Antonelli's Cheese Shop - Good Neighborhood Cheese

Last weekend I wandered down to Hyde Park to check out Antonelli's, Austin's newest cheese shop. I'd met owners Kendall and John Antonelli at a cheese and beer pairing workshop put on by Tasty Touring last December at Independence Brewery. These newly weds have a great story that Addie Broyles captured in the Austin American-Statesman.

Walking in, the store was somewhat crowded with three customers, so I had to wait about 5 minutes to be served. No problem there, however, since John remembered me from the cheese and beer pairing workshop and greeted me - so nice to be remembered!

I told him I was looking for a good melting cheese to use on a panini, and he let me sample the Prefere de nos, which had the consistency of brie but the taste was stronger - delicious! I also mentioned I wanted a good snacking cheese, and after a few samples, I walked away with a Clothbound Cheddar from The Cellards at Jasper Hill. I think next time I'll be a bit more vague about what I'm looking for so I can sneak more samples :)

Since the shop is small, their selection isn't the largest in town. But the service they offer and the constant update of their cheese selection is well worth the visit. Go check it out next time you're near Hyde Park!

Of course I had to try out the melting cheese immediately, so here's the panini recipe that was DELICIOUS:

Turkey, Bacon and Pesto Panini with Melting Cheese

1 loaf ciabatta, sliced in half horizontally and sliced into fourths
4 ounces Prefere de nos (or brie cheese), sliced
8 ounces turkey
8 slices cooked bacon
4 ounces pesto
4 ounces lettuce

Preheat a grill pan or panini press on medium heat and spray with cooking spray.

Place a few cheese slices on the bottom pieces of the ciabatta loaf, then top with turkey, bacon and lettuce. Spread about 1 ounce on the inside of the pieces of the top loaf and place on top of sandwiches.

Grill sandwiches about 4 minutes, then turn (if cooking on a grill pan) and cook addition 3 minutes or so, until nice grill marks appear on bread and cheese is melting.

Fun at Cannoli Joe's

I was invited to a free cooking class at Cannoli Joe's a few weeks ago, which is an Italian buffet restaurant in South Austin. Seeing as I rarely eat Italian food out (not a whole lot of options here in town!), I was excited to give it a shot, especially since there was a chef demo by chef Bob Hauser. Bob was engaging and informative, balancing tips and techniques with the actual cooking method, and peppering in stories from his days at the Culinary Institute of America and top New York restaurants.

There was a three course menu and plenty of wine to go around. One complaint I had was that the wine paired for each course was white. I'm a red drinker myself, however the whites they paired were tasty, so I made sure to enjoy some anyway :)

The first course we sampled was a Bruschetta al Pomodoro. This was my favorite since it combined the tasty bright flavors of bruschetta with a zing of pesto. I never thought to pair the two before, but the punch of flavor was delicious!

Next chef Hauser showed us Agnolotti con Gamberi (or shrimp in ravioli) using fresh pasta stuffed with a shrimp potato stuffing with a creamy pesto sauce.

We finished things off with a smooth Frangelico Bread Pudding, which was surprisingly easy to make.

Bruschetta al Pomodoro (courtesy of Cannoli Joe's)
*sorry, didn't get a picture of this one!
Toasted baguette slices
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cups diced tomato
6 cloves roasted garlic, shopped
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons basil pesto
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Slice baguette on a diagonal, brush with olive oil and toast until golden brown.

In a bowl, combine diced tomato, chopped roasted garlic cloves, balsamic vinaigrette, salt and pepper. Toss well to coat. Place half of leaf of fresh basil on top of each baguette slice. Spoon one tablespoon of dressed tomatoes onto each baguette slice. Garnish be squeezing two teaspoons of fresh basil pesto on top, then top with a slice of freshly-shaved Parmesan cheese.

For those of us who stuck around too late chatting (you know who you are @misohungry and @hungryengineer :) ) - chef Hauser was kind enough to give us a tour of the kitchen! I snuck a quick pic :)

Cannoli Joe's is looking to start offering classes to the public soon, so if you're interested in learning more about Italian cooking, be sure to check it out!

Apple and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

With pork tenderloin and asparagus on sale, this meal was a no-brainer. Simple for weeknights with go-to ingredients apples, blue cheese and mustard. Enjoy!

Apple and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/2 apple, cut into thin slices
3 ounces crumbled blue cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butterfly your pork tenderloin with a sharp knife. Spread mustard on inside of the pork and then layer with apple slices and blue cheese. Fasten the pork tenderloin closed with kitchen twine or toothpicks and season with salt and pepper. Bake until the pork is 150 degrees, about 30 to 35 minutes. I served with roasted asparagus, which was seasoned with salt and pepper and tossed with olive oil and lemon juice.

5 Reasons...

...to get the March issue of Cooking Light. I tore through it last weekend, flagging about 15 recipes. Needless to say, every meal I made last week came straight from its pages. With that in mind, I wanted to share what I made last week since I didn't really create any of my own recipes!

1. Spicy Shrimp and Grits - this really was spicy and filling, and surprisingly good leftover. I think I went a little heavy on the parmesan, but it was worth it :)
2. Lamb and Chickpea Tagine - These were some unique flavors for me to use, and I even went a little heavier on the spice. Enjoyed with a zinfandel like they recommended, which was wonderful.
3. Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta and Pine Nuts - Simple, delicious, and we ate too much. I crisped the pancetta in a skillet instead of the oven and then cooked the garlic in the drippings for extra flavor - yum :)
4. Maple and Soy-Glazed Flank Steak - this was great since I already had all the sauce ingredients in my pantry. Word of warning though, when you add the glaze, make sure not to get it on the pan or it will burn when you broil it! I'd recommend adding the glaze after the steak is done cooking.
5. Austin, TX! That's right, my sassy city has been featured in this month's Cooking Light. I haven't tried any of the recipes included on the featured restaurants yet, but I'll definitely be giving Hoover's Eggs Blindfolded over Garlic Cheddar Grits a try soon :)

A Gentle Picnic

What better way to celebrate romance than with a simple, gentle picnic? In order to make the day not too girly, we started with a tour of Live Oak Brewery, which happens every Saturday at noon, free of charge. If you're a beer lover in the Austin area, definitely check it out as their selection is delicious, and the tour is informative and entertaining!

Next we headed to Mayfield Park for the picnic, since my friends Eric and Emily had both recommended it. Located in West Austin near us, this park also has a garden (which wasn't much to look at in February), but does have dozens of peacocks roaming around! Luke got a great picture of one in the trees above us.

Now for the picnic! We had simple sandwiches which were jazzed up with pineapple jam. By now Apron Adventure readers have probably realized I'm a big fan of using jams in cooking (especially fig!) Adding jam is a simple, affordable way to really elevate a meal with little effort. I keep several on hand and they never fail.

Pineapple Turkey and Ham Sandwiches

4 slices sourdough bread
1/3 cup pineapple jam
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
4 slices lean deli ham
2 slices lean deli turkey
2 slices provolone
2 ounces spring greens

Spread the jam evenly on two slices sourdough and the mustard on the other two slices bread. Layer ham, turkey and provolone on the slices with jam, and top with greens. Top with the mustard slices of bread and enjoy!

We enjoyed this with a simple salad from Giada De Laurentiis which was wonderful for a picnic. I was silly and forgot the sun dried tomatoes, but had added basalmic vinegar for a little added zing. Delicious! Paired with a cool glass of viognier, fresh blackberries and homemade chocolate chip pecan cookies, this was a gentle picnic indeed!

Green Bean, Orzo and Tomato Salad

Easy alert! This is a great make ahead salad to serve with sandwiches (we had it with grilled cheese!) If you make the orzo just a bit al dente, it'll be the perfect texture the next day.

Green Bean, Orzo and Tomato Salad
1 cup orzo
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup parmigiano reggiano, shredded
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Place a large pot of water to boil, add orzo. Cook 5 minutes then add green beans to pot, cooking additional 4-5 minutes; drain. Add orzo and green beans to a large bowl and toss in tomatoes, parmigiano reggiano, olive oil, lemon juice and thyme. Season to state with salt and pepper.

Julia's Beef Bourguignon

I loved reading Julie Powell's Julie/Julia in my rhetoric of food bloggling class back in college at UT (yes, get jealous). When the movie came out, I was just tickled! It may not be 100% accurate, but very entertaining and reminded me of why I love cooking and blogging.

Anyway, my lovely sister got me Mastering the Art of French Cooking, so like any Julie/Julia fan, the first thing I made was Beef Bourguignon. Never fear, hestitant cooks. While this meal takes time (about 4 hours from start to finish), there's plenty of down time. We even went to fly kites!

Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon: recipe link here. This was the perfect meal for 6 people, my great friends Meg and Matt came over to enjoy, it was such a treat!

Ok and now for the "big news" - after two years of working with an incredibly horrible laptop with an increasingly cracked screen, and lately broken hinges that I had to prop it up, a new laptop has come into my life and I LOVE it. See the pretty new toy below :) Now that I've got a decent machine, you can expect more posts from this happy blogger!