Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes

Welp, after two years of using this particular recipe from Cook's Illustrated, and after two years of very positive feedback each time I make it (after all it's not just for St. Patrick's Day), I have decided to post the recipe here. I strongly urge all corned beef fans to give it a try. Like, do it!

Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes
serves 6 - 8

1 4-5lb corned beef brisket
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 cups water
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 tsp whole allspice
3 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tbsp minced fresh)
3 tbsp butter
1.5lb small red potatoes
9 carrots, halved crosswise
1 head cabbage, cut into 8 2" wedges
Salt and pepper to taste


Can you believe I wrote that ingredient list out from memory? Like I don't even have the recipe in front of me. GOD JIL YOU ARE TOO COOL.

Preheat oven to 300. In a Dutch oven (my 5 quart just baaaarely housed all the ingredients), combine the brisket, broth and water, chopped carrots, onion, spices and bay leaves. Cover and place in the oven to cook for 4.5 - 5 hours, until a fork can slip easily in and out of the meat. Try not to salivate at that point (impossible).

Remove meat and place in a 9x13 casserole dish. Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl, and discard the veggies. Pour one cup of cooking liquid over meat and cover tightly with foil. Return the rest of the liquid to your Dutch oven and bring to a low boil. Add your potatoes and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until they're tender. Now, add your halved carrots and cabbage on top of the potatoes, cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes. You want to make sure that any outer cabbage leaves are easily pierced by a fork.

Plate veggies on a large serving dish. Starting at a corner of the brisket, slice the beef, cutting against the grain. Nestle the meat on top of the vegetables and season with pepper and salt, if you so desire.

DEVOUR! This stuff is SO, SO good Todd will request it on random weekends. Like, wifey, for the love of God please make that corned beef.

I really hope you give this version a try. Don't wait til next St. Patrick's Day, either.

German Beer Stew with Sausage, Cabbage & Onion

Um, sooo yeah. This stew was so freaking good I could not stop going back to the pot for bites. I got it off Pinterest (GO FIGURE) and it was originally posted on The Cozy Apron in this here post: Oktoberfest Lager Stew. I want to post you to this place because this is where this here photo comes from and I want to offer credit where it's due.

I don't call mine Oktoberfest stew because I didn't use that type of beer. So actually I guess this should be called Fat Tire Stew. But gross! That doesn't appeal to me in any way and I know how delicious that beer tastes. Hey girl. Come over here. Here. Eat this stew. It's called Fat Tire. Hey girl, where you going? I didn't mean it would make you into a fat tire! Stop crying! Oh my God, are you calling your mom? No, I don't want to talk to her! I didn't do anything wrong.



Uh, let's get to the soup.

German Beer Stew with Sausage, Cabbage and Onion

serves four

1 tbsp olive oil

4 links smoked beef sausage, cut into bite size pieces

1 onion, cut in half and sliced thin

1/2 head cabbage, halved again, cored and cut into thin slices

1/2 tsp fresh black pepper

1/4 tsp ground caraway seeds (I didn't have this, so I used cumin with dill)

salt to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup German style beer (I used Fat Tire upon Todd's recommendation and he knows beer)

2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into small bite size pieces

2.5 cups hot chicken stock (I used salt free boullion powder)

1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp snipped fresh parsley

Oh my God, oh my God this was so good. OKAY. So, heat your olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Once it's hot, add your sausage and cook until browned, about five minutes.

Add your onions and let those carmelize a bit (another few minutes) before adding the cabbage. Toss to combine and let THAT mix cook down about for ANOTHER four or five minutes.

Now, add your pepper, caraway (or cumin/dill mix) and salt, give it a stir and toss in the garlic. Once it's fragrant, add the beer, potatoes and stock.

Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat, partly cover (to allow steam to escape) and simmer for 40 minutes. Stir in your vinegar and parsley and TRY not to kill the other people eating it so you can have it all to yourself. My God, man. It was full of stars.

Ginger Beef Soup w/Ramen Noodles

BOOM it's a food post. That hasn't happened in about four years.

I didn't take any pictures though. Considering how crappy the photos come out, I don't imagine a lot of you are crying about it though. I did, however, find a photo online from Cook's Country that was used on the recipe card. I hope I don't get arrested for posting it here.

Ginger Beef and Ramen Noodle Soup
serves 4

1 1lb flank steak
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil
8 cups chicken broth
3 (2" long) strips of lime zest plus 1 tbsp lime juice reserved
1 2" long chunk of fresh ginger (I used 2 tsp of my Penzeys ginger chunks)
4 packs of ramen noodles, spice packets discarded
5 scallions, sliced thin
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped


Pat the flank steak dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a skillet on medium high heat and when it's juuuust smoking, toss in your steak. Cook 6 - 8 minutes, flipping once, until done. Cook's wants you to wait til it's 125 degrees inside, but whatever bro, I live life on the wild side. Plus the hot soup will totally finish the cooking process for you.

Remove skillet from heat and the steak from the skillet. Let your meat rest for 5 minutes under tented foil, then cut in half and cut into thin strips against the grain. Meanwhile! Put the broth, lime zest and ginger in a Dutch oven and allow it to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes.

Remove the ginger and zest (unless you're using ginger chunks like I did; they were a treat to bite into while devouring the soup) and add your noodles, lime juice and soy sauce to the broth. Cook about three minutes (God I have missed ramen) or until soft. Divide your broth and noodles evenly among the bowls and top with the steak and cilantro. Chomp and slurp your way to serenity and peace.

We had this last night and my goodness, it was so good. And easy! I wrote this post absolutely from memory because Cook's Country won't share recipes online unless you agree to a 14 day trial, credit card and all, to view their site. I wrote a bunch of bitterness but deleted it because this post is about FOOD and not RAGE.

<3

Who's the Hamburger Helper now, little glove man?

Not sure if you recall, but recently we adopted a kitten, Bingley. That night we didn't eat until 9pm due to the extra dose of chaos that is a kitten. But if I hadn't realized how long a chicken and rice casserole takes to cook, we would have been eating closer to 10pm. Instead of that dish, I hastily whipped up a homemade version of Hamburger Helper. 

Once I realized how easy it is (and how much more healthful it is since you control sodium content and there are like no preservatives), I knew I wanted to share. Instead of a tube of ground beef, I used frozen hamburger patties we had. And instead of nasty packaged processed-foods powdered sauce mix, a simple sauce made with pantry staples saves the day and your wallet. It was absolutely delicious! I just don't know what to call it.

11th Hour Pasta

serves2

6oz ziti, or similar

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp butter

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup milk, cream, (a couple dollops of sour cream would even do)

3 frozen hamburger patties

1 zucchini, diced

1 roma tomato, diced

1/2 onion, diced

Plenty of cheddar cheese. 

Boil some water and cook up your pasta. 

In a small saucepan, heat up your butter and once it's melted, whisk in your flour. When it's fully combined into a sort of paste, add your chicken broth. Stir to blend thoroughly. 

While the sauce is bubbling away, get a large skillet and throw your patties, still frozen, into it. Heat on medium high by the way. As they heat through, soften and cook, break them apart with a wooden spoon. 

As the beef is cooking and all crumbled up, add your veggies. Stir it up! Speaking of stirring, keep stirring that sauce. At this point, add your dairy* to the sauce.

Once your pasta is done (and let me tell you, ziti cooks FAST), drain it and throw it in to the mix. Now, pour your sauce, toss to coat evenly, and maybe season it all with some salt and pepper. Plate it up, add the cheddar shreds and devour. 

It was so quick, easy and delicious, I was really surprised!

*If you don't do dairy (Hi, Kat!), either skip it entirely or add some white wine for an extra tasty kick. 

Steak Au Poivre A.K.A. Hell Yes

Steak au poivre is one of the best things you can do to a steak. Sure, it translates to steak with pepper but the pepper takes a backseat to the delicious sauce. Then again, since it's a French thing, and since the French love their sauces and always have one handy, I guess to them the sauce is a given and the pepper is what is unusual. Now my brain hurts.

Onward. This is such a quick and easy recipe and it's got a major wow factor. I highly recommend eating this with a starch such as bread or oven potato fries, because wasting even a droplet of sauce is sacrilege.

Steak au Poivre
serves 2


2 steaks, your choice of cut (we used NY strips, but ribeyes, even chuck steaks are great)
Coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup whiskey, brandy, port or sherry (we used Evan Williams)
1/4 cup beef broth
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk

Heavily pepper your steaks on one side (you'll do the other when they're in the pan), set them aside and let's make our sauce mixes. Here are the players:

You'll be adding the whiskey and broth together, and then when the booze cooks off, the dairy and mustard, so what I like to do is pre-mix each set, so to speak. It's handier than frantically measuring stuff on the fly.

Whiskey and broth:

What's funny though is that I added the Better Than Bouillon directly to the whiskey, and didn't even add water to make the broth, so to speak, but the sauce was delicious all the same. It's pretty fool proof stuff.

Mustard first in the other Pyrex:

We love our mustard and likely use more than just 2tbsp. Add your milk and whisk together with a fork:

Now, let's heat the skillet. I strongly recommend cast iron. Add butter and when it's super hot and the butter is sizzling, add the steaks pepper side down. Take this time to pepper the other side:

Todd's was bigger and thicker, so I waited two minutes before adding mine.

After four to five minutes (for bone in), flip your steaks:

Amahzing! Give it another 4 to 5 minutes. Do the press test:

Double check, maybe?

Nah, not yet. After another minute or so, remove and keep warm.

My Pyrex dishes came in a set with rubber lids, so I just covered those bad boys up and got down to business with the sauce. Take the skillet off heat for 2 minutes and add a bit more butter:

Now, add your spirit and broth:

Instant sizzle! When it cooks down...

Add your milk and mustard:

Keep stirring for a few minutes. As you stir, watch how your spoon parts the sauce. We'll call it the Moses Spoon. Now it's parting it, but not enough:

Nope, not ready yet.

Almost, but not quite:

Presto! Sauce perfection:

 Plate your food pronto and get someone strong to hold the skillet so you can spoon out the sauce. Tip: When you plate the steaks, add any juices to the sauce for a flavor bonus.

So delicious! We had this with roasted mushrooms, broccoli and french fries, as well as some French bread (not pictured), and it was utterly divine. I haven't made steak au poivre in ages so there were a lot of suggestive moaning going on while eating this last night. I hope you make it and love it!

Steak Done Right

I'm always whoring out my own cooking successes, so instead I thought I'd pimp out Todd's and that man knows a grill. Steak, pork, chicken, crab legs, you name it, and the man has a knack. So let's get to it.

Todd's Steak


-2 steaks, any type, any thickness, but that shit better be marbled or you gotta take a time out and slap yourself
-Olive oil
-Salt & pepper
-Cumin
-Garlic powder
-Steak rub


Drizzle olive oil on the steaks and rub it into both sides. Season one side with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin, and the other side with steak rub.

For some reason this photo made me think of Optimus Prime but Todd was like, lol no so whatever.

Heat p and scrub down your grill. Set the grill to high. According to Todd, our grill gets Hellfire Hot. According to me, it goes to 11.  Todd uses propane by the way:

Ooh, look, flames of hell:

After about 2-3 minutes (because our grill goes to 11), or at least when you cannot hold your hand over the open grill for longer than 1 second, throw on your steaks:

Also, note how Todd laid the steaks, horizontally* This is important for super sophisticated grill marks:

Here is the um, midnight-in-the-jungle-with-only-a-flashlight-for-light view. Or worse, the Blair Witch view:

Shut the lid. After about 90 seconds (remember, our grill goes to ELEVEN), flip your steaks, maintaining the whore's horizontal position:

Shut the lid. After another 90 seconds, flip again, but this time, flip the steaks to a vertical position. After another 90 seconds, flip to the other side, revealing those bad ass grill marks:

 See?! Todd SAID the grill was hot! My steak is engulfed in flames! At this point, Todd turned the heat to low (since it was set originally to 11). Now you perform the press test, which my mother passed on to Todd, and which I cannot comprehend. "Todd's words: you have to actually have someone show you." So I guess if you don't have confidence in the press method, either cut into the thickest part of the steak, or take it off the heat and let it rest, tented under foil, for 5 minutes or so to let the meat finish cooking without being over-cooked. Anyways, Todd, doing the press test:

And the press test wins, and so we feast! Look at those sexy grill marks!

And even though I was too busy taking photos of Todd grilling (and myself wearing a Biore strip, more on that later), I still managed to successfully roast some veggies, tossed in olive oil, minced garlic and 1/2 cup of fancy shredded cheddar. I know it looks overdone but ask Todd, they were really, really good:

Yum! Steak and veggies covered in cheese! Nothing finer.

*Is it gross, stupid, or both that during my very tired moments, the way I remember which is vertical and which is horizontal, is that I say to myself "horizontal tango!" and then I know? I'm sure the more... acrobatic of you will call me stupid. Or maybe you'll just call me tired.