The Mother Hips from SXSW 2009

Local Natives
up n comers – catchy songs and amazing singers.
2pm • The Parish (NPR) Listen Live on KUT

Fader Fort – Thursday Lineup Highlights
3:45 Neon indian
4:30 Local Natives
5:15 Bomba Estereo
6:45 the Morning Benders
7:30 Fucked Up

Dam Funk
3:30pm • Carniville Party

The Mother Hips!
5pm • Kayceman Treehouse Party @ Cheers – FREE!
11pm • Encore patio (official sxsw)
the Fathers of Califonia Soul are back in Austin – DON’T MISS THEM

Lissie
8pm • The Parish (official sxsw)
great vocals – great songs and a magnetic presence

Mountain Man (check out my interview w/ them)
9pm • Buffalo Billiards (official sxsw)
trio of girl singers from vermont – spooky and beautiful folk hymns

The Low Anthem
10pm • Palm Door (official sxsw)
Don’t call it Americana – great songs, rootsy, real, raw vocals

jj
10pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Mysterious electro pop from Sweden w/ sexy female vocals

Holy Fuck
11pm • Mohawk Patio (sxsw)
Amazing instrumental band from Toronto. Thom Yorke digs it.

Cable TV’s #1 douchebag Guy Fieri tears himself away from TGI Fridays long enough to check out Maria’s Taco Xpress on South Lamar.  Good to see Maria behind the counter and “cougar-like” as ever…Also, nice to get a peek at her making that amazing Chimichurri Sauce…mmm…enjoy the vid:

palindrome

Our buddy Phil gets the ultimate tacotown stamp of approval™ for his costume at Phish’s Festival 8…TACOCAT!!

here’s the original, in case you live in a cave.

cabeza

The 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival is shaping up to be the best yet, with cooler weather, lush green grass, a very solid lineup, and perhaps finest crop of food vendors ever assembled…This ain’t yer daddy’s “state-fare” of turkey legs and funnel cakes…We’re talkin gourmet, Austin-style goodness…even vegetarians have options….and so here’s the…

Taco Town Approved Grub at ACL Fest:

Hudson’s on the Bend
Hot & Crunchy Cone: Shrimp/Chicken/Avocado
NEW! Purple Pig Cone: braised pulled pork w/ purple slaw & horseradish sauce

Mesa Verde Grill
Quesadillas: Spinach Mushroom, Chipotle Chicken or Steak
Smoked Wings with Sweet BBQ or Mango Habenero Sauce

Torchy's Green Chile Pork taco

Torchy’s
Green Chili Pork Taco
Potato Bean Green Chili Taco
Trailer Park Taco

Wahoo’s
Blackened Fish Tacos
Grilled Chicken Tacos
Burritos: Fish/Chicken/Veggie

Moonshine
Fried Fish Tacos w/ Jicima
Lunar Burrito

WANT! Taco Wallet

Tacos: a good place to put your money
No, literally.  Its a freakin taco wallet! Thanks for the tip Fuck Yeah Tacos!

Stand Up!
Awww snap! Taco night at Bernie’s just went PRO with these interlocking taco holders. Now use both paws to stuff that taco with our delicious Bison Picadillo Recipe.  These things are dishwasher safe, but in Texas we like our carbon footprint XL, so we’re waiting on these disposables.

Patented Taco Shells:
only thing better than a taco stand is a freestanding taco, and the only thing better than an ice cream cone is a taco cone!

Nuked Crispies?
Taco Pablo brings you the Taco Toaster, a revolutionary device that turns soft corn tortillas into crispy taco shells with your microwave.  Genius.

Austin’s most popular gringo taco trailer & mobile food pioneers TORCHY’S TACOS turns 3 years old this week. To celebrate, they’re throwing a Birthday Party this Thursday evening at their non-mobile location on the corner of South 1st & El Paso.  FREE KEG BEER will be served from 7-10pm along with fiddle music from teenage prodigy Ruby Jane Smith.

Don’t forget about movie nights up the road at Torchy’s South Austin Trailer Park (1311 s. First). Tonight’s feature film is GroundHog Day

-cabeza

We entered the fest for our 4th year in a row.. put in 2 salsas – The Chappy’s green tomatillo sauce and an expirimental Peach/Habanero/Red Pepper salsa for the Special Variety class… no prize this year, but we had a blast anyway.. The music was good, the lines were manageable, the beer was cold..and the salsas were a-plenty.. I kinda wish they would have the fest late-afternoon into the evening so that the heat would be more managable.. something tells me eating hot sauce in the mid-day sun could lead to cardiac arrest.

Fest judging results after the jump..
(Pace got 3rd place for People’s Choice Red Sauce? WTF?? )

Restaurant Category

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Torchy’s Tacos
• 2nd Place: La Condesa
• 3rd Place: El Caribe

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Los Lomas
• 2nd Place: El Sazon
• 3rd Place: Cuatro’s Restaurant

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Curra’s Grill
• 2nd Place: La Condesa
• 3rd Place: El Sazon

Individual Category

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Twyla Wick
• 2nd Place: Michael Hutchinson
• 3rd Place: Robert Heady

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Karen Kessel
• 2nd Place: Gary Peifer
• 3rd Place: Brett Appolito

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Burt Friedman
• 2nd Place: Jim Hoppers
• 3rd Place: Carol Castillo

Commercial Bottlers People’s Choice

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Kala’s Kuisine – Curry Chipotle Sauce
• 2nd Place: Austin Slow Burn – Salsa Con Habanero
• 3rd Place: Pace – Pico de Gallo

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Kala’s Kuisine – Mirchi Masala Salsa
• 2nd Place: Big Dawg’s Fire Rescue Jalapeno Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Tears of Joy 6th Street Green

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Tears of Joy – Tequila Lime Hot Sauce
• 2nd Place: Pepper Creek Farm – Island Flame
• 3rd Place: Kala’s Kuisine – Mango Chutney

Pepper Sauce

• 1st Place: Big Daddy’s Ass Burn Hot Sauce
• 2nd Place: Sgt. Pepper’s Tropical Tears Mango Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Big Dawg’s DNR

Commercial Bottlers – Judged by Celebrity Judges

Red Sauce

• 1st Place: Don’t Panic Hispanic
• 2nd Place: Tears of Joy 6th Red Salsa
• 3rd Place: Kala’s Kuisine Curry Chipotle Salsa

Green Sauce

• 1st Place: Tears of Joy 6th St. Green Sauce
• 2nd Place: Austin Slow Burn Salsa Verde
• 3rd Place: Kala’s Kuisine Mirchi Masala Salsa

Special Variety

• 1st Place: Aztexan Habenero Supreme
• 2nd Place: Tears of Joy August in Austin Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Austin Slow Burn Jerk Marinade

Pepper Sauce

• 1st Place: Aztexan Habenero Supreme
• 2nd Place: Tears of Joy August in Austin Hot Sauce
• 3rd Place: Austin Slow Burn Jerk Marinade

YouTube – Taco Bell’s New Green Menu Takes No Ingredients From Nature.

Ever wondered how to turn a Taco Bell Fail feast into a gourmet dish?  Fancy Fast Food shows you how to make a TacoBellini from a Burrito Supreme…Yes, its still liable to give you giardia, but doesn’t it look fancy?

> NEW South Austin music venue/taco shop opens this Saturday | Its called Villa’s Music Garden – just north of Hill’s Cafe on S. Congress.  Shout out to our boy Shawn Nelson, who’s on this inaugural bill | event page

> Houston Taco Truck Tour by Camera Phone

> Austin Bloggers take the Houston Taco Tour 2009
Long Point Drive is Houston’s version of South 1st Street. taco Mecca.

> “Show Me Your Taco” is going to Iowa July 6th for a Taco Tour good luck Nelson, but if Davenport is any indication – Iowa tacos pretty much blow cabritos.  Sorry, el Boz.

> Stop Laughing at THIS retarded preacher, or you’re going to Hell

So, I just tried the brisket tacos for lunch today at the Vaquero Cocina – one of the the new trailers on South Congress- and part of the recent food truck explosion in Austin…

Brisket Taco $5.25

I gotta admit – the Mighty Cone was calling my name from only 50ft away.  But alas, i stuck to my taco exploring guns, stepped up to the Airstream counter, ordered a cold Topo Chico and TWO brisket tacos – the lone taco on the menu (also serving assorted smoked meats, corn, sweet potato fries and mexican drinks).

My meal total was about $12…not exactly cheap eats, but at least they’re big tacos.

Each Brisket taco starts with a big, fresh homemade flour tortilla, a generous pile of hot, lean and moist beef brisket (smoked on site), some cabbage slaw, a mild red salsa, and finished with a sprinkling of cojito cheese.

Oddly enough, the cheese and mild salsa combo reminded me of Italian marinara & parmesan at first – with no spice to speak of…

SO I immediately reached for Vaquero’s small selection of bottled sauces to add a kick …They had some Louisiana Hot Sauce, some Valentina, and my pick – Tex-Mex Rapper Chingo Bling’s Habanero salsa:

just a couple drops por la spicy pop, on my taco chop…i did the pop n lock, then i killed a cop…sheeet…Chingo got me rhymin’ bout taco timin.  just a lil clowin bout taco townin….

anyways…

Let’s get one thing straight: the real star here was the brisket – cooked beautifully – with plenty of pit smoke flavor and not dry at all…the beef really carried this one…moisty, hearty, tasty.

Still, this taco was one topping short from being truly outstanding – maybe a spicy cream sauce or a tangy green salsa would’ve kicked it over the top.

And, not to keep doggin on it, but the red sauce was so watery – it destroyed the tortilla and dripped all over the place…bummer.

All that said – this is a GOOD taco – at least worthy of a try…but not great (for GREAT, see Matt’s El Rancho – Pecan Smoked brisket tacos -da bomb).

cabeza

Wall Street Journal, that is…check out this article on gourmet food trucks, a trend that’s sweeping the country and bridging the gap between expensive restaurants and fast food:

Jeff Blank, Owner of Might Cone

Jeff Blank, chef and owner of Hudson’s on the Bend, in Austin, Texas, where the average check is $75, rolled out a lunch truck in March. The truck, called the Mighty Cone, specializes in fried chicken, shrimp and avocado coated with a mixture of almonds, sesame seeds, cornflakes and chili flakes; average checks are under $10. At Hudson’s, revenue is off by 20% to 25% compared with two years ago, Mr. Blank says, but revenues from the truck have made up for those losses and even allowed him to hire extra staff.

Good Stuff and congrats on Blank’s success. TacoTown will always be children of the cone.

]]> http://tacotown.org/2009/06/08/mighty-cone-hits-wall-street/feed/ 1 http://tacotown.org/2009/04/29/marbles-e-coli/ http://tacotown.org/2009/04/29/marbles-e-coli/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:29:04 +0000 Cabeza De Taco http://tacotown.org/?p=1039

Thanks to C. Brahkowski for this one

After trying TacoDeli’s bison picadillo tacos, and becoming intrigued by this wonderful red meat.. I decided to try making my own version for dinner last night.

I had to start with a little research into traditional forms of Picadillo. With roots in Cuba and Puerto Rico, this meat hash can include olives, capers, tomatoes, raisins, and pototoes. The name comes from the spanish word “picar” which the means to mince or chop. Its often used as a stuffing for empanadas. [ the delicious history of picadillo ]

Nueva Cocina Picadillo Seasoning

I decided to take the quick route with my preparation and start with a pre-packaged picadillo seasoning.. I found an all-natural seasoning from Nueva Cocina at Central Market that worked out nicely.. It includes sun-dried raisins, olives, vinegar powder, garlic powder, etc..

But i couldnt just go with the store-bought flavors, i had to add my own twist.. So i sauteed some sweet potatoes and pickled carrots in olive oil to create a nice hash with a bold color..
next I browned my bison meat, making sure not to overcook it as bison meat cooks faster than other red meats.
then i combined the picadillo seasoning, the sweet potato hash, some fresh ground cloves, and a sprinkle of sharffen-berger cocoa powder (gotta rep chocotown.org dog) to bring it all together..I covered the picadillo and set the burner on low to let the flavors all meld together while I steamed some rice and heated up some fresh HEB flour tortillas.

the finished tacos were amazing. the taste was so savory and comforting. bison is a great meat to cook with because its quick, flavorful, and healthy. [Bison Health Benefits]

$3 for beef or chicken. Tasty nubbins at corner of 5th & red river

Chappy’s elbo green is a hit. Music is loud. Beer is cold. Get down
here. Paradise cafe upstairs all day baby. – cabeza

Taco Town is baffled and enthralled.

This weekend Christopher Huang will attempt to run 200 miles from Houston to Austin non-stop, completely unsupported, and utterly untrained. He will run straight to East Austin’s legendary Juan in a Million mexican restaurant, where he will immediately attempt to break his own world record – a 10lb scarfing of 8 Don Juan breakfast tacos. The amazing quest begins Thursday, March 19 and ends in Austin on Saturday March 21st at 3pm.  Chris has set up a website to promote the event where you can follow his trek LIVE via GPS….One thing’s sure – TACO TOWN will be at the finish line for the full report.  Good luck Chris/ -cabeza