Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook: Dallas-Fort Worth Edition, Volume 1

By Tiffany Harelik

While Fort Worth is known for its meat and potato "cowboy cuisine" and Dallas for its upscale artisanal restaurants, the Metroplex has embraced the next wave of culinary creativity: the food truck revolution Whether it's strawberry basil balsamic lemonade, herb and pepper infused olive oil, Cajun crawfish pasta or whoopie pies, the food trucks in cowboy country are serving a wide range of cuisines as well as the traditional hamburgers, hot dogs and handheld treats. Join Tiffany Harelik as she brings the Trailer Food Diaries to the Metroplex and explores the recipes and personal stories behind Dallas and Fort Worth's favorite restaurants on wheels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781625845399

Tiffany Harelik

Serving up the American dream one plate at a time, Tiffany Harelik is a travel and food writer with a focus on iconic street food culture. Joined by her best friend and food truck entrepreneur Maurine Winkley, the girls put on their aprons to add jams and sauces to the Trailer Food Diaries collection.

Book preview

Drinks

Caramel Float with Apple Soda

Gyspy Scoops

Homemade Lemonade

Four Seasons Food Truck by Vizion Catering

Peach Fuzzy

Sauzy’s

Strawberry Basil Balsamic Lemonade

Pompeii

Yellow Mary

Yellow Belly

Caramel Float with Apple Soda

Courtesy of Gyspy Scoops

A cool drink for entertaining in the hot Texas fall.

3 scoops Dulce de Leche or Salted Caramel ice cream

8 ounces apple soda

• Spoon ice cream into a cold glass and pour apple soda over it. Serve with a spoon and a straw.

Homemade Lemonade

Courtesy of Four Seasons Food Truck by Vizion Catering

This simple recipe provides a refreshing drink during hot Texas summers.

1 cup hot water

1 cup sugar

zest from one lemon

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 quarts cool water

lemon slices for garnish

• Heat 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Add lemon zest and lemon juice to the pan. Remove from heat and cool.

• When cooled, add sugar mixture to 2 quarts cold water and stir until completely incorporated. Add lemon slices and serve over ice.

Peach Fuzzy

Courtesy of Sauzy’s

This light and refreshing drink is best in summer when the peaches are ripe.

5 ripe fresh peaches

1 can pink lemonade concentrate

1 can (from the pink lemonade concentrate) vodka

• Blend all three ingredients and pour in container.

• Fill blender half full of mix and the rest ice, blend and serve.

Strawberry Basil Balsamic Lemonade

Courtesy of Pompeii

Adding a splash of balsamic glaze to this strawberry basil lemonade makes a tasty summer drink.

1 pound frozen strawberries

15 medium basil leaves

juice of 9 lemons, deseeded

1 cup sugar

balsamic glaze, a few squirts

• Cook down strawberries for about 15–20 minutes until soft and then pull from heat. Add the basil leaves to the hot strawberries and steep for 30 minutes.

• Blend or puree the basil and strawberry mixture and strain through chinois, china cap or other straining device.

• Add fresh lemon juice (or 1 container of simply lemonade) and sugar. Add balsamic glaze to taste and adjust lemon/sugar as needed.

Yellow Mary

Courtesy of Yellow Belly

The yellow tomato’s answer to a traditional bloody Mary.

6 ounces *Yellow Tomato Water

2 ounces vodka (preferably Starlite vodka)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire powder

½ teaspoon celery salt

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

pinch cayenne pepper

1 slice bacon, fully cooked

• Fill a tall glass ¾ full with ice. Place first six ingredients on top of ice. Stir. Garnish with bacon slice.

*Yellow Tomato Water

5 pounds fresh yellow tomatoes, quartered

1¼ cups celery, chopped

1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks

yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon peppercorn medley, freshly ground

2 ounces canola oil

kosher salt, to taste

¾ cup water, as needed to dilute

1½ ounces lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• Place first seven ingredients in a large mixing bowl, season with salt and toss until evenly coated in the canola oil. Lay out all ingredients on a full sheet pan and roast in an oven at 350 degrees or until slightly tender, approximately 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

• Using a commercial-grade blender, preferably a Vita Prep, puree all ingredients on high speed for 1 minute. In a cheesecloth-lined china cap (or fine mesh strainer), strain mixture overnight in the refrigerator. When mixture is fully strained, add water to dilute. Mixture will be very strong and clear. Add lemon juice to bring out the natural flavors.

Ask a Local

With Stephanie Hawkes, Local Food Truck Blogger

How long have you been in DFW, and when did you start following the food cart scene here?

I have lived in Dallas for fifteen years (moved here from Austin) and started my blog, DFWFoodTruckFoodie.com, in July 2011 after following the food trucks for two months.

What are some of the laws that food carts must adhere to in DFW?

It varies by the city, and there are about a dozen cities in the area where trucks are allowed to operate. Focusing on the large cities, in Dallas, the trucks have size requirements; they have to overnight at a commissary. In Dallas, most of the city, except certain parts of the Central Business District, is open to the trucks. In Fort Worth, the trucks don’t have size requirements and do not have to overnight at a commissary. When it comes to open areas, the law says only one truck can have a permit for a specific location. The food truck parks operate with a variance to the permit to allow multiple trucks in one location. Most of the suburban cities have lesser requirements, and importantly, there are still several large-size suburbs, like Arlington, that don’t allow the food trucks to operate within the city limits.

Are the DFW trucks mobile or stationary?

Mobile.

What are the food trailer parks, how many are there and can you share a little about each of the main pods in DFW?

There are currently two permanent truck parks, both in Fort Worth: Fort Worth Food Truck Park and Clearfork Truck Park. In Dallas, there is not a permanent truck park. This past summer there was a pop-up park, but it has closed in the winter. There is also lots of talk about opening other parks, but so far, nothing has opened. Without a dedicated park in Dallas, the trucks rely on dedicated locations during the lunch hour. The most popular locations, at least at lunchtime, are the Dallas Arts District and Klyde Warren Park. Otherwise, in Dallas, the trucks will pod up at various retail locations. Sigel Liquor has been a big supporter and has a truck pod at two of their stores several days a week.

What are the trends in cuisine within the food cart world?

I’m not sure there is a real trend right now because the industry is so new. DFW has a high percentage of cupcake trucks, but honestly, I wish we could get more trendy…there are so many foods that we can’t find on the streets yet!

What is the future of food trailers in DFW?

We are seeing more professional chefs enter the marketing and more custom-designed trucks. In the beginning, there were more standard Class AA catering-style trucks and more owners who were not professionally trained but were opening their truck just for the love of food. We are also starting to see the trucks move out to the suburbs. I know of four suburbs looking to open food truck parks. Which means we need more trucks! As it is, on weekends with events like graduation or festivals, there are not enough trucks to cover all the needs. If all these parks are to open, we need even more trucks to fill