Mom's Salsa

We visit our parents as often as we can.  It works out well that they only live about 45 minutes apart in the Texas Hill Country.  We typically stay with my parents and my in-laws drive over for wonderful Southern meals and time together.  My husband jokes with my mom that she runs a pretty good B&B and gives her a hard time when the meals aren't to her "full potential".  We truly enjoy time at their ranch and our girls are in heaven running in and out of the house at their will, playing on the tree swing, riding the four wheeler, cooking with their MeeMaw and checking on the cows with their PawPaw.  One of our very favorite things that my mom makes is probably one of the simplest things, and she always has it on hand when we come to visit.  It's her homemade salsa and it's my very favorite salsa of all time.  In Texas, a state that was once ruled by Spain and then Mexico, there is a lot of Spanish and Mexican influence in our foods.  Salsa is a staple on our tables like ketchup.  And, my favorite way to eat it is on scrambled eggs.

Mom's Salsa

1 can of Rotel with Lime and Cilantro

1 large can of chopped tomatoes

1 med. Sweet onion cut in big chunks

½ bunch of cilantro

2 tsp. Of sugar

1 tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of pepper

Juice of 1 large or 2 small limes (or lemons)

1 tsp. of chili powder

1 tsp. of cumin

1 large jalapeno, seeded

6 small baby carrots

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse till the consistency you like for salsa.  

Best if made the day before!!!

Southwestern Cobb Salad

At our house growing up, nothing went to waste.  Left-overs were always saved and sometimes turned into something new the next night.  This helped the grocery bill go farther and still allowed my mom to feed us nutritional, satisfying meals.  I work to continue this effort to show my girls how to be frugal, to stretch a dollar, and to still feed a family, as they will most likely need to do the same one day.  It's important to my husband and I to feed our girls as much organic produce as possible and because of the added cost to do that, we have to be creative with using organic fruits and vegetables that are in season.  The latest creation was from some left over roasted corn.  (See the Roasted Corn recipe on a previous post by searching at the left.)  My husband loved it and we ate it, along with some left over ham, on top of southwestern cobb salads.

Southwestern Cobb Salad:
1 bunch of romaine hearts chopped
2 boiled eggs
1 cup chopped ham
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese (You can substitue any reduced fat shredded cheese.)
4 slices of turkey bacon, fried crisp
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1 cup hot skillet corn
Split the ingredients between two large salad bowls and top with dressing of your choice!  In Texas, that means Ranch dressing. 

**Try 1 cup Ranch dressing mixed with 3/4 cup salsa.  It makes a great dressing for taco salads.**

Skillet Corn:
Heat skillet to high and put in 1 tbsp of Olive Oil with 1 tbsp. butter or margarine.  I like to cook with Smart Balance spread.

Put a few tablespoons of chopped onion into the skillet and let them cook for about two minutes.  I keep some in the freezer to add into dishes like this that only need a little bit of onion.

Add 1 cup of roasted corn, taken off the cob, and season as it cooks with 1/2 to 1 tbsp. cumin, depending on your taste, 1 tsp. of garlic salt, and a little black pepper.

Add 2 tbsp. of your favorite salsa to the skillet and stir until the corn is heated through.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Easter at Tres Palomas Ranch

Seems like the cattle at my parents' ranch always needs attention during holidays...or maybe my mom and dad are just taking advantage of us being there to help.  This year, we're spending Easter working cows and enjoying time together.  We had our Easter dinner as a late lunch.  The menu was baked ham, potato salad, and baked beans.  I know that doesn't sound like too fancy of a holiday dinner, but these are things that can be made ahead of time, or put in the oven and left alone, while ranch chores get taken care of and Easter eggs get hunted.  The potato salad is a new recipe and is so good that I could eat the dressing with a spoon.  I'm not sure how much will actually get onto the potatoes.  Mom found the recipe at HEB in the Cooking Connection and we modified it a little. 


Lemon Dill Yogurt Potato Salad:
1/2 jar Roberts Reserve Lemon Dill Caper Dip
6 Med. golden potatoes
6 oz. Plain Greek Yogurt (original recipe calls for 12 oz.  We thought that was too much.)
2 Tblsp. Agave Sweetner (original recipe calls for 3-5 Tblsp.  Again, thought that was too much.)
3 stalks of celery chopped
1/2 bunch green onions chopped
We added four strips of bacon cooked crisp and crumbled.

In a large pot, boil the potatoes until a fork easily enters in 1/2 in.  We peeled and cut ours before we boiled them.  Drain and cool the potatoes and set aside.  In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients and place in fridge.  Lightly toss the potatoes and the dressing.  You can serve it warm or chilled.  We liked it better warm.

calves waiting for their turn

BLT

Dinner tonight is something that I love to cook on school nights - BLTs.  They're great because I almost always have the ingredients on hand.  Paired with my homemade guacamole, it's a quick and easy meal for a weeknight. 

For BLTs -
Toast slices of whole wheat bread and spread them with mayo.
Pile on lettuce, tomatoes, and a couple of slices of crisp cooked bacon.
You can add all sorts of things to this basic sandwich - I put a thin slice of Swiss on them tonight.

For Guacamole -
Mash a large avocado into a bowl w/ juice of one lime, tablespoon of your favorite salsa, and a teaspoon each of garlic powder, cumin, and dried minced onion.  Add in a few dashes of salt.

**Our favorite dipper into guacamole is thick sliced radishes.  We first had it on a trip to San Diego and it's almost better than chips!

Redfish

The Grill Master

Redfish on the Half Shell

Dinner tonight:

Redfish on the Half Shell

Fresh Green Beans

Roasted Corn

Shiner Bock Ruby Redbird Beer

My husband is an outdoorsman so we eat plenty of game and fish at our house, as I did growing up.  My mom is the queen of using what my dad brings home from hunting and fishing trips.  While I attempt to come close to what she can do with game, I'm far from her level. 

Tonight we're having redfish that my husband caught while on a fishing trip in Louisiana.  Green beans were always a staple at my MiMi's house growing up.  I would go with her to the farmer's market (or as she called it "the fruit stand") to get fresh produce and green beans were always on the list.  Roasted corn is one of my favorites and when it comes in season I can't wait to get some on the grill.  And the beer tonight is awesome.  It's a summer brew from the Shiner Brewery in Shiner, TX.  It's ginger and grapefuit, and is so summery with a lime.

Recipes:

Redfish on the Half Shell:
Fillet the redfish so that it still has the scales on one side.
Pat fillets dry and score them in three to four places.  Place fish on foil brushed with olive oil scale side down.
Pour 1/4 cup Worchestershire over fillets.
In a small bowl mix 1 tsp. Tony's, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder. (cut back on the Tony's for kids)
Season fillets with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Put seasoning mix from bowl over fish.
Melt 1/2 stick butter and add 1 chopped green onion, 1 tsp. chopped thyme, 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, and 2 chopped garlic cloves to butter.  Pour butter mixture over fish.  Put thinly sliced lemons and sweet onion over fish.
Transfer fish, leaving it on the foil, to preheated low to medium hot grill.
Grill it for 20-25 minutes and don't flip it.  Grill until fish is white and flakes easily.

Green Beans:
Pull ends off 1 lb. green beans and break the long ones in half (this is a great job for kids).
Cover the green beans in a large pot with water and add at least 8 oz. chicken stock.
Put in two to three pieces of bacon - I like thick cut.
Add plenty of salt, garlic powder, dried minced onions.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.
I cooked mine today for about 5 hours.  That may seem like a long time, but I like them nice and soft and absorbed with the flavors from the seasonings and bacon.  I don't like crispy green beans.

Roasted Corn:
Pull outer husks off of corn, leaving bright green husks that are close to corn intact. 
Pull down inner husks without tearing them all the way off and remove silk from inside husk.
Put remaining husks back over corn and soak corn in water for about 10 minutes.
Grill, husks on, for 20-25 minutes on medium hot grill.
When you pull corn off, pull husks off and brush corn with butter and sprinkle with salt.

Great tool tip - Pampered Chef makes a corn remover that makes it a breeze to remove corn from the husk.

Welcome to Dinner in Texas!

Welcome to my new blog all about feeding my family and continuing the traditions of Southern cooking and eating.  Between my husband and I, we have lived in 8 different Texas towns from the Gulf Coast to the Hill Country to West Texas, and all of those places have influenced what we feed our family for dinner each night.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are nights that I just don't have it in me to cook dinner after a long day at work.  But, when I do cook for my family, I love it, they love it, and we come together to enjoy what a Southern dinner is all about - time together.  So stay tuned for recipes, reviews, and all that my family has to offer at Dinner in Texas.