The Vitals: the recipe: Traeger Baby Back Ribs Vol. 1 + 2 the smoker: Traeger Ironwood 885 the time: Vol 1: 3+ hours Vol 2: 7.5 hours the full nelson: A masterpiece is a work in progress but my belly is motivated for the finish line Ok everybody, so you probably know I recently got a Traeger grill. Since moving to Austin, the land of smoked meats, my backyard grilling escapades have been exclusively an open fire affair where I ...

Pumpkin Seed Pesto Recipe When we discovered our son had a peanut allergy, my view of food was forever altered. My old man was a doctor, so I had some knowledge of nutrition, the foods to eat regularly, and those foods to eat sparingly. Yeah, you probably imagine my fondness for the latter. But, food allergies? That is a whole other ball game. No wiggle room there. None at all. With my kid allergic to peanuts, walnuts and pecans, our ...

5 kid friendly recipes for Father’s Day  Father’s Day is that day for Dad to be spoiled, preferably by his own brood. Here are 5 kid friendly recipes to do just that for all ages with appropriate adult supervision as needed.

Eid Holiday Dinner recipe The word “Eid” is derived from the Arabic word feast and is a celebration to the end of a month long dawn to sunset fast. The Eid Holiday Dinner is in reality many meals served throughout the day. My memories of the holiday growing up consisted of visiting home after home and hitting up a spread of edible delights. In my 20, though I didn’t partake in the fasting, when I would pop over to my ...

Ultimate Breakfast Salsa recipe Breakfast salsa is my bold declaration that salsa just ain’t for tacos. The tastiest healthy sauce ever does wonders on eggs. It was a culinary epiphany I didn’t make until a trip to Mexico in my 20s and soon discovered that any request for hot sauce, even on a very gringo plate of bacon, eggs and toast, would be met with a bowl of salsa. And I have been reaching for salsa at breakfast ever since. ...

Tomato Arbol Salsa recipe Tomato Arbol salsa is that red salsa sitting at the far end of the salsa bar that screams spicy. A simple blend of tomato, onion and fiery Arbol chile peppers come together to give you the red kick that is so essential to a steak taco. It seems so simple but believe me it will give your taco night a swift kick of heat.

Jalapeño Serrano salsa recipe Jalapeño Serrano salsa found me a couple years ago when shooting the pilot for Cheap Eats. At a taqueria in Minneapolis, this creamy green salsa was served over Al Pastor tacos. It was powerfully spicy and instantly addicting; a salsa like no other I had never come across before. Then I moved to Austin and the stuff was everywhere. Commonly referred to as Salsa Doña because it is a fixture at Austin’s Tacodeli, this green salsa ...

Brisket Pho: the greatest leftover recipe hack ever It doesn’t get any simpler. Boiling water. Leftover brisket. Instant Pho. And it is so incredibly delicious. To my peeps in San Antonio, you might have caught the episode of me making this Brisket Pho on the show Texas Eats with David Elder. And if you didn’t, not to worry, this is as easy as it gets.

Ultimate Steak Taco Recipe If you haven’t seen it yet, head over to Variety.com and watch the Ultimate Steak Taco recipe video here. I was flattered and pumped when they asked me to participate in their Binging Bites series and I can’t think of a better go to recipe to share than this Ultimate Steak Taco recipe. This should be the last Carne Asada, or should I say Khané Asada recipe you will ever need to search for. Let’s hit it.

Warm Lentil Salad: a BBQ leftovers recipe hack  My favorite part about the Austin barbecue experience is over ordering. When you order meats by the pound, a quarter pound sounds kinda minuscule right? And a pound of brisket per person is clearly reasonable. It is that kind of thinking that brings butcher wrapped leftovers to my fridge. Don’t weep too hard for me. Now one can easily reheat that barbecue in a cast iron skillet or low and slow in ...