BBQ Review: Soulmans BBQ Rockwall

it is summer and in the world of guitar teaching summer means unusually large breaks in your normal schedule. today is one of those days and I have decided to come to Soulmans. it is a thurs afternoon and as i sit here and type, the rangers are taking on the hated orange county angels or whatever they are called. so far rangers down one. this is not my first time to come here, it happens to be the closest BBQ spot to the shop where i teach.

the thing about BBQ joints is that they always seem to reflect the down home values of the communities they reside in. when i go to south dallas it is always down home black people and when i go to rockwall, mesquite, and forney, in places like these, it is always down home white folk. Soulmans in rockwall is no exception. It is very monochromatic here.  but the key link is the down home factor.  there is something about BBQ that harkens back to a slower simpler time that connects us with our shared past no matter what color you are. but I digress.....

to the meal:


i got the 4 rib plate w/ mac and cheese, and beans. first of all the ribs, these were the best ribs i have ever had at Soulmans. it kinda makes me mad they have been holding out. usually they are a bit in the tough side, but today they were as tender as you could wish a rib to be. their ribs always seem a bit under seasoned to me and today that was still true, but the sweet texas BBQ sauce more than makes up for it. the beans were wonderful. with onions and jalapeños they were doctored up just the way i like. the mac and cheese on the other hand were over cooked and was under seasoned. i shoulda had the fried okra, always get the okra. lastly, Texas Toast, it is to BBQ what tortilla chips and salsa is to Tex-Mex. you gotta have a good piece of bread to sop up the sauce. this texas toast was perfect. 

all in all, i give Soulmans Rockwall a solid B. the ribs were great but they haven't always been so i need a few more good experiences before i believe it's real. the mac and cheese was also lacking, that is always disappointing. i hate ending on a sour note so I will finish by saying that Soulmans is solid BBQ not the best, but better than average.

warm tomato and spinach salad

i used to work at a restaurant that had a fantastic tomato and spinach salad on the menu. tis the season for tomatoes at the farmers market, so i thought i'd try my hand at deconstructing it. so without further ado:

first off, don't fret that this is "warm". its 99 degrees right now in Dallas, and I realize that warm salad sounds a little, well, awful. i assure you, this is ridiculously good, and your friends, especially the ones "allergic" to salad will dig it. plus its more like room temperature.

here is what you need:

2 tbs of olive oil
4 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs honey
2 tomatoes quartered, then quartered again
3 cups of fresh spinach rinsed
1/4 cup chopped red onion (chopped thinly lengthwise)
4 oz goat cheese
1/4 praline pecans (i buy these in the nut section, i like caramelized or sugared, but plain works too)

first off you want to chop everything up. be sure to slice the onion pretty thin, and set aside.

next we make the dressing. add your olive oil, balsamic, and honey to a medium ceramic or microwave bowl and whisk to incorporate.

add chopped tomato and onion  to the bowl, toss in the dressing and set aside.

rinse and drain the spinach. you can use a salad spinner if you have one, or if you are really lazy like me, buy the hermetically sealed triple washed variety in the plastic container which doesn't require rinsing.

next place the bowl with tomatoes and onions in the microwave on high for about a minute and a half to. by marinating the onions a bit and warming them up, you reduce them slightly, making them sweeter and  less pungent.

transfer the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and toss with spinach. add in the pecans and goat cheese. note the goat cheese is really soft so the best thing to do is take a spoon and drop several dollops into the bowl. the goat cheese does the wonderful melting thing that makes the dressing impossibly delicious.

mix gently and plate up.garnish with fresh cracked pepper. super easy, super good and a great way to get your popeye on.

risotto is for lovers

oh risotto, how i love thee. think of risotto as the super versatile, super yummy and rich italian mac and cheese. its delicious by itself or can be dressed up with whatever you have on hand: tomato and basil, asparagus and pancetta, mushrooms and truffle oil the possibilities are actually endless. the beauty of risotto is that it goes with anything; it the new black, and its really really good.

here is what you gotta have:

3 tbs olive oil
1 cup risotto rice (note: this is expensive at whole foods. i buy mine at wally world, or fiesta)
32 oz chicken stock or veggie stock
1/4 cup white or yellow onion minced ( i prefer the sweet varieties)
4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
8-10 oz dry white wine
6-8 oz of shredded parmesean cheese

other ingredients:

1 package of cherry tomatoes
1 bunch fresh basil leaves

who's ready to cook?

heat the olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan on about medium heat. add in the onion and garlic and let soften for 5-10mins stirring frequently. be sure that the garlic and onions do not brown.

next pour in the risotto and stir frequently for another 8 mins or so until the risotto becomes slightly transparent.

in a separate saucepan, on medium heat, pour in the chicken or vegetable stock.

next pour the wine into the risotto pan and continue to stir as the alcohol cooks off. ladle in a few ladles of the stock to the risotto. keep stirring. the risotto will keep slowly absorbing the stock. keep adding a stirring.

in a saute pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and heat to medium heat. add the tomatoes and basil. add a pinch of salt and pepper and saute until the tomatoes are tender. put aside.

once all the stock has been soaked up by the risotto it is ready. you are aiming for a slightly al dente but soft consistency.

add in the the parmesan cheese, tomatoes and basil and salt to taste. top off with a little parmesan, pepper, basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

enjoy.

scampi

one of our favorite recipes is also one of the easiest. I almost hate to share this since i've been using it to impress family and friends for years now.

for he best scampi the key is to get the right shrimp. I like tail on peeled and deveined, but tail off is fine too. just be sure that the shrimp have been properly cleaned.

for this recipe you'll need the following:

half a box of linguine
one pound of shrimp
two lemons
four cloves garlic minced
olive oil
butter
red pepper flakes to taste
parsley for garnish
1 tsp lemon zest
salt and peppa to taste

boil 2 quarts of water for the pasta

juice two lemons and strain out the seeds.

in a large saute pan add 4tbs of olive oil and 1 tbs butter and bring to medium heat. add garlic and saute for about a minute.

add the shrimp and cook until pink all over. add lemon juice, zest and red pepper flakes and remove from heat.

when pasta is done strain and toss with shrimp mixture. add chopped parsley and sliced lemon for garnish and serve.

voila, a delicious easy dinner in 15 mins that everyone will be impressed by.. enjoy:)

Mama Fayes Deep Ellum

It is a hot summer Thursday afternoon in Dallas. My stomach has hot wired my brain and all I can think of is ribs. As I am driving up commerce street through deep ellum I spy Mama Fayes BBQ on my left, I quickly pull over and decide that I need to try the ribs at this place.

As a walk up to the door I see three city construction workers sitting on the patio waiting on some BBQ. I take that as a good sign.  You can always trust that city employees know where to get the good food. Inside the space is stark and devoid of any pretense aside from a trendy mural on the back wall that seems a tad out of place with the bare bones (pun totally intended) nature of the rest of the space. There are three women manning the store and they all seem very serious about their BBQ. To my left there is an empty bar that I am sure would have been stocked if Mama Fayes had the scratch for a liquor licence. I am glad they don't though because in lieu of beer there is a TV behind the "bar" that is tuned to General Hospital, it is 2:30 after all. Which brings me to my point about Mama Fayes, it has the feel of going to your aunts house for BBQ which is the vibe I look for in all my favorite BBQ restaurants. It is a feel you can't replicate outside of a family run restaurant, no matter how much Blues memorabilia and kitschy nostalgic nonsense you plaster on the walls.  Red, Hot, and Blue I am looking in your general direction. So Mama Fayes passes my vibe test, but how is the food? I would rate it as good, even better than average but notgreat. Here is why, the sides. 

As far as the meat is concerned I have no complaints. My short ribs were smoked just right and the hot BBQ sauce was most defiantly hot but not so hot you couldn't taste anything else. A+ on the meat, but my baked beans where just OK and the potato salad seemed like just mashed potatoes with some mustard stirred in. That said I would give Mama Fayes a low A overall for solid BBQ ribs and points for "keep'n it real" in the price and trendiness departments. All in all I could see myself coming back to pick up just their meat for my next picnic or game day feast for sure

a little comfort food

is there anything that says comfort food like homemade tomato sauce? we started making home made tomato sauce before we got married as a cost cutting measure and have kept it up for the the taste and control that making our own sauce affords us. here is how we do it.

stuff you have to chop:

one large sweet onion, any onion will work we just happen to like sweet yellow texas onions

4 to 8 cloves of garlic depending on your affinity for garlic, as far as erin and i are concerned you can never have too much

one medium to large carrot grated, this is the secret ingredient, the carrot counters the acidity of the tomatoes and evens out the sauce with a hint of sweetness.

spices:

1 tbs of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1 tbs of dried oregano
1 tbs of dried thyme
red pepper flakes to taste

the last ingredient is of course the tomatoes. you need two 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes.

erin and i have one piece of specialty equipment we use called a food mill it's a medieval cousin of the food processor. we use the food mill get an even consistency with our sauce, if you don't have a food mill you could use a food processor or a blender just make sure the sauce is cool before blending or you could burn yourself. or, if you like chunky sauce you can just skip the food mill step all together.

all right let's cook:

1) chop up your onions and garlic, and grate your carrot

2) heat a 1/4 cup of olive oil in a pot on medium heat and add you onions, salt and pepper to saute

3) once the onions have been cooking for a min or two add the garlic, oregano, and thyme make sure to stir consistently or else your sauce base WILL burn.

4) after about 5 mins add the carrots and keep stirring for another 4 to 5 mins.

5) now you add the canned crushed tomatoes. Stir to mix the ingredients and allow the sauce to simmer for a least 20 mins. Stirring occasionally.

6) at this point our sauce is done cooking. if you like your sauce chunky you are finished just transfer the sauce to some jars and store in the fridge. however, for us that are picky about our tomato sauce consistency, this where our food mill/food processor/blends come in.

7) after the sauce has cooled transfer your sauce to the processor of your choice and blend till the constancy is like the sauce you get at the store.

after this is done transfer to your preferred storage device and and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, although we have never had it last that long as it is way too good.

We keep our sauce in used claussen pickle jars. this recipe yields 3 pickle jars worth of sauce. we use this stuff for everything from pasta and pizza sauce, to bases for slow cooker meals, and sometimes we will just eat it out of the jar, it is that good we swear.

happy cooking

jack and erin
the foodliweds