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.

Mom's Brownies

This is my Mom's recipe and I make these brownies CONSTANTLY.  As soon as I bake a batch I'm right back at the store picking up everything I'll need for my round of brownie baking. They are super easy and idiot proof. I promise you that once you make these brownies you'll never even think about baking a batch out of a box ever again.

Ingredients:

• 1 C Butter (two sticks)
• 2 C Sugar
• 4 Eggs
• 1 C Cocoa Powder
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 C Flour
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• 1 C Chocolate Chips (optional, but when are chocolate chips ever really optional. Don't skip them)

Method:
Heat oven to 350*. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. In a medium pot, melt butter over LOW heat. Remove from heat and mix in sugar, cocoa, eggs and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients and stir, being careful not to over mix. The chocolate chips can be mixed in or sprinkled on the top. Spread in pan and bake 25-30 minutes. Sometimes I over bake these by about 5 minutes if I know they're going to be served pre sliced on a plate at a social gathering right away before having time to cool completely. This makes them easier to slice and get out of the pan.
That's all there is to it. The best brownie recipe ever.
PS: Warm brownies are easier to slice if you use a plastic knife.

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 cup soft butter or margarine
2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
5 1/2 cups flour

Cream together butter, sugar; add eggs and beat well; add sour cream and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture. Cover dough and refrigerate for about an hour. Roll out dough on floured surface, or between plastic wrap, to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 17 minutes or until lightly brown, Do Not over bake or roll to thin.
Use Butter Cream Frosting to decorate.

Butter Bean and Rosemary Soup with Farmhouse Cheese

This is a classic Scottish soup and no one does soup better that the Scots, well maybe the Germans.

12 oz dried butter beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 pints hot chicken stock
2 thick sprigs of rosemary
1 3/4 oz grated farmhouse cheddar
pepper
salt

Soak the beans over night, drain and rinse. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and gently fry the onion and garlic for 10 minutes then add the beans, hot stock, rosemary and some black pepper, no salt yet. Bring to boil then cover and simmer gently for about 1 hour or until beans are tender. Remove the rosemary and try to get out all of the leaves which will have dropped off the stem; then puree about half the soup in a blender or with a kitchen wand, leaveing some beans whole. Now add the salt and pepper if needed. To serve ladle into warm bowls and top with some cheese.

Butternut Squash Soup

1/4 cup butter

2 Tb vegetable oil

1 small to medium onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium apple, pealed, cored and chopped

1 medium butternut squash, pealed, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes

4 cubs chicken broth

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
pepper
sour cream (optional)
garlic croutons (optional)

Melt butter in large soup pot, add chopped onion, celery, carrots, garlic and apple; cook until tender but not brown. Add squash to pot and enough chicken broth to cover all the vegetables; bring to a boil. Add spices and cover pot, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for one hour or until vegetables are all very tender.

Using a cooking wand or blender, puree until smooth return to pot and add any remain broth to reach desired thickness (I prefer it nice and thick). Bring the soup back to a good temperature and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and garlic croutons.

Garlicky Parmesan Croutons

2 cups firm white bread cut into about 1/2 inch cubes; sourdough or rustic work great. Crust on or off, whichever is your preference.
1/4 cup butter
3 Tb olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tb grated Parmesan

Heat butter, oil and garlic in a pan over medium heat; add bread cubes and brown cubes on all sides Remove pan from heat and sprinkle hot croutons with Parmesan.

These croutons are perfect on a salad or as a garnish for soup.

Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake



Marshmallows prior to toasting



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bag of marshmallows
• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
• Milk

THE PROCESS:
Open all the windows and turn on all the fans. Have someone stand ready at the fire alarm. Broil the marshmallows on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil on high for 3 minutes. Be sure to keep a close eye on the marshmallows because they may catch on fire. After the marshmallows are done, turn them out on to wax paper to cool. Blend together Ice Cream, Milk and Toasted Marshmallows in a blender until it is a YUMMY milkshake! That's it. Not a very scientific recipe. We typically use about 1/2 a container or ice cream to a tray of marshmallows, not sure how much milk. This is very taste specific. Use more milk for thinner milkshakes and less for thicker.
MAJOR THANKS to Stand in New York City for creating the Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake. Tyler had one last time we were there and couldn't think about anything else until I finally figured out how to recreate them. Now he drinks at least 1 a week.