This is going to be a long one so hang in there or just get the recipe, you choose.

Having grown up in the house I did, by default you had to eat Mexican food. It was a staple of my childhood. We loved it so much that we would go to a place close to where my Dad used to work called Las Cazuelas. From where we lived in Denver the restaurant was a long ways away, but the drive was well worth it. I’ve been told that I would eat it at 3 years old with a cup nestled in the crook of my arm because I would drink the water whenever it got too spicy. Needless to say Mexican food is my favorite food hands down. We would get quarts of their refried beans and quarts of chile verde, bring them home and have Mexican food as our dinner for Christmas Eve. We/I absolutely love Mexican food.

Now having said that my Dad would make tortillas whenever we had Mexican food at home. His tortillas were great. There is a story behind the recipe. I think in their first house they had a separate apartment downstairs and a hispanic lady lived there and she taught him how to make them. Now those tortillas have some baking powder in them so they were a little more puffy, like the ones you would buy at the store but obviously better. We even had a dedicated cast iron tortilla griddle.

They were a little tough to make though, so I haven’t really made them in a long time. Over the course of a few years, I have been looking for an easier recipe. I also wanted them be to more like the tortillas you would get if you traveled to Mexico. Kind of thin, that have that hint of lard when heated up.

Since we live in Arizona, we are by default really close to Mexico. We are only about 4 hours from a place us gringos call Rocky Point. It’s really called Puerto Peñasco. Its a great little place on the west coast of the Mexico right along the Gulf of California. When you drive through the border and get to the Mexico side, depending on the time of day, there will be vendors on the sides of the street selling all sorts of stuff. But the one you are looking for is the lady with a plethora of bags full of tortillas. You will want to stop and buy some, at least 3 bags, I promise it will be worth it. 

If you don’t want to go that far for great Mexico style flour tortillas, you don’t have to. You can make them at home and they are SUPER EASY especially if you have a kitchen scale, similar to this one. I don’t know if I could do without it now since I weigh out a ton of ingredients in the kitchen now. So much more accurate and recipes come out perfect every time. I make mine in my Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle attachment, no need for the dough hook here. It makes the process so much faster, seriously, maybe 5 minutes if that. I can’t stress this enough, it makes it so easy.

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Mexico Style Flour Tortillas

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Servings 12 Tortillas

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 C. (400g.) All Purpose Flour
• 2 t. (16g.) Table Salt
• 6 T. (100g.) Lard or Shortening Lard is best for flavor
• 3/4 C. (200g.) Water at 110degrees Must be warm, not a typo

Instructions

• MAKE DOUGH If you are weighing your ingredients you can do this in the same bowl no need to use separate bowls.Combine flour and salt in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix to combine. Add in the lard or shortening (weigh it after you mix the flour and salt in the same bowl) into flour mixture and mix until mixture resembles coarse meal. About 1-2 minutes. Add in water and mix until combined.
• FORM BALLS Turn dough out onto clean surface and knead briefly to form smooth, cohesive ball. Roll 2½ tablespoons or 59grams of dough into balls. Transfer balls to plate or container, and cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days. Refrigerating them is very necessary. I make a lot and put the ones I don’t make into the fridge until I want to make more a few days later.
• COOK TORTILLAS Working on lightly floured surface, roll balls to 8-inch rounds. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet or cast iron skillet over medium-low heat until just smoking. Wipe out skillet with paper towels. Lay 1 round in skillet and cook until surface begins to bubble, about 1 minute. Flip and cook until browned and puffed, about 1 minute. Transfer to plate and cover with kitchen towel. Repeat with remaining rounds. Serve.

When I make these dinner rolls I remember my Grandma. She made the best dinner rolls. I have her recipe, but every time I try to make them they never turn out right. These dinner rolls taste a lot like hers. I like to think that she smiles down upon me when I make them. One thing you have to know about how I make these, is that I use a lot of butter. They are a hit at every dinner, get together, or feast. There are rarely any left. I can’t describe how good they are. I can try: buttery, flaky, sweet, salty, mmm delicious.

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Best Dinner Rolls

Adapted from How Does She

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4 Dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C. Whole Milk
• 2 C. Water
• 3/4 C. Sugar
• 1 Stick Salted Butter – cut into 1/4" or smaller slices
• 2 T. Instant Yeast
• 1 T. Table Salt
• 9-10 C. All Purpose Flour
• 3 Sticks Salted Butter 1 of them needs to be softened

Instructions

• Combine milk, water, sugar, and 1 stick of butter into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave until butter is melted. Once melted take a whisk or stir with another stirring utensil and stir the mixture together, mainly to get the sugar dissolved. Pour this into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
  1 1/2 C. Whole Milk, 2 C. Water, 3/4 C. Sugar, 1 Stick Salted Butter – cut into 1/4" or smaller slices
• To cool this mixture down enough to add the yeast, stir in 3-4 cups of flour, then add the egg, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. After it has cooled add the yeast and the salt as the mixer is mixing. Mix it enough to where you see strands of dough (I imagine them as gluten strands) Once mixed in replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook.
  2 T. Instant Yeast, 1 T. Table Salt
• Gradually add in 3-4 more cups of flour 1 or 2 cups at a time. Only add enough to make a dense but sticky dough. Don’t add too much flour, less flour is better than more so watch it. When you stick your finger in it, just a tiny bit of the dough should come off onto your finger. If too much does then add a little more flour, if none does you have added too much.
  9-10 C. All Purpose Flour
• Grease a large bowl and let dough raise until its doubled in size. When ready to shape, add 1 stick each of butter to 2 cookie sheets and stick them in the oven under the broiler until the butter melts pretty much all the way, but don’t let it burn. Repeat with other cookies sheet. Take out set and set aside. What you are looking for is melted slightly browned butter.
  3 Sticks Salted Butter
  
• Using oil spray, spray your work surface as to not add additional flour. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls, as even as you can get them.
• Working 1 ball at a time, roll out in to a circleabout 1/4″ thick. Grab that 1 stick of softened butter and smear 1/4 of it over each dough circle. Just get your hands all init. Don’t be afraid to do it.
  3 Sticks Salted Butter
  
• Take a pizza cutter and cut the circle into quarters, then take those quarters and cut each into three equal triangles.
  
• Roll the dough starting with the wide end of the triangle
  
• Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls
  
• Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second. If you have a convection oven you can put them both in and just make sure to rotate and switch half way through the process.
  

My kids love broccoli. Kind of weird I know, but they do. So when I find a recipe that uses broccoli, I usually try it out. This broccoli beef recipe struck me because of its apparent ease. This recipe is so tasty. My kids eat it up, I eat it up, even the picky neighbor girl ate it up. It’s really that good.

I wanted to make a note that I did update the method or the way it’s made just a little. I found that blanching the broccoli was a hit or miss on doneness. Sometimes it was too done or sometimes it was underdone. It also added to much water sometimes, so I changed the way that it was cooked. For more info on the method I like to use watch this video on how to stir fry. By the way, my family loves that recipe as well.

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Awesome Broccoli Beef

This is a really quick and easy to make.

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6 People

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs. Flank, sirloin, or the cheaper london broil, sliced thinly across the grain
• 1.5 lbs. Broccoli florets I use the pre-cut ones in the bag
• 6 T. + 2 t. high-heat cooking oil
• 1 T. Minced or grated ginger
• 1/4 C. Chicken broth

Beef Marinade

• 2 t. Soy sauce
• 2 t. Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry) Since I don’t ever have wine I used rice wine vinegar
• 1 t. Cornstarch
• 1/4 t. Fresh ground pepper
• 1/8 t. Salt
• 2 t. Sriracha

Sauce

• 2 T. Oyster sauce
• 2 T. Hoisin sauce
• 2 t. Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry) See note in marinade
• 2 T. Soy sauce
• 1/2 C. Chicken broth
• 1 T. Cornstarch
• 2 t. Sriracha

Instructions

• Stir together the beef marinade ingredients in a medium bowl.
• Add the beef slices and stir until coated..
• Let stand for 10 minutes (you can let it marinate for longer too while you get the rest of the recipe ready).
• Prepare the sauce: Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl
• Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact. Add 2 T. of the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the 1/3 of the beef and immediately spread the beef out all over the surface of the wok or pan in a single layer (preferably not touching). Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip the beef slices over and cook until nicely browned on both sides and remove to a plate. Repeat this until all beef is cooked.
• With the beef removed, lower heat to medium-high heat the 2 t. oil until shimmering.
• Add garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant, about30 seconds.
• Add broccoli and stir fry for 1 minute.
• Pour in 1/4 C. of chicken stock
• Cover and steam for 2 minutes or until broccoli is tender-crisp, stirring once.
• Return beef to pan and stir. Push contents to side of pan.
• Lower heat slightly and make a hole in the middle of the pan and pour sauce in center of pan; cook, for 1 to 2 minutesor until thickened, stir sauce only if needed.
• Stir beef and broccoli into sauce until coated.
• Serve over sticky rice, with lots of Sriracha

Edit 11-23-11 – I have finally added a picture of the waffles. It isn’t the greatest but here it is. I love that waffle iron by the way. It is old and makes the best waffles.

I have ported my “Best Waffle Recipe Ever” over from my portfolio website but i wanted to share it here as well. This will be the main place I do recipe related things from now on.

This recipe was linked from my other website to multiple places including Serious Eats and

My father-in-law is the breakfast master but there has always been a problem, his recipes are in his head. This includes measurements of ingredients. This is a predicament when someone like me wants to make his recipes. Although I have recently learned that his waffle recipe is an actual recipe with real world measurements. These waffles are far and away the BEST WAFFLES EVER!! I mean crispy on the outside, kind of chewy on the inside, yet light. Not heavy. MMMM soooo good.And the recipe was right in front of my nose the whole time. Without further ado:

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Best Waffle Recipe Ever

You won't find a better waffle recipe no matter how hard you look

Course Breakfast

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 minutes minutes

Servings 8 Waffles

Author Lee

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 C. All Purpose Flour
• 1 T. Baking Powder
• 1/4 t. Salt
• 1 T Sugar
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 2 Egg Whites
• 1 3/4 C. Milk
• 1/2 C. Oil
• 1 t. Vanilla Extract

Instructions

• In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center. In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Stir in milk, oil, and vanilla. Add egg yolk mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (should be lumpy).
• Now the important part. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up). This may take a few minutes. Make sure you use beaters, its much easier this way than trying to whisk them by hand. Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, DO NOT OVERMIX. And proceed to make your waffles, about a cup of mixture to make a waffle. Good luck.