Austin City Limits 2015

3:31 PM

It literally took me a full week to mentally digest, reassess, and prepare this post about our trip to Austin, Texas for Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL).

If there's one thing PIF and I love nearly as much as food, it's music, and Weekend 2 of ACL could not have been more perfectly designed for us. I survived high school in part by listening to Modest Mouse and meanwhile, PIF has been listening to one of his favorite artists, Deadmau5, for 10 years (I know, lots of mice up in here -- my dad has already made that joke).

Both Modest Mouse and Deadmau5 were playing during Weekend 2, and, if it couldn't get any more perfect, Modest Mouse was the set right before Deadmau5 on the exact same stage. We'd never seen Modest Mouse together, but when PIF and I saw Deadmau5 together for the first time nearly a year ago, it was a night that *cliche alert* changed our lives -- or at least our relationship (though I suppose they are one in the same). Deadmau5 was also doing an after-show, and we had gotten tickets to that so we'd be able to see his DJ set in a smaller venue. For these reasons alone, plus the chance to eat all we could in a new and fabulous food city, this was set to be a really special weekend.

Austin far exceeded our expectations.

When we reluctantly had to return home, we left agreeing that the best thing about Austin is that the food scene is so wonderfully creative. And I'm not just talking about the high-end, Michelin-starred, famously avant garde restaurants. Even the most affordable little cafes -- nay, even the food stalls at the festival -- were doing things we had never seen before.

Here are some of the highlights:

// Vox Table //

Smoked Hamachi Pipettes



As tasty as they are pretty and interesting - You slide all the speared goodies off with your teeth and then shoot the sauce inside the pipette into your mouth. 


Braised Akaushi Oxtail



We couldn't resist - oxtail isn't something you come by often. And this oxtail was so perfectly cooked, it literally melted in your mouth. And the little potato pillows were fantastic as well. 

// Odd Duck //

Raisin toast, pork belly, pb&j, fried egg, blue cheese, tomato jam





This dish shouldn't work. But it does. Oh, but it does. PIF and I ate in stunned silence. Buttery pork belly with all the other fixings - this dish was gluttony incarnated. And yet, because it was somehow perfectly balanced, it was surprisingly light.

Hot & Crunchy - Avocado


Photo via Instagram by @thesimplesol

Everywhere we looked people were carrying tortilla-wrapped fried goodness stuck inside a cone cup that looks like something you pull from a water cooler. We finally got ourselves one and immediately regretted not getting these at the fest all weekend. Huge chunks of fried avocado, topped with all sorts of goodies, wrapped in a beautifully fresh tortilla and stuck in a paper cone that allows eaters to keep their hands clean! Brilliant! 
(Side note: The Mighty Cone is the reason I developed a cardinal rule of music festivals -- only buy food from stalls that have a food truck. Why? They know how to either prepare food in a small space or know how to prep food that had to be transported.)

Chile Spiked Watermelon 


Photo via Instagram by @acleats

It was f*ing hot, we were probably dehydrated, and since we hadn't yet discovered The Mighty Cone, we didn't want to risk spending $10 on a shitty taco and the lines for smoothies and ice cream were about 100 people long. And that's when I saw him. A man carrying a giant wedge of watermelon, covered in a deep red powder, walking away from a stall with a line only a few people long. We walked triumphantly past the hoards waiting for ice cream, because just from the smell of it, we knew this was going to be good. At it was. The only pit fall? Big hunks of juicy watermelon covered in red dust is really, really messy. Which is why I've adapted it to this much more white-shirt-friendly version:


Chile Spiked Watermelon (clean version)



Ingredients 
(per 2 cups watermelon)

watermelon
zest & juice from 1/4 of a lime 
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
(less if you're weak -- just kidding. But 1/8 tsp will be pretty hot & spicy) 
1/8 tsp salt
a few pinches of pepper
mint (optional)

1. Cut watermelon into bite-sized cubes.
2. Grind together lime zest, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper using a mortar and pestle, or use the back of a spoon, until it's a uniform dust.
3. In a large ziplock bag, add watermelon and lime juice. Shake it up.
4. In small batches, add dust and shake bag after each addition so that chunks get evenly coated. Repeat until all the dust has been added and watermelon cubes are evenly coated. 
5. Place in refrigerator and allow to sit for 30-60 mins. (This will allow the juices to soak in and the cooler watermelon is more refreshing, in my opinion. However, if you don't want to wait, by all means go ahead and eat! It's still very tasty.)
6. (optional) Top with chopped mint.
7. Serve!


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