VIDEO: Recipe for decadent mussels by Dive Coastal Cuisine

The perfect dinner to wrap up the last hot days of summer: mussels made with champagne, chorizo, cilantro, tomato, garlic and served with grilled sourdough. The Executive Chef at Dive Coastal Cuisine shows us how to cook up the decadent dinner yourself!

We also get a peek at some of the other healthy options at Dive. Its one of those restaurants where your satisfaction comes from a full stomach knowing whatever you order here won't run your dreams of a bikini ready body. Happy eating!

Tuesday Toast: Rosemary-Grapefruit Cocktail

Rosemary-Grapefruit Cocktail, the perfect, refreshing summertime cocktail to quench your heat induced thirst. 

Ingredients:

• Rosemary Simple Syrup
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of sugar
• 6 sprigs of rosemary
• Cocktail
• 2 ounces vodka
• ½ ounce rosemary simple syrup
• 4 ounces grapefruit juice
• Sprig of rosemary for garnish

Instructions:

• Simple Syrup: In a small sauce pan over medium low heat, dissolve the sugar into the water for about 5 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil or crystals will form. In a heat safe container, pour the warm sugar water mixture over the rosemary sprigs and let it steep for at least 1 hour. The rosemary simple syrup will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 10 days.
• Cocktail: In tall glass filled with ice combine the vodka, rosemary simple syrup and grapefruit juice. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary. Recipe. 

Cheers. 

VIDEO: Meatballs from scratch at Spezzo

From meatballs to gluten free pizza, Spezzo knows how to serve up Italian food and how to serve it up just right. Your meal will be ready in less than 10 minutes making this a great spot for your lunch break in Plano. They also use local beef in these decadent meatballs along with local sausage and most of their produce, depending on the season, is locally sourced.

Even when these meatballs were just a bowl of smooshy ingredients, I could tell they were going to taste amazing. They smelled herby and in-your-face Italian before they even hit the oven. Watch the video below for the recipe. And those Zucchini Cakes... is it bad that I want to sandwich a Meatball inside two Zucchini Cakes and eat it like an Italian sandwich on steroids? Too far?

Be sure to watch the video below for Spezzo's Meatball recipe:

DFW Restaurant Week: three-course dinner from Del Frisco's Grille

Restaurant week is a great time to try one of the many fabulous restaurants in Dallas for some amazing food, lower prices, and it's all for a good cause. Del Frisco's Grille started their restaurant week early with a two-course lunch for $20 and a three-course dinner for $35 (August 7th- 23rd). That's a really good deal and A LOT of food:

Their Cheese Steak Eggrolls are life changing. If you haven't ever tried these, we can't be friends. You of course must pair your dinner at the Grille with a couple of their trendy cocktails.

My new favorite cocktail in Uptown is their Dutch Mule, a refreshing twist on a Moscow Mule.
For the Dutch Mule recipe, click here.

It is served with a knife, but you won't need it. I coined a new term while eating the rich, over-the-top delicious Prime Beef Short Rib Stroganoff: "fall-aparty." The prime beef is slow cooked for hours to make the tender entree that tops my list of must-eat meals. The Stroganoff is served over Pappardelle Noodles. 

No excuses for no dessert, it's already included in the package. This is the Warm Chocolate Cake served with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Raspberry Sauce. The center of the rich, chocolate-y cake is a gooey, fudgey center. Paired perfectly with the melty ice cream and savory whipped cream. You know I loved it when I add a "Y" to the end of all my adjectives. 

We went home (rolled home would be more accurate) with an entire chocolate cake in a to-go box because we just couldn't eat anymore after that decadent meal that only cost me $35 a person. 

Now it is your turn: click here for a full list of participating restaurants.

Tuesday Toast: The Dutch Mule

Is it Friday yet? To cope, concoct a cocktail for tonight. This recipe is straight from one of my favorite spots in town: Del Frisco's Grille. Has anyone else noticed how 'in' grapefruit juice is right now? This twist on a Moscow Mule is fabulously easy to make, so you get to spend more time drinking it.

The Dutch Mule

Ingredients:

• Nolet’s Silver Gin 1.5 oz.
• Ginger Beer 4.5 oz.
• Garnish - 1 Mint Sprig & 1 Slice of Red Grapefruit for each cocktail
• Directions: Fill wine glass 3/4 full with ice, add gin and ginger beer. Place grapefruit slice into glass and add mint sprig.

I can do that.

Cheers.

VIDEO: Chicken Fried Pride at Cotton Patch Cafe

In case you ever want to know how to make an amazing, delicious chicken fried steak the size of an infant, the executive chef of Cotton Patch Cafe is here to show you how it's done - from scratch. Their chicken fried steak is so out-of-this-world-good, it may be best to just let them do all the work next time you're in need of a calorie-filled comfort meal. Really, there's no point in counting calories on a meal this yummy though.  WATCH THE VIDEO FOR MORE:

Tuesday Toast: Watermelon-Mint Cocktail

Maybe you're in need of a mid-week cocktail hour, maybe its grocery shopping for cocktail hour, I want to make sure you're prepared with the weekly Tuesday Toast. One of my favorite things about summertime?  It's finally watermelon season again. St-Germain had me at hello during Savor Dallas, so let's mix it up with some watermelon for a summertime sipping cocktail.

 

 

A Taste of Summer: 

• 1.5 ounces vodka
• 1 ounce St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 2 ounces watermelon juice (purée 3 slices of watermelon without rind in a blender)
• 5 mint leaves
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• 2 teaspoons of white sugar (or 1/2 ounce agave nectar)
• 1 watermelon slice for garnish
• 1 mint leaf for garnish

• Pour ingredients into shaker with ice, cover, and shake well for 10 seconds. 
• Pour into a tall glass.
• Garnish with watermelon and mint.

Cheers. 

Tuesday Toast: Blackberry Kir Cocktail

Maybe you're in need of a mid-week cocktail hour, maybe it's grocery shopping hour, I want to make sure you're prepared with the weekly Tuesday Toast. This week's recipe will transport you from smoldering Texas summers to breezy French cafes. The first time I sipped on a Blackberry Kir was in Paris, France on my post college graduation backpacking trip through Europe. I had the waitress to detail every ingredient in it so I would be able to recreate it in the states.

Right from the French waitress's mouth: a Blackberry Kir is a combination of sweet-tart blackberry liqueur and the elegant flavor of sparkling rose wine (I've also had it with some plain ol' white wine - still amazing).

•     Pour 2 tsp. black currant liqueur (recommended: Creme de Cassis) into each champagne flute.
•     Muddle blackberries or blend blackberries with the black current liqueur. Add to champagne flute.
•     Top with sparkling rose. 
•     Voilà! One bottle of sparkling rose wine serves six people.

Cheers.