Mom's BBQ Brisket

I'm originally from the Kansas City area and if there is one thing I really miss (other than my family of course) it's the good barbecue. Growing up my mom always made a really good and tender BBQ brisket, it's great for feeding a group and seemed to be what we would always have when we had company over. It has to cook awhile but it's very hands off, freeing you up to cook the sides or do some last minute cleaning. Just like my mom, I love making and enjoying this meal with friends, or it works  if I just want to cook once and have food for the two of us for an entire week. You can eat the brisket on it's own or make a sandwich out of the meat.

My mom decided to prepare a brisket before driving down from New Jersey to Lake Norman on our vacation last week. It worked out perfect because the last thing any of us wanted to do after flying or driving down and getting settled into the house was cook. It freed us up to go out on the boat and still have a delicious dinner prepared. We had the brisket with these easy grilled polenta cakes and grilled asparagus. Keep reading for my mom's Kansas City BBQ Brisket recipe.

Spinach, Mushroom, & Onion Frittata

Happy Friday! I thought I would leave you with something you could whip up for brunch this weekend. As I mentioned in this veggie egg scramble post, I think breakfast is a great way to fit vegetables into your diet as well as use up some extra veggies you have on hand. That is what I did with this frittata that I made at the lake this past week. I used spinach, mushroom, onion, and pepper jack cheese to give it a little kick. I used a dozen eggs since I was feeding 8 people, it was enough for everyone with a couple leftover slices. You can easily scale this down to 3-4 eggs (which is what I normally do). Just like any omelette or egg scramble you can use any variety of vegetables and/or meat that sound good to you.  The recipe is below and have a nice weekend!

Grilled Polenta Cakes

I made these grilled polenta cakes while on vacation, and for most of the group it was their first time trying polenta. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, hopefully they weren't just being nice and they really did! We had it along with some of my mom's famous brisket (I'll be posting that recipe at some point) and grilled asparagus. It was fun playing on a real grill all week as opposed to my grill pan indoors. These were really easy and I'll be making them, or another variation again soon, since I already bought a tube of polenta at the store today. Keep reading for this easy recipe that works as an appetizer or a side dish.

We're On Vacation!

We're on vacation with my family at Lake Norman in North Carolina and we're having a blast skiing/wakeboarding, playing on the water, and relaxing.

And we're of course grilling and cooking up the good food below.

Asian Cajun Scallops

More seafood! This time it was sea scallops, which are great for a weeknight dinner since they cook so quickly. A lot of scallop recipes call for a butter sauce, but since we had a butter sauce the night before I thought it was best to opt for something different. I decided use some of my beloved Sriracha sauce, since I can't get enough spicy food. I'll warn you now, these are spicy, so reduce the Sriracha if you can't handle the heat.

One tip I have when cooking scallops is to have all of your side dishes ready when when you are going to throw the scallops in the pan since they cook up so quickly and you do not want overcook them, they become too chewy. Slightly under cooked scallops are better than over done scallops. Once the outside turns opaque it usually only takes a few more minutes to cook them, but feel free to cut one open if you are nervous about having them turn out too under cooked. Keep reading for the recipe.