Hill Country Pierogi, a trailer near and dear to us all, just celebrated it’s half year-versary.  That’s right, they’ve been spreading pierogi love to Austin’s locals and visitors for six months!  To celebrate they broke out the booze, pulled off a guest appearance by Coolhaus, and threw a delicious party for all to enjoy.

Our night started with a quick stop at East Side King at Shangri-La for some free eats.  They were trying out some potential new menu items and needed guinea pigs — who were we to deny them?  We grabbed a seat and shortly after had two pork belly tacos.  Let’s just say they should put these tacos on the menu ASAP.

With a quick appetizer in our bellies, it was time for the main event!  We walked up to the bustling trailer lot to see Hill Country Pierogi and Coolhaus serving up their regular menus plus some extra special specials.  Maker’s Mark (yes, like the bourbon) partnered with both trucks for some original recipes!  On top of trying some new eats, we were handed free Maker’s on the rocks to hold us over.  Win.

The pierogi special was the Maker’s Mark Pulled Pork Pierogi.  Smoked Pulled Pork is smothered in a rich blend of Maker’s Mark bourbon, dark stout and a top secret mix of herbs and spices.  It’s supposed to be served with a bourbon brown sugar sour cream, but ours was sadly left behind.  It was hardly missed, however, since the filling was so smoky, sweet, and savory.  The five half-moons had so much flavor that it was hard to slow down the fork-mouth-swallow food-delivery logistics that would make UPS jealous.  I wish these could remain on the menu, but alas, I believe they will only stick around as long as Maker’s Mark provides the secret ingredient.  Go try some while supplies last!

To go with the pierogi we also got a Spanish Chorizo sandwich with –ready?– a full link of grilled Aurelia’s Spanish Chorizo with sherry brown sugar glaze, roasted garlic raspberry vinegar mustard, shredded carrots, red cabbage and mango pepper sauce on a grilled sweet Hawaiian roll.  And it all works together!  The chorizo, made locally, has just the right amount of heat, which gets balanced by the sweet glaze and bun.  The veggies added a great crunchiness.

The only way to finish off that meal was with a custom ice cream sandwich!  Coolhaus was slinging a special Maker’s Mark Manhattan ice cream.  We had a taste and thought it was good, but we weren’t sold.  Caitlin, the fantastic sammie-slinger insdie the diminutive truck let us taste just about every ice cream.  We finally chose the Sea Salt Caramel ice cream on a Coconut Almond cookie.  Let me just say, with only a tiny shadow of doubt, that this was the best ice cream sandwich I’ve ever had, from Coolhaus or otherwise.  The combination lit up my tastebuds and reminded me of a Girl Scout Samoa cookie.  It was chewy and coconutty and salty and sweet and … I’ll stop there.  Phenomenal.  I regret that I have no pictures of my own of the masterpiece, but I found a decent representation.

Celebrity Reenactment

Congratulations to Hill Country Pierogi on 6 months of serving great food in Austin!  I’m not alone when I say I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for the next 6 months.