Eating Dallas: Dallas Box Co., Amsterdam Falafel, Dallas Grilled Cheese Co & More

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Dallas Box Co. May Subscription Box

If you are following my instagram, I mentioned about Dallas Box Co and how I would save my review for later since I had a not so good first time experience. I got my second box today and thought of sharing my thoughts.

Dallas Box Co. is a curated box of local Dallas businesses at your door step. Each month they send “exclusive goods, offers, and passes inside each box, as well as invitations to subscriber only events like happy hours and pub crawls” that are all local to Dallas.

I had some issues with my first box- super late delivery, unsealed box, my first email being overlooked (though later I got prompt responses for all my other mails), and non-delivery of certain products which they stated will come free with the box but did not (till date they have not addressed the points I raised regarding the screw up). Putting the last issue aside, I do like the concept of Dallas Box Co. and being new to Dallas, it is a nice way to get to know Dallas and local Dallas vendors. I loved all the products included in my first April Box.

Macarons from Savor Patisserie

Besides local food fare they send coupons to gym memberships, local restaurants and events, though some of the coupons, if I am being honest, feel like a bait. Its still a good deal but some of the coupons do require purchases for you to redeem them.

Having said that, if you want to try out new things each month and don’t mind spending a little extra to make the best use of your box, I would suggest trying out Dallas Box Co. Coupons and passes are a great incentive to visit a place and try their stuff out.

Overall, I think its an excellent idea and I see them getting better with each box. And you do get more than what you pay for. The boxes are priced at $29.95 and the total value of the contents in May’s box is $140 plus. This month’s contents include the following :

  • Two tickets to Nasher Sculpture Centre ($20 value),
  • Single Weekend Pass to Bulladora Music Experience ($99 value)
  • Assorted Macarons Box from Savor Patisserie ($12 value)
  • Evil Cowboy’s Ghost Hot Sauce ($8 on amazon.com)
  • Pickles from T-Rex Pickles

If you are interested in trying Dallas Box Co, they have a promotion going on which give you $5 off your first box by using the code DBCINSTA. You can subscribe here.

Dallas Box Co. May Subscription Box

Since this is my weekly post about all things Dallas (here’s a link to last week’s Eating Dallas post)- Have you made weekend plans yet? Is Taste Addison one of them? There is also the 26th Annual Asian Festival at Fair Park on Saturday, May 14th, in case that’s something you might be interested in. If you want to make the drive to Canton, tomorrow is the second and final day of the Annual Balloon Festival.

We are still unsure which way we are heading, and its going to be a tough decision. If you don’t have any of these on your list, but are looking for places to brunch or eat, here is my round up of some of the places we visited the days that went by (in case you are wondering, the list is not restricted to just last weekend’s food adventures!)

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Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

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New York Cheesecake between two layers of red velvet cake

I am in love with this cake!

Red velvet. Yes.

Cheesecake. Yesss.

Cheesecake sandwiched between two layers of red velvet cake topped with cream cheese frosting. Hell Yesss!!

I made this for the first time almost a year back. As an experiment. I had a small 6 inch red velvet cake left from an order, and while thinking of ways to use it for our personal use, I wondered how a cheesecake layer sandwiched in between two red velvet cakes would taste. Turns out, after a quick google search, I had already been beaten to the idea. Thank You Cheesecake Factory! But that didn’t bother me- because I was going to make AND EAT a red velvet cheesecake cake! Who cares who thought of it first!

New York Cheesecake between two layers of red velvet cake

New York Cheesecake between two layers of red velvet cake

If you love cheesecake and if you love red velvet, you in all likelihood would love this red velvet cheesecake cake. We loved it. My parents and I enjoyed every bite of it. (I need to come up with a better, shorter name though- any suggestions?)

I had baked a New York cheesecake only once before and that was a while back. I could not find the recipe I used, but after going through several recipes I found this one and I knew I would not be disappointed. I was not.

For the red velvet cake I used a recipe I developed after several trials of a recipe I was already using. Red velvet was one of my most popular flavors when I was running TPC and this recipe was made almost every day. I love the moistness that oil gives to a cake, but I also love the taste that butter brings with it. A combination of the two worked well for me and my customers and thats what I use in this recipe.

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Fried Chicken and Country Cooking From a Redneck Kitchen Review

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Juicy crispy Fried Chicken

I recently got my hands on Francine Bryson’s Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen. Francine Bryson has won over 200 local and national baking competitions, and has been the runner-up on CBS The American Baking Competition. She is also the author of the bestselling cookbook Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen (a cookbook I would love to get my hands on).

Francine’s new cookbook is not only a collection of recipes that Francine has created over the years but includes recipes that Francine has collected over the years from her mom, dad, aunts, friends, and especially her nana. This cookbook is full of family secret recipes and as such is old school when it comes to ingredients- there is no skimming on butter, or the use of shortening. Quite a few recipes are picnic style food and not always the healthiest of recipes. It might not be my kind of daily cooking, but the cookbook does have a few treasures and some things I would cook when serving a gathering.

Juicy crispy Fried Chicken

True to its name, Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen is full of classic american food and plenty of southern style cooking. I did have a tough time choosing a recipe though. With me off sugar for a month, I could not pick a recipe from the dessert section, which I think is Francine’s forte. Even though I did not try any recipe from the dessert section I have bookmarked “Aunty Fanny’s Buttermilk Pie”, “Sweet Potato Spice Cake” , ” Strawberry Custard Trifle”, “SchoolYard Peanut Butter bars”, and so many others.  There are a lot of pork and beef recipes too, which I don’t cook at home – there is a squirrel pot pie in the mix too which I found so bizarre. But the cookbook does have an entire chicken section, and that’s where I found today’s recipe for fried chicken. I love good fried chicken, but have never made it at home.

This fried chicken recipe is actually her dad’s and Francine claims its the best fried chicken you will ever eat. I have a hard time with tagging something the best, but it definitely is one of the juiciest fried chicken I have had with a nice crispy skin. Her dad’s secret is to season the chicken and lets it overnight in the fridge. The seasonings penetrate the chicken and keep it moist inside and crisp outside.

I did have some trouble frying- since I dont deep fry stuff often, my deep frying skills are seriously lacking. Instead of a golden crust, I got a darker color, but thankfully I did not dry the chicken.

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