Food-o-File

Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker

A few weeks ago, a young man named Daniel Barnes contacted me about his partnership in a new local microdistillery venture that is producing Treaty Oak Platinum Rum. The rum can claim the distinction of being the first of the new spirits produced around Austin made completely from scratch. Barnes and his business partner, Bruce Graham, are purchasing the raw cane molasses for their product from the last operating sugar mill in the Rio Grande Valley and making rum in their local distillery using equipment Graham built himself. The young men expect to have their product on the market sometime in August and are currently in the final testing phase, holding tastings with liquor-industry professionals and members of the media. When Barnes suggested we get together for a tasting of his rum, I told him I had to quit drinking long ago, but he was welcome to come to my annual potluck birthday bash where plenty of friends who do drink would be happy to tell him what they thought. I figured his rum could sink or swim alongside Tito's Handmade Vodka, Paula's Texas Orange, area brews such as Independence and Real Ale, and assorted Texas wines. Barnes and his wife, Rachael, showed up and served the crowd refreshing, farm-fresh mint mojitos to an overwhelmingly positive response. Our own Wes Marshall will have more to say about Treaty Oak Platinum Rum in the near future. The other product sample debut at the party was a home-style frozen-drink machine called the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker ($299.99). It seems these machines are the summer's absolute hottest selling item in all the national cookware catalogs and cookware stores. The folks at Faraday's Kitchen Store (1501 RR 620 N., 266-5666) and Breed & Co. (718 W. 29th, 474-6679; 3663 Bee Caves Rd., 328-3960) are watching them fly off the shelves. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising in the state where the frozen margarita was born! The machine has an ice-shaving feature that produces drinks with the consistency of a smooth, frosty slurry – not as thick as drinks from a commercial margarita machine in restaurants but much smoother than anything you could make in a home blender. I won't be making cocktails in this one, but I can't wait to see how it does with the protein smoothies I make for breakfast and my personal version of iced mocha lattes made with instant espresso, low-fat milk, cocoa, and Splenda. (I know coffee snobs will blanche at that, but high-calorie liquids are now verboten; see "Enough Is Enough!" July 13, for why). And now for news that's not all about me: Kudos to local baker Tracy Claros for winning the culinary equivalent of an Oscar earlier this month at the Fancy Food Show in NYC. Her English Lemon Pudding took home the gold statuette as the best baked good, and I'm not the least bit surprised. Take a look at the prize, and grab some of that award-winning pudding when you visit Claros' booth at the Austin Farmers' Market (Fourth & Guadalupe) this Saturday morning… And speaking of farmers' markets, the Sunset Valley Farmers Market (Highway 290 West in the Toney Burger Center parking lot) was recently named as one of the Top 10 farmers' markets in the country by EatingWell magazine. Matt Lee of Tèo (1208 W. 38th, 451-9555, www.caffeteo.com) e-mailed to say he'd heard from international ice cream maven/cookbook author David Lebovitz (www.davidlebovitz.com) after his recent appearances in Austin, and Lebovitz declared Tèo's gelato as the very best he had eaten in the U.S. Matt is also justifiably proud of the new article in AmericanWay magazine touting his shop as one of the seven best places in the country for gelato. Go over there now for some of the heavenly sorbetto made with Texas peaches… According to Alamo Drafthouse chef John Bullington, local Harry Potter fans are the most devoted and enthusiastic when it comes to turning out for movie feasts and purchasing movie-themed menu specials. "They show up in costume and buy all the specials and gallons and gallons of the Butter Beer. One English guy came up and told me the treacle tarts we served reminded him of his childhood, and another guy in a kilt said our shepherd's pie was just like home, so that makes all the work worthwhile." Bullington was willing to disclose the raw ingredients for the wildly popular Butter Beer (though not the proportions). He steeps real apple cider with aromatic spices, then mixes that with homemade butterscotch syrup. For adults, he mixes half the cider/spice/butterscotch mixture with hard cider, and for kids, the cider mixture is mixed with soda. By press time, I will have attended a Potter Feast and will report back next week.