Happy 4th of July! I can say that my meal was the best I have had on any 4th of July in a long time. We decided to cook at home and have a couple friends over instead of walking around huge crowds and eating from food trucks. Don’t get me wrong I love food trucks but they don’t make this pork. And if one does that I do not know about I must know so I can live outside said food truck.

While planning for the meal, I went to my trusty source for new recipes Food Network.com and low and behold Tyler Florence had a recipe posted http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/oven-roasted-pulled-pork-sandwiches-recipe/index.html. While I didn’t make the spicy slaw, many people posted on the website that it was equally amazing. I decided to purchase the summer slaw from my local Albertsons as it is my daughter’s favorite at the moment.

The cooling summer slaw balanced the vinegar, mustard and cayenne BBQ sauce that went over the pork that I cooked for 3 hours in a 300 degree oven as I only purchased a 3lb pork shoulder instead of the 5-7lb suggested. First mistake, as I have no leftovers. my second mistake is below…

As some of you many notice there is not a picture of the pork. I was so hungry that I ate my sandwhich and forgot to take a picutre to share. That just means this will be made again by la familia in order to share a visiual for you my loyal readers.

Enjoy your summer!

These two simple words make my taste buds jump and salivate with joy. Jose’ burgers. Yummm…

Let me tell you the simple and amazing story of how these delightful burgers came to reside in la familia’s recipe book.

A few years ago my grandparents came to our neck of the woods to take my husband and I to dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We went to the Onion, a burger joint kind of along the lines a Red Robin.

Now that the stage is set… here comes the star!

I ordered a taco burger. (Yes, again with talking about tacos. I apologize I cannot help myself.) This burger was superb, cooked perfectly, the pico de gillo and melted cheese blended harmoniously with the guacamole and all this flavor nestled into a warm toasty bun.

I was finished with my meal before anyone else could season thier fries. It was that good.

Jose’ decided one night to try to re-create that burger at our house. Going by what I had told him about this burger, since I didn’t share one bite, he came up with an all beef patty, grilled to perfection, with pico de gillo placed in the center and covered with a slice of melted pepper jack cheese. Once off the grill a smear of mayo (he doesn’t care for guacamole, but sliced avocado is pared well with it too) and you are ready for “flavor town”.

Let me start by saying this recipe was made, consumed and photographed in April. There goes my New Years Resolution to blog every month. Oops!

This recipe was found in Taste of Homes Magazine. I went to their website to attach the link for your perusal but I am sorry to report that the website says the recipe is for subsricbers only. So here goes my attempt to remember what we did.

3-4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

1 can of frozen limeade

Place these into a ziplock bag and let marinate. The longer you marinate the stronger the lime flavor on your chicken.

Grill up the chicken breasts

note: we broiled them and got the same nice char.

Serve with favorite side dish

I love tacos, I can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner so we put our chicken margarita in a tortilla with some peppers and onions that were cooked along with the chicken. The only missing thing on my taco was a few cilantro leaves. Now that my window box if flourshing I can add cilantro to my next chicken maragrita taco.

Looking at this instagram photo taken by Jose is making my mouth water for the leftovers in the fridge. Steak Pizzaiola a zesty fresh dish that was great on a spring day, hopefully next time this dish is made it will be accompanied by peppers from our very own garden. 

We normally do not eat steak as we have a hamburger budget but we treated ourselves this weekend. Last week we received our April 2012 issue of the Food Network Magazine and on page 96 was Steak Pizzaiola http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/steak-pizzaiola-recipe/index.html. Those Food Network test kitchen employees sure know the way to my heart. I love, love, love pepperoncinis and now I have a jar in my fridge thanks to this recipe calling for 4 of them. I will probably add more next time, the tang and spice are always invigorating to my palette.

Also, for those of you who know me and my addiction to black pepper. Thanks to those adorable pepperoncinis and red pepper flakes no black pepper was needed. If that isn’t a roaring endorsement for pepperoncinis and their funky flavor I don’t know what is.

Steak Pizzaiola is made in one pan and Food Network classifies it as a weeknight dinner. So grab a pan and some seasoned focaccia bread from our local bakery, Petit Chat Village Bakery and try this flavorful meal.

Keep Cooking!

Saturday night we had a dinner party. With the menu planned and ingredients purchased, chicken posole and Guinness stout brownies graced our dinner table. The chicken posole is a family favorite and perfect for feeding a hungry crowd.

The brownies on the other hand was a test run. We had wanted to make them since we first laid eyes on the recipe in the February 2012 edition of Bon Appetit magazine. They were on the menu for Super Bowl Sunday but after reading how long it took to produce these glorious, mouth watering delicacies, we set them on the back burner for a day in which we had more time. And with a 9 1/2 month old in the house who is fully mobile there is never enough time in the day.

Being that box brownies have always been my go to desert, making brownies from scratch is something I can now mark off of my “to-do list”. Thank you Food Network Stars for showing this gal how to properly cut up chocolate bars and melt them on the stove with butter into a fabulous chocolate sauce that I was very tempted to eat right off of the stove top.

I think the brownies were a hit! Try the recipe out for yourself and let us know. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/02/chocolate-stout-brownies

I have included the chicken posole recipe as well as I promised my sister-in-law I would share. http://www.esquire.com/features/guy-food/posole-soup-recipe-0411?click=main_sr

                   photos by Jose

I hope you enjoy this months recipies. Being that it is almost March we will have to start looking for our next new recipe. Suggestions are always welcome.

-La Cocina de la Familia

Hello there. A little about la familia, we live in the pacific northwest. Have been married for 8 years next month. And welcomed a baby girl in May 2011 to make our little family three.

Last year our new years resolution was to prepare a new recipe every month to increase our palates and broaden our horizons, without broadening our waistlines. My waistline was increasing naturally I didn’t want to add to it.

Since the resolution was such a success in 2011 we are continuing in 2012 but am going to write about it.

I hope you enjoy reading and possibly get some great recipe ideas from la cocina de la familia.