MarkPReynolds.com

Makes 1 large loaf:
* 1 cup starter
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 egg yolk
* 3 TBSP butter, softened
* 3 TBSP brown sugar
* 3 TBSP white sugar
* 2 teaspoon salt
* 4 cups flour
* yeast, if needed

Mix these, spread over dough on final rise:
* 2 tablespoons butter, softened
* remaining egg (white)
* water

Rise 1 hour in warm, wet place
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, spin once

Makes 1 loaf

* 1/2 cup starter
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 egg yolk
* 3 TBSP white sugar
* 3 TBSP olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 3 TBSP fresh fried or dried rosemary
* 2 cups flour
* baker’s yeast (optional, depending on the strength of your starter)

Mix these, spread over dough on final rise:
* 2 tablespoons butter, softened
* egg white
* water

Rise 1 hour in warm, wet place
Bake at 425 for 12 minutes, spin once

Makes two baguette loaves

* 1 cup sourdough starter
* 2 TBSP sugar
* 2 TSP salt
* 2 TBSP dry milk
* 3 TBSP olive oil
* 1.5 cups bread flour
* baker’s yeast (optional, depending on the strength of your starter)

Bread machine dough cycle
Rise in warm, moist oven

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes, turning once.

Ok, first: I love TacoDeli. I love their Dona salsa. I promise: it’s easier, cheaper and yummier to purchase your dona directly from TacoDeli. They will even sell it to you by the pint for a few bucks.  It’s a deal. But recreating restaurant recipes is fun, so here goes.

This is my current, favorite recipe.  It controls the heat better than blending in the seeds.  I switched back to jalepenos because they taste better than the anaheim peppers I was using before.  The only thing is without all the jalepenos’ white innards, the sauce is much darker and oilier, so I add a spoon of cottage cheese.  I know.  Dona does not have dairy but this step works perfectly.  It moves from pesto-looking to perfect.  (and cottage is basically free from a calorie/fat perspective.  I substitute it for sour cream in veggie dips)

You could probably also try roasting the jalepenos less or not at all and using vegetable oil instead of olive oil.  Each would likely lighten the salsa more naturally but potentially sacrifice flavor.

• Batch of jalepeno peppers, seeds and filament removed
• A few cloves of garlic
• TSP salt
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 Cup Water
• TBS Cottage Cheese

1. Roast your peppers however you like.  I use an oven.
2. Blend well

I originally followed the recipe of Shlomi Harif, an old friend from Tivoli. Very good.  I did find though the heat was also very high and also the result seemed a bit dark and oily.

I found another Austin foody’s recipe.  The flamethrower was a bit over the top but I’m sure it worked fine, and the recipe’s fundamentals were solid.  The raw garlic left the dona lighter and less oily also.  Still, hot. I like salsa.  I love heat.  But roasted jalepenos are still really hot especially with a lot of salsa on a taco.

Enter the Anaheim pepper.  Mmmmmm.  Tasty without all the heat. Now you can mix up a big batch of dona, enjoy it right there in the kitchen, even if you can’t handle the heat.  One caviat: now that you can eat your dona by the spoonful and not worry about catching fire, remember there is quite a bit of raw garlic in it, so not the best pre-date snack.

Here’s the quick and dirty recipe:

• Batch of anaheim pepper
• A few cloves of garlic
• Salt
• Vegetable oil (not olive oil)
• Splash of water

1. Roast your pepper however you like.  I use an oven.
2. Skin them.  You can include the seeds as they are not very hot.
3. Blend or food process everything together at high speed.

Ta da!

I’m often asked about my favorite restaurants in town. The top of the list changes occasionally but each of those below remains one I recommend. I’m certain I’ve missed a few deserving mentions. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

What is it that makes a great restaurant?  Sure, delicious food.  But also atmosphere, value, service, variety, creativity and more.  For me, great food is adventurous.   When the waiter at Uchi offered to take our menus away and to keep bringing us spectacular sushi until we said stop, I knew we were in for a memorable evening.  When the owner of a bistro in Paris cautioned me that Americans didn’t tend to choose the special, because it was a “strange French delicacy”, it was my immediate entrée choice.  He was right, but it was so good even Jackie abandoned her seafood to help me enjoy it.  So, with this perspective in mind, here we go.  A link is included for to each restaurant with a web site.

1. Uchi
2. Parkside
3. Wink
4. Mullberry
5. Tomo Sushi
6. Mirabelle
7. Olivia
8. Hudson’s on the Bend
9. Jezebel
10. Clay Pit
11. Flores
12. Perry’s
13. Loui’s 106
14. Fonda San Miguel’s
15. Jaspers
16. Andiamo
17. Reale’s
18. Houston’s
19. Fleming’s Steak House
20. Bellagio
21. Eddie V’s
22. El Chilito
23. Aquarelle
24. Din Ho
25. Trulucks