If there’s one food that Americans have adopted from another culture and changed to their own liking it’s the taco.  In fact, most Americans wouldn’t know a real taco if it bit them.  We’ve changed them too much.  Chain restaurants have buried the simple and noble flavors under mounds of lettuce, yellow processed cheese goo and whatever else they can come up with.

In the end, that ain’t a taco.  At best it’s a Tex-Mex bastardization on a theme that can be enjoyed on its own merits.  At worst it’s steamed mystery meat and ultra processed and pasteurized atomic yellow hell sauce with added capsaicin for heat and all the nutritional value of eating waxed paper. (Which would taste better in my humble opinion).

This dish is an attempt to bring something a little closer to an actual taco to my kids’ dinner plate.  The lettuce and sour cream were simply there to make them more familiar to a pair of kids who thought Mexican food came from that place with a mission bell in the logo and summarily declared all Mexican and South American food as evil and grotesque.

These tacos didn’t stand a chance.  One bite in and my two haters of all things South American descended on them like a pack of ravenous jackals on a wounded wildebeest.  It was at once rather disturbing and very rewarding to see them enjoying something at least closely related to what real Mexican food should be. (And note… There ain’t no yellow cheese to be found!)

Please note, this is still a very much Americanized recipe, but it’s a lot closer to real Mexican-American food than my kids have ever been exposed to.  I’m using recipes like this as a stepping stone to get them acquainted with flavors before going “all the way” to authentic dishes.

But these were good.  Very good.

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A little tomato, a little wine, a little seafood.  That’s really all it takes to make me happy, at least in this instance.  The fact that my oldest son helped me devour the dish shown above is nothing short or a five-star bonus.  I would have eaten it myself had he not enjoyed it.

(I may have secretly hoped that he didn’t…)

All I can really say about this is that it was sublime.  I’ve spent days staring at the screen trying to find a way to describe it, but words have failed me this time, so I’m just going to get straight to the recipe before I waste any more time.  You guys deserve to have this in your card index, database or PDA.  It’s good.

Really good.

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I have the world’s coolest neighbor.  His yard is well kept, he doesn’t throw loud parties and he pretty much stays to his own devices… Unless he has tomatoes.  At that point he’s my favorite guy in the world, because he doesn’t like tomatoes so he gives them to me, and I adore them.

It also happened that the last time he got a box, I had picked up a lamb steak that morning and was trying to figure out what to do with it.  Suddenly I found myself wondering what to do with a box of tomatoes and cucumbers as well… Not that I’m complaining about figuring out a use for perfect ingredients like these.

The weather here has been incredibly warm, so I was looking for something light and refreshing.  I remembered a recipe for a tomato and cucumber salad I’d seen at My Wooden Spoon, and the rest was history.  A few tweaks and a bit of my own spin on the dish she listed and I had a wonderful, light, soul-satisfying meal that took just minutes to make, but will find itself revisited in our home for years to come.

Lamb cooked this way is marvelous.  I also happened to be in possession of New Zealand lamb, which has a remarkably strong lamb flavor. (something I appreciate).  Even said, the salad stole the show.  The next time I make the salad I’m going to pair it with beef.  I’ll save champ and mushy peads for lamb of this quality.

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Not too long ago, tomato tart recipes started flooding the world of food blogging.  To say the least, I was intrigued, but I really hadn’t planned on making this dish…  That is, I hadn’t planned on it until my next-door neighbor dropped off a huge box of home-grown tomatoes.  At that point it became more than a desire, it became a pressing need.

I had originally thought of just making a bunch of crostini, but when I saw a lovely loaf of garlic ciabatta at Trader Joes, I decided that I’d play with the tart idea in a decidedly non-baker sort of way.  Ciabatta is robust enough to hold up to the moisture in the tomatoes without getting very soggy and adds a lovely flavor and crunch to the dish, which was perfect as a light breakfast for my wife and I.

If you’ve got some tomatoes hanging around this season, I would highly recommend making this, or one of the variations listed at the bottom of the post.  It’s a little bit of summer on a plate, and I guarantee that you and your guests will love it.

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Tomatoes pack a huge amount of flavor into a very small package. so much so that there is not much need to “guild the lilly”, to turn a phrase.  I made this dish as a side for the tomato glazed chicken we had the other night, but then had to make it again yesterday as a light lunch for myself.

The flavors are more than enough to stand up to being the main course in a light, healthy summertime meal, but if you’re in the mood for something a bit more substantial, just add a few greens and a basil vinaigrette for a wonderful baked tomato salad.  How about using these little gems on your next burger?

I used a mix of Colby and Monterey Jack because that’s what I happened to have lying about at the time, but there’s no reason that this has to be made with those cheeses. If you don’t like Colby and Jack on your tomato, use what you like, this is the perfect vehicle for experimentation! Use some goat cheese and thyme instead for a bit more of a Greek flavor.  Try some pecorino or asiago.  How about a little muenster with a bit of fresh oregano or sage?  The choices are yours.  Please use this recipe as a guideline and create something wonderful with it!

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Fall is just about upon us. Cooler weather has settled in over much of the country. Most of my fellow food bloggers have broken out recipes for braised, slow cooked foods that highlight the best ingredients that fall, or at least late Autumn, has to offer in their area. Looking over their recipes has me dreaming of cool afternoons and a dutch oven simmering over low heat, waiting to offer up its succulent slow cooked contents for our family, and my son’s first taste of braised pork roast or slow roasted chicken.

Here in the great state of Texas, we’re still dealing with 90 degree days, but the mornings are foreshadowing cooler days to come. The cravings for more winter-esque foods are becoming increasingly pronounced as the days get shorter, and yesterday I caved in to them.

Tomato soup paired with a grilled cheese sandwich is not only the perfect cool weather lunch, though the combination has definitely been one of the most common in my household for years. The two together are also a quintessential American comfort food meal of nearly epic proportions, so I doubt too many people will find it surprising that I chose this combination for my first officially “fall” dish.

I won’t go into the sandwich in this entry, as it was a simple Muenster sandwich browned in olive oil. The star of the show is the soup and it is what deserves our attention here. Thick, rich and so very satisfying that it could almost be called a tomato stew, and could definitely be used as a sauce, it’s a far cry from anything you’ve had out of a can, and more than worth the trouble to make, I assure you.

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They look luscious don’t they? Rich, huge, decadent ravioli, just barely touched with an intensely flavored, yet extremely light tomato sauce. I love ravioli. I love mushrooms. Mushroom ravioli is a natural progression from those two factors. Unfortunately, I made a fatal error with these. I discovered that neither my wife or I can stand dried mushrooms.

The recipe for these ravioli looked and sounded wonderful, the end result was more like a combination of fish and shoe-leather covered in n absolutely wonderful sauce, though not wonderful enough to hide the flavor of the dried mushrooms.

In that bent, I’ll post the recipe for the sauce here. It would be wonderful on nearly any pasta, and will definitely top our next attempt at ravioli. I’ll wait to post the ravioli recipe until I get it right, I honestly wouldn’t recommend these, they just weren’t as good as they look.

Grape Tomato Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 pkg grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Sauté tomatoes in olive oil until heated through. Add stock, salt and pepper, reduce by 1/4. Mix in butter and remove from heat. Toss with your favorite pasta and enjoy.

What I would have done differently had I thought of it at the time:

I would’ve used fresh shitake’s… blech

Also, a little fresh basil tossed in the sauce at the last moment would be incredible.

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