Watch how a little marinade in the morning means dinner is almost done

Cup of Content

Courtesy photo

Looking for ways to trim time off dinner prep? In this episode of Cup of Content — a video series chock full of cooking tidbits — host Roni Proter admits to using bottled marinade.

She marinates chicken in the morning, before she starts her day, so there is less to do come dinnertime. She begins by trimming raw chicken breasts (or thighs) of fat, then places them in a bowl.

She pours on a few “glugs” of bottled marinade — she likes Kikoman teriyaki — then pierces the chicken with a fork so it absorbs lots of flavor.

Then she covers the bowl, places it in the fridge, and lets it sit until she’s ready to cook. “When I get home, all I have to do is put the chicken in a hot grill pan on each side for a few minutes, and dinner is practically done,” she says.

For more helpful videos, watch previous episodes of Cup of Content or Proter’s other series, Dinner Reinvented.

---

Want more great stories like these delivered to your inbox daily? Then sign up for our emails.

Using a bottled marinade saves precious time.

Courtesy photo

Using a bottled marinade saves precious time.

Courtesy photo

Learn fool-proof techniques for chopping fresh herbs

Cup of Content

Fresh herbs enliven any dish, whether freshly prepared or leftovers from last night’s dinner. The latter is how Roni Proter likes to use them, and in this installment of Cup of Content, she shows you how to properly clean and chop them.

She starts by rinsing them gently and patting them dry with a towel. (Wet herbs are much harder to chop.) Then she demonstrates two techniques.

The first works for dill, parsley, rosemary, and thyme — essentially anything with small or stiff leaves. Gather them in a pile, then rock the knife back and forth while keeping the tip on the cutting board.

For herbs such as basil and mint, Proter likes to stack the leaves on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, and slice thinly across.

Want more videos like these? Then watch previous episodes of Cup of Content or Proter’s other series, Dinner Reinvented.

---

Want more great stories like these delivered to your inbox daily? Then sign up for our emails.

iStock

A little chicken prep goes a long way in the kitchen at mealtime

Cup of Content

Cooking meat can be the most time-consuming part of preparing dinner. But it doesn’t have to be. In this episode of Cup of Content, host Roni Proter explains how she trims valuable time off meal prep with a few slices of a knife and a little plastic wrap.

By cutting and pounding chicken breasts in advance, the smaller, thinner cutlets are ready to use any time she needs them — and for any recipe that calls for them.

First she removes the fat, then slices the breast in half diagonally. After covering the chicken with plastic wrap while still on the cutting board, she pounds it thin.

She recommends dredging the chicken pieces in a favorite coating, or just wrapping them up tight in plastic and freezing as is. Then there is meat at the ready for the next time you need to cook a meal for the family. The smaller, thinner pieces thaw more quickly than the whole chicken breast, saving you precious time in the kitchen.

To see all of the steps, watch the video.

Courtesy photo

Oft-ignored vegetable part becomes nutritious snack in this cooking trick

Cup of Content

A mom's job gets harder around dinnertime, especially when she's cooking. Not only does she want to make healthy choices, but she also needs to keep the kids' stomachs from grumbling while she's making a meal.

Roni Proter, who created Dinner Reinvented after she discovered the challenges of preparing dinner as a busy working mother, is full of good advice. In this episode of Cup of Content, she shares a dinnertime trick she learned from her own mother.

When the meal includes broccoli — perhaps in the form of steamed florets side dish — she turns the oft-overlooked broccoli stalk into a nutritious pre-dinner snack for her kids.

The stalk has a milder flavor than the crown, and cutting up the stalk for snacking means you don't waste any bit of the vegetable. Just remove the tough exterior with a peeler, cut it into sticks, and serve.

Want more videos like these? Learn how to make a 60-second breakfast sandwich, easy roasted vegetables, or a faster-than-pasta side dish.

---

Want more great stories like these delivered to your inbox daily? Then sign up for our emails.

iStock

Whip up this side dish instead of pasta for easy weekday dinners

Cup of Content

In this episode of Cup of Content, host Roni Proter shares her go-to side dish: couscous. When a busy mom has to keep an eye on the kids while cooking, pasta may take too long to prepare.

Quick-cooking couscous works wonders for weekday dinners when you want another kind of "starchy" side. Proter likes to boil two cups of water in her electric kettle, then pour it over one cup of couscous she has waiting in a bowl.

Stir in the water with a pinch of salt, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for five minutes before forking and serving. What could be simpler? And it's only 10 minutes from start to finish.

If only raising kids were that easy.

---

Want more great stories like these delivered to your inbox daily? Then sign up for our emails.

Ad Placement 300x100

Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

'Yellowstone' stars to greet fans at Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Yellowstone news

Yellowstone fans, get your comfy shoes ready - there'll be a long line for this one. Cole Hauser a.k.a. "Rip Wheeler" on Yellowstone, and Taylor Sheridan, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director of the series, will meet fans and sign autographs at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

The event will take place from 4:30-6:30 pm only on Friday, February 3. Location is the 6666 Ranch booth near the south end of Aisle 700 in the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall.

According to a February 2 announcement from FWSSR, "fans will have the opportunity to snag an autograph as well as purchase some distinctive Yellowstone and 6666 Ranch merchandise while also enjoying all the features the Stock Show offers."

The event is free to attend (with paid Stock Show admission) and open to the public.

It's the second year in a row for Hauser to appear at FWSSR; in 2022, he and fellow cast mates drew huge crowds.

Sheridan, a Paschal High School graduate, is no stranger to Fort Worth; he lives in a ranch near Weatherford and filmed 1883, the prequel to Yellowstone, in and around Fort Worth. Currently, another spinoff, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, is filming in North Texas.

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is winding up its 2023 run on Saturday, February 4.

These are the 7 best food and drink events in Fort Worth this week

This week in gluttony

A summer heatwave is approaching, and this week’s events offer tasty ways to cool off. Sip and shop a summer vendor market inside a favorite brewery. Sweat it out during a mid-week 5K that comes with light beer and apps. Spend Saturday drinking pink or sampling a mustard-flavored beer. Then pair a good book with beverages and bites during a restaurant and café’s monthly book club meeting.

Tuesday, June 6

Sonoma Summer Wine Dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill
The Italian restaurant chain will welcome diners from all over DFW for a four-course summer wine dinner at all locations, including Hurst. Guests will get wines from well-known labels like La Crema, Mark West, Josh, and Kendall Jackson paired with crab and artichoke salad, linguine with crushed tomatoes and grilled chicken, Tuscan-grilled sirloin, and butter cake with berries. The dinner is $55 and begins at 6:30 pm.

Wednesday, June 7

Vendor Market at Rahr & Sons Brewing Co.
Sip and shop inside the brewery during this summer vendor market. Admission is $20 and includes a souvenir glass, three beers, and a half pour of a specialty beer, too. There’ll be more than 20 local vendors along with food trucks and live music. The market will run from 5-9 pm.

Global Running Day with Eight Elite Light Lager at Flying Saucer
Get in a mid-week 5K that will begin and end at Flying Saucer downtown. The social run/walk coincides with Global Running Day and commences with an afterparty back at the Saucer. The $20 registration fee includes complimentary appetizers and two drafts of Troy Aikman's Eight Elite Light Lager. Check-in begins at 5:30 pm and the run starts at 6:30 pm.

Saturday, June 10

Rosé All Day Brunch at B&B Butchers & Restaurant
The steakhouse acknowledges "National Rosé Day" with a fancy brunch. Wear your rose-colored glasses, listen to a live DJ, and drink pink with a tasting of four Château d'Esclans rosés for $30. (B&B’s regular brunch menu will also be available.) Those who purchase the rosé tasting will be entered to win a three-liter magnum of Whispering Angel rosé. Reservations are available between 11 am-1:30 pm.

Glizzy Fest at Martin House Brewing
Martin House Brewing and Fletcher's Corny Dogs team up for Glizzy Fest, featuring corny dogs, hot dogs, State Fair treats, beers and seltzers, live music, vendors, and more. They'll debut a special new mustard beer, and a corny dog-eating contest will begin at 2:30 pm. The event runs 12-5 pm and is open to all ages (non-drinkers get in free). A $15 ticket includes four beers and a souvenir pint glass.

Stop & Smell the Rosé Tasting at WineHaus
Sips shades of pink from all over the world during this rosé tasting at WineHaus. The $25 price includes six wines. The tasting will be available anytime between 5-7 pm.

Sunday, June 11

Funky Gets Wild: Book Club at Funky Picnic Brewery & Café
Pair books with bites during Funky Picnic’s new monthly book club, which currently focuses on outdoor and adventure-themed titles. Guests will get happy hour pricing on beer, wine, signature cocktails, and appetizers. The Sunday brunch and regular dining menu will also be available. This month’s book is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The book club will meet from 3-4:30 pm.

Concerts in the Garden drones light up this week's 5 hottest Fort Worth headlines

This week's hot headlines

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. Fort Worth Symphony launches summer concerts with sparkly extra: drones. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra returned with its annual summer concert series, Concerts in The Garden, featuring 11 concerts taking place at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, starting May 26 and running through June 11. And the coolest part of the 2023 series might be the light show: For the first time, they're replacing old-school fireworks with the use of cutting-edge drones.

2. Openings and closings head up this Fort Worth restaurant news roundup. This roundup of dining news around Fort Worth has an opening, a closing, a gofundme campaign, and loads of new menus for summer. Here's what's happening in Fort Worth restaurant news.

3. Decadent desserts in jars from celebrity Top Chef roll in to Fort Worth. Desserts in jars from a celebrity chef are coming to Fort Worth: Jars by Fabio Viviani, a fast-casual dessert brand serving popular desserts in jars, is opening a location in the Trinity Commons/Tom Thumb center, at 3000 S. Hulen St. #150. It'll open in late 2023.

4. 3 Dallas-Fort Worth entrepreneurs rank among Forbes' richest self-made women for 2023. Twelve of the country's 100 most successful female entrepreneurs live in Texas this year, and three of them call Dallas-Fort Worth home. So says Forbes in its 2023 list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, released June 1.

5. 5 tips for stunning beach sand sculptures from 2023 Texas SandFest winners. “Playing” in the sand on the beach isn’t just an activity for children, as proven by the 22 professional sand sculptors from around the world who recently competed in the 26th annual Texas SandFest. Here are five of the pros' top tips for producing a beachfront masterpiece.

View All Listings