Heart of Texas Winery: Stonewall

The spirit of the Texas is one of independence and integrity. This spirit is embodied not only in each Texas town, but in each Texas winery as well.

Yum Runnerz was lucky enough to explore some of the Texas wine country this past Friday. We just picked up Pedernales Cellars and will be representing their new Stonewall line.

Right around the corner from Johnson City and just west of Fredericksburg, lies the little town of Stonewall, Texas. Although it doesn’t hold much within its bounds, Pedernales Cellars furnishes the small town. The winery describes itself as “distinctly hill country.” Making the drive out there, I’d say so.

Throughout the beautiful hills, one will find this 15-year family-run business that prides itself on skillfully working with the Texas soil and climate to provide exceptional wines. Even the tasting room presents pictures of many family members doing various things on the vineyard, such as picking grapes.

This three-generation family has recently branched off from their normal brand and created the Stonewall line, which Yum Runnerz represents.

This line includes a Viognier, which has a clean and crisp taste with notes of floral and a taste of citrus and tropical fruit also. This wine is great paired with warm goat cheese with roasted garlic and herbs.

The Stonewall Merlot is a soft, but opulent red wine with ripe blackberry, plum and vanilla flavors. The demand for this Merlot has been strong and the winery is working to meet this influx.

The Stonewall Muscat is also available as a perfect dessert wine with notes of passion fruit, grapefruit, and a light perfume. Couple this Muscat with a hazelnut crème brulee for a strong ending to any meal.

The company is also arranging to release a Tempranillo with the Stonewall line. This Spanish red wine will carry the tastes of cherries and coffee with a rich mineral finish.

Overall, if you’re looking for a Texas wine with affordable prices to add to your store, restaurant, or even your life, Yum Runnerz will connect you with this truly unique line.

For more information, contact Yum Runnerz at foodiemccoy@gmail.com or go to our Web site at www.yumrunnerz.com.

Acadian Family Farms' Produce

This past weekend at the Barton Creek Farmer’s Market, I visited Acadian Family Farms, whom Yum Runnerz has been representing throughout the summer and into the fall and that most of you already know because you’ve purchased produce from them.

Acadian Farms is located in Lavaca County and run by a family dedicated to growing the most flavorful and beautiful vegetables. With over 20 years in growing experience, Acadian Farms grows great vegetables and is growing in popularity also.

I used the plenty of vegetables that I received from Acadian to create many different meals for the weekend. I first created a basic marinara sauce using Acadian purple basil, stewed whole tomatoes, garlic, onion, and red wine. I used this marinara to make eggplant lasagna, with eggplant from Acadian of course. The next dish consisted of eggplant topped with the marinara and goat cheese (from Blue Heron Farms), and baked in cast iron. I served it with cibatta bread and it literally melted in my mouth. The baked eggplant tasted terrific with the added sweetness from the purple basil and creaminess from the goat cheese.

I also prepared a cantaloupe, red onion, and walnut salad using Acadian arugula with raspberry vinaigrette. This sweet and spicy dish was a perfect end-of-summer salad to eat on the patio in the beautiful weather.

I made a white bean hummus with Acadian eggplant. The dish had the texture of a hummus and a nice blend of flavors of roasted red pepper, roasted eggplant, the white bean, and paprika.

I grilled Louisiana shallots and ate them with a steak. The shallots had a perfect light onion flavor, but grilling them made them crisp to where I even wanted to eat the stocks because they were so good!

I used Acadian turnip greens and turnips to cook with white truffle mustard (from Spicewood Food Co.) Turnips already have a distinct flavor, but adding the mustard pulled all the flavors together for a fantastic side to grilled lobster tails.

As you can see, my husband and I ate well this weekend. Tonight I’ll be serving the eggplant lasagna paired with a Caesar salad using Acadian’s red leaf lettuce. Yummm.

For more information on Yum Runnerz or Acadian Family Farms, contact me at foodiemccoy@gmail.com or visit my Web site at http://www.yumrunnerz.com/.

Local Spread

Yesterday, I cruised on over to a town hall meeting at East Side Show Room, where Representative Eddie Rodriguez so graciously was there to listen. Many small farmers joined and spoke of their troubles with government policy and the population’s resistance to the local movement.

It was an eye-opening experience to witness some of the best farmers in Texas, which provide the healthiest food out there, encountering misfortune and inconvenience from all sides.

This brings me to two points: the Food Inc. Revolution and my own mission as a local food broker.

Food Inc. has exposed the inhumane conditions of factory farms, the environmental impact of transporting our food, and the horrors of the food we eat. The movie has shed light onto the importance of supporting your local community by purchasing local food. It gave a voice to those sickened by food-borne illnesses and, most importantly, the movie offers ways to change the system and Americans’ eating habits.

This brings me to my own mission here in Austin. I’m so thankful to live in a city which can be considered the “hub” for supporting local and organic food. This is why my foodie tendencies brought me to become a local food broker and create Yum Runnerz. I want to help artisans creating the healthiest food in the world with tender love and care to establish themselves and sell their food. I want to spread the gospel of the local movement to all willing ears through education and awareness.

I also want to help consumers understand that season changes will alter menu offerings and that paying a higher premium for local food is important not only for your body, but for your environmental surroundings. This does not mean that the food should be so expensive that the lower-income population is alienated and driven to buy fast food. It means that if supply and demand increase, the price should naturally fall and allow local food to become more accessible to those willing to buy it. Most of all, I want to spread my passion for healthy food.

Within the next couple of weeks, I will buy a few hens and attempt to create a garden and a compost pile for my backyard. This is my simple step toward change. What’s yours?

For more information about Yum Runnerz visit www.yumrunnerz.com or email me at foodiemccoy@gmail.com.

Knock Knock- It's Fall's Fresh Produce

Eating local is beneficial for many reasons: it is fresher and healthier, it allows us to support our local economy, it keeps us in touch with the seasons, etc. Most importantly, local food just plain tastes better! To eat a fruit or vegetable that has been picked at the height of its ripeness for fantastic flavoring and then delivered to you is a much different experience than buying produce that is weeks old in a grocery store.

This week, as the farmers are gearing up for Fall, Yum Runnerz has local produce available from Fredericksburg and Lavaca County.We have Louisiana shallots ready for order. For those of you who don’t like onions, this is milder and perfect for adding flavor to a bland meal.

If you are looking to spice up your dishes, we have orange and yellow banana peppers, as well as Serrano, jalapeno and bell peppers.

Zucchini, yellow squash, and large pickling cucumbers are also ready for purchasing literally from the farm to your table! All you fancy foodies will loooove the squash blossoms we have. They are perfect for decorating any meal by stuffing the blossom and frying it.

Last night, I used the fresh yellow squash and zucchini, pictured, to make a delicious soup. As the weather is transitioning into Fall, the colors and taste made it a perfect seasonal dinner dish.

For more information on buying local products, contact Dana McCoy at foodiemccoy@gmail.com.