Friday, May 1, 2015

Buttermilk Cafe of New Braunfels


Shrimp for breakfast?  Yes, at the Buttermilk Cafe, shrimp is on the breakfast menu!  This New Braunfels cafe is a great place for gourmet breakfasts ... and lunches.  Expect a crowd on weekends.  For a menu and more information go to http://www.thebuttermilkcafe.com.



Buttermilk Cafe is located in New Braunfels on Commons just outside of North Loop 337.  Just take the 189 exit off of I-35 to the loop.  Drive west until you get to the second stop light -- Commons.  Turn north on Commons and look for the Buttermilk Cafe on your right.  If you are coming from TX46 from the west, just turn north on Loop 337 and follow it around until you cross the Guadalupe River.  Commons will be the first light after you exit the bridge.


Design your own Omelet:

You can design your own omelet at the Buttermilk Cafe.  Two ingredients are given.  Any extra cost 99 cents each, and you have to have at least three for an omelet.


To the left is a spinach, cheese, and mushroom omelet.  This plate came with grits and wheat toast.

Below is a bacon, onion, bell pepper, and tomato omelet.  This plate came with home fries and wheat toast.




Costal Shrimp (Tail-On Shrimp in a Creole Sauce):


This is a slow eating breakfast.  Just savor each bite.  I'm from New Orleans, and there are chefs there  who would like to be able to make a Creole sauce this good.  And it is gooood!

FYI, a Creole sauce consists of onions, garlic, bell pepper, and celery stewed into tomatoes.  Two key ingredients in the mixture are thyme and a bay leaf.  I could follow a recipe and still not get it as good as they do it at Buttermilk.


Disolved in the bottom of this Creole dish is a jalapeno grits cake.  I ordered one of these cakes separate from the Creole dish, and it was great.  The cake should have its own place on the menu as a side.


Eggs Strata:


Don't know why this is called a strata, but the food is great,  Eggs, bacon, cheese, onions oven cooked together in this dough.  I went online and found that most recipes use pre-baked bread in the dish.  One recipe used ciabatta which sounded good to me.


Shirred Eggs:  


Shirred for common folks like myself means baked in a flat bottom dish.  So be careful, the dish is HOT.  The eggs are whipped in with milk or cream and then baked.  The bacon, onion, tomato, and cheese garnish are added after and returned to the oven until the cheese is melted.  Here, they ask you how you want your eggs and were able to get the yolk somewhat runny.  How, I don't know.  My guess is that they removed the yolks and beat the milk in with the egg white.  Then folded in the yolks after.  If I make it, I'll beat the eggs, yolk and all, into the cream.  



Grits-n-Bacon:


Thick, crisp bacon goes well with a bowl of grits.  This is a great belly warmer for a cold day.  And no, it doesn't taste like sand.  Cooked right as above, grits can be quite creamy.



Waffle:


Crisp and perfectly cooked, this waffle goes great with their thick link sausage.  I always add butter and syrup to my waffle.



Coffee & Cream:


Great dark coffee with a flavor.  I could drink this stuff all day.  And no little creamer bucket to struggle with.



Fruit Cup


I don't usually show fresh fruit in my blog, but the fruit at the Buttermilk cafe looks and tastes great.



Cafe Breakfast with Breakfast Gravy:



This is their three-egg plate.  It comes with a choice of bread, side dish, and meat.  Here I chose eggs over easy, home fries, bacon, biscuits and gravy.  Extra pepper in gravy was my doing.  Look at that apple-wood smoked bacon!