Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

We celebrated our St. Patrick's Day a bit early this year.  A family get together on Sunday was a great way to share my love of the traditional holiday meal of Corned Beef & Cabbage.  Below you will find my recipe for Corned Beef, which is something that is made year round in our home.  And, a new recipe that I developed this year, for a green punch.


Corned Beef with Potatoes & Cabbage
4 lbs Corned Beef Brisket
8-10 C Water*
Seasoning packet  (packaged seperately from the corned beef)
6 Beef Bouillion Cubes
4 Whole Cloves
2 Tbsp. Worchestershire Sauce
8-10 Medium Potatoes, cut in half  (Reds, & Golden Yukons work best)
1 Lg Head of Green Cabbage, cut into 8th's

In large pot, place brisket in bottom, & cover with at least 8 C water.  Bring the water up to a boil, skim the surface removing any foam.  Add in seasoning packet, bouillion cubes, cloves, & worchestershire.  Turn heat to medium, cover with a lid, & let simmer 2 - 2 1/2 hours. 
Add in potatoes, cover with lid, & let boil 20 minutes, check for doneness. Continue to boil if potatoes are still under cooked, but don't exceed 30 minutes. 
Remove potatoes & corned beef from pot, & place on a platter, keeping everything warm in a 200 degree oven. 
Add cabbage wedges to boiled water, cover with lid, & let cook 5-8 minutes. 
Slice brisket against the grain & serve everything piping hot!

*If your cooking corned beef that is over 4 lbs, use more water when boiling*



Green Punch
2, 2 Liters Sprite, or 7up (Diet also works well)
4 Cans Frozen Limeade
1 Liter Mountain Dew
5-6 Drops Green Food Dye
Lime Slices

Combine sprite, limeade, mt. dew, & green food dye in a large pot.  Keep chilled.  When ready to serve, pour into glasses with some ice & a couple of lime slices.

Our platter of Corned beef, potatoes, & cabbage.   And a nice big glass of green punch!

Cheesy Polenta with Tomato Chile Sauce

Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!

While attending Culinary School, I purchased a lot of cook books which most of them I have gotten rid of due to lack of interest.  During the school year, there were intensive weekend courses that I would attend, they would last 4 weeks, at 6 hrs each Saturday, & would encompass the same work load as a full semester course.  One of my favorites was a Healthy Cooking class aimed at tasty dishes that were healthier than their traditional recipes.

My favorite recipe in the book was a dish that included beef tenderloin set atop cheesy polenta, & garnished with chile sauce.  I modified the recipe a bit to use some leftover pulled pork & tamed the heat of the sauce by omitting the cayenne powder. 


Polenta
4 C Chicken broth or stock
6 oz. Yellow Cornmeal
1/4 C Grated Parmesan (I used a blend of parmesan & cheddar) + more for garnish
2 tsp. Salt

Heat broth/stock to a simmer in medium saucepan.  Gradually pour cornmeal into broth, while stirring constantly to avoid clumps.  Cook over low heat, stirring nearly constantly, with a wooden spoon, until the polenta pulls away from the sides of the pan, approx. 25 minutes. 

Remove from heat, stir in cheese & salt.

Brush sides & bottom of 9x9 pan with water & add polenta to pan.  Spread evenly, cool, & cover with plastic until ready to serve. 

The first picture shows the cornmeal just added to the chicken broth/stock.  The next picture shows the finished product after it has cooked 25 minutes & all of the liquid is absorbed.

The Polenta is spread in a 9x9 pan.  You can use a 9x13 pan for smaller slices of polenta. 

Tomato Chile Sauce
2 Tbsp. Oil
2 Tbsp. Onion - chopped fine
3 oz. Tomato Paste (half of a small can)
2 tsp. Garlic - minced fine
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
2 tsp. White wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. Chile Powder
1 C Chicken broth or stock
3/4 C Beef broth or stock

Heat oil in a small pan over medium, add in the onion & saute until translucent.  Add in tomato paste & cook until rusty colored (don't burn!).  Add in the garlic, brown sugar, vinegar, chile powder, & chicken broth/stock. 

Bring sauce to a simmer, let cook 20 minutes, don't forget to stir!  Once thickened, add in beef broth/stock & let simmer an additional 10 minutes.  At this point, you can puree the sauce if desired. 


For Color:
1/2 Red Pepper - sliced thin
1/2 C Zucchini - sliced thin
1/2 C Yellow Squash - sliced thin
1 tsp. Salt

Saute pepper, zucchini, & squash in a small amount of oil until cooked through, sprinkle salt to finish.  *This was omitted in this preparation of the recipe due to not having any of these items, they are a great color addition to the dish and complement the flavors.*


To assemble I cut rounds of Polenta, use a large cookie cutter, top with a small amount of additional parmesan & cheddar mix, set under low broiler just until cheese melts (you could also melt in microwave in 15-20 seconds).  Place a small amount of tomato chile sauce on the plate, top with the cheesy polenta, add on the shredded pork (or Beef Tenderloin), sauteed veggies, & garnish the top with more tomato chile sauce.   

Versatile Hoagie Rolls

I love buying products that can be used multiple ways!  We purchase packs of hoagie rolls at Costco, you get 3, 6 packs for less than $2.00 a pack. They freeze easily and quickly thaw when needed.  Here are some of the ways I use hoagie rolls.

Meatball sandwich: meatballs, marinara sauce, & parmesan cheese on a warm hoagie.

Toasted chili & cheese: chili, & cheese on a toasted hoagie (you could add a hotdog too!).

Garlic bread: butter & garlic parmesan mix slathered on a hoagie & brown using broiler.

French Dip sandwich: roast beef on a toasted hoagie, with a side of au jus. 

Do you have any tasty recipes using hoagie rolls? Shoot me an email & I'll be sure to try them out :-)

French Dip Sandwiches

    To make French Dip sandwiches you will need:

3 oz Roast Beef per sandwich (I prefer presliced sandwich meat)

3 C Au Jus Sauce

Hoagie Rolls

1 Tbsp Butter per Hoagie Roll

Heat oven to 400 Degrees.  In an oven proof dish add in au jus and roast beef.  Warm in oven 10-15 minutes until hot. 

In the meantime; toast the hoagie roll, cut side down, on a small pat of butter, in a saute pan until golden brown. 

Remove roast beef from au jus, place on toasted hoagie rolls.  Serve au jus warm on the side.

Lumpia

I purchased a pack of Lumpia wrappers a week ago and figured out that it was time to try them out.  I've never used them before but I have had Lumpia several years ago, it was the inspiration for the filling that I made.
a
DeeDee's Lumpia
1 1/2 Lbs. Hamburger
2 Medium Potatoes
1/4 C Onion - diced
1 Tbsp. Garlic - minced
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Pepper
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
Place hamburger in large saute pan, add in onion, & garlic. Break up hamburger finely and cook through.  Meanwhile, peel & dice two medium potatoes, add into hamburger, season with sale & pepper.  Cook until potatoes are done, finish with soy sauce, & remove from heat. 
Place a small amount of filling on Lumpia wrapper.  Wrap up and use a small amount of water to seal the end.  Fry a couple at a time until golden brown, drain & serve hot.

The end result was a dozen Lumpia.  They were really tasty!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

This is one of my all time favorite meals.  I spent some time in China and South Korea and have always loved the asian cuisine.  Sweet & Sour Chicken is definetely sweeter here in the U.S. than you will find in China.  Here is my version of the dish.

Sweet & Sour Chicken
6 Chicken breasts - cut into 1 in. cubes
8 oz. can Pineapple pieces (drain & reserve juice)
2 Green bell peppers, cut into 1 in. chunks
1 small can Water chestnuts sliced
1/4 C Cornstarch
1 1/2 C Water - cold
3/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C White Wine Vinegar
1/4 C Ketchup
1/4 C Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 Egg - whisked up
Vegetable oil for frying

In a large sauce pan saute peppers, & water chestnuts, in a little oil, just until the peppers soften up.  Combine 1st amount of cornstarch to cold water, pineapple juice, brown sugar, vinegar, & ketchup, add into peppers.  Stir constantly so starch doesn't stick to bottom of pan, bring up to a simmer until it starts to thicken.  Let cook 2 minutes, & remove from heat. 

In a medium bowl combine 2nd amount of cornstarch, ginger, salt, pepper, & egg.  Add in cubed chicken and stir until well coated. 

Heat up frying oil, once hot, add in chicken pieces in batches.  Don't overcrowd the pot.  Cook chicken until lightly golden and floating.  Remove chicken pieces and let drain.

Once all of the chicken has been cooked, heat up the pepper sauce and add in pineapple pieces and chicken.  Stir until combined and heat until warm.  Plate up and top with toasted sesame seeds. 

*I omitted the peppers in my dish as we didn't have any on hand when I made it over the weekend, it still tastes fantastic!

Semi-homemade pizza

I've been wanting to make a homemade pizza using some of the fresh veggies we recently picked, but being short on time I figured I would try out the pre-made Boboli pizza crusts. These are actually quite expensive and its just the dough. After some thinking, I ended up purchasing a frozen cheese pizza, it has the dough, sauce, & cheese, and the only thing missing were the toppings. It turned out to be cheaper than buying just the pre-made crust. I topped this pizza with cauliflower, broccoli, and a drizzle of ranch sauce. Bake per directions on the box.
a
a

Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce

Here's a quick mealtime idea. Its not an official recipe but I'll notate approximations for the mushroom sauce. I came up with this years back when we were looking for a quick homemade sauce for pork chops.

I prefer to use thin sliced boneless pork chops as they cook up quicker than the traditional pork chop, and you can feed more people without having to buy additional pounds of meat.
Sprinkle both sides of the chops with salt & pepper, saute in a pan with a bit of vegetable oil. Once you brown one side, flip chops to the other side and let cook 5 min. on medium heat. After 5 min. remove pork chops from pan, then to the hot pan toss in 1 small can of drained mushroom pieces, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 C sour cream. Let cook on medium heat 5 min. stirring constantly, this will thicken the sauce, finish with a bit of chopped parsley and salt & pepper to taste. Viola, pork chops with mushroom sauce!
The above recipe should make enough sauce for 4-5 pork chops.

a

If you have leftover sauce, you can use it in fajitas. Cook up some pork or chicken, peppers, onions and put into tortillas, top with some warmed up mushroom sauce, roll up and enjoy.

Sweet Bread & Butter Pickles

Sweet bread & butter pickles are my favorite pickles. I found a recipe for making them, and since I have been a crazy canning lady this year, I figured I would try making them at home. Be forewarned, it is a lot cheaper to get store bought pickles, that being said, feeling proud and a bit giddy making your own definitely wins over the cost factor any day!

a
a
a

The recipe states to let them sit 2-3 weeks before opening up, to develop the flavor, I'm not sure if I can wait that long!

Shrimp Scampi

Heres another favorite dinner of mine. In a restaurant that I worked at years ago, this was on the menu and I found that making it at home was just as easy. This is a great recipe when you have leftover rice as the rest pulls together in a jiffy. This recipe is per person.
a
Shrimp Scampi
1 C Basmati or Jasmine rice (cooked of course)
10-12 medium Shrimp per person (peeled & deveined)
3 Tbsp. Butter
1 Garlic clove - minced
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Parsley - chopped
a-
Combine butter, minced garlic, & lemon juice in saute pan. Heat until butter melts, add in shrimp and toss to coat, cook until shrimp is pink and done. Add in salt & minced parsley, give the pan a final toss. Pour shrimp and all of butter sauce over warm rice, serve hot and enjoy!!
**Cooking basmati or jasmine rice; I prefer to wash my rice to get rid of excess starch, then when cooking, follow directions for water amounts (approx. 1 1/2 c to 1 3/4 c water, for every 1 c of rice), place rice & water in large sauce pot, add 2 Tbsp. salt for every cup of rice, and bring up to a boil & make sure to stir frequently. Cover pot and drop temperature to medium/low heat and cook 13 minutes. When done, remove from heat & let sit undisturbed, don't take the cover off, for 5 minutes, this will make perfect rice everytime!**

Head on over to the Grocery Cart Challenge for more great recipe ideas.

Cabbage Bundles

My recipe posts lately have been all sweets and no savory recipes. This cabbage bundle recipe is originally my mothers and I have made some small modifications.

Cabbage Bundles
1 Head Green Cabbage (large works best)
1/2 Lb. Hamburger
1/2 Lb. Ground Pork
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 Tbsp. Chili Sauce
1/2 C Cooked Rice (prefer Basmati or Jasmine)
8 C Beef broth (can sub with bullion cubes)
2 C Water (or more beef broth if needed)
1 Egg beaten

Pour 8 C beef broth in large pot, heat to a simmer. Place 8-10 large outer cabbage leaves in broth for 1 min. until soft. Remove leaves from pot, set on large plate til ready to use.
In large bowl combine hamburger, pork, salt, pepper, chili sauce, rice & egg. Spoon meat mixture into wilted cabbage leaves and roll up. Use toothpicks to hold closed, place back into simmering broth, if the liquid does not cover the bundles, add water until they are submerged. I like to boil the remaining cabbage, cut into quarters, on top of the bundles.
Simmer 1 hour.

*I purchase the 1 lb sausage rolls for this recipe, the other half of the sausage will be used in a soup recipe that I'll post shortly.*

Semi Homemade Chili

By the time the weekend rolls around I feel pretty worn out with all the cooking that I do that it is always nice to have an easy meal on Friday. In case your wondering what I am talking about "all the cooking that I do", I am a full time Chef with some work days stretching to 12 hrs. long that by the time I get home the last thing on my mind is standing in the kitchen to cook more food!
a
Here's what I did to stretch a single can of chili into 5-6 cups of chili.
a
Semi-Homemade Chili
1/2 Lb. Hamburger
2 Tbsp. Onion, dried
1 Can Pinto Beans
1 Can Chili (I used thick style chili)
1/2 C Water
1/4 C Ketchup
1 Tbsp. Mustard, prepared
1/4 C Cheddar Cheese, and more for topping
Salt
Garlic Salt
Hamburger Buns
a
I started off by browning the hamburger in a medium sauce pot with the dried onion and a dash of salt. Cook until the meat is brown and add in drained pinto beans, and chili and heat until bubbly. Then added in water, ketchup, mustard, cheddar cheese, and a dash of garlic salt. Bring back to a low boil and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Then I take 3 hamburger buns or hoagie/hotdog buns and lay them on a sheet pan, split sides facing up. Top with some chili mixture and sprinkle on a bit more cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, this allows the cheese to melt and crusts up the bread edges.

a

a

Chili is cooked and ready to go.

aa

a

Hamburger buns topped with chili and cheese ready to put in the oven.

a

a

Oh yummy!
a

a

All ooey gooey melty goodness thats ready to eat.

These are super tasty and are great for a quick lunch or dinner.

a

Homemade Granola & Pasty Recipes

Wwwaaayyy better than store bought!

*Granola*
3 1/2 C Rolled Oats
2/3 C Almonds - slivered
2/3 C Pecans - chopped roughly
2/3 C Honey
2/3 C Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 C Vegetable Oil
1/3 C Coconut - flaked

Combine oats and nuts in large bowl. In medium sauce pot combine honey, brown sugar, vanilla, salt & oil. Heat until boiling, stir often, remove from heat and pour over oat mixture. Stir until well mixed. Spread out on 2 foil lined baking sheets. Bake 300 degrees, check after 8 minutes and stir mixture. Return to oven and stir every 3-4 minutes until golden. Once golden, stir in coconut and place in turned off oven for 1 minute. Remove from oven and let cool 1 hr. Place in airtight container until ready to enjoy.

This is a recipe I made for my morning granola, most recipes call for maple syrup but with some tinkering I made a recipe that works for my taste. My next batch is going to have an added 1/3 C raisins, 1/3 C dates, and increase oil to 1/3 C (oil is increased to compensate for the added dry ingredients).


*Pasty*
1 Lb Hamburger
4 Medium Potatoes
1/2 C Onion - diced
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Pepper
Pie Crust (see below)

Clean & peel potatoes, grate them in a large bowl. Add in hamburger, onion, salt & pepper. Mix well. You will need to make some pie crust, I take the short cut method and use Krusteaz pie crust mix (shh, don't tell anyone!), you will need to make a double crust batch for this recipe. Roll out pie crust in approx. 5-6 in. circles, try to keep the crust thin as this is best for baking. Place 2/3 c hamburger mixture onto half of pie crust, fold over remaining pie crust and pinch ends to form a half moon pocket (think turnover). Poke tops with fork and rub on 1 Tbsp. of milk on each pasty. Place pasties on baking sheets, you will need 2 sheets, bake 375 Degrees for 1 hour. When done, serve hot with brown gravy poured on top. These are a home favorite, if you ever visit western Montana you are bound to find restaurants that have pasties on the menu. This recipe makes approximately 10 pasties. Enjoy!
a

Beautiful homemade butter

I am surprised that I have never made butter before, it is sooooo easy! I have seen several blog posts regarding making your own butter and when I had a half gallon of heavy cream about to expire, I figured that turning it into butter and buttermilk would be the best way to use it up.

a

I used my professional grade Kitchen Aid mixer, I am sure you could use just about any kind of mixer but it may take longer/shorter times to separate the butter from the buttermilk. I used the medium speed on my mixer as I didn't know how long it would take or how strenuous the motor would have to work.

a

aaaMixer and Heavy Cream ready to go

a

aaaStarted at 2:25
a

aaaNot much change at 2:30

a

aaaStarts to thicken at 2:35

a
aaaCreeping up the bowl at 2:40

a

aaaWhipped cream at 2:45

a

aaaStarts to separate at 2:50

a

aaaLooks like whipped butter at 2:55, but where is the buttermilk?

a
aaaButter and buttermilk start to separate at 3:00!
a
aaaDraining off buttermilk and a final spin at 3:02

a

aaaFinished products

a
aaa

Approximately 4 cups butter, and 3 cups buttermilk. I did not add any salt to my finished butter, this way I have more control over the salt that is added to recipes. However, without the added salt, the butter is on the sweet side. I wrapped up the butter pats in little wax paper squares and saran wrap, they will keep for a while in the freezer. Now, why didn't I try this sooner?
a