James Hitt.

Dude, we miss you THIS much.

Friday's Report (from deep In the heart of Texas) #2

First I should give credit where credit is due and refer y'all to the Taco Journalism blog. It was they who first clued me in to the "Magic Taco Box" (their words not mine) that is Taqueria Alayna's on Manor Road in Austin.

I have since frequented Alayna's on numerous occasions since it is fortunately (or unfortunately) very close to my home. And I felt the need to share the joys of one of the finest taco stands around.

Alayna's is little more than a window in a wall of a strip mall. But what goes on behind that window can only be described as transcendent. The mysteries and witchcraft that take place can't possibly be fathomed by us mortal consumers. But one thing we can understand is that the resultant tacos that emerge from the window will delight and enchant us.

First off, every taco that comes out of the window is huge. Seriously, these are massive tacos. My favorite, bacon and egg, is so chock full of big chunks of glorious glorious bacon that I'd swear ther's no way they can make a profit off of the mere $1.75 they charge. But quantity without quality is no bargain. Luckily Alayna's packs all the flavor they can into the tacos too. Eggs and bacon may seem simple enough but through their wizardry they somehow make it extra palitable.

The clincher that really separates Alayna's from the multitiude of other taco vendors, however, is their amazing salsa. I honestly have no clue what's in it at all. I know that it's greenish in color and spicy as hell. And it's that great kind of spicy that makes you at first think, "Oh that's not too spicy" and then after a solid four count it hits you hard. But it's not just spicy. It has a great flavor that compliments the tacos without overpowering them.

There are literally at least four other taco places within easy walking distance from my home. And in my opinion, Alayna's beats them all. Beats them to a pulp.

When Life Hands You Vinegar, Make Bread Salad

Chard grapes from the Haut Poitou region

I'm broke. Hopefully that goes some way toward answering a question people have been asking.

What happened to all the food posts? The short answer is I haven't been eating. I've also been running my little buns for the show on Saturday, but mostly just haven't had the cash for food or batteries for the camera... Or a Metrocard. Wow.

Anyway, I scraped up some change yesterday and bought a big boneless chicken breast. I diced it then seared the chunks in a a little of Lila's famous hot rosemary oil just to get the kitchen smelling funky. I also had some juice orange peels and cloves boiling. Nice aroma combo.

Then I dumped in maybe a cup of this Haut Poitu Rose that I picked up from Patagonia on the corner of 159 and Amsterdam.

Patagonia opened about a month ago and has been a huge blessing for my wife. Jess hated the old liquor store that was here. It was kind of a dirty, bullet-proof glass encased crack den. It was also pretty dirty and they didn't really have anything there to buy except Hypnotic and Nutcracker, so I kind of see where she was coming from. But I liked the old dude. He had such soulful, wild eyes.

When Patagonia took over they set out a table with everything that was left from the old store for $2 pop. We got a few really nice Pouilly Fuisses and a nice Pouilly Fume. I also bout three bottles of this Poitu rose thinking we'd save them for Spring, but decided to crack one the other night and discovered it was vinegar. Awesome vinegar.

So, I dump a cup of this stuff on the searing chicken, and I throw in some salt and pepper and this salt-pepper-ground rosemary seasoning that Jess made a while back. I slapped in some cream and let it simmer for a while. My original plan was to add garbanzo beans, but the color was so bland, so I tossed in a can of mixed vegetables -- I told you we are broke -- and then hit the whole thing with maybe a tablespoon and a half of King Arthur wheat flour, and it thickened up so nice that I wanted to wrap it in philo and eat it in the bathtub. Instead I made Lila May a burger and adulted up the chicken with a little West African hot pepper.

When I made Lila's burger I made another little patty -- maybe a fifth of a pound and seared that while toasting some potato bread. Hit the toast with hot mustard, slapped on patty, cheese, mounds of yellow pepper rings, top toast then used the mixed-veggies can to cut the whole thing into a perfect circle.

Here's the awesome part. I cubed the left over toast , which was kind of saturated in the burger grease and had some of the cheese and mustard on it. I threw the cubes in a bowl with some diced raw onion, and then I ladled on just a little of the Haut Poitu gravy from the chicken and cracked in some coarsely ground black peppercorns tossed it and served it on a leaf of lettuce. Eat that health-crazed Republicans.

So, to sum up. When life hands you vinegar, make bread salad.