Father's Day BBQ

My husband loves me.  I know he does.  But he has come to be a true Texan since his move here as a kid and he may love traditional smoked BBQ just as much as he loves me.  He loves so many things about it.  The methods, the tricks of the trade, the secrets, and the historical aspects of BBQ, especially Texas BBQ, all draw his attention.  So, in honor of Father's Day, he smoked himself (and us I guess) a brisket.  To Peter, a BBQ addict, that means a large untrimmed piece of meat that looks like something off of The Flintstones and will feed us for a week.  Granted, we did have company over for this meal, but we will be eating brisket for the next few days Forrest Gump style....brisket sandwiches, brisket tacos, brisket baked potatoes...you get the idea.  He keeps his rub and preparation methods a secret, (hint: He soaks it in Dr. Pepper overnight.) and I love it with the typical Texas sides - cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans, pickles, onions, and a slice of white bread.  My contribution was the sides and dessert - peach cobbler.  When my husband and I were getting married, some family and friends gave me a kitchen shower and each guest brought a recipe.  My dad's contribution was his peach cobbler and so I thought it was fitting to make that for him for Father's Day.  And a little secret....left over cold peach cobbler makes for a yummy breakfast the next day! 


Peach Cobbler:
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk (I've used skim - it works just fine.)
3 cups peaches, sliced (It's your choice if you leave the peels on.  I take them off and if it's not peach season, you can use canned peaches or canned peach pie filling.)
1/2 cup brown sugar

Melt butter on the stove top and wait for that nutty smell and light brown color.  (But, don't let the butter burn.)  Pour the butter into an ungreased 8 in. square baking dish.  Then, in a separate bowl, mix the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and milk.  Pour that mixture over the butter as evenly as you can and DO NOT STIR!  It's really important that you not stir it.  It will look like it's not mixed in and that's okay.  STILL DON'T MIX IT and arrange the peaches on top.  Sprinkle the peaches with brown sugar.  Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes and magically the batter will rise to the top and cover the peaches.  You can serve this warm, at room temp, or like I said before, cold the next morning for breakfast.  It's awesome with a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, made right here in Texas.

Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of those things that is universal.  Everybody has some form of it no matter where you go and most people think their version is the best.  Personally, I love just about anything with potatoes in it and my very favorite potato salad is one that comes from a family friend.  I have no idea where she got the recipe, but once I had it as a kid I've never loved another potato salad like I love this one.  I made it this week to go along side grilled chicken sandwiches.  It made for an easy summer dinner that was quick and tasty.

Ranch Potato Salad:

1 lb. baby red potatoes
6 slices bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
Ranch Dressing
       (I like Marzetti's Simply Dressed Ranch...usually in the produce refrigerated section.)
salt to taste

Clean and halve potatoes.  (I like to leave the skins on.)  Cover them with water in a large pot and boil until tender, then drain.  Mix approximately 1/2 cup of Ranch Dressing with green onions and bacon in the bottom of a mixing bowl, pour hot potatoes over dressing and mix gently so as not to break up the potatoes too much.  Add salt to taste.  You can serve it warm, but I like it cold and it tastes even better the next day!

Corn Salad

My tomato plants are producing like crazy right now, so I've been making plenty of cool summer time dishes that involve tomatoes.  This salad can have as many or as few tomatoes as you like.  Whenever I have to take a large quantity of something to a potluck, I always turn to this salad because the recipe doubles or triples easily.  It's perfect for outdoor events and it pairs well with just about anything off the grill from burgers to fajitas.  Because corn is the main ingredient, you want high quality taste and crispness.  Make sure to buy Del Monte Summer Crisp corn in the canned foods sections for the best results. 

Also, this is a great one for kids to help with!

Corn Salad:
2 cans Del Monte Summer Crisp corn
1 avocado, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup purple onion, chopped
juice of 2-3 limes
Salt to taste

Drain the corn and toss with cilantro, tomatoes, onion, and lime juice.  I add plenty of salt.  This salad tastes best if it can sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.  Chop and add in the avocado right before serving.

Summer in Texas

Summer in Texas means heat.  And I don't mean a little bit hot, I mean heat that you can barely stand to be in for longer than about 5 minutes.  Where we live, about an hour north of  the Gulf Coast, it's hot, it's humid, and it's miserable to do anything outside between about noon and 7 PM.  My husband, who owns a concrete placement company, is outside all day.  So, when he comes home from a day of working outside during the hot Texas summer, he doesn't want a hot meal.  He wants something cool and refreshing.  This pasta salad is just that and is great as a side or as a meal by itself.  Plus, my kids love it!

Stay tuned this week for more summer salad ideas.

BLT Pasta Salad:

2 1/2 cups of whole grain rotini pasta, cooked

1 cucumber chopped

1/4 cup of chopped sweet onion or purple onion (we left this out of the portion for the kids)

1 cup of grape tomatoes

3/4 cup of Miracle Whip

2 Tablespoons of Milk

8-10 slices of bacon cooked very crisp and crumbled

1 avocado chopped and 1/2 lemon squeezed over i

Salt and Pepper to taste

Lettuce to serve it on

Boil pasta and drain.  Chop Cucumber and onion.  Make dressing by thinning the Miracle Whip with the milk. Chop Avocado and squeeze lemon over it.  Put all ingredients in a bowl and toss.  Serve over a bed of your favorite lettuce.  I like to buy shredded iceberg lettuce.

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