Tillman's Roadhouse

I know it has been too long. Most everyone has given up on my blog and I just about did too. Finishing school and looking for jobs has taken up most of my time.

Good thing I had dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse the other night to re-spark my interest.

Tillman's is one of the many great restaurants currently inhabiting the Bishop Arts District in south Dallas. I know when anyone from Dallas or surrounding areas sees the two words "south" and "Dallas" placed next to each other, they immediately cringe. But not I. I'm sure I've said this before but my favorite thing about Dallas is its wealth of great, great restaurants. I've spent a good amount of time in New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas and Dallas beats out all three in the restaurant business. I know that's weird to hear, but trust me it's not easy to say. There are an abundance of celebrity chefs who open their restaurants in these three cities and they are all great. The thing about Dallas is, there is an abundance of independently owned, small restaurants that are doing so many innovative things with food, presentation and atmosphere. Of course there are these types of establishments in the other cities, but I'm not talking about hippy food trucks and Jewish Deli's, although those are both great as well. I could talk about this for awhile but this post is about Tillman's.

We entered the eclectic/postmodern/southwest designed restaurant through the gas lamp and candle lit front porch. The first thing you get a whiff of is black truffle. Or any kind of truffle really. I only say this because I later found out it was black truffle so I now have some insight. We had to wait a little bit for our table which was fine with me because I wanted to hang out in the bar for a little bit anyways. They had old western movies projected up on the wall and tables were all made from tree stumps. I knew from the get go that this was another restaurant who took as much pride in their drinks as they do in their food. Jessica ordered the "87 ways" which is pictured above. I took all these pictures from their website by the way. I have learned that I am a better writer than photographer, plus I got tired of always taking pictures of my food at restaurants. Anyways..I ordered some type of bourbon drink similar to an old fashion and my mother ordered a Sassy something or other that was made with vanilla vodka and garnished with jalapenos. They were all good.

The tablescape was great, a very rustic "down-home" feel. Lots of wood with little medal bird figurines. As soon as we sat down the culprit truffle smell was presented to us in the form of buttered popcorn dusted with black truffle sitting in a giant silver spoon. One of the best "bread and butters" I've had in a restaurant....next to the fried calamari that was brought to our table in Paris, but that's another story. So we finished our drinks and jawed on for a bit while munching popcorn before we even looked at the menu. My mother had been perusing the Tillman's website for about a week, so she basically had the entire menu memorized and had already picked out what she wanted to eat about 3 days before our reservation. The one thing we HAD to order was the trio of fries.

Three different kinds of potatoes with three different kinds of seasonings and two homemade sauces. How much better does it get? Parmesan black pepper kennebecs, chili dusted purple peruvians and smoked salt sweets were all fried perfectly crisp and paired well with the homemade ketchup and horseradish pickle mayo. We also ordered the fried pickles which were equally good. Cornmeal horseradish batter with a spicy tomato ranch. They presented the fries as you see above and the pickles were brought out in a way that made it look as if the paper cup they were in had tipped over and most of the pickles had fallen out on the plate. Pretty cool looking if you ask me. By this time Jessica and my mom were, as usual, already full. But they powered on like champs.

Pictured above is my entree, the ribs and mac and cheese...you know I had to get the mac and cheese. It was pretty good. Similar taste to my own recipe, but there was no crispy top, which was disappointing. The ribs were good. They didn't fall of the bone, but that's the way I like them. They had a good bark and flavor and weren't over sauced, the way Texas ribs are made and how all ribs should be made. My mother ordered the scallops which were made southern style, placed on top of fried green tomatoes and roasted pepper grits. She wasn't too pleased with it but I found it to be quite savory. The scallops were good size and cooked absolutely perfect. The oil that the tomatoes went into must have been too hot because the batter on them was a bit dark and the inside a bit raw, but they still gave a good textural contrast to the dish. Jessica ordered the special. I have to give her credit. Usually it is I who places the best order of the night, but that achievement went to her on this occasion. The special was a butternut squash ravioli with fresh figs, swiss chard and pancetta. This was a complex dish with great flavor..when the chard was left out. I don't know what happened, but it had a very fishy taste and ruined the whole dish. But a bite of the ravioli with the fig and pancetta was heavenly.

Apart from the trio of fries, my mother insisted on this restaurant because of the table side s'mores. So naturally we ordered them. All the ingredients were house made. The dark chocolate bark, the graham crackers and the orange, maple and coffee flavored marshmallows. They brought it all out on a board with some sort of contained fire in a black kettle looking device. They were divine. I don't know if I'll ever want a store bought ingredient s'more ever again.

All in all I am adding this to my list of favorite Dallas restaurants. I've also heard good things about Bolsa and Oddfellos which are all in the area. I will have to try them as well.

Thursday night plans...$1 beer bowling...not really my cup of tea but for some reason sounds unequivocally intriguing.

Also

Frying turkeys for the Baylor/OU game this weekend, maybe a post on how to do that properly.

And my New York Thanksgiving trip is coming up very soon. More to come on that indeed.

Momma had to one-up me

A little Afternoon Snack

When I got back from class this afternoon I was famished. I had some left over Stilton from when I made mac and cheese, so I paired it with some parmesan, salami, nuts, red pepper humus, fig preserves and some crustinis with garlic rosemary butter. I added a relaxing mid-afternoon glass of Blanton's. Nice.

You Can't Script October

The old adage of the MLB marketing team continues to prove true. In fact it almost could have been proven somewhat wrong if the Brew Crew would have won the NL pennant and advanced. Think about this; C.J. Wilson will most likely be the game 1 pitcher for the Rangers (a stupid decision but one that will made made nevertheless), a deciding run in the All-Star game this year, to give the NL home-field advantage, was a homer by Prince Fielder off of C.J. Wilson, if the Brewers would have beaten the Cards, the All-Star game would have been a pretty good insight to the World Series. Pretty farfetched, I know, but who would have thought a St. Louis wild card team would be heading to the series instead of the power pitching of the Phillies? Either way, I know a few people who are upset about the Brewers not pulling it out and I also know one person who is very excited and probably a bit torn over a Cards/Rangers match up.

Nevertheless, I am ecstatic about a Ranger repeat trip to the series. Everyone is already writing off the Cards, which tends to prove devastating for the favored team, so hopefully that will wear off by Wednesday and the Rangers can focus on bringing home a title. It would look oh so good next the Mav's Larry O'Brian trophy.

I also wanted to point out a pretty obvious phenomenon that is kind of a given, but I felt like stating it anyhow. One of my favorite things about the Rangers being in the postseason is the increase in Rangers clothing around campus. And with that increase in Rangers red and blue, comes an increase in laptop and iPad usage in classes. During the ALDS and ALCS I saw more devices in use during class than I have all year. I was lucky enough have an iPad of my own to take to afternoon classes when the Rangers were playing. I saw people who normally sleep or stare at their desk during class, actually alert. I don't know if professors think that there is a sudden urge to want to take down notes or what, but they seem oblivious. The best part is the fact that everyone's device works at a different pace, so there is like a "wave" of subtle emotion that starts at one end of the room and makes its way all the way around within about a 30 second time frame when something good or bad happens. If the Tigers hit a 2 run shot, you could look across the room to someone you've never even met before and, if you make eye contact with them, you both feel the same feeling, and you both understand each other. It is quite a thing.

The MLB postseason is yet another derivative of the Fall season. Last year I went to the Rangers two ALCS wins at the new Yankee stadium. It was an unrivaled experience to smile while obnoxious Yankee fans around us would yell and taunt and then by about the 7th inning, were all leaving because they were losing so bad. Classic.

Anyways, we are expecting a nice cold front to come through tomorrow which will make watching the Rangers in the Series that much more enjoyable. Go Rangers!

Mac and Cheese: A Revelation

I've said it once, I'll say it again. I am a HUGE fan of mac and cheese. I consider myself to be an aficionado of the stuff. There are two menu items that I have taken upon myself to sample anytime I am at a restaurant that serves them. The Chili Relleno and mac and cheese. Both items are fickle in their own respects and I have set out on a journey to find the greatest of each and tell the world about them. Today is all about mac and cheese but just as a side note, the best two Chili Rellenos can be found for a reasonable price at Chuy's (most anywhere in Texas) and for a not so reasonable price at Mesa Grill (I've tried the rellenos at the Mesa in Las Vegas and New York and that damn Bobby Flay is quite consistent).

(I know this next paragraph looks ominous but there are pictures later on, I promise.)

My love for the cheesy creation has grown over the years. Most people list mashed potatoes as their comfort food, the thing they could just eat and eat with no end in site. Well for me, mac and cheese fills that spot. I guess the development of my connoisseurship of mac and cheese was synonymous with my matured taste in fine cheeses. I'd have to say this was developed in the summer of 09 when I was studying abroad in England with Jessica and a few fraternity brothers. I took Jessica to Paris for a weekend getaway and we dined at the Michelin Star rated Le Cinq, at The Four Season's Hotel. This was the best meal I've ever eaten. It included the greatest fois gras I've ever put in my mouth, which in turn made it the best single food item I've ever had. But the revelation came at the cheese course. They wheeled out a large glass windowed cart that I was to make my selections from. Now, Jessica hates cheese. When the waiter opened the door to the cart, she about passed out from the pungent odor that seeped from depths of it, but she was revived when he brought around the after dinner sweets cart and loaded up a to-go box with all sorts of french confections. I'm getting off topic I know but this truly was an experience that I would have made an incredibly long post about, had I been blogging at that time. Anyways..I had already sampled a few finer cheeses before. My parents are big fans of Central Market and their cheese selections. But this experience really got me into cheese. Once you have had the finest cheeses France has to offer, Velveeta and Kraft singles just don't do it anymore.

So, on to the main event. The best mac and cheeses I've had to date or listed as follows. Sorry Dad but I have to say it, my absolute favorite is McCormick and Schmick's. It is of the andouille variety and the taste of truffle oil comes right to the forefront. Bob's comes in a very close second, followed shortly thereafter by Winewood's (check it out if you're in Grapevine, dad's newest place). And finally, Nolita House in New York. This one may have made the list on the sole fact that this place was my haven while living in New York City. Just to get a bit off topic again, I was walking down Houston St. one day around 11:00 am and heard the sweetest sound since arriving in the city. It was the beautifully lazy sound of a couple fiddles, a banjo, a mandolin, and an upright base creeping from an open window of a second floor bar. I walked upstairs to find a PACKED little bar/restaurant type set up that is so typical of NYC establishments. I sat down at the bar, ordered a Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout and was absolutely filled with a feeling of home. The bar maid handed me a menu and as we began to talk she informed me that every Saturday and Sunday they have a "Boozy Bluegrass Brunch". As 3 of my favorite words were placed side-by-side and decoded in the same order in my brain, I realized I would be frequenting this place over my next 4 months in the city. The crowd that visited Nolita House on Saturday and Sunday mornings was a young crowd (20's) who were there to relieve there mid-morning hangovers with menu items such as green eggs and ham, shrimp and grits, and vanilla brandy french toast. The management at this fine establishment was so kind as to grant each patron with a free mimosa or bloody marry with the purchase of an entree. No doubt, my favorite place in NYC.

Along my quest to find the best mac and cheese there is, I decided to perfect a recipe of my own. Unfortunately none of my favorite mac and cheeses are in Waco, so I am forced to make my own.

I start with a classic bechamel sauce (hot milk whisked into a roux) and then add cheese to it. I went with a trifecta of predominately Gruyere, because of its mild flavor, and Extra Sharp Cheddar because it is a good basic cheese. Then I added a decent amount of crumbled Stilton (a blue cheese) to give it a depth of flavor.

I like to have some sort of meat in my mac and cheese. Crumbled bacon works great but so does smoked sausage. I just so happened to have some left over jalapeno smoked venison links, so I went with that.

I didn't get too fancy with the pasta, just went with a classic elbow macaroni.

Now for the absolute key step in any paramount mac and cheese preparation. Spoon your mac and cheese into individual ramekins or gratin dishes. I like to dust the top with a small amount of ancho chili powder and then top with bread crumbs. You can certainly experiment with bread crumbs. I went with prepared Italian bread crumbs because I just happened to have them on hand, but I recommend making your own with sliced bread and herbs. Bake the mac off in the oven until they get bubbly and the top crisps up. In my opinion the crisp top and sides of a baked mac and cheese really make a difference.

There are so many ways to experiment with mac and cheese. If I had some truffle oil that would have definitely gone into it and tomatoes go great with mac and cheese.

So that's that. I tried to get this off before football started but was unsuccessful. Therefore, I come to an abrupt end.

Fall Break

I was going to post about something very dear to my heart this afternoon, but then I realized, it's Thursday afternoon, I have absolutely nothing important going on and all classes are cancelled tomorrow for Fall Break.

So look forward to a pretty enlightening post probably on Sunday and then a little ditty about postseason baseball and surrounding on-campus phenomenon to follow.

And I will leave you with this.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/colleges/post/_/id/4674286/battle-of-the-brazos-goes-out-with-a-bang

The Ides of March

I saw the next great film of the year in The Ides of March this weekend. This political thriller, starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman...the list goes on and on, was the best all around movie I've seen so far this year. The acting, producing, writing, directing, all top notch. Once again I find myself writing about a large release film that has been advertised for weeks, so I won't go too in-depth in explaining the plot. But just to shed a little light on the story, it is a film that takes place in Ohio during the Democratic primary elections and is based, in a very loose sense of the word, on a young, idealist campaign manager.

Anyone who knows a bit about Roman history or Shakespeare can deduce from the title that this is a film about betrayal. "Beware the Ides of March" is a famous line from the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar, the story of Brutus' betrayal and conspiratorial murder of his friend and ruler. Along with the aforementioned plot, this film is very much about betrayal on many different levels. Anyone can assess solely from the trailers that trust, loyalty, and conspiracy are large themes of this story.

The film is adapted from a play written by Beau Willimon. It is George Clooney's newest directing attempt since Leatherheads in 2008. He also, of course, stars in the film alongside a stunning cast that has all the rights to the lead in the "Best Ensemble Cast" category thus far. The very recently busy Ryan Gosling plays the smart and charming idealist campaign manager, and plays it well. I don't feel the need to be redundant or superfluous in saying that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti were brilliant, it is just something one comes to expect from the two. The cast is rounded out by a few up-in-coming young actors such as Evan Rachael Wood (Across the Universe, look for her to really break out in coming years) and Max Minghella (The Social Network). Oh and of course there is the shark-when-blood-is-in-the-water reporter played by Marisa Tomei, who's name is always heard when Oscar season comes around.

The incredibly long list of producers, including Leo DiCaprio, implemented a score that, coupled with the constant turns in plot, kept the film at a constant tensity cultivating in an ending that was almost expected after the climax is revealed in the middle of the film. Constant back-room dealings and private meetings churn the plot of the story into the political thriller that audiences and The Academy love. It felt to me like two of my favorites from the 2008 Oscar year Frost/Nixon and Michael Clayton meshed into one, making a film that I suggest you see.

So just to review the year so far. Best movies, in my opinion have been; Ides of March, Moneyball, Midnight in Paris and Tree of Life. Looking forward to Anonymous, Take Shelter and The Girls with the Dragon Tattoo. Also I'll probably see some of the more entertaining over thought provoking films like The Raven, Three Musketeers and In Time, just because they look pretty cool. Excited about Tree of Life coming out on Blue-ray.

Sunday Afternoon

Had a great time last night watching my Bears beat Iowa State. Some other really great news is that I woke up this morning to a beautiful sound. Rain.

A much welcomed sight down here. So it got me thinking, what better to make on a rainy day to eat while watching football than a big pot of chili. I've made plenty of different chili variations in my day but my dad has been trying to get me to make his recipe for awhile. I had him text me the ingredients before he boarded a flight to Malaysia and I got it just in time. His side of the family is from up North, so I'm going to just name this recipe Yankee Chili. If any of y'all are reading right now, this one goes out to you.

This is the first recipe that I've decided to post and it's pretty basic. So far all the food that I've made and posted about has been pretty simple stuff but I'm still getting use to blogging and I will definitely be posting some of my more impressive things in the future.

Yankee Chili:
1 large yellow onion
1 bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno
1 lb ground beef (I used deer meat)
1 can chili (no beans)
2 cans red kidney beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
64 oz bottle V8
seasonings to taste (I used 2 tbsp chili powder, 1 tbsp cayenne, 1 tbsp salt)

Basically you give all the raw stuff a rough chop and saute in veg oil. Add the meat and brown. Add all canned items and the V8. At this point it is ready for consumption but I like to actually cook the stuff instead of just cook the stuff, if you know what I mean. I usually let it sit at medium low heat for about an hour and then add my seasonings. After that I'll let it sit for the rest of the day on low to really soften up the veggies and let the flavors all marry together.

Normally I would have made a big batch of cornbread to eat with it, but I had a bunch of leftover rolls and biscuits so I left the cornbread out. But don't worry, we still managed to Southern this meal up. Jessica made some Texas caviar (great stuff, you can look up the recipe for that online anywhere) and we ate it with Ritz crackers and pimento cheese. Also, as you can see in the picture, we had a bowl of popcorn and M&Ms as well, the greatest pairing of foodstuffs known to man. It isn't shown in the picture but the best way to eat this chili is with some shredded cheddar cheese and a fat dollop of sour cream.

We went and saw Ides of March this afternoon so be expecting that.

The Weight: Gillian Welch and Old Crow Medicine Show

I was shown this video by a fraternity brother a couple years ago. He knew that I was a huge fan of OCMS and thought I mite enjoy the song. In my opinion this is the greatest version of this classic song I've heard and one of the greatest songs I've heard period. The melodies of all the different string instruments combined with the beautiful voice of Miss Welch and the crazy good voices of OCMS make this a phenomenal live tune. Now I'm no music enthusiast and am not going to even attempt to break down this song critically, but I do know a good song when I hear it and this is certainly one of them.

I wanted to make a post about it for three reasons; one, it is a perfect song to listen to on a cool Fall day, two, I just wanted to share it with anyone who hasn't heard it, and three, I am hoping that someone will tell me how I can find this song to put on my ipod. I've looked for this song on itunes and every other resource at my disposal to try and get it on my mobile devices but have had to settle for youtube every time I want to hear it. Anyways, please enjoy.

Monday Night Sliders

With Monday Night Football and the Rangers game on last night I needed something good to eat in order to keep my strength up. Enter venison sliders.

Sunday night I put a package of venison burger meat and a package of seasoned 50/50 (venison and pork to add some fat) in the fridge to thaw for the week. I had class until about 7:30 Monday night so I needed to do something pretty easy. The frozen parker house rolls I had in the freezer gave me a great idea. Sliders.

The way the deer meat is packaged has it already the perfect shape for sliders. All I had to do was slide the packaging down and cut individual patties, the same way I do it for breakfast sausage patties. I cut out 3 patties and seasoned with salt and pepper on each side. I cut up about half of a half of a vidalia onion and tossed it all in a grill pan.

Pretty easy I know but I was starving and wanted to watch the games. While the patties and onions were going, I had the rolls baking simultaneously. This is what they look like.

Towards the end I topped my patties with some sharp cheddar and then the onions and let everything melt together.

I topped all three with onions as you can see, but the best part about sliders is the ability to mix and match. One of them I did just cheese onions and ranch dressing, the second I took out the ranch and did ketchup and a pickle, and the third I replaced the ketchup with mustard.

Paired it with some Zapp's BBQ chips and a Shiner Oktoberfest. Pretty basic I know. This post is just about as simple as the meal, but much like last night I am now short on time. I have a pizza from Shorty's waiting on me and the Rangers ALDS game is starting..well, now. So I bid you adieu.