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00:00Here's what's happening on the ranch. I'm sharing a foolproof plan for an impromptu Tex-Mex dinner
00:09party with quick and easy chili orange steak street tacos served on a board with simple
00:15cilantro salsa and a stunning corn and black bean salad with amazing creamy jalapeno lime dressing
00:22as a main course to wow your guests. For dessert, there's a show-stopping shortcut
00:28strawberry tres leches cake and a classic margarita pitcher the perfect cocktail for a spur-of-the-moment
00:35get-together. I've got you covered for last-minute company. We live in the country and through the
00:44years we haven't had a whole lot of last-minute company for dinner but it has happened and truth
00:50be told it used to stress me out a whole lot more than it does now and that's because I have the
00:56perfect menu to throw together for last-minute guests. It's a Tex-Mex inspired dinner. It's full
01:03of shortcuts and standbys and I think you're going to want to make it next time you have people over
01:09for dinner or even just for your family. It's so good. I'm going to start with dessert for this menu I
01:14usually do and I'm making strawberry tres leches cake and of course tres leches cake is my favorite
01:23dessert of all time. I usually make a really nice homemade version but for last-minute guests there's
01:29no time for that so I'm using store-bought frozen pound cake instead of making a cake from scratch.
01:37It's still going to be delicious very sweet and very easy to throw together. So tres leches cake is
01:45three milk cake so the three milks are sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and a little bit
01:53of a curveball strawberry milk. I'm putting about a cup of the strawberry milk in and obviously if you
02:00don't have this you can just use regular milk. All right and I'll whisk this together and I'll also add in
02:07some vanilla bean paste. All right this mixture is looking good. I love that sort of pale pink color
02:17that the strawberry milk added. It's so nice. All right now you take this mixture and I'm going to pour it
02:25over the pound cake. By the way I cut the pound cake in cubes. Usually with tres leches cake it's just a
02:34sponge cake and it's not cut up but I like this little variation. It just kind of changes it up a
02:41little bit and what's going to happen is the pound cake is going to suck in that milk mixture and it's
02:49just going to be absolutely incredible. So before I put this in the fridge I'm going to add a couple of
02:57other things. I've got some strawberry jam and this is just going to kind of drive that strawberry point
03:03home a little bit and you don't want to spread it into a layer. It's kind of nice just to have really
03:09small little gobs of jam. I love the word gob. Nobody uses it anymore. So you don't want to add too much.
03:19This is as you can imagine a very very sweet dessert, very sweet cake. Okay I think that's enough jam
03:27and then as long as we're taking shortcuts here to differentiate it from a regular tres leches cake
03:37I am going to add store-bought frozen whipped topping.
03:44I figure if I'm using a frozen pound cake I might as well just go for it. All right and the reason I'm
03:52using a scoop to kind of distribute the cream is just so I don't add it all in one big dollop and
04:00drag the jam everywhere when I spread it. So it's really soft because I took it out of the freezer and
04:08let it come to room temperature or you can just take it out of the freezer the night before and pop it in
04:14the fridge. This stuff reminds me of my grandma. I used to go to her house and eat that like it was ice
04:21cream. All right spread that out and then I want to decorate the top of the cake but I wanted to also
04:30add flavor so I had some freeze-dried strawberries and I ground them up and then I'm putting them into
04:37this little mesh strainer and look at how pretty that is. I'm just kind of sprinkling it all over the
04:45top. You still want to see a little bit of the whipped cream but I love how pretty this is. Definitely
04:51worthy of last-minute dinner guests. All righty that looks great. Oh my gosh. And now I'm going to
05:00decorate the top with sliced strawberries. Oh this cake looks good enough to eat but I am not going to
05:09do that yet because it needs to soak up all that delicious milk. So I'm going to put this into the
05:15fridge right next to a pitcher of margaritas I'll tell you about later. But first I'm going to make
05:22dinner and for that I need steak. When you have last-minute dinner guests you don't have time to run to
05:30the store and get what you need so you have to throw together dishes from ingredients that you
05:35have on hand. Well that's what I'm doing with chili orange steak street tacos. What a mouthful both the
05:43title and the tacos themselves. They are incredibly tasty. So I pulled a skirt steak out of the fridge
05:51and I just seasoned both sides with salt and pepper and I'm going to make a quick marinade in this plastic
05:57bag. So it's just olive oil and a squeeze of honey. Orange juice. I always have oranges or bottled orange
06:08juice on hand. And then for seasonings some ancho chili powder. Big flavor and it doesn't take any extra
06:17time. Some cumin and then onion powder and garlic powder. So simple. Whenever I marinate
06:27skirt steak I always like to have some kind of citrus. It just kind of seems to add an amazing flavor
06:34and kind of cuts through all the spices really really nice. So to mix the marinade I'm just squishing
06:41it together and then the skirt steak which is very well seasoned with salt and pepper goes right in.
06:50And so the good thing is when it's sort of a last minute dinner that you're throwing together
06:55this doesn't need to marinate for a long time. So I'm going to leave it on the counter and that's
07:01going to accomplish two things. First it's going to marinate the meat and give it flavor. But second
07:07it's going to let the steak come to closer to room temperature before I cook it. So it'll just be
07:12perfect. All right I'm going to let the steak sit and marinate and then I'm going to whip up a salad
07:19to go with it. I'll see you back here for that.
07:21I'm showing you my favorite menu for last minute dinner guests and this salad is seriously a thing
07:32of beauty. I'm making corn and black bean salad and the key is that everything came from my fridge
07:40and pantry. It's stuff that I always have on hand and it is a serious showstopper. I'm going to start
07:46by making a creamy jalapeno lime dressing for the salad and it is so tasty, so zesty. So I've got
07:55some lime juice and I'm going to add some grated jalapeno. I grated it on a little plainer and that
08:04just really broke up the skin and all the parts so that the spice and flavor are really going to shine
08:11through. I zested the limes before I juiced them so putting that in there's a whole lot of lime flavor
08:19in this dressing. Some grated garlic. I'm going to add some salt and pepper and I'm going to add some
08:27crema. This is Mexican crema which is sort of like sour cream but it's a little bit thinner and
08:33it's a little bit thinner and it's a little bit thinner. I'm going to add some chocolate cheese.
08:38It's so nice to have on hand. It makes beautiful dressings. Lots of cilantro, of course.
08:47And then cotija cheese. Now this is something I have in my fridge a lot and the great thing about it is
08:54it has a pretty long shelf life so you could have it in there for a couple of months and it doesn't go
09:00bad so it's really nice. It's kind of like feta cheese but a little bit different and it's going
09:06to be great in this dressing and in the salad itself. Oh my gosh look at this. Wow. I'm going to go ahead
09:14and add the rest of the lime juice just to help thin it out a little bit. All right that came together
09:22nicely. It just pretty much looks like ranch. It's going to be so yummy. So for the salad greens I'm using
09:30chopped romaine lettuce and that's another thing I often have in my pantry. Of course you can use
09:37iceberg or green leaf lettuce, whatever greens you have in your produce drawer. Okay I'm just adding
09:43about half of the dressing first and before I toss it I'm going to throw in a few more things. So canned
09:52black beans. Emphasis on canned because that's something that I always have in my pantry along
10:00with canned fire roasted corn. It's just got a little bit more flavor than regular canned corn. Those little
10:08black bits really add a nice touch. Grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes another thing that is usually in my fridge
10:17and then more cotija cheese. All right and I think I added everything so I'll use the tongs to toss this
10:27together. Oh boy I love this salad because it is a salad but you could also kind of put it in or on your
10:37tacos as well. It's kind of a salad with lots of added benefit. Okay it's pretty much tossed together
10:47so I am going to crush some blue corn tortilla chips right over the top and I'm actually going to toss
10:57these in with the salad. I'm going to add some to the top of the salad after I put it on the platter as
11:03well. So yes I happen to find it perfectly permissible to mix chips in with a salad. Welcome to my world.
11:13Come on in the water's just fine. All right now is a good time to put this salad onto a serving platter.
11:23This one has a nice higher rim so it's kind of like a platter slash bowl. And then I'm going to go
11:31ahead and decorate the top of the salad with more of the same ingredients just so it's really colorful and
11:38pretty and inviting. So more corn and then you get sort of corn that has dressing on it and corn that
11:45doesn't. I love pretty food. I started out as a food blogger and sort of food photographer
11:55and I just think food is the most beautiful thing so I always love to have that pop of color
12:00color especially when companies coming over. All right so I added corn, beans, tomatoes and I'm going
12:07to sprinkle on a little extra cotija cheese. I think you could also just do little drops of extra dressing
12:16if you wanted to. And yes more chips. You could just kind of leave them whole and put them around
12:27the platter or I just really think crushed chips are super fun. So just crush them in your hand.
12:34Love that sound. It's beautiful. I'm so happy with this. So I'm going to park this in the fridge
12:41with the margaritas and the cake. So all that's left is cooking the steak and making a marg.
12:46I love this menu for last minute dinner guests because it's so easy and quick but it's so packed
12:58with flavor. So I just patted the steak dry, took it out of the marinade, patted it dry and then I salted
13:05and peppered both sides again. It's going to be very, very flavorful. And this is going to cook right
13:12on this cast iron griddle and it's going to take about four minutes per side for medium. So I'll let
13:21that go on the first side and I am going to make a very quick salsa. I'm going to chop up some cilantro.
13:29It doesn't even have tomatoes in it which is a little bit unusual for me but it's just the perfect
13:34thing for these really tasty tacos. All tacos are tasty in my opinion. Alrighty so I'll add the cilantro
13:45to a bowl with some very finely chopped onion and sliced Fresno chilies which is going to add
13:55wonderful flavor, great heat and a little bit of color. And then some lime juice,
14:01salt and pepper. I mean it's like I could tie one hand behind my back and make this meal. It's so easy.
14:10And then I'll stir this together. I absolutely love salsa in any form and truly there is no limit to the
14:19different combinations you can make. Let me show you a few of my favorites. This is my quick salsa hall of
14:25fame. First there's my go-to pico de gallo. Everything's chopped and thrown into a bowl.
14:32Four Roma tomatoes, half a white onion, a jalapeno and a tablespoon of cilantro. Then I add the juice of a
14:40lime and half a teaspoon of salt. A quick mix and it's done. It's amazing on turkey taco lettuce wraps.
14:49Amazing with anything in fact. And it's the number one condiment in our family. Then roasted
14:55corn salsa is next level delicious. You just throw half a cup of thawed frozen roasted corn kernels into
15:03a bowl with a quarter cup of diced red onion, a two ounce jar of drained pimento and half a cup of
15:10drained cherry tomatoes. Along with the juice of a lime, a tablespoon of chopped cilantro, a pinch of salt,
15:17then give it a toss. It's fast and flavorful and just look how it makes a quick chicken quinoa bowl
15:24fancy enough for company. I also want to mention quick roasted salsa with roasted tomatoes, chilies
15:31and onions. And a blender chipotle salsa with canned tomatoes and chilies. Both so speedy and versatile.
15:39Then for proof that salsa doesn't have to have tomatoes, there's wonderful watermelon salsa that's
15:45perfect for any party. There's peach salsa where I poured a spicy mix of onions, peppers, chili, garlic,
15:53and lime juice over chopped canned peaches and stirred them into a salsa that's speedy and absolutely
15:59stunning. And there's strawberry salsa. You start with chopped strawberries, add finely diced red pepper,
16:06red onion, jalapeno, some cilantro, a little salt, lime juice, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and mix it
16:15together. Easy. I serve it on grilled chicken tacos with a sprinkling of cotija, lime, and cilantro. And it's
16:23completely unbeatable for last minute company. It's really fun once you kind of get out of the tomato
16:30loop. You can make so many different salsas to go on tacos. I love this one. Look at those colors. It's like
16:37Christmas. I'll tell you what it's like Christmas is this beautiful skirt steak. Look at this. Oh my gosh. Time to
16:46turn it. I love skirt steak. It has so much flavor and it really cooks quickly. And this piece of skirt steak will
16:57easily serve four people once you get all the other taco ingredients going. I always think of skirt steak
17:04for anything that has to do with tacos or quesadillas or nachos. And in fact, those are all great options
17:13for last minute guests. You could make sort of a dinner version of nachos and have this beautiful cooked
17:21skirt steak all chopped up. Put it over the chips and cheese. What a delicious last minute dinner that
17:29would be. Okay. I'm just going to let the steak finish cooking on the second side and then I'll take
17:34it off and let it rest. All right. The steak has finished cooking. So I'm going to get it off the pan
17:44and I'll let it rest on the board for a bit before I pull together the rest of the ingredients for the
17:50tacos and before I show you how to make a margarita. I can't wait for that part.
17:58Okay. I'm almost there with my Tex-Mex last minute dinner. This is the best steak in the world. I sliced
18:08the skirt steak after it rested and then I've been chopping it up into smaller pieces and it is
18:14perfect for tacos. That's exactly what it's going to be for. So I'm going to move all of this
18:19steak over to the serving board and it's kind of between medium and medium rare which I love because
18:29you see a little bit of pink but it's still nice and cooked for whatever your friends preferences might
18:36be. Okay. So now that it's on the board I'm going to add the things that go with the tacos. Really warm
18:42corn tortillas which is my favorite. This really quick salsa with the Fresno chilies and plenty of lime
18:52wedges for squeezing. Looks so good and I'm going to grab the salad. Corn and black bean and tortilla chip salad.
19:03Oh that's so pretty. So this is the main part of the dinner but there's another part I still need to
19:10tell you about and that is the margaritas. Of course the cake is waiting in there too. I want to show you
19:17how to make this margarita mix. It results in the most delicious drinks. It's a classic margarita mix
19:25with two cups of tequila blanco, two cups of lime juice, three-fourths a cup of orange liqueur
19:32and a third a cup of agave for sweetness. I just mixed it together until everything was combined
19:39and put it into the fridge to chill. The margarita mix is complete so all you have to do is add ice
19:47to the pitcher and then I just use the back of a wooden spoon to stir it. When it sits in the fridge
19:55it separates just a little bit so you want to make sure to mix it thoroughly.
20:02Oh that ice sounds nice. Okay and then when you're ready to build the drinks I usually like to add
20:09a few ice cubes to each glass and then just pour it right in. If a little more ice falls in that's
20:20perfect. I'm going to go all the way to the top. Gosh I don't even feel like I have worked hard enough
20:27to have a margarita but I'm going to go ahead and enjoy it. I just put a little slice of lime
20:34in each glass and it's so pretty. By the way I rimmed the glass with sugar instead of salt. Well I hope
20:42you have enjoyed this menu and I hope it inspires you to be all ready for more of those last minute dinner
20:49parties. In the end it's all about friends. And margaritas. Mmm. Ooh. Cheers.
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