Roast Beef

Cooking a whole beef knuckle or a smaller sirloin tip for a crowd can be very rewarding.  Whole beef knuckle will be in the 8 lb range and once cooked you will have sliced beef for the dinner plate with sides and / or sandwich beef if you have beef left over.  DON'T OVERCOOK IT!  SLICE IT THIN! and as long as you do those two things, you will love this cut of beef.  Using my method, you won't have to worry about those that insist their beef must be well done - they will love it too. Here's how...

• 2/3 cup fresh ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup course ground sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 tbs granulated garlic
• 2 cups hot tap water 
• 2 tbs Knorr Beef Bouillon 
• 2 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbs Moore's Marinade
• Remove all silver skin and visible fat from the roast and dry the beef with paper towel and let come to room temp (about 1 hr).  

1. Mix the black pepper, salt, and garlic together (you will have plenty left over for steaks later).
2. Dissolve the Beef Bouillon in the hot tap water and add the worcestershire and Moore's and inject the beef once the mixture has come to room temp (same temp as the meat).
3. Rub the beef with olive oil and rub in a generous amount of the pepper, salt, garlic seasoning.
4. Using a hot grill or smoker sear the roast on all sides and remove to a pan with a rack of some sort that will provide about one inch space below the meat for the broth.  Before adding the broth and foiling the pan tight, I advise using a remote meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the roast to know exactly when you have reached the target internal temp to make sure you don't overcook it.  Cook in a 325 oven until the roast is no more than 125 - 130.  Remove from oven and loosen the foil and let the roast come to room temp before refrigerating for easy slicing.
5. While the meat is still warm strain all the delicious meat broth to make your Au Jus (add a tbs of Worcestershire and a tbs of butter to the broth and heat but do not boil). Since the meat will be cold once sliced you will need to reheat and to do that you will set the oven temp at 325 and heat in the pan which should still be foiled. Serve with the Au Jus and Creamy Horseradish Sauce.  

Squash Casserole

Ingredients

• 3 lb squash
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar chees
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 8 oz carton sour cream
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 small package Pepperidge Farm Herb Dressing
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook squash, drain, mash, and drain again.  Mix all ingredients together except enough dressing mix for a topping.  Pour mixture into a 3 quart baking buttered baking dish and cook uncovered for 30 - 35 min.  Using half zucchini and half yellow squash is a nice touch. The water chestnuts turns this ordinary squash casserole into one of the best you will find.

Tomato Medley Salad

You will be surprise how delicious a simple tomato salad can be when you use the small mixed tomatoes and just the right ingredients to bring out the flavor.  We buy these just about year round at Sam's Club in 2 lb packages and they include all colors, sizes, and shapes.  The package will include your standard Cherry Tomato, Baby Roma, Grape and colors that include Golden, Yellow, Brown, Purple Striped, and of course Red.  When putting this salad together I suggest leaving the very small ones whole but cutting all the others in half and simply add dried Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Coarse Sea Salt, and fresh ground Black Pepper and toss.  The next thing is a good Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar, keeping in mind the best mixture of the two is about 3 parts oil and 1 part vinegar, toss and top the Salad with Feta Cheese.  The salad is good with or without some onion added.  One other thing I will mention is that we have used Fresh Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Blue Cheese and none were anywhere close to being as good as the Feta Cheese and the same goes for using other dressings like Blue Cheese, or Ranch - it just does not work. 

Pork Loin and Squash

Any pork chops will work with this but they should be lean or trimmed of fat.  You may feel that you have too much squash but the flavor of this dish is so good you will be glad you do.  Here's the simple recipe...

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour seasoned with Lawry's Seasoned Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• 6 thin pork chops (we suggest pork loin cut to you desired thickness)
• oil for frying
• 1 Acorn Squash, halved and seeded but into thin 1/8 inch slices
• 2 tbs of butter
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp of thyme
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Dust pork with the with seasoned flour, shaking off any excess and fry.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Arrange 1/2 the squash in the bottom of baking dish.  Place pork over squash and add the 2nd half of the squash on top.
4. Melt butter in small saucepan over med heat.  I a bowl mix 2 tbs of flour with the ginger and thyme, add to butter and stir, add chopped onion and stir.  Cook 3 min, then slowly add the broth. Continue to cook and stir until thickened. Pour over chops and squash and cover dish with foil.
5. Bake for 45 min until squash is tender and pork is done.  Enjoy

Note:  I failed to include instructions for adding the onions to the cream sauce when I first added this recipe and I apologize.

Picadillo

3 tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 serrano chilis, seeded & minced
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef (see tip below to convert to leftover meat)
4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or equal amt of canned, drained tomatoes)
2 bay leaves
3 oz raisins
3 oz pimento stuffed green olives, sliced
1 tsp grouind cumin
1 tbs vinegar
3 tbs capers
salt & pepper

Heat oil in large fry pan and add onions, garlic, bell peppers (one red or yellow is a nice touch) and fry med low heat until softened.  Add the serrano, then the meat and cook stirring constantly until evenly browned.

Add tomatoes, bay leaf, raisins, olives, cumin, and vinegar.  Simmer gently for 20 minutes until sauce thickens.  Stir in the capers and season to taste with salt & pepper and continue to simmer 5 min more. Serve over rice.

Tip: to use leftover already cooked meat such as BBQ beef, pork, or chicken - simply wait until after the Picadillo has cooked until it starts to thicken and add the chopped / shredded meat and cook 5 min more.

Pot Roast

When is a Beef Stew a Boeuf Bourguignon or Pot Roast?  A Beef Stew is cooked with the meat cut in chunks, a Boeuf Bourguignon is a stew that includes Red Wine, and a Pot Roast is cooked the same as Stew but the meat is cooked in one piece.  I love them all and cooked this Pot Roast in a Crock Pot and it is a combination of all 3 mentioned above.  I seasoned the Chuck Roast the same as I would a steak with coarse Kosher Salt, fresh Ground Black Pepper, and Garlic Granules before dredging in flour and seared it on all sides.  The meat went into the pot first then the potatoes, carrots, onion, five gloves of garlic (crushed), and celery.  One cup of Red Wine and 3 cups of Beef Broth were added and cooked on low setting for 6 hours or until done.  I suggest removing the vegetables when they are cooked just right and continue cooking the meat until it is very tender if you like the meat that way.  I don't thicken the broth as some suggest doing, as it is just so good I wouldn't do anything to change it.

German Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS:

4 med size red potatoes (2 lbs)

1 hard boiled egg
4 slices thick Wrights Bacon
1 med onion, chopped (1/2 c)
1 tbs all flour
1 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp celery seed
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup white vinegar

Scrub potatoes well and boil 20 - 25 min till a tender but not falling apart.  Add egg to the same pot with the potatoes during the last 10 min.  Drain and when cool enough to handle and slice potatoes 1/4 in thick.  

While potatoes cook fry bacon till crisp and remove to paper towels reserving 1 - 2 tbs of drippings and cook onions till translucent but not brown.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, celery seed and stir into the bacon dripping  to make a paste.  Add water and vinegar, simmer and stir until slightly thickened, add and toss potatoes.  Remove to a serving bowl and and garnish with chopped boiled egg to serve. 

I can't think of anything this German Potato Salad wouldn't go with as well as any traditional Potato Salad and it sure is good.  A German friend of my Dad's invited me to a cookout many years ago and it was my first time to ever try it and I fell in love with it.  They served a wonderful Cucumber Salad as well that day and the two dishes complimented each other very well.

Stewed Potatoes

It's easy to forget some of the great recipes from years ago but once you do remember to do them it's always a treat.  We use to have potatoes made this way a lot and why not, it is nice to make things different ways and this is easy enough.  You may have always just called it Potato Soup and that's fine, but it's the same thing.  Peel and cut the Potatoes in whatever size cubes you like and boil in water to cover about 1 to 2 inches above the Potatoes until tender but not falling apart.  Turn down the heat to simmer and add 1/2 cup water or milk with 2 tbs of flour dissolved in the water or milk and stir.  Continue to simmer until it is thick enough for you and before serving season with onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Great with Cornbread and some of my Extra Greasy Fried Okra.

Ramen w/Salmon Patty

A very quick and easy lunch with leftover Salmon Patties and Ramen Noodles.  Just make a Mayo / Sriracha Cream Sauce with a couple of heaping tbs of Mayo and Sriracha to taste, and squeeze in some fresh lemon juice.  Make your Ramen and pour off the broth before tossing in the Mayo / Sriracha.  Serve with more lemon and sauce.

Pumpkin Polenta

This popular southern breakfast item has found a lot of other uses besides breakfast but you will use the same basic recipe for each with a few additions at times.  The basic recipe I use is 2 cups of broth, or milk or combination of the two (add salt / seasoning to taste - I use Lawry's) and after the liquid begins to boil I slowly begin to stir in 1/2 cup of grits and turn the heat to simmer.  They need to cook about 20 min, stirring often to start getting thick and creamy at which point you can add butter and / or cheese.  Cheese grits are popular and one of my favorite ways to serve Grilled Shrimp is on a bed of Cheese Grits or the ever popular Cajun dish Grillades which just wouldn't be good without the bed of Grits.  

Polenta - it's just grits made much the same as above but refrigerated afterwards to become firm and either bake it (be sure to refrigerate it in the prepared pan you plan to bake it in) or fry it.  I didn't refrigerate these in the pic below long enough and it made it near impossible to make a nice firm cake but the taste couldn't have been better.  The recipe I was using called for 1 baked sweet potato mashed and folded into the finished but still warm grits along with about 1/4 cup of asiago cheese and a tbs of dark brown sugar.  I used about 1 cup of Pumpkin Pie filling instead as I didn't have sweet potatoes.  A really neat trick I found was to spray a muffin pan with veggie spray and spoon the grits into that to chill.  If you can do this the day before you shouldn't have any trouble removing them from the muffin pan to a fry pan with just a film of oil and cook till golden brown.  So Good!

ABT's (Jalapeno Poppers)

That's right ABT's are stuffed jalapenos wrapped with bacon and ABT is short for Automic Buffalo Turds.  Here is what I know about them beginning with my first knowledge of them that came from fellow BBQ fanatics.  The first ones I remember ever knowing anything about were Jalapenos stuffed with Cream Cheese and a small Cocktail Weiner added and then wrapped in bacon.  This whole ABT idea may actually have more variations than any recipe of any kind I know of and that should tell that just about anything that you think sounds good inside a jalapeno and wrapped in bacon is worth a try.  The ones you see in the picture here are made with finely chopped and sauced Pulled Pork with Cream Cheese. I have used many different methods for making them including the special holders / racks available in the BBQ supply section of many stores that requires you to stuff whole peppers but that often makes the ABT's too hot for some people, even if you remove the seeds, so I always half my peppers.  Another trick is to use an apple corer to remove the seeds and it's about the only way to do them if you are leaving them whole but works equally as well on half peppers.  One more trick I have learned is when possible as in this Chopped Pulled Pork version is to mix the meat together with the Cream Cheese before you start stuffing the peppers.  So put your imagination to work and make some.

Pimento Cheese

I won't bother with a recipe here but just want to point out how easy it is to make.  You have several advantages to making your own, the first being you will be able to know it is fresh and just what went in it.  Secondly you can make it the way you like with various ingredients.  Pimento Cheese has always been a favorite of mine and I absolutely love a bowl of Chili with a Pimento Cheese sandwich. You may run across a recipe that has grated onion in it and I would never do that as it is not good at all and if you keep it overnight in the fridge it is even worst.  Don't try to grill your sandwich as all you will do is melt the Pimento Cheese and that ruins it - toasting and then making your sandwich as seen here is the best.  Anyway, grate you some cheddar and make some soon.

Fries & Hot Dogs

Here's my 3 simple steps to the best Fries anywhere:

1. Rinse well and soak in cold water 30 min to 1 hr then dry with paper towels
2. With enough oil to cover, cook at a slow simmer till the fries are tender then remove to a metal strainer to cool completely (about 30 min).
3. Using an
   instant read thermometer make sure the oil is at 350 before frying and fry in batches to avoid crowding the pan if need be.

You will get the best fries ever and don't forget to season as soon as they come out of the oil.  I like Lawry's Seasoned Salt.

As far as Hot Dogs, my favorite is what we all know as a Hot Dog All The Way, i.e. mustard, chili, slaw, and onion.  You can boil, grill, bake, or fry and either way will be good as the toppings makes the Dog and for me the amount of toppings is important and I just hate to have someone hand me a Hot Dog on a plate with a fork because they have smothered it with the toppings to point you have no choice but to use a fork.  My favorite ways to cook the Hot Dogs is to split them and fry with a weight on them to get them brown and not curl up.  This is fast food at it's finest.

Pit Beef

What is Pit Beef?  With a little googling you will find it is a regional specialty from Baltimore, Md that is served as sandwich meat.  The meat is usually Round Roast or for most home cooks an Eye of Round.  It is usually cooked hot and fast with a nice char on the outside and rosey red on the inside - Rare or Med Rare.  The best cooks in the country still adhere to the hot and fast, crusty outside method for cooking this meat but don't listen to them.  I have a better way.  If it is to be sliced thin and used for sandwiches I just don't believe that Char on the outside is going to add much but if you think it does, feel free to crank your grill up after it has reached 100° to 105° internal and sear it off the way you like it.  As you can see in the picture below, I cooked this along with some Spare Ribs low and slow @ 225° until it reached 130° internal temp or Med Rare.  Just coarse salt and fresh ground pepper with a little granulated garlic was rubbed on all sides after trimming all silver skin and fat off all but one side which was the side I placed on the cooking grate.  Loosely covered with foil till room temp came next and into the fridge overnight to make slicing it thin easier.  You can painstakingly try to slice it with a knife but a counter top home slicer works best to get good uniform thin slices.  Serve it on a nice roll with a horseradish sauce and what a treat.  It is irresistible and you can trust me on that one. 

Eggplant & Pasta

When your garden is providing all those fresh vegetables you want to take advantage it and we are doing just that with our second Eggplant dish and it was fantastic.  The Eggplant was just picked and the Marinara Sauce was canned from our tomatoes last year. We used the Baked recipe (see a few post down) for the Eggplant but added a thick slice of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese in between two slices and baked again till melted.  Easy enough to do and when served over the Penne with the Marinara Sauce you really have a nice dish that most anyone would enjoy.  If you make and can your own Marinara Sauce what really kicks it up is to cook it again and start by cooking down some onion and garlic before adding the sauce to the pan and cook that a really long time on slow simmer.  It really is one of the best Pasta dishes I think I've ever had anywhere. 

Dry Lettuce w/Fan

Try this the next time you make a salad.  You know the salad spinners are great but never enough and this gets the job done without having to stand over it forever with paper towels.

Oven Fried Eggplant

With just 5 minutes prep time and 24 min cooking time you can have this on your table and it is VERY good.  Start with cutting the Eggplant into 1/2 inch slices.  In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup mayo with 1 or 2 Tbs on finely minced onion.  In another small bowl mix 1/3 cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs with 1/3 Cup grated Parmesan and add seasoning to taste (salt & pepper or Lawry's & pepper).  Spread the mayo & onion on the slices of Eggplant and coat with the Bread Crumb mixture and place the slices on a Veg Oil Sprayed sheet pan and cook 12 min, turn slices and cook 12 min more.

Baked Zucchini Rounds

Dusted with cornmeal fried in oil, Baked slices like you see here, or grated to make Fritters out of are my 3 favorite ways to use Zucchini.  To bake you need the slices 1/4 thick and I use a mandoline slicer for this job, put the slices in a bowl and toss with Olive Oil, in another bowl mix dried bread crumbs with an equal amount of grating cheese like Parmesan and season with Lawrys Seasoned Salt and add a good amount of Cayenne.  Put all of it in some sort of bowl with lid and shake it to coat the zucchini.  Add the slices to a large sheet pan sprayed with Pam and place in 450 degree preheated oven for about 20 - 25 min or till browned to your liking.  The cheese makes all the difference.

Refrigerator Pickles

This recipe is a "must try" and even more so when your garden is giving you all the cucumbers you can use and then some like mine is now.  It is nice to be able to enjoy these without having to cold pack and once you taste this you will want to keep a jar or two in the frige as long as the cucumbers last.  The flavor this recipe provides is almost identical to the Cajun Pickled Jalapeno recipe and to add some heat I included a couple of tbs of Crushed Red Pepper.  Click here for the recipe.

Korean Beef Bulgogi

This recipe is all about nice tender beef like ribeye, tenderloin, or sirloin sliced super thin and marinaded in the flavors Koreans are famous for and cooked hot and fast, preferably on a grill in a stir fry grill pan and I find it to be a great dish.  But what if you wanted to adapt it to some left over Beef Brisket and just use the sauce to warm the meat in?  You will love it! and as you can see I served it with a roll and potato cakes but steamed rice would work as well.  Here is what I used for the sauce...

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c rice vinegar

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs minced ginger

2 tbs garlic

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp sriracha

cook over med high heat for a couple of min. as always google it!

Pulled Pork Thai Style

1 lb pulled pork, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 small shallots, minced
1 large jalapeño, seeded and minced, plus sliced jalapeño for garnish
Juice of 1 lime, plus lime wedges, for serving
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons Sriracha (chile sauce), plus more for serving
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup chopped basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large head Boston or other leafy lettuce, separated into leaves

1. Add oil to pan and cook the garlic, shallots, and jalapeno several minutes on med heat and add the pork. Continue cooking till heated through (the meat is from an already cooked pork butt and only needs heated).  Remove from heat and add the lime juice, fish sauce, and Sriracha.
2. Let cool 5 min.  Transfer to bowl and stir in the cilantro, basil, and mint. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve as lettuce wraps with more Sriracha and thin slices of jalapenos or use for Tacos with your choice of toppings, i.e. hot sauce, fresh chopped onions, cilantro, etc.

Grillades

4 tbsp olive oil
2 lb pork tenderloincut into 3 x 4 in strips
1/2 c flour
3 onions, chopped
2 bell peppers chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
3 cups ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped or =amt canned
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp hot sauce or to taste
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne or to taste
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup vegetable stock
2/3 cup white wine or just use all veggi stock
grits, to serve

1. Heat oil, add strips of tenderloin and cook till both sides have just changed color.  Remove w/slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Add flour to the juices and mix well cook over gentle heat stirring constantly until ROUX becomes dark in color.
3. Add onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic.  Cover and cook over gentle hear for about 15 min.
4. Return meat, add tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, hot pepper sauce, paprika, cayenne, salt, stock and wine.
5. Cover and simmer for about 45 min.  Serve w/Grits.

Chet's Pork & Chicken Magic & Wonderful Rub

This is a good all-purpose rub, good on pulled pork, ribs, and chicken.  It consist of two well known rubs combined (Mike Mills – Magic Dust &  Wild Willie’s Number One-derful, found in Smoke n Spice).  I never use it for Beef and prefer a simple mixture of fine ground black pepper, fine ground kosher or sea salt, and granulated garlic.   

·         1 1/4 cup paprika

·         1/4 cup + 2 tbs fine ground black pepper

·         1/2 cup fine ground kosher or sea salt

·         1/2 cup sugar

·         1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons chili powder

·         1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated garlic

·         2 tablespoons onion powder

·         3 tablespoons cayenne

·         1/4 cup ground cumin

·         2 tablespoons mustard powder

Mix the spices thoroughly in a bowl. Store covered in a cool, dark pantry. Makes about 4 cups which will cover a lot of meat and you can pack it on heavy.

Apple Brined Pork Loin Chops

Do you brine Pork Loin Chops - you should!  It makes a big difference and only takes a few minutes to make the brine and some planning to allow them to be in the brine 4 to 24 hrs before your cook. My brine suggestion for these chops is:

1 cup hot water
2 cups cold Martinelles Apple Juice (better quality)
1/4 cup salt
1/4 light brown sugar
1 tbs red pepper flakes

Dissolve the salt, sugar, pepper in the cup of hot water.  In a bowl or zip lock bag add the cold apple juice, the hot water mixture, and the chops.  A longer brine is better.  After the brine rinse the chops and dry with paper towels and rub with olive oil, sprinkle with bbq rub and grill about 5 min per side till the internal temp of the chops reaches 145 and let rest at least 15 min covered lightly with foil.  For the best pork loin, the internal temp of 145 is at least as important as the brine step.

Beans and Taters Tostadas

I grew up on Beans and Taters and would have gone without many times if it had not been for Beans and Taters and Cornbread.  The same could be said for the old breakfast standby that we survived on (Biscuits and Gravy) and you never heard a complaint.  Back in the Carter years when work was so bad that hardly anyone worked a full week it was hard to pay the bills, so I learned to do as my Mom did and buy the basics, dried beans, taters, cornmeal, flour and milk and got by the same way we had when I was a kid.  Having said that it is to my own shock and dismay that I say serving them on Tostadas Shells is even better than cornbread.  I want to call it Rednecked Mexican Beans and Taters.

Easy and Cheap and as you can see in the picture, there is really nothing to it.  I went with 3 layers, beans on all 3 layers and the fried taters on top of the last layer of beans (I added onions with the potatoes after they started browning).  The only advise to making this the best it can be is about the beans...canned will work but cooked from scratch will be better.  They need to have some broth or water added and before serving use the back of a spoon to mash about half of them and continue cooking till the broth is absorbed.

On a side note: have you ever looked up the definition in websters for a redneck?  I take offense at that entry in websters.  

Creamed Corn Hoe Cakes

With too much Creamed Corned (last summers garden corn) left from Easter dinner, I started out to make some Fritters but they seemed to end up being more of a Deluxe version of Hoe Cakes since I didn't want to deep fry them.  

1/2 C Yellow Corn Meal

1/2 C Flour

1 C Creamed corn

2 Tbs finely chopped onion

1 egg

Mix up the batter and fry in lightly oiled pan, add more oil and butter when turning to cook the other side.  Top with more Creamed Corn and serve.  Makes 4 Cakes.

Reuben Tater Skins

This is one of the 3 things we did with our Corned Beef.  How could you go wrong with a Tater Skin Reuben - you can't! Bake small potatoes - hollow them out - season inside and out and bake again till crisp - stuff a layer of Corned Beef, kraut, and cheese - run under broiler till cheese melts and serve.  

Corned Beef Hash

This is why I love to make my own Corned Beef using a whole Packer Brisket.  Not only will you have a much improved Corned Beef, you will also have much more of it to use in some fabulous recipes like this one.  Corned Beef Hash is so easy to make you shouldn't even need a recipe.  I started by cubing my potatoes and frying in oil and butter with a cover on the pan to steam the potatoes a little and after they started browning remove the cover and raise the heat to let brown the way you like them then add the onions and continue to cook till potatoes are browned and onions translucent and remove to a plate. Add more butter and oil to the same pan and 1/4 cup of seasoned flour to make your gravy using  a cup of beef broth.  Add the potatoes and onions, chopped Corned Beef back to the pan stirring till heated through and serve.  I suggest Catherine's Pork n Bean Salad for a side as they really go well with this dish.

Catherine's Pork n Bean Salad

My wife just remembered this recipe from her Mom and it is sooo good. She says they literally used to have it about every week. I like pork and beans just O.K. but these are absolutely incredible.

1 can Pork & Beans (drained)
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup dill pickle relish
1/3 cup mayonnaise (or to taste)
1 - 2 boiled eggs (chopped)
salt & pepper to taste

Just mix it up and enjoy.

Reuben

It's a popular sandwich and here's how I made the best one I ever had in my life.  First let me start my pointing out what I believe are 3 essentials that make it the best ever...

1. Make you own Thousand Island Dressing
2. Use a heavy Cast Iron Grill Pan to toast the sandwich after it is assembled 
3. Now for the hard part - Make your own Corned Beef from scratch.

You can find a lot of information on making your own brisket on this blog posted just a few days ago.  If your not into curing a big beef brisket for Corned Beef, just buy one and follow the rest of the steps for this great sandwich.  I used this recipe click here and I felt like the order of bread, dressing, cheese, etc is important and made for a better than average Reuben.  Most recipes have ketchup and mayo for the base in Thousand Island dressing but some have Chili Sauce and I think it makes a much better dressing.

Corned Beef

Corned Beef is too strong with the Corned flavor to me and what I do if using a store bought beef is to soak it in water for about six hours or even overnight.  What works best though is to make your own from scratch.  Here's how.  The beef brisket flat is used and my advise is to start with a whole brisket that will cost much less per lb and learn to separate the Flat from the point, click here to watch a video on how to trim a brisket provided by Charbroil.  Next you will need to brine it with these simple ingredients all of which you most likely have except two, the "pink salt or Insta Cure #1 and Powdered Dextose.  You won't find those in the grocery store but most sporting goods stores like Cabellas or Academy stock these items for the hunters out there.  An avg size brisket of 10 to 12 lbs will usually provide a flat of 5 or 6 lbs and here's the recipe based on that much meat.

1 qt hot tap water

2 tbs + 1 1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs + 1/8 tsp Insta Cure #1

1 tbs + 1 3/4 tsp Powdered Dextrose

1 tbs +1 3/4 tsp Pickling Spice

Dissolve the salt in the hot water and add all the other ingredients and let come to room temp.   With a meat injection needle pump about 12 to 15% of the weight of the meat into the brisket.  Place the pumped meat into a large bag (it will take a 2 gal bag or a turkey type bag to hold it), then pour the brine into the bag and refrigerate for 4 days being sure to turn the meat morning and night each day.  Remove from brine and rinse thoroughly then dry and let come to room temp just before cooking.  If your not ready to cook at that point, just refrigerate.  There is really no need to worry about coordinating the time for the 4 day brine with the day you plan to cook the beef.  

Now you are ready to cook you own home cured brisket and I have news for you - you don't want to boil it as you might have in the past.  The best Corned Beef I have ever had in my life is the one that was oven roasted / braised as you see below and with the following recipe.

For the seasoning:

2 tbs brown sugar

1 tsp each of cloves, black peppercorns, and allspice, ground in a coffee grinder together

Rub the meat all over with the spices and place fat side up on a baking rack in a large 2 in deep pan (I use disposable pans) along with about six cups of beef broth in the bottom of the pan.  Plan for this to cook at least six hours.   To add a wonderful flavor to the finished dish, on top of the meat add:

1/2 sliced onion

4 cloves of sliced garlic

1 lemon thinly sliced

Now for the oven set it at 225 - 240 and cook uncovered until the internal temp is around 150 to 165 at which point the brown sugar and spice rub will provide a great looking color to the meat and at that point you will need to cover tightly with foil and continue to cook until the internal temp is around 190 - 195 and make sure it is very tender when you stick a knife or fork in it and if not disregard the internal temp and continue to cook until it is tender.  After removing from the oven let it sit 30 min or 1 hour while still wrapped tightly to absorb all the juice then uncover and let cool to slice.  You are going to absolutely love this Corned Beef and after having a meal or two with thick, fork tender meat you will have plenty left over to slice thin for sandwiches.

Jewish Brisket w/Tsimmis

This is a real winner and something that was very new to me.  The Brisket started out as a Whole Packer Brisket that I separated the Point from the Flat with plans of using this Point, which is much more marbled as you see here for this recipe and reserve the Flat to make Corned Beef with for St Patrick's Day.  I had never heard of Tsimmis until I Googled for a Jewish Brisket recipe.

1 6 pound brisket
1 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp thyme
4 large Onions, sliced into rings
6 stalks celery, sliced
1 lb carrots, sliced (or use whole baby carrots)
12 oz can of tomatoes, stewed or plain
1 cup brewed extra strong coffee
½ cup sweet kosher wine such as Manischewitz (I used Burgundy)
1-2 packages of dried fruit assortment (plums, apricots, etc.)
1-2 lbs small whole yukon gold or red potatoes
2 large yams, cut into chunks
½ cup balsamic vinegar (optional and I left it out)
½ cup honey (optional and I left it out)

My Roast turned out to be just under 4 lbs and I adjusted the ingredients accordingly using http://mykitchencalculator.com/calc.html and started by gathering all ingredients and rubbing the meat with minced garlic, cracked fresh blk pepper, and coarse ground Sea Salt.

Next I layered 2/3 of the onions, celery, and carrots in the bottom of the cast iron pot and placed the meat on top. The rest of the onions, celery, carrots, tomatoes, and dried fruit were added on top of the meat and sprinkle with the Thyme, and Paprika which I increased the amt called for to my taste and added salt and pepper. You may have noticed that browning the meat in oil is not required here which makes this much easier and quicker as that step takes a little time.  

Now add the Strong Coffee, and Wine and cover and place in the 300 degree oven for 2 1/2 hours. The time to cook gets tricky and you simply have to disregard the time and use what I call "the poke test" (when a fork, instant read thermometer, or toothpick goes in like butter, it's done. This Point meat portion of the Brisket took more like 3 1/2 hrs to reach the tender stage. Not wanting the veggies on top to be overcooked, I took them out at that 2 1/2 hour mark and set them aside. Once the meat is tender, remove to a rack over a plate to cool for 30 min before slicing and while it cools add the potatoes, yams, and 1/2 of the dried fruit and continue cooking until they are done then add the sliced meat along with any juices back to the pot, cover the meat with the reserved veggies and the other half of the dried fruit and cook an additional 30 min. Served with your choice of bread. The flavors are amazing and I really think anyone would enjoy this recipe

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CORNBREAD

I make cornbread 3 or 4 ways and I like them all but Hoe Cakes is fast and easy and as good and any of the others.  I have 3 cast iron pans for cornbread, a small and large pan, and a divided pan.  I use the small when I want a regular thick pan of cornbread and the large when I want to cook it in a thin pone.  The divided pan is the go to pan that I use most and I just give it a heavy coat of Pam with no oil added to the batter.  All my cornbread has about 1/3 flour and 2/3 yellow cornmeal and I do always add a couple of tbs of grits to it and 1 tbs of sugar.  I can't wait to heat one of the Hoe Cakes up and slip some butter on top and pour some sorghum on it for desert.

Brat's and Blackeyed Pea Stew

This Stew is now my favorite soup or stew of any kind.  It is so good you just want another bite and then another bowl full.  All it takes is to brown you sausage in the casings and set aside wile you cook down an onion, bell pepper, and one jalapeno (seeded or not), 4or 5 cloves of minced garlic, then you add 14 oz of tomatoes drained and chopped, simmer till the juice of the tomatoes is about gone then add about 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth and 2 or 3 cups of water and 2 cups of dried black eyed peas.  Cook about an hour until the peas are tender then add the sliced sausage back to the pot and continue to cook another 15 minutes and enjoy your stew with a nice hard roll.