Steak Tacos

The folks at Tortilla Land sent me a very generous supply of their flour tortillas. 144 tortillas to be exact.

With a stockpile of tortillas like that, it's easy to see why I was immediately inspired to incorporate them into a meal. I decided to try them with a simple marinated flank steak filling, so that I could get a real sense of the tortillas before using them in more complicated preparations where their flavor and texture might be less noticeable.

Tortilla Land's tortillas are uncooked flour tortillas. I wasn't sure how much of a difference this would make. I watched the video on how to cook the tortillas, and you merely heat them for about 30 seconds on each side. I basically do this with regular flour tortillas to warm them. But unlike my usual flour tortillas, when I cooked the Tortilla Land tortillas, they started to puff up and I could just tell they were going to be better than regular tortillas. After the first bite, any remaining doubts I had disappeared. The texture is so much better than any flour tortillas I've had before. It's sort of chewy, in a good way, and the spots that browned from the heat are a little crunchy.

Steak Tacos (adapted from The Best Skillet Recipes)
Print this recipe
Makes 4 to 6 tacos

Ingredients

Marinade
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro
2 scallions, chopped coarsely
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 small (or 1/2 of a medium) jalapeno, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1/2 tablespoon lime juice from 1 lime

Steak and tacos
1/2 to 3/4 pounds flank steak, cut lengthwise into 4 equal pieces
Salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Black pepper
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
4 to 6 Tortilla Land flour tortillas
Sliced white onion, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving

Preparation

Pulse cilantro, scallions, garlic, jalapeno, and cumin together in food processor until finely chopped, 10 to 12 pulses.

Add the oil, and process until mixture is smooth, (You may have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.)

Transfer 1 1/2 tablespoons of the herb paste to the bowl you plan to serve the steak in. Stir in the lime juice, and reserve until serving time.

With a fork, poke each piece of steak about 10 times on each side. Place the steak in a baking dish, rub all sides evenly with 3/4 teaspoons salt, and then coat them with the herb paste.

Cover the steaks with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.

Scrape the paste off the steaks, and sprinkle all sides with the sugar and some pepper.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place the steak in the skillet and cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until both sides are well browned. (Cook a few minutes longer to desired doneness if necessary.)

Transfer the steak to a cutting board, cover it loosely with foil, and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Heat a griddle to 400 degrees.

Slice each piece of steak against the grain into 1/8-inch-thick pieces.

Transfer the steak slices to the bowl with the reserved herb paste, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the tortillas on the preheated griddle for 30 to 60 seconds per side, or until nicely browned.

Place some of the onion slices on each tortilla and top with a small scoop of steak. Squeeze some lime juice on top, if desired. Serve warm.

Even if I hadn't received these tortillas for free, I would still be raving about them. I really, truly enjoyed them and found them noticeably better than already cooked flour tortillas. I also absolutely loved the steak filling. The marinade smelled so good that as I was making it, Jeff worked over and noted that the smell reminded him of a Mexican restaurant. I think it was the cumin in there.

We tried some Sidral Mundet Mexican sodas along with the tacos. These were complimentary samples from the people at Sidral Mundet. The sodas came in apple and green apple flavors. The smell of the green apple soda immediately reminded me of apple martinis and green apple Jolly Ranchers. Jeff and I both liked the flavor of the green apple soda but found the regular apple soda a bit bland. We expected a stronger apple flavor. It was fun to pair the Mexican sodas with our Mexican dinner though!

These steak tacos are the perfect meal for a warm spring evening and would even be great for a Memorial Day crowd if you double or triple the recipe.

Have you tried Tortilla Land tortillas?

Oven-Roasted Pork And Potatoes

This dish is inspired by a dinner my mom makes that I absolutely love: pork chops roasted with potatoes, onions, and sweet potatoes. There's no way I could get Jeff to touch a sweet potato, let alone eat it, so I modified my mom's version a little to make something we would both enjoy.

Oven-Roasted Pork And Potatoes

Ingredients

2 boneless, center cut pork chops
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound small potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
2 shallots, ends trimmed, halved, and then halves quartered
1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Season pork on both sides with salt and pepper, and set aside at room temperature.

Coat an oven-safe baking dish or pan with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss potatoes, shallots, salt and pepper, rosemary, garlic, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil together in dish.

Bake potatoes for 20 minutes, making sure to stir them halfway through.

Remove dish from oven, and push potatoes to the edges of the pan.

Nestle pork chops in the middle of the dish.

Return dish to oven, and bake for 10 minutes.

Flip pork chops over, raise oven temp to 450 degrees, and cook for another 5 minutes, or until meat thermometer inserted in center of chops registers 140 degrees.

Remove dish from oven, and let stand 5 minutes.

I served the pork and potatoes with steamed broccoli, but you could also throw some broccoli in the pan about 5 minutes before you add the pork and roast it with the pork and potatoes. (Someone in this house prefers his broccoli crisp and barely cooked though... no names.)

While the pork was only seasoned with salt and pepper, it picked up subtle garlic and rosemary flavors from the potatoes.

We wrapped all the leftovers right in the pan, and the next day, I transferred the pork and broccoli to a cutting board. I sliced the leftover pork while I reheated the potatoes on the stove (I used a pan rather than a baking dish, so the pan was safe to use on the stovetop). Once the potatoes were warm, I stirred in the pork and broccoli, and rewarmed everything together for a couple minutes. The leftovers were just as good as the original meal.

Are there any dishes you remember your parents making that you like to re-create?

Appetizers At Highland Kitchen And Desserts At The Chocolate Tarte

Last Wednesday night, Emily picked me up, and we headed over to Highland Kitchen for some appetizers and drinks before an event at The Chocolate Tarte. We knew we'd be having plenty of sweets at The Chocolate Tarte so we wanted to keep dinner light. Actually, it wasn't so much dinner we were looking for as a few small bites to prepare us for all the sugar ahead.

Emily ordered a glass of Riesling, and I went with some bubbly. When I saw grilled artichokes on the specials menu, I quickly suggested those. I've been seeing recipes for artichokes everywhere lately and apparently developed a little craving that Highland Kitchen was able to satisfy. Emily picked out the chicken tostadas, and the two dishes provided just enough to fill us up without overfilling us.

I really enjoyed both appetizers. The chicken tostadas were absolutely loaded with chicken, cheese, and beans and had a bit of a kick.

The grilled artichokes, with their visible char marks, were the quintessential spring dish.

We finished off our drinks and headed down the road to The Chocolate Tarte, where we were immediately greeted with a gorgeous red velvet cake.

We soon met owner Linda Hein. She does everything herself! And she only has a regular stove like you or I would have in our kitchens. I was beyond impressed.

In addition to the cake, Linda set out three kinds of cupcakes for us. I already knew I was in love with her chocolate cupcakes after sampling them at CupcakeCamp, so I immediately went for one of those. It was as good as I remembered. The cupcake part was incredibly moist, and the frosting was smooth, creamy, and not too sweet. There were also red velvet and white velvet cupcakes.

Linda also makes a lot of chocolates, and she set out an assortment for us to try. I made my way through almost all of them between the ones I tried at the shop and the leftovers I brought home.

I also tried a small piece of brownie, which was rich and fudgy.

And then I tried what I ended up being my favorite treat of the night: a chocolate rosemary tarte. It was mostly sweet and just a little savory, and I loved the bit of crunch from the chocolate crust.

And as if all of that wasn't enough, she cut into that gorgeous red velvet cake I mentioned seeing on the way in and offered us scoops of SoCo Creamery ice cream with it.

I paired the cake with the Mission Fig ice cream. I'd never had a fig ice cream before and found it pleasantly sweet and mildly figgy. The red velvet cake had that same smooth buttercream that Linda uses on the cupcakes. The cake was moist with a crunchy brown edge. Linda explained that she used to cut the edge off but later began leaving it because it's one of her favorite parts and she figured others might enjoy it as well. We certainly did.

We enjoyed everything actually. If you're looking for sweet treats for an upcoming event or just for yourself, I highly recommend that you keep The Chocolate Tarte in mind.

A huge thank you to Linda for inviting us all in and treating us to so many goodies and to Elizabeth for organizing!

Have you been to the The Chocolate Tarte?

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries

Or a chair of bowlies if you're a Mary Engelbreit fan.

Courtesy of Google image search

Truth is, life isn't always a bowl of cherries. There are good days and bad days, so sometimes it's nice to come home and whip up a quick, sweet treat at the end of the day to take the edge off. Of course, you could pour yourself a glass of wine first -- because that might take the edge off too.

This simple dessert of cherries, chocolate, and almonds, one of my favorite combinations, was inspired by a recipe in Whole Living for some chocolate-dipped cherries. The June issue features a couple pages of cherry recipes and some nutrition information about cherries -- like that they have flavonoids that could protect against cancer and improve heart and brain function and that just a 1-cup serving of cherries has 3 grams of fiber. (And since we know dark chocolate and almonds have antioxidants, that means this little dessert is actually good for you!)

As I was flipping through and checking out the recipes, I realized that as much as I love cherries, I don't ever do much with them besides just eat them. And I also realized that as soon as I saw these cherry recipes, I began to crave cherries. So much so that I bought cherries the very same day the magazine arrived in the mail and made my version of the chocolate-dipped cherries that very same night.

This is definitely one of the quickest, easiest, and quite possibly healthiest, desserts I've ever made.

Chocolate-Dipped Cherries With Ground Almonds (adapted from Whole Living, June 2011)

Ingredients

1 ounce Scharffen Berger 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces cherries, rinsed (choose those with stems attached)
1/4 cup finely ground blanched almonds, toasted

Preparation

Line a sheet pan with wax paper.

Place the chocolate in a small bowl, and microwave for 15 seconds. Stir, and continue microwaving in 15-second increments and stirring in between until completely melted and smooth. (This should take a total of 45 seconds.)

Dip the bottoms of each cherry in the chocolate and then in the almonds, and place the dipped cherries on the prepared baking sheet.

Once you have dipped all of the cherries, transfer the baking sheet to the fridge, and let them firm up for at least 15 minutes.

Pile the cherries in a bowl to serve.

Notes: I had leftover ground almonds from making almond flour for macarons. When I sifted the almond flour, I saved the larger pieces that didn't go through, and this is what I used for the cherries. Also, you can easily double or triple this recipe, so you can share the cherries with friends. I think one batch is just the perfect indulgent serving for one or a satisfying treat for two.

I will be making these whenever cherry and chocolate cravings strike again. The dark chocolate and almonds add just a touch of decadence to the tart-sweet cherries.

Do you like cherries?

Eversave Ice Cream Social Plus A Giveaway

After all these dark, rainy days, I know we're all feeling a little gray and dreary and we're wondering if the sun is ever planning to show its face again. It can be hard to get out of a slump like this, but Eversave is here to help! Start thinking about summer weather and sunnier days with Eversave's Ice Cream Social. Eversave is featuring ice cream- and gelato-focused deals sure to brighten your day! Spend $5 and get $10 worth of ice cream, gelato, and more at these participating shops: Twist and Shake, Angelato, and Dolce Freddo.

In celebration of the Ice Cream Social, the team at Eversave surveyed more than 900 people to find out their “ice cream personalities.” Here's what they found:

• 34% consider themselves "chunky monkeys" and prefer ice cream mixed with treats like chocolate chips, cookie dough, and fruit. 
• 26% are "top-a-holics" wanting all the syrup, sprinkles, and whipped cream they can get. 
• 32% said they were "naked eaters" -- eating their ice cream without any toppings.

What kind of ice cream personality do you have? I think I'm a chunky monkey top-a-holic!

Join in the fun of Eversave’s Ice Cream Social by entering my giveaway!

One lucky winner will win a Save at Dolce Freddo in Newburyport, Mass., plus $5 in Save Rewards to use on an Eversave daily deal of their choice! Newburyport is such a cute town and definitely a fun place to plan a road trip to this summer. I'm already planning several trips up that way.

To enter the giveaway:

1. Sign up for Eversave.
2. “Like” Eversave on Facebook. 
3. Follow Eversave on Twitter.
4. And then add a comment below, and let me know what you love most about ice cream!

For an optional bonus entry, tweet "I want to win a free ice cream Save from @EversaveBOS and @DeliciousDish!" and then leave a separate comment here letting me know you tweeted.

You have until 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 22, 2011, to enter.

I will announce the winner on Monday, May 23.

P.S. Eversave will be running fun contests on Facebook and Twitter today, so check in often for more scooper-duper fun!

Update: I chose a winner using Random Integer Generator, and the winner is... Darcie! Congratulations, Darcie!