Corned Beef Brisket

Top of the morning to ya.

As a young child, I wished that I was Irish because my mom always made St. Patricks Day so fun for us. I tried to continue the fun with my kids, green four leaf clover pancakes, making sure everyone was wearing their green, destructive visits from the lepercons who left their gold scattered amongst the mess, making lepercon traps that of course never worked, but our families favorite is probable a dinner of corned beef and cabbage. This is one of the easiest things to cook and made even easier with the use of a good slow cooker. Whether you use a large pot on the stove or a slow cooker, the meal is put together in the morning and simmers all day to fill your home with the yummy smell of comfort food. To make the meal perfect add your favorite Irish Soda Bread and it never hurts to serve with a fun green drink of some kind. One important thing to remember is that you can never have too much corned beef. Leftover corn beef makes wonderful sandwiches and corn beef hash.

• 1 corned beef brisket - already in seasoning. (Why make more work for yourself?). Costco has good prices or you can find them at any grocery store meat department. They come prepackaged in a brim with a seasoning packet or with the seasonings in the brim, either will work fine. You want one that isn't too fatty and is nice and big.
• 1 red potato per person - washed and cut in half, unless they are small and then just leave them whole.
• 1 small to medium green cabbage - washed and quarted.
• 1 medium carrot per person - washed, pealed and cut in half.

Cut open the beef packaging at one end and pour the liquid into a large slow cooker. Trim the extra fat off of the meat and place meat in the slow cooker; open and add seasoning packet if needed. Fill the meat packaging with water and pour into the slow cooker. Add red potatoes, cabbage and carrots to slow cooker and enough water, if needed, to just cover the meat and vegetables. Cook on high for 5 to 6 hours. Meat should be very tender when done. Remover meat to platter and cut across the grain of the meat in about half inch strips.Remove vegetables from liquid and toss with butter; add to platter and serve. Liquid can be discarded.

*If you want to make sure that your meat is plenty tender in time for you to eat with out having to worry about getting up too early in the morning, you can add the meat and liquid to the slow cooker and cook on low over night. In the morning add the vegetables and cook for 5 to 6 more hours on low or med, being careful not to over cook the potatoes and carrots or they will be mushy.

*If you choose to cook on the stove, follow the same instructions using a large stock pot. Do not start the night before and be careful to not leave the pot unattended in case it decides to boil over. They do have a mind of their own. Cook the meat at a low simmer for at least 6 hours. Vegetables can be added the last hour.

Mexican Pork Roast for Tacos

This is an all-purpose pulled-pork meat for tacos, burritos, tostadas, nachos, and enchiladas. It is prepared in a slow cooker to give it time to absorb the flavors of the herbs, spices, garlic, and chili powder.

Ingredients:

1 Pork butt roast or pork shoulder roast
(regional names for same cut) 3-4 lbs.

7-10 Cloves of garlic based on size of roast

1 Heaping tablespoon mild chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

2 Bay leaves

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (if you want some heat)


Prep:

Place pork roast in slow cooker. Carefully cut slits over top and sides of roast that correspond with the number of garlic cloves used. Stuff slits with garlic cloves. Pour enough water into slow cooker to cover roast half-way up sides.
Sprinkle remaining herbs and spices over roast and in water. Place bay leaves in water. Cook on high for 5 hours or on medium for 7-8 hours. Turn over roast half-way through cooking time. Remove roast from slow cooker to rest for 10 minutes before pulling. Bones should slide out of roast. Pull with fork to desired size.

If using for tacos, select sturdy tortillas that won't tear. Warm tortillas in tortilla warmer. Use any combination of the following ingredients to complete tacos: diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, lettuce, green onion, cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa.

Lentils with Sausage

I'm making this right now, so we'll see how it ultimately turns out. I like to experiment with lentil soup and whatever I've got lying around, here's the latest.

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/3 C Dry Lentil soup (I've got some leftover from when the church cannery made their own "mix". I've also found a similar mix at my local Lebanese market. Random. It's basically yellow and brown lentils, rice, a little dried onion and little tiny alphabet noodles. Random again. I bet it can be found in a regular grocery store in the international/middle eastern section.)
5 C Water
5 Cubes Chicken Bullion
1 TBS Dried Onion
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
(just under) 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
2 dashes Ground Pepper
2 dashes Season Salt
1 dried Bay Leaf
1 Turkey Kielbasa

METHOD:
Basically, mix it all (except the Kielbasa) together in a slow cooker and leave on high. After a couple of hours, chop up some Turkey Kielbasa and brown it on the stove, then toss that into the slow cooker, stir and serve. OR* serve it on top of the lentil concoction. Good Luck! This is what we'll be eating tonight for dinner.

Salmon Chowder

INGREDIENTS:
3 TBS Butter
3/4 C Chopped Onion
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2 C Diced Potatoes
2-3 C Chicken Broth
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Dried Dill
1 Dried Bay Leaf
32 ounces (approx) Salmon Cubed
12 ounces Evaporated Milk
Frozen Corn (however much you like)
1 1/2 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese

METHOD:
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Stir in potatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper, dill and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Stir in salmon, evaporated milk, corn and cheese. Stirring constantly, cook until heated through.
Originally, this recipe called for canned creamed corn, two diced carrots, more cheese, less broth and no bay leaf. It also used 2 CANS of salmon. I feel like I changed quite a bit. I haven't made this lately, but the cold weather has it on my mind.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

The first time our family ate Chicken Broccoli Casserole was when we lived in St Louis. A dear friend, Laura Crandell, made it for us a few days after Kassey and I came home from the hospital. That was in 1984, since then it has become a family favorite. This is our family's version of that wonderful recipe.

Preheat oven to 350
Toss together
1 C seasoned bread cube stuffing (I sometimes use more)
3 Tbs melted margarine
Spread in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish

Top bread cubes in the following order with,
2 cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite size pieces (or the equivalent of any cooked chicken. You can used canned chicken or left overs work good too)
10oz frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (you can use fresh, but make sure that you cut it up and barely cook it)

Next in a medium bowl, mix together
2 can cream of chicken soup
1 C REAL Mayo (imitation is not good)
2 to 3 Tbs lemon juice
2 to 3 tsp Curry
1/2 C grated cheddar cheese
Spread on top of broccoli

Top with
1/2 to 1 C grated cheddar cheese (we like lots of cheese at our house)
Bake in oven for 30 min. or until lightly browned around the sides and cheese is melted.

*After Thanksgiving I use leftover stuffing and turkey

Good Burritos

The biggest problem anyone can have with burritos (or any Mexican food, I believe) is over thinking them. This is as basic as it gets. Bean and Cheese Burritos. Don't even think about embellishing these in ANY way.

Ingredients:
1 can of refried beans (Rosarita works best)
generous amounts of shredded Cheese
green sauce
large flour tortillas

Using a spoon, scoop the beans straight from the can and spread in a line down the middle of the tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, then dot with green sauce. Fold up bottom and roll tortilla. Wrap the burrito in a paper towel and microwave for 1 minute. Careful, it may be hot! If you don't use up all of the beans, just stick it in a tupperware and save for next time. Great for on the go, especially driving to Mutual night.
Do not add any of the following:
Onions
Tomatoes
Cilantro
Meat
Black Beans
Sour Cream
Avacado