Gettin' Our Corned Beef On!

It's almost time for corned beef and cabbage ... now as St. Patrick's Day comes near to us on the calendar, and really anytime of the year. It's always delicious and always a big hit ... day of, and day after! You'll need a big pot of water, lots of pickling spices, a quality cut of corned beef, a bunch of yellow or russet potatoes, an onion or two and time to let it simmer on the range. Here's how we do it:

Corned beef simmering in large pot of water with pickling spices (recipe below).

Add cabbage and potatoes ...

Cabbage, cored and quartered, ready to jump into the pool!

Ingredients

One 4-lb. corned beef brisket, thin cut (get the best you can find)
2-6 tbsp. pickling spices
4-6 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
One large onion, peeled and quartered
One medium head cabbage, cored and cut into 8 quarters

Process

1. Put the corned beef into a large pot and cover with cold water. Add 2 tbsp. pickling spices. Cover and bring to a boil.
2. Skim the gray residue that comes to the top of the pot. Cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. Skim residue. Add 1-2 tbsp. more pickling spices to make up for ones you skimmed away.
3. Cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours on medium heat.
4. Add potatotes, onion, more water (boil it first) to cover corned beef. Adjust spices by adding more if needed. Simmer 30 minutes.
5. Add cabbage and simmer 30 more minutes.

Serve with Irish soda bread and a pint of Guinness! Top of the evening to you, mateys!

Jambalaya! Laissez les bons temps roulez!

Here's an easy and delicious way to celebrate Mardi Gras! We use Zatarain's Jambalaya Mix, to which we add:

• 3-4 thinly sliced chicken breasts (about 1 lb), sautéed until just tender, cut into 2" pieces

• 1/2 to 1 lb. extra-large shrimp, sautéed with garlic and butter (add in last five minutes of cooking)

• 1 lb andouille sausage, sautéed in 1/2 tsp. olive oil until just cooked through and sliced into 1" pieces

Note: Do not overcook any of the additions because they will cook further in the jambalaya mix.

Follow package directions, add the chicken, sausage and shrimp. Serve with a salad.  Ready in 45 minutes or less. 

Laissez les bons temps roulez!

Basic Roast Chicken on a Wintry Night

There's nothing quite like the aroma of a chicken roasting in the oven! 

Here's our can't fail method for a savory chicken.  Best of all, your oven does all the work!

Preheat oven to 375F.

1. Cut a 4 lb chicken into 8 pieces.

2. Put into roasting pan, and sprinkle liberally with herbes de Provence, 

3. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over all.

4. Add a tad French salt (we use fleur de sel) and freshly ground pepper melange, some crushed fresh garlic cloves and a few tablespoons butter cut into small bits. 

5. Roast at 375F for 90 mins, basting half way through. 

Serve with your favorite smashed potatoes and haricots vert.

A made for all seasons dinner, not just for a wintry night. Use any leftovers for your chicken pot pie!

DRY ROASTED RIBS 

Low-carb, almost no sugar

Our recipe for dry roasted ribs is a delicious alternative to slathering sugary, high-calorie, carb-laden sauce. Containing almost no sugar, all you need is an oven set at 300F for four hours, a little water, and the delicious ingredients that are listed below. We serve them with our Poblano Cornbread. This rub works equally well with chicken, just turn up the heat to 375F after 3 hours and roast for another 30 minutes, until brown and crispy.

Preheat oven to 300F

Ingredients

2-4 lb. rack of ribs

1 T high-quality smoky paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 T cumin, or more if desired

1 T ground chili seasoning, or more if desired

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp onion salt

Generous grind 5 pepper medley (Williams Sonoma)

2 T dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt or fleur-de-sel (Williams Sonoma)

Water

Take ribs out of refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature (about 20 minutes).

Mix spices well in bowl, rub generously into both sides of a rack of ribs. Place ribs on a sheet pan that has been fitted with alum foil to catch drippings and place ribs on a wire rack over pan with 1/4 c water beneath rack. Roast in oven 4 hours, turning every 20-30 minutes, replenishing with 1/4 c water as needed.

Here's what they will look like when they are ready. Carve and enjoy!

Curried Lentil Soup with Kielbasa

An oldie but goodie - snow day = soup day!

Enjoy!

We woke to mountains of white billowy drifts of snow this morning, some as high as five feet. Cars and shrubs were covered, and picket fences that yesterday separated us from neighboring yards were blanketed by snow. The landscape was punctuated only by the tiny red bows on our trees, vestiges of holiday color.

After a few hours of clearing and digging out, hot and spicy curried lentil soup seemed the perfect foil to 18 new inches of snow, in what is becoming a record-breaking winter.  This soup is filled with hearty, complex flavor, and its aromas filled the house in late afternoon. 

Ingredients

1 16-oz. bag dried lentils, looked over and rinsed with cold water
8 cups cold water
2 cans beef broth (about 3 cups)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped (including some with celery leaves, minced)
4 large carrots, chopped
1 smoked ham hock
1 bay leaf
1 lb. Polish beef kielbasa, cut in 1/2" "half moons"
4 cloves minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
One package "Tasty Bite" chickpeas (seasoned with cumin and ginger)*

* Available at Costco   (www.costco.com)

To water and beef broth, add lentils, ham hock, vegetables, kielbasa, and all other ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer for 1-1/2 hours, partially covered and stirring every 15-20 minutes.  During last 15 minutes of cooking, stir in chickpeas.

When peas are thoroughly heated, serve with French bread and salad.

Hot and Healthy Turkey Vegetable Soup

All it took was some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and about an hour of time for the inspiration of this amazing turkey soup. It's sweetly simple to make, loaded with flavor, perfect for lunch or a light dinner, serves four generously.

Here's how:

Ingredients

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, chopped (generous 1/2 c.)
3 medium stalks celery with leaves, chopped (generous 1/2 c.)
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 lb. carrots, cut into 1/2" pieces
Approx. 1-2 cups turkey, cut into 1" pieces
Two turkey wings
Bouquet garni made of three sprigs each of fresh parsley, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary
1 can chicken broth
6 c. water
2 cubes chicken boullion
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


Process

1. Sauté onion, garlic, celery and carrots in butter and oil until wilted and soft, but not browned.

2. Add turkey, chicken broth, water and cubes of boullion. Bring to a boil over high heat.

3. Add turkey wings. Skim fat and other residue as soup simmers.
4. Lower heat, simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
5. Serve alone or with hot bread and a salad.

Time to get ready for Thanksgiving!

It's never too early to start planning your Thanksgiving meal.  As always, the turkey -- roasted to a golden brown and stuffed with savory bread and sausage stuffing -- will be the centerpiece of your dinner table.

Next, the all-time, most-requested favorite on our table is our Southern sweet potato and pecan casserole. Both crunchy and smooth, sweet and savory, this casserole can be prepped two days in advance and cooked up in 45 minutes on Thanksgiving Day. Recipes below.

Here's a suggested table setting, with mini pumpkins and Granny Smith apples for color:

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day, filled with good things, loving family and faithful friends.

Grandma's Turkey Stuffing
(For 18 lb. bird)

Ingredients
1 package seasoned bread crumbs for turkey stuffing (Arnold)
1 stick butter
1 to 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 lb. good quality Italian sausage, out of casing
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmegianno Reggiano cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 eggs, slightly beaten with fork
Onion and garlic salt -- approx 1/8 tsp each
1 cup white raisins (optional)

1. Sauté sausage until cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain fat from pan. Set aside.
2. In large deep sauté pan, melt butter and broth. When butter is completely melted, add breadcrumbs, stir to combine until all liquid has been absorbed.
3. Pour breadcrumb mixture into a large deep mixing bowl.
4. Add seasonings, cheese, eggs and spices, mix well to combine.
5. Add sausage. Combine.

Stuff bird, reserving any extra stuffing for casserole to bake separately @ 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

Southern Sweet Potato & Pecan Casserole
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.


Ingredients
For casserole:
6 cups cooked sweet potatoes
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs, beaten with fork
For topping:
2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 cups chopped pecans

Roast sweet potatoes for 40-60 minutes, or until soft. Cool, remove skin, and mash in a large bowl. Combine sweets with next five ingredients. Mix well. Spoon into a lightly-greased 13" x 9" casserole (or oval casserole of similar size).

Reduce oven temperature to 375F degrees.

Combine remaining ingredients, and sprinkle over the top of the sweet potato mixture. Bake @ 375F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Yields 12+ servings.