This isn’t a new recipe. I think this cookbook is a handful of years old but it’s full of great recipes.
I made this for our weekly Taco Tuesday for us moms, however Averi was caught eating leftover steak off the cutting board.
*This recipe wants you to skewer the meat, I didn’t do that, it was just an extra unnecessary step for this occasion.
Ingredients
⅓ cup sugar
5 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons gochujang paste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces flank steak, sliced against the grain into thin strips
⅛ teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Quick Pickled Cabbage (recipe to follow)
3 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 fresh jalapeno, sliced for serving
Directions
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Add steak to bowl or combine all in a gallon size freezer bag; . Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning after 30 minutes. (Can hang out in the fridge for longer).
While the meat is marinating, make the pickled cabbage.
Pickled cabbage
3 cups chopped/shredded napa cabbage
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Teaspoons gochujang paste
Combine 3 cups of shredded napa cabbage in a bowl with the garlic. Bring vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and gochujang to a boil in a small sauce pan. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cabbage; toss. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving.
Preheat grill to medium high heat.
Remove steak from marinade, and discard marinade. Grill the slices of meat, 2 minutes per side.
(Thread steak onto 8 (8-inch) skewers; sprinkle with salt. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness).
Grill tortillas 30 seconds on each side or until lightly charred; keep warm.
Place tortillas on plate, and divide steak evenly among tortillas. Divide the Quick Pickled Cabbage evenly among tacos; sprinkle with onions and jalapenos.
We took two days to soak up the desert heat and wade in water. Good times and tan lines. We have a favorite hotel in Palm Springs but it was booked for the dates we wanted so we decided to try out the Saguaro hotel. We thought about stopping in Temecula on the way out there for a wine tasting, but decided to just hightail it straight there to be poolside.
The Saguaro is a super trendy hotel that has a retro vibe, aesthetically eye pleasing with blocks of color everywhere. We asked for a pool view room so we could have an idea of how early people trickled down to the pool. Shade was sparse so we wanted to stake our claim on a proper poolside lounger.
Once we were checked in we swiftly changed into our suits and headed down to the crowded pool. See those loungers in the bottom of the photo? One of those opened up so we dropped our stuff and hot stepped literally into the pool. You guys, it was 110 degrees out and I’m pretty sure the pool water temp was 95 degrees. I honestly didn’t think I would make it there for two days, however I adapted. We brought our own adult beverages and our frost buddy cups which was a lifesaver. They have a poolside bar but it’s super pricey and the bartenders are green. Tip 1, bring drinks and a cup. Tip 2, get a poolside room. That was the biggest mistake we made. Each time we wanted to go to the room it was through walkways, key cards, stairs and around and through and down stairs and key cards etc. EVERY TIME….That got old fast. Meanwhile the smart ones were just hopping into their poolside rooms.
We learned that Palm Springs had a two day, two weekend musical festival called Splash House. The Saguaro hotel was a location, our favorite (sold out & now we know why) hotel was a location and one other hotel were all home base for this house music situation. Luckily we were checking out the day it started, phew. The pool wasn’t big enough or cool enough for 80 + drunk people and their floats or their urine.
We spent the entire afternoon in the pool talking and making new friends. We were deep in a conversation when I saw this in a friends sunglasses. I told him to stand tight so I could take this picture. Summer in a photo.
Eventually the sun set and it was finally only 100 degrees outside. Everyone trickled out of the pool putting a period on the day. We made our way to our room for dinner.
The next morning we claimed some pool chairs and went for breakfast. We weren’t impressed but we were fed. We hit the pool and read and sweated and read. I was almost done with my book and the pool was filling up, I told Shawna I needed to finish it before our friends showed up. I ended up crying in the pool, damn book…. but I did finish it.
We took advantage of the hotel restaurants happy hour, we slightly dried off and headed in for tacos and drinks.
Back in the pool we talked and talked until time slipped away and once again the sun went down, funny how that works. We ended the night, ordered a pizza and fell asleep watching the death channel.
The next morning we had a nice lie in, and then hit a recommended spot for lunch before heading home. We were told we MUST try El Patio.
So we did and it was delicious. Shawna got breakfast but me, not me. I ordered the Del Mar for us to start with. Fresh ceviche of crab, octopus and shrimp mixed with cucumber, tomato and the sweetest mango topped with avocado and pickled onions. SO GOOD!! I asked for the trio of salsa’s (I don’t think thats the right name) but it’s not on the menu so make sure that if you visit, ask for it! Finally, I had the fish tacos and they were perfect. We thanked our new friends for the suggestion and will most definitely be back.
As for the Saguaro hotel, I’m not sure if we will be back. One thing that I didn’t mention was the music at the pool was terrible, really bad IMHO. Maybe it was the music of the DJ’s that were going to be playing at the festival, either way it was not good. You guys, that’s all that played for two days, the same playlist over and over…I wanted to go find someone and pay them to change it. Other than a handful of negatives (working ice machines were limited) it’s not a bad hotel, we did have a great time.
Our USA mens national team qualified for the world cup. This is exciting, I mean, the fact that it was up in the air is depressing, but they did it. Now it’s only forward to Qatar.
We managed to watch a game at our local soccer bar which is always fun!
I also had a nice lunch with Uncle BK at the Michelin recognized Tuetano Taqueira in Old Town. The counter service restaurant has a large patio and the focus is on Birria. If you’re not familiar, Birria is stewed beef shoulder seasoned with cinnamon, cloves and chili’s, aka adobo, and it usually the plays a main role in a taco, or quesadilla. The restaurant is still trying to get it’s footing, but the food was delicious. A local magazine had an article praising the taqueira and highlighted their bone marrow birria taco, and yes, I ordered it.
The taco was full of deep flavor, rich and very messy. The liquid gold that is bone marrow added a layer of decadence to the taco. The tortillas, freshly made rounded the taco out, and were so good. But the scene stealer is their salsa matcha. More of a chili oil than a salsa, but you guys, it’s everything. I would have taken loads home, but the place is a work in progress, and something as simple as getting more napkins, which is very necessary when eating here, was a challenge. So I left the salsa slash chili oil behind, but I will be back.
We had an impromptu turnaround trip to Vegas. 80’s station, a favorite cover band of ours was finally playing after a long two years. So we made our towards Fremont Street for a Friday night of music.
We had the most delicious monkey bread at a restaurant in the container park. I tried to make it at home and it was a huge fail. This wasn’t a Pillsbury recipe you guys, and I don’t know what their secret is, but I will figure it out, probably going to have to go back a few more times to gather notes.
We ended the night listening to the 80’s station. We don’t need much to have the best time.
It’s here guys, the last year of my 30’s is in affect and it’s gonna be a great one. My birthday week started with lunch on Saturday. Shane took us to Coasterra, Mexican cuisine with ocean front dining. I ordered the tacos and they were really good, I think they gave Puesto’s tacos a run for their money.
Blackened fish, Michoacan pulled pork and crispy shrimp
Averi wasn’t too much of a terror and I was actually able to eat and enjoy myself, the key was taking her there hungry and slowly giving her food to keep her busy.
She is a chips and salsa fan like her sister. It’s amazing that they devour salsa but won’t touch tomato sauce.
It’s a tad overpriced, okay a lot over priced but you are paying for the view and the Chef’s name.
On Monday, I took the girls to Sprinkles to pick out cupcakes after school. They are my all time favorite cupcakes, especially the coconut one, it’s SO delicious.
Kaili chose chocolate and only ate about four bites but managed to totally destroy the entire thing in the process, making sure no one else could eat it.
Kaili had her friend from down the street over for dinner and the girls played while the moms talked and enjoyed some wine. Then bedtime came and things went downhill. I don’t know if it was because Averi was wound up but she cried in her room for two hours, I am not exaggerating. She always goes down without any problems and if she fusses it’s short lived. But last night was something else. So Kaili stayed up with me and ate a second dinner until Averi finally wore herself out. By then, I was ready to eat a cupcake and crawl into bed. The kids were up before 6:30 and just like that, I was another year older.
She is a chips and salsa fan like her sister. It’s amazing that they devour salsa but won’t touch tomato sauce.
The Art of Thyming 