Houston Restaurants & Food

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo commercial exhibitors put their best food forward Thursday, March 1 for the fourth annual Gold Buckle Foodie Awards.

As aromas of fried food and fair classics flooded the Kids Country Stage, 29 local media celebrities devoured the entries and ranked the food that best satisfied their taste buds.

So as to warn the judges of the amount of food they would be ingesting over the contest time, Gold Buckle Foodie Awards announcer and Commercial Exhibits Committee volunteer Harry Miller was quick to inform the judges that the contest is a marathon, not a sprint.

The judges were not afraid to point out their favorite foods throughout the event. Dubbed “Tater” by a Commercial Exhibits Committee member, Dave Morales of Backstage OL took a special liking to the baked potato entry.

“Think Christmas morning when you are opening the presents,” Morales said as he praised the potato.

Cleverley Stone, who is also a four-year veteran event judge, visited with some of the food vendors and judges for the Gold Buckle Foodie Awards.

Another judge came prepared for the inevitable food-overdose by carrying a bottle of Pepto Bismol® with her. Many were concerned about the effects of eating so much food at one time and took those into account before arriving.

Eight eateries were rewarded for their delectable entries by receiving a plaque, ribbon, a merchandise gift certificate and the right to call themselves the 2012 Gold Buckle Foodie Award champions.

The winners are listed by category:

• Best Breakfast Food: Burton Sausage — Classic Breakfast Taco
• Best Value Food: Ranch House Meat Company — Pork Rib Plate
• Best Food-on-a-Stick: Burger Joint RCS Carnival — The Big Rib
• Classic Fair Food: Saltgrass Steakhouse — BBQ Pulled Pork Stuffed Baked Potato
• Most Creative Food: Custom Confections — Lemon Cream Frosty Bite
• Best Fried Food: Far Fix Trinity LLC — Fried Red Velvet Cake
• Best New Flavor: Aunt Edmoe’s Cookies — Fried Cookie Dough on a Stick
• Best Dessert: Stubby’s Cinnamon Roll — Cinnamon Roll with “The Works”

Show fans are invited to come out and participate in the “I Ate All Eight” competition which will take place daily March 2 – 18. After eating each of the eight Gold Buckle Foodie Award-winning entries listed above, a reward can be redeemed at the Show’s Social Media Hub located at the southwest corner of the Main Arena in Hall C of Reliant Center. More information on the “I Ate All Eight” contest can be found at www.rodeohouston.com/activites/food.aspx.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a Section 501(c)(3) charity that benefits youth, supports education, and facilitates better agricultural practices through exhibitions and presentation. Since its beginning in 1932, the Show has committed approximately $283 million to the youth of Texas. The 2012 Show continues through March 18. For tickets and more information, visit www.rodeohouston.com.

Chosen Judges Converge on Rodeo Grub: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Chosen Judges Converge on Rodeo Grub: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Chosen Judges Converge on Rodeo Grub: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Cowboy Caviar

This recipe is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. It can be served with whole-grain tortilla chips but Ali suggests cabbage or lettuce cups to decrease the carbohydrate load.

Yield: 15-18 appetizer servings

• 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 ripe avocados (about 10 oz.)
• 1 can (15 oz.) black-eyed peas
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans
• 1 orange and 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
• Sea salt, to taste

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, mix vinegar, hot sauce, lime juice, oil, garlic, and pepper. Peel, pit, and cut avocado into 1/2-inch cubes. Add to vinegar mixture and mix gently to coat.

2. Drain and rinse peas and black beans. Add peas, beans, bell peppers, onions, cilantro, and tomatoes to avocado; mix gently to coat. Add salt to taste.

Nutritional analysis per appetizer serving.

Calories: 159 (42% from fat), Protein: 3.9g, Fat: 7g (sat 1g),Cholesterol 0g, Carbohydrate: 20g, Fiber: 5g

Sodium: 270mg

February 27, 2012

Celebrity chef Tyson Cole’s Uchi restaurant in Austin, Texas is a big hit, and it looks like he may have another fan favorite with his newly-opened Uchi in Houston.

Kaz Edwards, Uchi Houston’s chef de cuisine, shows food radio talk show host Cleverley Stone and FOX 26 reporter Ruben Dominguez how to make two of Uchi’s most popular dishes — brussels sprouts and Hot Rock Beef. Edwards also demonstrates a beautiful yellowtail fish dish.

Uchi Arrives in Houston: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Uchi Arrives in Houston: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

For more information about food, wine and dining in Houston,
listen to Cleverley’s radio show Saturdays at Noon on Talk 650 AM.
(By the way, she gives out restaurant gift cards on every radio show!)

Brussels Sprouts
Chef Tyson Cole
From: Uchi, The Cookbook

Ingredients

• 6 large Brussels Sprouts, base removed and cut in half
• Canola or soybean oil
• Sweet Chili/Fish Caramel
• Lemon Juice
• Salt

Chili Sauce Ingredients (or use your favorite store-bought variety)

• 800 g. fish sauce
• 800 g. sugar
• 800 g. white vinegar
• 400 g. garlic
• 400 g. negi whites
• 200 g. water
• 200 g. Korean chili flakes
• 10 g. salt

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and cook until tender.
2. Cool and puree.

Fish Caramel

• Confit Fat
• 2 onions (560 g)
• 3 large shallots (130 g)
• 12 Thai chilis (12 g)
• 3 bulbs garlic (100 g)
• 25 grams ginger
• 12 Thai chilis (12 g)
• 2 stalks lemongrass (90 g)
• 85 g cilantro (85 g)
• 56 grams mint
• 56 grams basil
• 2 cups squid brand fish sauce (530 g)
• 4 qts simple syrup (5000 g sugar & 5000 g water)

Directions
1. Rough chop the onion, shallot, ginger, Thai chili, and lemon grass.
Split the garlic bulb in half and gather the herbs.
3. In a large stock pot, caramelize onions and shallots in just enough confit fat to coat the vegetables.
4. Add garlic, ginger, and Thai chilies, and sauté. Add the lemongrass and herbs; while sautéing, the liquid released
will help to deglaze the pot. Sauté for roughly five minutes.
4. Deglaze with ½ cup of the fish sauce.
5. Add simple syrup. reduce to syrup consistency. Then add remaining fish sauce. Reduce to syrup again; strain and cool.

Assembly of Dish
1. Deep fry the Brussels sprouts in canola or soybean oil.
2. Toss with the sweet chili/fish caramel, ½ and ½.
3. Season with lemon juice and salt and serve immediately in a bowl with parchment paper.

Machi Cure
Chef Tyson Cole
From: Uchi, The Cookbook

Ingredients

• 53.9 g/1.9 oz hamachi
• 8.5 g/.3 oz Marcona almonds
• 7.1 g/.25 oz golden raisins
• 28.4 g/.1 oz Asian pear, sliced in half moon with skin on
• 1 g/.5 oz garlic
• 3 g/1 oz candied garlic chips
• 5.7 g/.2 oz negi
• 2 g/.07 oz orange oil
• 3 g/.1 oz shiro dashi
• 2 g/.07 oz tobiko
• Salt and pepper to taste

Smoked Hamachi

• 1 filet of hamachi (yellowtail)
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 3 cups sugar
• 3-5 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tbsp cloves
• 1 tbsp juniper berries

Directions
1. Place sugar and salt in large mixing bowl. Combine cinnamon, cloves, star anise and juniper berry before crushing them into smaller pieces.
2. Add the crushed spices to the salt and sugar mix. Make sure to mix everything together well.
3. Prepare the hamachi for curing by cutting the back portion of the fillet into 3 pieces. Pour a generous amount of the curing salt mixture
over the fish and let cure in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
4. Before smoking, remove excess salt/sugar mix from the fish. Place cured fish on a grate in a shallow roasting pan (hotel pan).
5. To smoke the fish – use your own smoking method or place your choice of smoking chips in a shallow roasting pan (hotel pan) and ignite.
Once the chips are smoking, place the smoking chips into the hotel pan with the fish. Cover the pan with another hotel pan or cover and seal
with saran wrap. Let the fish smoke for 30 minutes. Chill before serving.

Yucca Chip Ingredients

• 1 large yucca (at least 24 oz.)
• Soybean oil
• Salt to taste

Directions for Frying
1. (In a tabletop fryer or you can make a fryer by filling half of a large sauce pot with soybean oil.)
Heat the oil to 350ºF while slicing the yucca chips. With a mandolin, slice the yucca lengthways to 1/16 of an inch thick.
Rinse and drain excess water. Fry the chips, a few at a time, in order to allow maximum oil coverage. You do not want them
overlapping while frying. In the 350ºF oil, fry the sliced yucca until they have caramelized and have a very slight golden brown color.
The goal is to fry them as long as possible without the color getting too dark.
2. Flip the chips half way through the process to achieve an evenly fried chip.
3. Remove the chips from the fryer oil and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Slightly salt chip while they are still warm.

Garlic Chips

• Cloves of garlic
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar

Directions
1. Slice garlic cloves lengthwise on double-sided mandolin, in crescent moon shape.
2. Blanch twice, starting in cold water, and bringing to a boil, rinse and repeat.
3. Place in 1 part cold water and 2 parts sugar, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until translucent.
4. Let cool in liquid. Rinse in colander and fry at 350* F.

Orange Oil

• .5 oz orange oil
• 8 oz perfecto oil

Directions
1. Combine ingredients and mix well.
2. Place in squeeze bottle and reserve until use.

Assembly of the Dish
1. Slice the smoked hamachi into small bite sized pieces.
2. Slice Asian pear with skin on, then combine in a bowl with the hamachi, golden raisins, marcona almonds, and negi.
3. Season everything with black pepper, garlic, shiro dashi, and orange oil.
4. Layer all ingredients with yucca chips on a chilled plate, making sure that a little bit of everything is on each chip.
5. Garnish dish with candied garlic chips, gold tobiko, and micro celery. If no micro celery is available, use kaiware.