Slainte!

The last couple of years I did corned beef and cabbage, and it just got boring. This year, I opted for a corned beef flat cut brisket, and went with broccoli colcannon for a change.  It turned out to be very tasty, and then I made homemade soda bread. Did you know there was a society for the preservation of real soda bread?  Seriously. The recipe is here.

The bread was great, but it doesn't keep well. I was proud of how pretty it looked though:

It was delicious, but corned beef is very fatty.  It's a once a year thing, for sure.  It made up for the fact that McDonalds here did not have a shamrock shake, but my coworker giving me a little gift surprise of Ginger Ale and Jameson more than made up for it! :)

Ree Drummond Strikes Again

I was up at pre-dawn, unable to sleep with "the crud". I nearly ordered "Cize" by Shaun T from an infomercial to dance away my weight. At $32.99 I decided not, before changing the channel to The Pioneer Woman's slow cooked sticky spicy ribs & hominy casserole.

An hour later, I put in the half rack and chipotles in adobe sauce in the slow cooker. I think I might know why I'm not losing weight.

The ribs will slow cook for 8 hours in the crock pot, then we'll skim the fat from the sauce, add a corn starch slurry, thicken & baste the ribs on a foil-lined tray to be baked for 45 more minutes.

Meanwhile... The hominy casserole recipe is here

The ribs are delicious, though spicy!  Don't let that slip by you in the title.  I had to have milk on standby. Next time I may skip the chipotles. I also substituted Smuckers Sugar Free preserves to cut the sugar a bit, especially with the ketchup added in, for my diabetic self.  Aside from the heat, the meat fell off the bone.  I would watch the basting time, though, as at 30 minutes, the smaller ribs were almost burning. I'd definitely check every ten minutes.  My son was warned about the heat after yelling "You have RIBS!?", because he loves ribs. But the heat was not problem for him as he is, in his own words, "technically half-Mexican".  Whatevs!

Alton Brown's Soft Pretzel Recipe

Saw a friend post a picture of these on Facebook and couldn't resist trying them again. You can follow the recipe from here

Chik fil A says goodbye to Coleslaw

As it removes this from the menu, they've released the restaurant recipe
to their fans.  It is being replaced with healthier options.  But just in case
you don't want the healthier way...

4 T vinegar
1/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 C mayonaisse
2 10-oz bags shredded cabbage ( chop to 1/8 inch)
1/4 c finely chopped carrots

Whisk together first four ingredients.
Whisk in mayonaisse. Stir in cabbage and carrots.
Refridgerate 2 hours then serve.

Christmas Eve 2015

 


* Christmas Eve has been a long tradition in our household. The Eve was always the celebration night. Whether in Philadelphia having cocktail dinner at the Streibigs, followed by late night presents in front of the fire, or in Spokane having ribeye and creamed corn in anticipation of the gift choas and utimate Pictionary contest at Grandmas (yes, Tonya and I still hold the championship cup!!), this was the night that made us all feel special. Christmas Day is the day for football, parades, hangovers from food and alcohol, and genuine pajama time with the fam. Thus, dinner is planned at our house for 7PM.  On the menu:

For the prep time:
Champs!
Rosemary roasted cashews
Salami & cheese rollups

For the Dinner:
Glazed ham
Corn w/butter sauce
Mashed potatoes & gravy for the boyz
Mrs. Kerr's Delmonico potatoes for the chef
Black Olives
Grands Biscuits

For the dessert:
Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Pumpkin Creme Pie


I haven't made Mrs. Kerr's potatoes in ages, but it is traditional McCann fare, attributable to the mother-in-law of Mr. Quill of Chesnut Hill, Pennsylvania. Anyway, it's a version of Delmonico Potatoes, so you preboil the potatoes to just done, let them cool overnight, then shred them.  You mix heavy cream, white pepper, and I'm going to throw in some sour cream this time, then pour 2 pints of this mix over 5# shredded potatoes and top with fresh grated parmesan (yes, the real thing) and then sprinkle with buttered panko and dot with butter, then bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until brown.  They are decadent and delicious, and a once a year thing only!  I believe that Mrs. Kerr, who was from New England, adapted this from the Providence, RI restaurant version. These are not my pictures, but this does show you what they look like:

I also am doing two new appetizers this year.  The roast cashews are an Ina Garten recipe: ROSEMARY ROASTED CASHEWS , and they are yummy!  They have just a little kick, and I
dig it!

The TODAY show actually introduced me to the salami rollups.  I had to take the pepperoncinis out, because they are too hot for my son, but I used Dietz & Watson Genoa Salami slices and whipped cream cheese and they are SO good! The original recipe was:

1. Salami Bundles with Cream Cheese and Pepperoncini

These salami-wrapped cones make an irresistible party snack.

Ingredients

• Thinly-sliced salami

• Cream cheese

• Pepperoncini

Directions: Just spread softened cream cheese on thinly sliced salami and sprinkle with thinly sliced pepperoncini (yes, those cheap pickled peppers often used on sandwiches). Roll up the salami and transfer to a platter.

Springfield Twp Sugar Cookies

Butter cookies is more appropriate. My high school made these from scratch, served them daily for like 25 cents. (Remember the days when schools actually made food??) I bought and ate one every day for four years, and was still 114 pounds.  I wish that were true today!  These are decadent and delicious!!

I've adjusted the recipe from a full lunch crowd to a normal family below.

                            

 

SHHS Butter Cookies

FAMILY SIZE                          SCHOOL SIZE

(2 sticks)  butter                         1# butter

(1 cup) sugar                              1# sugar (2 cups)

(2 1/6 cups) AP Flour                4-1/3 C all purpose flour

(1) egg                                        2 eggs

(1/8 cup) water                          ¼ C water

(1/2 T) vanilla                           1 T vanilla

1/2 pinch salt                             Pinch salt

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs, water, vanilla.  Combine. 

Stir in half of the flour and pinch salt.

Add the remaining flour.  Chill dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 375.  Spoon by ice cream scoop onto cookie sheets.

(Optional:  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon).

Bake for 15 min until edges are golden brown.

Artichoke (Spinach) Dip Baguette

I saw this recipe on Facebook recently, and thought it looked good. But I had artichoke dip at happy hour yesterday I was reminded I hadn't tried it yet. So today, on this wonderfully beautiful lazy Saturday, I did. Unfortunately, I forgot the spinach, so we're going artichoke only. And I'm using mascarpone instead of cream cheese simply because I was at the Italian market and didn't want to make two trips. Here is the recipe: http://hostthetoast.com/spinach-and-artichoke-dip-stuffed-garlic-bread/