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At CBD Provisions at The Joule hotel in Dallas, the hotel’s executive chef, Mat Urban, created this dish, which is made by browning in oil chunks of goat and lamb leg and shoulder meat from Windy Hill Organics in Comanche, Texas, about 85 miles away.
Once the meat is browned, mirepoix, a roux, cilantro, parsley, mint, rosemary and stout beer are added and the meat is braised for an hour.
The meat is then mixed with Texas Gold Cheddar cheese and scooped into pie crust dough. The meat is wrapped in the dough and it’s all baked until golden brown.
Urban said the goat and lamb “bring a subtle and delicious gamy flavor to the dish,” and points out that it’s a true Texas dish with local meat, cheese, and vegetables.
Price: $12
The food at Jūn, which opened in the Houston neighborhood of Houston Heights in February, reflects the experience and heritage of Top Chef alum Evelyn Garcia and her culinary partner Henry Lu, as well as food that they just like to eat.
One of the menu items is based on laab, a Thai and Lao dish of spiced minced meat with toasted rice and a variety of Southeast Asian aromatics.
There is a raw version, mostly in Laos, made of beef, and this dish at Jūn is similar, but it’s topped with fried dough for texture
The minced beef is mixed with egg yolk, shallots, Thai basil, mint, cilantro and an aïoli made with toasted rice.
That’s topped with a citronette of Korean chile flakes, shallots, olive oil and citrus, and then finished with a sesame buñuelo.
Price: $10
Deviation Distilling, a craft gin distillery in Denver, is located on the parade route of the St. Patrick’s Day parade, so co-owner Cindi Wiley developed this drink, for which she thoroughly muddles 10 mint leaves, three slices of jalapeño pepper and a cup of arugula with half an ounce of lemon juice. Then she adds two ounces of the distillery’s Mountain Herb Gin and an ounce of simple syrup, adds ice, shakes it vigorously for 30 seconds and pours into a rocks glass over ice. She then squeezes the juice of half a navel orange on top, finishes it with soda water and garnishes it with an orange section and mint leaves.
Price: $12
At Everdene, which opened on the 3rd floor of the Virgin Hotels New York City in February, executive chef Freddy Vargas makes a ceviche marinade by puréeing red onion, lime juice, blood orange juice, cilantro, and chile. To order he adds that to bay scallops, along with minced jalapeño and Fresno peppers, lime and mandarin orange segments, and cilantro. He puts that in a bowl and tops it with red onion, corn nuts, and micro cilantro.
Vargas says the dish is inspired by the ceviche he had at a Peruvian restaurant in the Ecuadorean city of Guayaquil.
Price: $23
Snow crab can be in short supply these days, due to a precipitous drop in the population in the waters off of Alaska, but that’s not true for Bairdi crab, also called tanner crab, which is more abundant than it has been in 20 years, and the state’s quota for those particular crabs is more than 5 million pounds this year.
Bairdi crab also tends to be sweeter and have larger legs and more meat than the better known opilio snow crab, and Taichi Kitamura, chef and owner of Sushi Kappo Tamura in Seattle, is making use of its tastiness and abundance by simply steaming it in its shell and then simply serving one large chunk of leg over sushi rice.
Price: $14
