Smoked Salt & Pepper

I made it back to my first Austin Food Blogger Alliance Happy Hour since having John and it was at Tyson's Tacos! One of my favs and I was able to make it because it's just down the street from work and home.  It was such a wonderful experience I thought I'd blog about it, even though I'm mostly just a recipe blogger. Tyson himself hung out with us and told us his story and the story of Tyson's Tacos.  Tyson and his family had run a restaurant in Mexico, but left when Mexico city was starting to get a little too dangerous.  He opened Tyson's which was a bit of a strange idea coming from Mexico as tacos aren't a restaurant food in Mexico, it's more of a drunken late night street food indulgence.  Another cool thing about Tyson's Tacos is that the menu is customer-driven.  Taco combinations are made after customers who are able to rack up enough of the reward points.  And he won't say no to a weird taco combination, even if he would never have th...

I remember a time period when I was younger, maybe about 10 years old, when my mom would bring this flan (or as she called it by it's fancy French name, creme caramel ) to every family or friend gathering. It was tasty and looked pretty. Maybe it was a thing to do in the 90's, because my husband said his mom also went through a similar flan phase. Well, here is my mom's recipe. I made it for the first time yesterday when we had a few friends over and I had to get creative with things husband-who-just-had-wisdom-tooth-removed and guests could eat. Though it is a very simple and easy recipe, I was pretty nervous the entire time I made it. Worrying about the caramel sticking to the pan or the flan breaking while I flipped it. Came out great, though!  Like my mom says, it's a simple and easy recipe. Mom's Flan aka Creme Caramel Ingredients: 2 c. sugar, divided 6 eggs 6 egg yolks 5 c. whole milk 1 tsp. orange liquor  1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sl...

I learned about this dish from one of my veterinary school friends, Christina.  She brought it as lunch one day and all the rest on the rotation smelled how amazing it smelled and had to know what it was.  Sausage and plantains!  It is a very popular Central American or Caribbean dish.  I even had the girl checking me out at the grocery store tell me her grandma makes the same thing when she saw I was buying plantains.  It certainly a super easy weeknight meal, as it takes about 10 miinutes and involves two ingredients. If you use yellow plantains, they will taste more like potatoes when cooked.  The more ripe the plantains, the more sweet they will be. Sausage and Plantains Serves 2 Ingredients 3 plantains, sliced at a bias 3-4 links of sausage, any variety of choice, sliced at a bias 1 tbs. coconut oil Directions Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat Add sausage and cook for about 5 minutes. Add in plantains and co...

You cannot be a proper Tex-Mex lover without eating at least 1 quart of queso per year.  I'm pretty sure I started the year off in the right direction by making this copy-cat Kerbey Queso for NYE.   Kerbey Lane Queso is my favorite in Austin.  So creamy, so cheesy, and so good.  White queso with pico and a scoop of guacemole in it that you kind-of have to dig around in, which makes it soooo good.  Have I said how good it is? That being said, I've tried so many queso recipes.  I've made beschemels, I've used expensive, good cheeses.  No queso seems to hold that creamy consistency very well.  So when one of my friends, Rachel, was back home in Austin from her now home-town in Seattle she asked one of the servers what's in it.  She just had to know.  The server leaned in close to her and whispered, "it's white processed cheese."  OMG, my mind was blown.  No wonder it's so flippin' good.  I think the HEB brand white queso is...

What kind of cheese doesn't belong to you? Nacho cheese!  Heehee, I love really bad jokes.   Nachos, synonymous with football games and fairs, these guys have gotten a bad rap.  Those stale tortilla chips and processed cheese toppings from the concession stands are kinda gross.  But homemade nachos are delicious!  Nachos for dinner are one of Reids favorite dinners.  There are a few variations I've made, but the following is a more classic one.  Homemade nachos are also wayyyyy healthier than processed-cheese-squirted-out-of-a-squirt-bottle-nachos.  I also use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream which also cuts back on the calories a lot.  I also like to add a little taco seasoning to the Greek yogurt to add some additional flavor.  I got the taco seasoning substitute recipe from AllRecipes .  This is a really quick and easy weeknight meal, and I'm sure it would be a hit with kids (because my husband is basically I giant kid ;) )...

I've had this recipe in my arsenal since my sister and I lived together some 5 years ago.  Those were really awesome days and we cooked together all the time.  I've been making this recipe since 5 years ago.  The one hang up is finding good tomatillos.  Sometimes the tomatillos at HEB are a little sad looking, so I try to make this recipe when they look decent.  This recipe come from food network http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chipotle-shrimp-taco-with-avocado-salsa-verde-recipe/index.html  Sorry the pics are so blurry! That's what I get for always taking photos on my camera phone at night. I need to invest in a better camera, it's just camera phones make uploading pics so easy! The avocado salsa makes tooooons, so I sometimes reduce the recipe for half or buy some tortilla chips to finish off the rest.  Also, the salsa gets pretty watery in the food processor, so try not to pulse too much.  I have also pan fried the shr...

Ok, I've been really slacking on my posts lately, so I'm about to unload so many. Hope you're prepared. I found the inspirations for this recipe on Pinterest at  http://cookingbride.com/main-courses/tequila-lime-skirt-steak/ .  I googled Tequila Lime Steak and also found a Food Network recipe here:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/grilled-tequila-garlic-lime-flank-steak-recipe/index.html  and kind of took from either one what I liked.  The result was a really delicious, flavorful, tender steak that both I and Reid really liked.  It was very easy to put together.  Plus, it uses skirt steak, which is super cheap! I served it with some roasted corn on the cob and potato salad I had made earlier in the week. Tequila Lime Steak Ingredients: 1&1/2 lbs. skirt steak 2 minced garlic cloves 1/4 cup tequilla 1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce 1/2 c. squeezed lime juice (2-3 limes) 1 tbs. soy sauce 1 tbs. brown sugar 1 pepper (Guy Fieri's rec...