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!