Project Austin Food Trailer Tour: Crepes Mille was Run of the Mill (Austin, TX)

Over the holidays, my nephew from Iowa posed a question that I was ashamed to answer truthfully, "Do you know how to make crepes?" After a short and brief pause, my simple answer was no and we moved on to the next subject. What I didn't tell him was that this actually bothered me. In order to enhance my culinary abilities I made myself a promise to learn how to make crepes- if not for me, then at least for my nephew.


After doing some research on crepes, I learned how versatile this dish could be. Crepes can be filled with not only sweet dessert fillings but savory meats, as well. The more I thought about it, I realized that a crepe is nothing more than another serving vessel such as tortillas, rice paper, etc. Okay, maybe it's a little fancier than the two mentioned but it pretty much serves the same purpose.


On that note, before attempting to make crepes I decided our next stop on Project Austin Food Trailer Tour should be Crepes Mille off of S. Congress.


Upon our arrival to Crepes Mille, I noticed that there were several familiar items on the menu. Foods that I'm used to seeing because of my ethnicity; Thai dishes, such as Panang Curry (chicken curry), and sweet-sticky rice dessert crepes. I didn't choose those dishes because they would have needed to be more than spectacular to earn a great review from me. I tried my best to not be subjective from the get-go, so I took a different route. I chose one savory crepe, barbecue pulled brisket, and one sweet crepe, caramelized pear. Between my friends, they ordered the rotisserie chicken crepe, the berry delight, and a Nutella filled crepe topped with ice cream. I managed to sample all of these except the rotisserie chicken, but for the purpose of this review I'll focus on the two dishes I ordered. 


BBQ Beef Brisket

  

Caramelized Pear



Berry Delight



Rotisserie Chicken

Crepes Mille did a great job on presentation; all of the dishes above were served on thin paper plates and looked very appetizing. They would look even better on white ceramic plates if given the opportunity. On that note, it’s also important to have your flavors well-balanced to compliment the plating. With that aspect in mind, Crepes Mille was mediocre at best.

The barbecue beef brisket was a great idea for a savory crepe, however, the execution of the dish was slightly disappointing. The meat inside the crepe did have some flavor but it was masked by the dryness of the meat. The sauce on top of the crepe tasted like your standard barbecue sauce and it probably would have served a better purpose inside the crepe to help give it a little moisture. Cutting into the crepe and trying to get a decent bite size also became a challenge because of the fibrous meat. In this case I think that a finely chopped beef or thin slices of brisket would've served as a better filling than the pulled beef. The actual crepe that wrapped the beef lacked flavor and could have easily been fixed with maybe a little more salt and sugar in the batter. As I stated earlier, the idea behind this dish was a great one but the execution of it needs a little tweaking. A little more barbecue sauce on the side would have greatly been appreciated and needed.

The next dish I tried was the caramelized pear crepe. I love caramelized fruits such as pears, peaches, and apples. The cooking of these fruits brings out their natural sweetness that balances well with a slight acidity tone. After all, who doesn't enjoy a bit of sweet and sour together. This crepe was topped off with a caramel sauce and whipped cream sprinkled with inklings of corn flake. My first bite surprised me a little with its sweetness. I made sure not to get any caramel sauce the second time to see if it was the caramelized pears inside the crepe that were overpoweringly sweet; indeed they were. The next couple of bites I incorporated the whipped cream with the pears and it helped tone down the sweetness a bit. Some might enjoy this and even make a case that a dessert is supposed to be super sweet but I'm going to make a case that a little acidity and a little bit less sweetness would've made this dish almost perfect. The caramel sauce looked great on the plate but I didn't need anymore sweets to add to this dish so I could have done without it. The whipped cream was too small of a serving for me since I needed a lot of it to try to tone down the sweetness. The corn flakes on top of the whipped cream added visual appeal but nothing constructive, taste-wise, to the dish.

To recap our visit to Crepes Mille I want to start off by saying that these dishes we tried weren't too bad. Each of them could use a little tweaking or maybe even tasting prior to being served. These are all easy fixes that can be done, if made aware. Now that I've thought about it, maybe I should have tried some of the Thai flavored crepes. I might do that on our next visit but that probably isn't going to be anytime soon.

Hot and Crunchy Shrimp and Chicken with Avocado Cone

I believe that if you wanted to call something a cone it should be more than a gimmick. The cone should be more than just a paper snow cone cup; it should enhance the character of the dish itself.

So the first thing I decided to do differently was to deep fry the flour tortilla into a cone shape that could be utilized as a serving vessel itself. The cone was dusted with chili powder and paprika to help impart an extra level of spice and flavor.


Instead of making cole slaw and a spicy aioli, I combined the two elements and created a Sriracha aioli slaw. This consisted of shredded cabbage, carrots, and Sriracha ailoi.


I also did away with breading the avocado and deep frying it, I left it in its natural form to ensure that the rich and creamy flavor doesn't get masked.


The last element of this dish consists of using corn flakes as breading for the shrimp and chicken. I didn't change the use of the corn flakes but I did eliminate the sesame seeds and added roasted ancho chili flakes to add a touch of heat along with your basic salt, pepper, and sugar to help boost the flavor. The chicken and shrimp were marinated in salt, pepper, garlic, powder, cayenne pepper and paprika before being coated in the egg wash and battered.


Ingredients:


Large flour tortillas (10 inch diameter)
Canola oil (for deep frying)
1 chicken breast (halved and then cut into long strips)
12 shrimp (peeled)
1 cup corn flakes (processed and ground)
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon roasted ancho chili flakes
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup shredded cabbage (loosely packed)
1/2 cup shredded carrot (loosely packed)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves
1 - 2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce


Directions:


Start by making the slaw first so that the cabbage and carrots get a chance to absorb some flavor before the dish is assembled. Shred your cabbage and carrots and set aside in a large bowl. In a food processor add the 2 garlic cloves and begin processing. Next, add your mayonnaise and Sriracha and continue processing for about 10 - 15 seconds. Your aioli is now complete and should have an orange coloring. Add your aioli to the cabbage and carrots and mix well. Set this aside in your refrigerator until you're ready to assemble your cone.


The next step in creating this dish is to create the cone itself. Heat the canola oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees. Fold the tortilla so that the bottom portion is smaller than the top portion. This will create your cone shape. Now take some egg wash and brush it on the inside of the top part of the tortilla that overlaps. Gently squeeze this area so that the egg wash works as a glue to hold the tortilla together while frying. Place the side with the egg wash into the fryer first. This will seal the tortilla and ensure that it will not open during the frying process. Continue cooking this side for about 2-3 minutes and then rotate the cone and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until the entire cone has been evenly fried. Immediately after removing the cone from the fryer dust it with 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chili powder and paprika. Set this aside on a towel to cool and drain.

Marinate the chicken and shrimp separately by adding the following to each: 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Mix well and let this rest for at least 10-15 minutes.

To create the breading, add the corn flakes to the food processor and blend until the grains are semi-fine (a few large chunks won't hurt either). Process enough corn flakes until you get about 1 full cup after processing. Add this to a deep dish along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons ancho chili flakes, and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Mix these ingredients well and set aside.

Now that you have everything ready, it's time to setup your breading and frying station. Start by dipping the proteins in the egg wash and then the breading and directly into the fryer. The shrimp should be done in less than a minute and then chicken takes anywhere from 2-3 minutes. Remove the fried proteins and set it on some paper towels to cool and drain.


To build this cone, I stuffed it with the Sriracha slaw first since this contains the sauce for the cone. Then the chicken strips and shrimps were stuffed on top of the slaw. Next, layer the avocado delicately on top of the proteins and add another layer of the slaw.


Click here to go back to the review of "The Mighty Cone"

Project Austin Food Trailer Tour: The Mighty Cone was a Mighty Disappointment (Austin, TX)

This past weekend a group of friends and I started Project Austin Food Trailer Tour, where we’ll attempt to sample as many things as we can at a food trailer we have chosen. We hope to do this every week or every other week- depending on the weather, of course.  The idea behind this is to help promote one of the great things about Austin; being able to find good food from not so ideal locations. I’ll provide reviews from each of the establishments we visit and also try to recreate some of their signature dishes.

This week we visited the Mighty Cone- located at 1600 S. Congress Ave. My friends in the group had been here before and wanted me to start the tour off with a bang.  At first glance, of the not so extensive menu, I knew it would be easy for us to make our choice. We ordered two variations of the Hot & Crunchy Cone (chicken with avocado and shrimp with avocado), a beef slider, chili-dusted fries, and an order of fried pickles. There were three and a half of us (three adults and one toddler) eating, so it’s not as much food as it sounds.

I started off with the Hot & Crunchy Cones; both were prepared the same way- shrimp or chicken covered with corn flakes and sesame seed breading topped with a spicy aioli sauce. The avocado was breaded in the same fashion and deep-fried, as well. These ingredients sat on top of your standard coleslaw wrapped in a flour tortilla and served in a paper cone.

Sounds delicious right?

That’s what I thought until I took my first bite- I paused- and took a second bite. Maybe my palette wasn’t fooling me, could it be true that this wonderfully textured meal wrapped in a tortilla could be so bland?

So, I started to deconstruct my “cone” (it’s really just a taco) to taste each element individually. I came to this conclusion:

The super crunchy texture was great on both the chicken and shrimp but lacked any flavor whatsoever; this is a case where a little salt and pepper was really needed. However, both proteins were not over cooked so that was a good thing.

The spicy aioli really disappointed me; this could have been the one thing that brought the dish together. Instead, the aioli was a bit watery and lacked any garlic or chili flavor. It was just a very pretty orange sauce that served no other purpose than to add color to the dish.

The deep fried avocado was an over kill when it came to using the corn flake and sesame breading. It didn’t add anything constructive or flavorful to this dish.  If anything, the large chunk of avocado was a bit hard to eat just because of the size.

The use of the coleslaw was a bit confusing to me. It was pretty much your standard coleslaw that you can get anywhere in town. Its place at the bottom of the cone conflicted with the use of the aioli on top. They’re both mayonnaise-based sauces; one with garlic and the other with sugar. There was one good thing about the coleslaw- it wasn’t bland like all of the other components of this dish.

All-in-all, the texture was nice but the flavor was non-existent.

Next, we moved on to the beef slider which consisted of all natural beef, red onions, and tomatoes squeezed between a dinner roll. Yes! I was so excited because there is now way you can mess up a simple beef slider, right?

Wrong again.

First, let me complain about the cost which is way over-priced for the amount being served. You get one slider- and it really is a slider- not a hamburger for just under six dollars. I’ve had Kobe burgers that tasted a hundred times better and were cheaper than this slider.

I took a bite and the first thing I noticed was that the meat was a little dry, as if someone was really pressing on this patty to get it to cook faster. The second thing I noticed was that, once again, the food was bland.

As I sigh in disappointment, my internal thoughts keep reverting back to, “How do you screw up a slider, an expensive one at that?”

I moved on to the sides and the fried pickles were okay. They were breaded in the same corn flake and sesame breading and at this point I can’t help but feel like the breading is getting to be a little bit of overkill.

The chili-dusted fries were the highlight of the meal and not because they had tons of flavor, but because you could drench them in ketchup.

Our tour started off with a bust instead of a bang, but that’s ok because there are still a lot of other places to eat in Austin and I’m going to try to find them. I’m sure I’ll find a dish that I love and give the ultimate compliment of recreating rather than trying to find a way to improve on their dish, concept, or flavors.


Click here for the Bistro 331 Version of  "Hot and Crunchy Shrimp and Chicken with Avocado Cone"