How about some serious potluck inspiration?
The Round Top restaurant scene is small, but mighty. RoundTop.com went to some local restaurant favorites to see what their most popular dishes are and convince them to share the recipes.
You can use these Round Top recipes to plan an end-of-summer potluck. Or better yet, blaze a trail to the Texas countryside to savor some of the community’s best loved dishes prepared by the experts themselves.
Royers is always cranking out reimagined classic American favorites and this entree is one of the renowned cafe’s new specials. Husband and wife team J.B. and Jamie Royer suggest using any next-day leftovers to create a meaty grilled cheese sandwich.
If you’re looking for more Royers potluck inspiration, the couple spill the sweet tea (so to speak) in their recently released cookbook Cooking with JB and Jamie. Stop by the cafe to pick up a signed copy and stay tuned to Royers’ Facebook page for the weekly specials.
Prep Time: 30 min
Cooking time: 3 hours
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
8 bone-in beef short ribs
1/2 cup Royers grilling seasoning (equal parts garlic powder, coarse pepper and lemon pepper)
8 slices bacon
2 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1 carrot sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
Instructions: In a bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper and Tony Chachere’s seasoning to make a seasoned flour mixture. Coat the short ribs with Royers grilling seasoning and then roll in flour mixture. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet to reserve the rendered fat.
Remove bacon and set aside. Sear each side of the short ribs in rendered bacon fat and set aside. Add red wine to deglaze and then add beef broth, onions, mushrooms, carrots, garlic and rosemary. Cook for three to five minutes. Add the beef ribs back to the Dutch oven or skillet. Bake at 350 degrees for two-and-a-half to three hours or until meat is falling off the bone. Serve on top of your favorite mashed potatoes.
Tourists and locals alike depend on the Round Top Mercantile for everything from lumber and light bulbs to boxed cereal and fresh produce, but the thing this general store is most famous for is its made-to-order deli sandwiches. Make your way to the back counter at The Merc and order the No. 6 on the menu, otherwise known as the Reuben panini. Pick one up to go, or follow this recipe to enjoy at home.
Ingredients:
2 slices rye bread
Thousand Island dressing
Two slices Boar’s Head Swiss cheese
Three slices Boar’s Head corned beef
Two spoonfuls of Hengstenberg Sauerkraut
Instructions: Add a swirl of Thousand Island dressing to each slice of bread. Then place one slice of Swiss cheese on each side. Add the corned beef atop the cheese, dividing it evenly between both sides. Lastly, pile on two spoonfuls of sauerkraut. Close the sandwich and place on a panini press set to 380 degrees for three minutes and serve.
Nestled in the heart of Round Top at Henkel Square, The Little Cheese Shop In Round Top offers a everything one might need to create a charcuterie board that dreams are made of including a sophisticated assortment of unique cheeses, meats, spreads, salads, handheld bites, sweets and more. These mini-kabobs are the perfect simple summertime starter or side dish. Light and refreshing, but equally savory and filling.
Prep time: 15 mins
Yield: 12 kabobs
Ingredients:
12 small fresh strawberries, hulled
12 fresh basil leaves
3 ounce brie cheese cut into 12 small pieces, about 1/2-by-1-inch. (Recommended brands: Mt Tam by Cowgirl Creamery, Green Hill by Sweet Grass Dairy or Doublin’ Down by Armagh Creamery)
2 tsp balsamic glaze (Recommended: Giuseppe Giusti brand in plain or with fig)
Instructions: Thread a strawberry, basil leaf and piece of cheese onto each of 12 toothpicks. Drizzle with balsamic glaze just before serving.
If you’ve been lucky enough to snag a table at Prost in Round Top when the Country Sunshine food truck pops up, you know the power of a CS Burger, but this little gem of a food truck is much more than just a burger kitchen. Brisket queso, aguachile, fancy deviled eggs, gourmet pizzas, unique salads and inventive brunch dishes like the bananas foster donut have been delighting guests at the Brenham Country Sunshine location all summer.
Keep tabs on the location of the Country Sunshine truck and place orders ahead on its website. They will be popping up at Prost September 29 – October 1 and October 13 – 29 for the fall antiques show. If you can’t catch the truck, you can try and replicate their spicy-sweet sticky rib dish with this recipe.
Yield: 4 servings as an entree or 8 as an appetizer
Ingredients For Five Spice Sugar Rub:
4 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
8 star anise
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp ground Chinese cinnamon
2 tbsp fennel seeds
1/2 cup brown sugar
Ingredients for the ribs and sticky sauce:
2 racks baby back ribs
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup hoisin
2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoons sesame oil
8 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
Ingredients For Garnish:
1/2 cup finely chopped chives or scallions
2 tbsp togarashi spice blend
Instructions for five spice rub: Toast peppercorns, star anise and fennel seeds in a dry pan for two to three minutes or until very toasty and fragrant. Combine with other spices and grind in a spice blender, or pound in mortar and pestle until combined.
Instructions for ribs and sauce: Take the two racks of baby back ribs and use a towel to remove the membrane on the back of the ribs. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place ribs on a sheet tray or roasting pan, rub the spice mix all over, then cover with foil and bake for about two-and-a-half hours, or until the meat is fork tender. Cool in the fridge overnight or for at least two hours.
While ribs are cooking, combine the sauce mixture and cook until warm. There is no need to reduce. Cool the sauce and let sit overnight or at least for two hours.
Cut ribs into individual pieces. Cook over high heat to achieve nice color and char. Coat the ribs with the sauce mixture and return to the grill on medium heat to cook through. Once all the ribs are nicely charred and sauced, garnish with scallions and a togarashi spice blend.
Lollitop Sweet Shop is Round Top’s go-to for to-go sweets. In addition to every classic packaged and bulk candy one can imagine, the Michie family also offers classic breakfast tacos and pastries, often using seasonal, local ingredients for their freshly baked treats. Savor the final flavors of summer with this easy rustic galette recipe from Lollitop co-owner Paul Michie’s baker extraordinare mom, Sherry Michie (aka Gran) who writes the food blog Rosemary And The Goat.
Ingredients for crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
12 tbsp cold butter cut in ¾-inch chunks
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
7 tbsp ice water
Ingredients for filling:
1 carton blackberries
1 carton raspberries
4 nectarines and peaches combination
2 – 4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup cherry or other jam of choice
Ingredients for egg wash:
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water
sugar for dusting crust
Method:
To make the crust, add the flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times. Add in 1 tsp vanilla and the chunks of butter one at a time while pulsing. Pulse until you have small pea size pieces. Start adding the 7 tbsp of water as you pulse. When the dough starts to come together, remove the dough and turn out onto pastry cloth or cutting board and form into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Flour your board or cloth and rolling pin sparingly. Roll the dough out into a 14-inch circle. Move the dough circle onto a large cookie sheet. It can overlap the edges of the cookie sheet a little because you will be folding the dough up over the fruit. Peel, pit and slice the peaches and nectarines. Put the peaches, nectarines, blackberries, and raspberries in a bowl and toss with the sugar and flour until coated. Spread jam starting at the center of the dough, leaving about one to one-and-a-half inches uncoated around the outside edges. Arrange your fruit on top of the jam, staying within the same edge allowance. Now fold the edges of the dough over the fruit, pleating when necessary, all the way around the tart. Beat the egg with the water. Brush this mixture on top of the folded edge of the dough and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes or until nicely browned.
Are your mouths watering just reading about these great recipes? For more tasty inspiration, check out the Round Top Guide to discover more area restaurants worth putting on your must-visit list. Most of these restaurants are open year-round Thursdays through Sundays.