode to Austin' blogpost and won. Free food's always good.

The Austin version of Aurora Borealis.

Last weekend I finally went to redeem my prize.

Hill Country Pierogi truck off East 11th & Juniper

Not only did Brit & Rob remember my and my roommates names from months ago, but they were so incredibly nice and gave me plenty of time to flip flop between The Chorizo or the Traditional. The Texan in me went for The Chorizo. The roomie ordered The Bacon. And we threw in an order of The Apple Pie for good measure.

The Chorizo

These little guys smelled AMAZING. It was one of those times where you knew the food was going to be way too hot, but it was worth burning the roof of your mouth. The filling , a combination of ground chorizo, black beans, sautéed onions, chipotle and mashed potato, genius. The diced jalapeños and chipotle sour cream were great for me because I like spice. But the regular side of sour cream will bring down the heat if you want a milder flavor. 

I tried one of the bacon pierogies and liked it as much as mine, though it had a completely different flavor.

 

The Bacon

The caramelized onion added a sweetness to the savory cracked black peppercorn bacon and mashed potatoes. The peppercorn bacon crumble on top was a nice vittle between bites. 

After three delish dumplings I knew I had to stop so I could save room for The Apple Pie. 

The Apple Pie with SWEETENED WHIPPED MASCARPONE

Brit, Hill Country Pierogi co-founder and chef extraordinaire, brought out the apple pie and our mouths fell open. She made sure we knew that the heavenly little dollop of cream was not "just" butter, but homemade sweetened mascarpone cream. 

The apple pie filling is homemade and the whole pierogi is topped with dulce de leche drizzle and powdered sugar. The combination of the buttery dumpling with the deep-fried breading was a little heavy for me, but my favorite part of the dessert was the mascarpone. By the end I was snagging bites of it with a spoon. (Brit admitted she does this too which made me feel more normal.)

An order of 5 homemade pierogi is $7 which isn't a bad deal. Considering you'll probably take a couple home (or eat them in the car on the way back), it's almost two meals. The menu has a wide variety of choices and some vegetarian options as well.

The next time I go back I want to try the Traditional or the Kielbasa (Polish sausage) and The Blueberry for dessert. Yes, I've already planned my entire order.

On a side note, I just want to commend Brit and Rob on how quickly they've grown their business and settled in to the Austin food truck community. Their food is amazing, but they're also one of the most resourceful food truck operations I've seen. They ship, deliver and sell bulk quantities of their products and their menu is featured at the Longbranch Inn. 

You can read about Rob and Brit's full adventure from their "corporate" lives in New York to running their small business in Austin, and keep up-to-date on the trailer, on their blog, Twitter, or Facebook.

If you visit the trailer and try The Blueberry before I get a chance to, leave me a comment and tell me all about it!

Na zdrowie!

Gypsy Picnic 2011

Bringin' the gypsy to the picnic

If you got to experience Gypsy Picnic this year, yay! I hope you ate your fill of the variety of trailer food and enjoyed the amazing weather. If you went to last year’s Gypsy Picnic and tried it out again this year, WASN’T IT 50,000X BETTER?

The harsh, but true criticism of the first-ever Gypsy Picnic in 2010 was heeded and the attendees benefitted. I was thoroughly impressed by C3’s improvements to the festival: the area blocked off at Auditorium shores seemed twice as big as last year, the number of trucks increased and the vendors were more prepared overall.

This year I had the chance to work behind-the-scenes at the festival at The Peached Tortilla. If you’ve read my posts (and there isn’t an overabundance of them...yet) you should know that I’m madly in love with the Banh Mi taco and all other things ‘peached.’ So basically I felt like I was getting to work backstage on the set of one of my favorite TV shows!

"I'm a peach head!"

Being on the inside of the truck – or in Gypsy Picnic’s case, on the other side of the table – was such an amazing experience! I got to talk to so many cool people and tell hundreds of hungry folks that they should buy one of my favorite foods in Austin. And man, were we churning out some tacos!

I parted ways with the peached crew around 2 p.m., but not before having a banh mi taco, BBQ brisket taco and szechwan veggie taco. I have no shame. The Szechwan veggie was new to me and caught me off guard with how spicy it was. The eggplant, red bell pepper and onions blended well with the black bean garlic sauce, tofu and pickled daikon slaw. I don’t think anything will top the banh mi taco for me though.

After happily stuffing my face, I wandered out to the center of the park to try to decide where I wanted to go with my $20 in ‘research funds.’

My first stop was Short Bus Subs because I saw on Twitter that it was one of their peeps' birthday and I have never been out to visit the trailer at Mueller Park. Eric, the birthday boy and one of the three co-owners and brothers who runs the bus, traded my birthday wish for a sub!

The Short Bus

I sampled The Hot Teacher, a veggie sub with roasted portabella mushroom, red pepper, sun-dried tomato pesto, mozzarella, cheddar and fresh sun dried tomatoes. I was honestly surprised with how good the sub was. I mean subs are subs, but I think it was the sun-dried tomato pesto and freshly baked from scratch bread that made it.

My second stop was East Side King, the fan favorite winner. A hippy-biker type recommended the Thai Chicken Karaage, but I opted for the Fried Brussels Sprout Salad. It was a unique combo of fried brussels sprouts, sweet and spicy sauce, shredded cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, basil, cilantro, mint, onion and jalapeño. The brussels sprouts were flavorful and not deep fried, just crispy enough. I’m not sure if it was the sweet and spicy sauce or the mint in the dish, but something triggered a coughing fit. I had to give up on the rest of the salad which was unfortunate because I really liked it!

East Side King
Left Thai Chicken Karaage, Right Fried Brussels Sprout Salad

I met up with some friends and we made our way over to Tenderland for the “battered” (aka deep fried) pork tenderloin sandwich. It was HUGE! I snagged a couple of bites of my friend’s sandwich and it was good, but a little too much fried sandwich for me. I think if they made the sandwich in a smaller portion it’d be better, but it’s not something I would seek out to buy.

Gypsy Michelle with her Austin-made craft beer and tenderloin sandwich.

I was getting full, but I had few more stops on my list. I powered through to give you more, fellow food truck lovers. I had planned on trying Ju Ju’s Kaboose, a Cajun/traditional Louisianan food trailer that I learned about for the first time in the Gypsy Picnic lineup. I loved the roving musicians that happened to be walking by as were waiting in line at Ju Ju’s, especially because they had a brass band sound that went along with the Cajun cuisine.

The roving jazz band!

Having roots in New Orleans I was really looking forward to trying the Crawfish Cornbread served up by Ju Ju herself…I was so disappointed. The cornbread was served in a cupcake sleeve with a spoon. You needed the spoon because it was so mushy you couldn’t eat it like normal crumbly corn bread. It lacked flavor overall and left me wishing I had a bottle of Crystal hot sauce to pour all over it. The Pork Poboy did look like the real thing (compared to some so-called poboys I've seen in Austin), but I was too full and also didn’t want to shell out $8 to try the foot long sub.

Ju Ju's Kaboose
Crawfish Cornbread

My last two samples before dessert were bites of each slice from Spartan Pizza. The Zeus, made with roasted garlic olive oil (something I don’t think I’ve ever tried, but loved!), bacon, spinach, tomatoes and mozzarella, was delicious, but was a little overtaken by the bacon. It seemed to be their rendition of a Margarita pizza. I really liked The Spartan with tomato sauce, green bell pepper, white onion, lots of fresh garlic and parmesan, and topped with red pepper flakes. People at the picnic had said that Spartan Pizza was better than Homeslice Pizza which is pretty much the only place that can get me out of the house for a pie. Though Spartan definitely gave 'em a run for their money, I think Homeslice still has a special place on my palette.

Van kissing eating a slice of The Zeus.

I ended on a high note with the Frozen Hot Chocolate from Holy Cacao. Holy chocolate was that shake amazing. I had planned on sharing it with a friend to try to compensate for all the calories I’d already consumed, but once I tasted that sucker I became very greedy. It was great when you were drinking it and at the end of each sip there was a punch of chocolate that stayed with you. Everyone I was with either bought or shared one after tasting it. Yeah, it was good.

Leah and I fighting over Holy Cacao's Frozen Hot Chocolate.

Overall, this Gypsy Picnic was a 500% improvement from last year. Lines were kept to three minutes or less at most spots, hardly anyone sold out before 5 p.m. and the $3 samples at every trailer made it easy to try a wide variety. AND I got to meet Tiffany Harelik of Trailer Food Diaries who I consider to be a total local celebrity.

Tiffany Harelik, Trailer Food Diaries author and co-creator of Gypsy Picnic and me squinting happily.

This food truck foodie left feeling happy, full and excited for next year's picnic.

Which trailer was your favorite? Did you try one of the dishes I did? Do you agree or disagree with my reviews? Was there something I missed that I need to hunt down around Austin? Leave a comment below and share your Gypsy Picnic experience with me!

I'm back! - Cazamance Mini-Review

Hello mobile-food lovers!

I've been MIA for a couple of months due to my summer travels. I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica for seven weeks this summer and food trucks are unheard of there. My host family actually seemed a little offended at the idea of buying food out of a truck (which is odd to me because señors walk around the little pueblos with food in freezer packs and sell out all the time).

Needless to say, no food-truck updates writing opps there. Here's a pic of my favorite meal my mama tica (host mom) made for me though. It's basically shredded chicken with lots of vegetables, but made with that Tica style of real butter and lots of spices. Oh, and don't forget the 'platanos maduros,' overripe plantains sauteed with butter and brown sugar. Delicioso.

Following my Costa Rica trip was my second summer stay in New Orleans with my family. The food-truck business is growing there, but Lucky Dog Hot Dogs has a Rotolo's Pizza-like monopoly on the French Quarter.


When I'm bartending there, I pretty much don't make it out of that .66 square miles to get to the food-trucks uptown. I did get to have a tasting of gourmet appetizers at one of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants: NOLA. A friend of mine's sister, Tina, is the sous chef and is one talented young cook. Let's just agree that I was on vacation from venturing out to do my mobile food research.

But, now I'm back in Austin and have no more excuses! It seems like over the last few months tons of new food-trucks have rolled out and I can't wait to try them all (within my college-student budget, of course).

My first mobile-food tastings this semester, were not at food-trailers per se, but at an outdoor, catered, American Red Cross fundraiser: A Taste for Something Good, sponsored by The Cupcake Bar, CTC Garden Venue and Texas Belles.

The event featured donation-based tastings, raffles, and a silent auction that benefited the people of Central Texas who lost their possessions and homes in the recent fires. The fundraiser was at this cool place off Cesar Chavez, the CTC Garden Venue. CTC is known for hosting charity events and as the hangout spot for Food Network star, Rachael Ray, during SXSW 2011. The event was a success and raised over $2,000 to be donated to the American Red Cross of Central Texas.

The CTC Garden Venue

I don't know any better excuse to indulge in some delicious food than for charity- especially one for fellow Texans. I sampled the nachos from Tacodeli first. The Puerco Borracho, pork braised in tequila and sherry, was little a heavy, but delicious nonetheless. The Queso Fresco required second-helpings from all my girlfriends and me. But really, it was some good stuff.

Tacodeli has a couple of locations (all brick and mortar restaurants) in South, North, and Central Austin. I called two locations to double check that they were not a food-trailer and the staff were super friendly and both people that answered the phone told me to come by ASAP for some "freaking awesome" and "totally good" breakfast tacos. I think I will be visiting soon not just to try what I expect to be some delicious breakfast tacos, but for the energetic atmosphere as well.

I also sampled Kellie's Kandies and Cookies - which have a unique flavor of spicy shortbread with a creamy fondant topping; Objects of Confection Double Chocolate and Irish Cream truffles that would've been a lot better if it hadn't been so hot outside; the enticing build-your-own cupcakes from The Cupcake Bar and some tasty mini-endive appetizer from the onsite-trailer Cazamance. Unfortunately, by the time I realized there was an actual food-trailer in the back I was full and only had room for the endive. I want to go back and sample more from the Cazamance West African menu.

Overall, the event was a good way for me to donate to a good cause, eat and get back into the swing of blogging.

I'll be at ACL manaña and have so many trailers I want to sample I'm not sure if I'll actually be able to watch any live music. I'll make it work. The post will probably be up next weekend, so look out!

If you went to ACL yesterday and have a recommendation of a trailer I should sample please let me know in a comment below!

By the way, here is the updated link for my feature on social media and Austin food-trucks. The other link brings you to an error page now and I know all of you want to be able to read it over and over again!

Can't rely on a Gypsy-- Izzo's Tacos & Holy Cacao, another story

I went to the Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival thinking “This is it. The perfect end to my required blog stream about food-trailers: a trailer food festival!”

Too bad it sucked. And when I say sucked, I mean it crushed my little foodie heart to walk into the grounds to see 2009 ACL-like-dust, disgruntled people and lines. Oh, the lines.

Okay, maybe I’m being a little harsh. I think I built up my excitement for the festival and it turned out to be very disappointing. Apparently the Gypsy Trailer Festival organizers did not expect the kind of turn out that occurred. The festival was supposed to be a combination of merchandise shopping, listening to music and of course snacking on your favorite trailer foods. Instead, it was a festival of lines. Every trailer had a line at least 100 people long. There was a line to buy your food, then a line to wait for your food to be made, and finally, a line of the people eating their food.

On top of the lines, half of the trailers were completely sold out by the time I got there (2:30 p.m.), and the festival was supposed to go on until 8 p.m. After about 20 minutes I left with no food and lots of disappointment.

I decided to head down South First and see if I could find a trailer that wasn’t at the festival that I could snag something from. To my surprise, when I pulled in the Trailer Park & Eatery, Torchy’s was open and Holy Cacao had an ice chest full of cake balls.

I begrudgingly passed up Torchy’s and decided to try the recently awarding-winning Holy Cacao. I asked the server for their best flavor, she recommended the red velvet cake. I’m not a huge fan of red velvet, so she recommended her favorite, chocolate. Now you’re talkin’.

The website lists the chocolate cake ball as “Holly’s Favorite Cake Ball: All chocolate, all the time: Chocolate cake dipped in chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder.” It was delicious! The perfect balance of fudgy brownie and bitter sweet chocolate.

After enjoying my chocolate treat, I went further down the street to a lot with no official name, but holds around three trailers. I found Izzo’s Tacos parked here and decided to give them a try. Again I asked the server for the best item on the menu and he recommended The Padre…which they were all out of. They were out of beef, chicken, and carnitas because of the Gypsy Picnic. I asked him if the vendors didn’t think that a lot of people were going to come. He said that they thought there would be a lot of people and had quadrupled their normal daily preparatory meals, but ran out in three hours. Again, I don't think the Gypsy Picnic organizers realized how successful the festival was going to be.

After this process of elimination, I opted for the Escobar, made of carne guisada (cubed pork), pico de gallo, and cilantro, and the Portabella Shroom, made with a generous portion of portabella mushrooms, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, and chipotle aioli. The aioli was delicious, but I really enjoyed their salsa which was just chunky enough and really spicy. Overall, Izzo’s Tacos was good, but left a little something to be desired and didn't live up to Torchy’s.

If you went to Gypsy Picnic- please leave comments below about your likes or dislikes at the festival.
To read a few reviews about Gypsy Picnic you can visit Yelp or Mike Sutter's Statesman blog.
Also if you have a favorite Holy Cacao cake ball or Izzo’s Tacos dish share it with me because I definitely will be going back to Holy Cacao at least.

Note: Please excuse the poor quality of the pictures. My camera died, so I had to revert to my phone.

"We don't say 'fried,' we say deep sauté." - The Mighty Cone

Hello fellow food-lovers!

I hope you enjoyed the amazing weather we had here in Austin this weekend as much as I did!
In my last post I listed off a few of my favorite ACL food-truck favorites, including The Mighty Cone.

(Photo by Rachael Sperling)

This wonderful food trailer not only has a spot at the festival, but also has a main location in the trailer park eatery off South Congress. I tried to share the gift of fried-goodness-in-a-cone with my mom and little brother who visited this weekend, but The Mighty Cone was closed! Word to the wise- they’re open 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Tues-Sat. AKA not on Sunday afternoon with your family.

As a result of my poor timing, this week’s review is about a week and a half old, but good fried food is good fried food everyday of the week. Don’t question this philosophy.

Across the street from the delicious South Congress Café and just down the block from the ever-popular Electric Ladyland, The Mighty Cone has one of the best food-trailer locations on SoCo.

The stand opened just over a year ago and quickly gained popularity among South Congress food goers. The idea of creating the trailer stemmed from the high demand for the “Hot ‘n’ Crunchy” cones after their introduction to Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2002.

Their menu is not for the healthy-minded as the phrase informs below the service window: “We don’t say fried, we say deep sauté.” The menu, inspired by popular recipes and items from The Mighty Cone’s sister-restaurant, Hudson’s on the Bend, includes a variety of “Hot ‘n Crunchy” cones, shakes, organic all-veggie sliders and Hudson’s gourmet fries. I have yet to try the “Death by Chocolate Brownie,” but I don’t see how anything with such an angelic name could not be delightful.

(Photo by Rachael Sperling)

I’ve tried to make myself try one of the sliders with Hudson’s secret ancho sauce or the “Hudson’s Cone Dog” made with grass-fed venison (this is one lean cone dog!), but I cannot pull myself away from the deliciousness of the “Chicken-Avocado Cone.”

If you can tell me a better batter for crusting your chicken than with sesame seeds, almonds, arbol chili flakes, sea salt, sugar and corn flakes, then I may lessen my allegiance to the fried chicken of The Mighty Cone. But, let’s face facts: this will probably never happen!

The prices are reasonable with the most expensive item topping out at $7, so it’s an ideal place for a cheap dinner on the go.

If you haven’t tried The Mighty Cone yet get out there and eat some cone deliciousness!

Leave a comment of your favorite The Mighty Cone dish (especially if you’ve had the “Death by Chocolate Brownie”)! Let me know if there’s any food-trailer you recommend.

You can visit The Mighty Cone website for more information and a full menu.

If you don’t trust me, the two blog posts below have their reviews of The Might Cone.
http://gardenandgun.com/newsletter/street-food-gourmet
http://austin.eater.com/tags/the-mighty-cone

Austin = Foodie Paradise

Fall is here and in Austin this means perfect weather (or a perfect excuse) to dine out. For many people, Austin is known for its extensive musical talent, diverse population, and multitude of cuisines and local eateries. Since I moved here for school in August 2009, the ridiculous amount of restaurants all over Austin have continued to fill my belly and satisfy the little foodie in me.

The token Austin food-trucks and trailers have been most kind to my wallet and palate. The range of locations from North, Central and South Austin helped pull me out of my tiny 'campus bubble' that many students get sucked into. As such, I feel I owe a "thank you" to the food-trucks and trailers of Austin which comes in the form of this blog.

My posts will range from reviews and experiences of trailers I've visited, interesting news or updates of the Austin food-truck world, and any other food-trucky things I think you should know. Now is the time to get excited!

The thing that's on my mind right now is the afterglow of Austin City Limits Music Festival. If you've never been to ACL, you may be asking what it has to do with food-trucks, so I will clue you in.

The annual three-day festival is a staple of Austin's musical reputation where thousands of locals and out-of-towners attend for up to 12 hours a day. Twelve-hour days can make anyone hungry and this is where the food-trucks come into play.

Some of the most popular restaurants in town set-up seasonal food-trailers alongside the year-round trucks in the Austin Eats Food Court. A few of my personal favorites include Amy's Ice Creams, Children of the Kettle Corn, Guero's, Mighty Cone, and Torchy's Tacos.

This year I sampled the Galaxy Cafe's grilled chicken chipotle wrap and the cashier coolly let me add steamed veggies for no additional cost! It was the perfect lunch if you're trying to eat on the lighter side and was one of the cheapest stands there ($5 for a wrap and $1 for a bag of Sunchips).

I bought a surprisingly huge bag of kettle corn from Children of the Kettle Corn for $5. It was the perfect sweet snack to munch on while I planted myself in the same spot for four hours. I actually ended up giving almost half the bag away because it was so addicting that I was going to eat back all the calories I burned from my morning run. My neighbors were grateful, so I think it's safe to say the kettle corn was a hit!

Although the prices are a few dollars higher at ACL, I wouldn't trade the local eats of the food-trailers for the cheaper 'standard' festival fare of corndogs and burgers. The food-trailers' presence at events like ACL allow Austin natives to grab their favorite local bites, and out-of-towners to sample some of the best eateries!


Check back for more next Wednesday on the funky fresh food-trucks of Austin!

• For a complete list of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival food vendors click here.
• Austin American-Statesman writer and fellow foodie, Addie Broyles, recorded her "roadmap" of food adventures in her blog Relish Austin. (She tried the Galaxy Cafe wrap too!)
• Different festival, more food-truck love on Brand X Daily. "Good Eats at SXSW:Food Trucks Rule Austin"

Have something to say? I'm open to comments and/or questions.

Leave a comment about your favorite food-trailer at ACL and/or what you ate at the festival this year or in previous years, so I can get some recommendations!