Dallas Style Brisket Tacos

I was first introduced to brisket tacos when I moved to Dallas. They are so good and it turns out pretty simple to recreate at home. I used the Homesick Texan's recipe along with homemade black bean dip and salsa for Mike and I this week. Serve in corn tortillas with onions, poblanos, monterrey jack and a little of the pan juice.




One 3 lb brisket has a lot of meat so I froze some of the meat with extra broth for a rainy day when we're scrambling for something to eat.

Raspberry Champagne Popsicles

I've been saving, printing, and pinning several popsicle recipes over the past few weeks. I was really drawn to a blackberry prosecco one. I decided to improvise because I already had mini champagne bottles in the fridge and raspberries were half the price of blackberries last week.

Here's what they look like... cute, yes. Taste good, no.





Total bummer. Stayed tuned for popsicles round two.

Meatball Subs & Italian Fries

During the week, I made a mini-meatball lasagna for a friend and while I had all the ingredients on hand, I made an extra platter of meatballs for Mike and I. Having the already prepared meatballs made it easy to whip up meatball subs and Italian fries for lunch on Saturday.

I used my basic turkey meatball recipe and added frozen chopped spinach to the mixture before baking. Then its all simple... french bread + marinara sauce + meatballs + mozzarella.

For the "Italian" fries... bake your favorite frozen fries. After they are fully cooked, and still hot, toss with salt, pepper, fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, minced garlic and finely grated parmesan.

Here's what you'll get:

3-Ingredient Fettucine Alfredo

I have been traveling and in need of some serious comfort food. I saw this recipe on pinterest (obsessssssed I tell you) and put it on a list of things to make ASAP.

Super simple. Rich. Perfection. Just what I needed. (Mike loved it too)

Make it. Soon... then go for a walk. Your stomach will thank you. Your thighs won't.

Meat Loaf for Mike

I'm not super into trinkets or t-shirts when traveling. I've always taken lots of photos and that was more of the "keepsake." Recently, Mike and I have started purchasing a cookbook that reminds us of where we traveled to. Our first book is from our San Fran trip. I picked up Tyler Florence Family Meal. I've always watched Tyler on the Food Network and been a fan. This book is something I was drawn to not only because of its Northern California focus but because of what it is all about, family meals. The book has good stories, lots of pictures and a nice variety of recipes.

First up, the glazed turkey meat loaf. Mike will always choose ground beef over ground turkey but in an effort to lighten up the meal, I went with a ground turkey recipe. I'm sure the layer of bacon on top of the meat loaf cancels out the "lighter" idea I was hoping for but, what can I say, the hubs likes meals that involve bacon. Since I'm gone a few days a week, I made this before I left and packaged it with mashed potatoes so he can work on the honey-do list I left :)

Asian Grilling + a New Veggie

Mike and I love Asian flavors and this Korean-style marinated steak is delish! We served it with rice with soy and bok choy instead of tortillas.

For the bok choy (new veggie for me!), we cut it into large pieces and tossed it with olive oil, chili flakes and salt. We tossed it in a vegetable grilling bowl on the grill about 3 minutes before the steak was done. No real recipe but it turned out pretty tasty and went well with the steak and rice. (As an added bonus, bok choy is in season right now.)

(Pardon the sub-par blackberry photo!)

Grillin' Sliders

I love sliders! I know, no surprise since I'm partial to small food, but these are fun to make plus you get the opportunity to try lots of flavors instead of one type when its a full size burger.

We grilled 4 types of sliders this weekend for some friends and I think it was a hit! The sliders included beef with tex-joy seasoning, southwestern turkey, pork/chorizo (adapted from here) and buffalo/blue cheese. We also had lots of toppings including cheddar and pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole with bacon, bacon, onions sauteed in bacon fat and others. (See a trend there?)



Other slider recipes:

chili bowl burger sliders (I'm still on the fence about the shaping of meat into a bowl form but I like the idea of chili-like spices in the meat itself)
meatball sliders
lamb sliders (on potato rounds instead of buns)
white castle style sliders
turkey sliders with feta and sun-dried tomatoes

Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate and Sea Salt

I made these crisp salted white chocolate oatmeal cookies (from Smitten Kitchen) over the weekend. Maria brought me some large flake sea salt and this was the perfect recipe to use it on.

The cookies aren't your typical oatmeal cookies. They come out of the oven much thinner and crisper than other recipes. I thought the first batch was too thin (a lot like lace cookies) so I added a bit more flour and the remaining batches came out a little more my taste. The salt flakes on top really change the taste of the cookies!

June

a few summer recipies:

strawberry margarita popsicles

berrylicious margarita
white chocolate strawberry chunk ice cream

brooklyn's cheesiest dog

korean style marinated skirt steak
grilled arepas with queso blanco

hoping to spend this summer perfecting summer desserts, grilling with the hubs, taking weekend trips and enjoying the long, sunny days.