Patatas Bravas recipe – Milk Street Vegetables

#MilkStreet #177MilkStreet #MilkStreetVegetables #ChristopherKimball #JenniferGuerrero #Vegetables #Produce

Patatas Bravas. I could write poetry to these. Super crispy exterior with a pillowy interior. The textures are potato dreams. And there’s a smoky paprika sauce and a garlic aioli for drizzling, dipping, and mopping that put these way over the top. I’ve only had the book for two weeks, and I’ve made them four times already. Not even kidding. Then I tried them with sweet potatoes and added 1 1/2 Tablespoons of brown sugar to the paprika. Just skip the aioli and Bravas sauce. Or don’t! Total BBQ heaven. Go make these. Hug me later!

What’s the book???? Milk Street Vegetables. If you want more vegetable happiness in life, go get this. Treat yo’self! The new year is right around the corner, and more produce is going to help with those health goals. Let’s do this! Grab a second copy to gift someone you think is awesome! I blogged all about the book last week with a gorgeous Tomato Tart with Olives and Gruyere recipe. That link will take you there if you missed it!

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Tomato tart with olives and Gruyere – Milk Street: Vegetables


#MilkStreet #177MilkStreet #MilkStreetVegetables #ChristopherKimball #JenniferGuerrero #Vegetables #Produce

Milk Street’s done it again! They are always super flavorful while being as kitchen-efficient as possible. Milk Street Vegetables is delicious and off the beaten path. I found that while I played in the book, I was centering dinner around the produce and coming up with a little coordinating protein and fresh fruit. Fabulous! Yeah. Totally giftable!

I’ll tell you all about the book and the dishes we tried in a minute, but first I wanted to give you a recipe to try. Tomato tart with olives and Gruyere. The flavor is gorgeous and it’s a total looker. And as frosting on that glorious cake, it’s ridiculously easy and quick. Rich puff pastry with earthy tomatoes and onions, briny olives and capers, mustard for a sharp flavor pop, finished with herby fresh basil kisses. We loved everything about this and it’s truly Tuesday night easy. Hope you love it, too!

A huge thanks to the folks at Milk Street and Voracious for letting me share this and two more upcoming recipes with you!

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Summer beverage ready with Margaritaville and Yeti – and Jen’s frozen sangria!

Do you need a summertime splurge or a last minute Father’s Day gift? I’ve got you!

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Mojo-Marinated Cuban-Style Pork recipe and Cookbook review: Instant Pot Miracle

#HMHCO @HMHCO

Instant Pot Miracle is a super neat Instant Pot book with a huge range of Instant Pot recipes. It’s pretty much one stop shopping. We loved everything we tried. Note that we found the salt measures really light, and generally doubled the salt. You can tailor the sauciness level afterwards by pulling out the meat or whatever and reduce the sauce to your perfect level using the saute button.

We loved the Mojo-Marinated Cuban-Style Pork, so I wanted to share that recipe with you. It marinates for a day before you make it, so be sure to budget the time. The flavors are spot on. Delicious! I served it with rice and sweet plantains.


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The Best Damn Paleo Brownies recipe from The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day

#TheWholeSmiths @TheWholeSmiths #HMHCO @HMHCO

Okay! I told you all about The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day last week. Amazing book!

Here’s that post with her Mole Chicken recipe if you missed it!

One post just isn’t going to do it! The Best Damn Paleo Brownies. I am embarrassed to say that after flipping through the book flagging recipes to try, I stumbled on this little gem, and made it first. LOL! Totally worth it! Because there’s no flour, there’s nothing dulling the flavor of the chocolate. These are intensely chocolately. The flavor and texture are terrific. These are my new favorite brownies! These are not just my favorite paleo brownies, they are my favorite brownies!


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Mole Chicken recipe and cookbook review: The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day

#TheWholeSmiths @TheWholeSmiths #HMHCO @HMHCO

Mole chicken. Did you just respond, “Yes, please!”? Mmmmm. Mole chicken is *usually* a really time consuming dish. It’s the kind of thing that makes most cooks just keep flipping through the book to something easier. This is about 1 1/2 hours start to finish, and an hour of that is the Instant Pot doing the work. This has great flavor and is comparatively very easy. Let’s do this!

The Whole Smiths Real Food Every Day. I love love love this book! Everything’s delicious, easy, and nutritious. Perfect! I’ll tell you all about the rest of the book after the recipe. Please note ~ I think the author must be using Diamond Crystal Kosher salt because the numbers are at the high end. I’m using plain old salt, so I cut the salt to 2/3 in everything which worked perfectly. Thought I’d share in case you use table salt, too.


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Jen’s Nanny Goat Burger (beef) and meat grinding 101

My favorite burger is called the Nanny Goat at Rodeo Goat in Ft. Worth. Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, goat cheese, and a little garlicky herby mayo. Best burger ever! They serve them with sweet, hot bbq chips. If you find yourself in town, you should go!


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Steak Marchand De Vin (Wine Merchant Steak) recipe and cookbook review: Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple

#JacquesPépin @JacquesPépin #Quick&Simple @Quick&Simple #HMHCO @HMHCO

Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple. Jacques is not overpromising with that name. The recipes are just as delicious as you’d expect from him, but they are truly quick and simple. The book is totally newbie-appropriate. Most of them are super wallet-friendly, too, with ingredients like frozen vegetables. I’m so excited to share his recipe with you for Wine Merchant Steak. I’ve made many of Jacques’ different wine merchant steaks and this one is my absolute favorite. I love the addition of the Spicy V8. It’s fantastic. I’m going to try this as a bbq sauce, for a really flavorful, sugar-free option. I just bought crab to make his crab cakes and I’ll add that in later, but it’s Valentine’s Day, and this steak is perfect!!!


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Disney’s Festival of the Arts

I just turned 50 in January, and my hubby did back in August when travel was right out, so we headed to Disney last week for a big celebration. 8 glorious days. Two in each park. Perfect! We didn’t realize the Festival of the Arts was going on at Epcot! Even better! There are little stands scattered throughout the World Showcase that generally have 2 entrees, a couple of beverages and a dessert. They are little taster plates and mostly in the $6-$10 range, so you can have fabulous bites around the world, kind of like global tapas. We had a fantastic time. Let me tell you all about it!

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Kung Pao Lettuce Cups recipe and cookbook review: The Primal Gourmet Cookbook by Ronny Joseph Lvovski

#Whole30 @Whole30 #PrimalGourmet @PrimalGourmet #HMHCO @HMHCO

The Primal Gourmet Cookbook. He is not overpromising with that title! This is a fun new Whole30 book. He has a great range to suit your mood. There are easy, casual and loose recipes when you’d like to keep it simple and those that are more interesting and involved when you feel like it. The food is fresh, delicious, and nutritious. Perfect!

I’d love to share his recipe for Kung Pao Lettuce Cups with you! I’m making you concerned because it’s a health book? Don’t be! You won’t make them because they’re good for you. Make them because they’re awesome! He says this serves 4 as an appetizer. Double it and serve 4 for dinner. Or breakfast. You do you! A quick note on two ingredients you might not be familiar with: coconut aminos and arrowroot starch. Coconut aminos function like soy sauce and arrowroot starch functions like cornstarch.

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