Muffins are not the first thing that come to mind when I think about street food either.  What changed my mind?  A three-year-old with a real penchant for muffins.  When he thought it was normal to go get a $3 muffin every single day I decided that perhaps I should just learn how to make a good muffin.  Along the way my kid learned how to buy muffins and I learned that cute kids do not have to tip or adhere to the rules of customer lines, so it was money well spent.

I had a bunch of disastrous efforts before I landed on this recipe.  It may seem a bit involved, but the muffins are really fantastic.  You'll notice that I don't use white flour.  With food targeting my kid I try to stay with whole foods, and where possible, I avoid the use of white flour.  Not to mention these muffins taste a bit more hearty and it makes the recipe easier.

My kid calls these "the best muffins ever"...

Topping:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour


• 2 tablespoons butter, softened, but not melted
  


• 2 tablespoons sugar


• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Batter:

• 1 teaspoon sea salt


• 2 large eggs


• 1/3 cup granulated sugar


• 1/3 cup brown sugar


• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled


• 3/4 cup sour cream


• 1/2 cup yogurt


• 2 cups Bruce's sweet potato pancake mix


• 3/4 cup frozen blueberries


• 3/4 cup frozen raspberries

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.


2. To make the topping, in a medium bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.


3. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl until fairly light. Add sugar and whisk vigorously until thick, the consistency of gravy.


4. Add melted butter, and whisk again until completely combined.


5. Add sour cream, whisk to combine, then yogurt and do the same.


6. Add flour to sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together. Do not overmix.


7. Add the berries and fold until combined, usually just a few turns.
   


8. Drop batter into greased muffin tin or use baking cups.  I prefer baking cups but it takes the muffins longer to cool.


9. Add topping to each muffing with a spoon


10. Bake for 25 minutes.  Check whether the muffins are done with a toothpick.  If your oven is prone to hotspots turn the pan halfway through.

photo by zampano!!!

 Fish tacos are a favorite of mine.  They're almost a comfort food - any opportunity to try fish tacos ends in me with an empty plastic basket.  One thing fish taco stands won't tell you - you can cover up nearly any bad fish with a really good slaw.  This is one.  I once worked at a restaurant who's strategy was to cover absolutely everything in cheese, their theory being everyone likes cheese.  Same applies.

You'll want to be careful matching this with any fish that's been blackened or is otherwise extremely spicy.  That said, this is a fantastic side dish on its own and fairly addictive.

Spicy Slaw

• 1 head green cabbage, shredded


• 2 carrots, grated


• 1 red onion, preferably pickled


• 2 green onions, chopped


• 3 Serrano chilies, seeded, minced 


• 1 garlic clove, minced


• 1/4 cup mayonnaise or yogurt (I always use yogurt)
  


• 1/4 cup olive oil


• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice


• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar


• 1 Tbsp Stone Ground Mustard


• 1 Tbsp Creole Mustard


• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard


• 1 Tbsp sugar


• 1/2 tsp celery seeds


• Sea Salt, Black and White Pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine cabbage, carrots, onions, chilies and garlic.  Toss well.


2. In a smaller bowl, whisk mayonnaise, olive oil, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, mustards, sugar and celery seeds to blend.


3. Toss together in the large bowl until everything is coated well.


4. Season to taste with salt and peppers.

Slaw can be prepared ahead and refrigerated. Serve cold or at room temperature.  

Its SXSW time here in Austin, and that means more food trucks on the street than normal.  More pizza trucks don't really cause anyone to cheer, exactly, but there was one stand-out.  A trailer appeared near our house called "Mighty Cone" that seems to be owned by Hudson's (I believe there is a rule in Austin that every food truck has to be associated with a B&M restaurant).  They were serving what I would describe as open faced tacos served in a paper cone (think the cones you would see at a water fountain).  Cool idea, but that's about it.

  The tacos themselves weren't actually that great and the fries were even more disappointing.  But one attempt was really interesting - crispy fried avocado.  The breading they tried wasn't a good match for the avocados (it was great for chicken) so I thought I would give it a try as an interesting addition to tacos. 

Crispy fried avocados

2 eggs

1 Tbsp water

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup panko

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1. Beat the eggs with the water and set aside

1. Grind the panko in a spice grinder until it is approximately the consistency of the corn meal.

1. Mix the corn meal, panko, salt and pepper

1. Dip the avocados in the egg wash then dredge in the corn meal.  Fry in batch until brown, turning twice.  Frying takes about 5-6 minutes.

photo by lavannya

Mumbai is definitely one of the best cities in India for street food.  Its no surprise that the Indian version of McDonald's is growing out of Mumbai, serving Vada Pav.  In many ways, this is India's version of the greasy hamburger.  In fact, I call these sliders, since they are approximately the size of their White Castle counterparts, but with much more of a kick.  Jumbo King sells these things very cheap - in the neighborhood of $0.15.  The buns are very much like McD's, but the sauces and condiments make it.  Eventually I'll try these with Chole, since that's one of the Jumbo King flavors...

The Vada Pav is essentially a potato patty dipped in a spicy batter and fried.  That's the Vada.  The Pav is the bun.  What really makes the Vada Pav is the condiments.  Ultimately, the sauces are what make these sliders worth making.  If you're in India you can save some coin eating these things, but if you're in Texas you load up on the great pickles and sauces you can pick up on your travels.  My usual combo is:

• A spicy garlic pickle


• A tamarind based chutney


• A Thai garlic/chili pickle

These turn out pretty small - remember, sliders.  The Jumbo King version is closer to a burger off the dollar menu, but that is far too large...

Vada Pav

Patty:

2 Tbsp  olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp black mustard seed

1/2 tsp curry

About 1 inch ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Serrano chilies, seeded and minced

1/2 onion, minced

1 large potato, boiled and mashed (should be about 1.5 cups)

1 sweet potato, boiled and mashed (should be about 1.5 cups)

1/4 tsp turmeric

Coarse salt

1/4 cup cilantro

Batter:

1/2 cup chickpea flour

2 Tbsp rice flour

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red chili pepper

1/2 cup water

Salt

Directions

1. Mix all the batter ingredients and blend until smooth.  Set aside.


2. To make the patties, heat the oil in a skillet and add the cumin and mustard. 


3. When the spices start to heat and pop, add the curry, ginger, garlic, chilies, onion and cook until the onion is done but not burned.


4. Add the potatoes and turmeric and  mix well.  Mash any large piece of potato and mix until heated through.


5. Mix in the cilantro, remove from heat and let cool.


6. Roll enough potato to form a ball about the size of a golf ball.  It's easier if you make all the balls at once.


7. Dip in the batter and fry in oil.  I fry them in about 3/4 inch of Canola oil.


8. When you turn them, smash the ball down a bit to form more of a patty.