A Recipe For New Years

Granny’s Corned Beef

Cook your corned beef in the preferred manner; either boiled or baked, until desired tenderness.  (The longer it is cooked, the more tender it becomes.)
The baking temperature is 350 F.  Follow package directions for baking. 
I usually boil my corned beef for 3 or 3 and 1/2 hours.  (I cut the beef into two pieces, trim the fat and then stick 2 whole cloves in each piece before boiling.)
When your corned beef is the desired tenderness, mix up the following sauce and bake the beef in the sauce for an additional one half hour. (350 F)

Sauce Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of water or the corned beef juice.
3 tablespoons of vinegar  (white or red).
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
One-third cup of ketchup 
One-third cup of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of butter  (last ingredient and I stir the sauce until butter melts; but you can microwave butter stick if you want.)

Directions:
Mix the sauce ingredients in a small pan and heat to boiling point.  (Bubbles just breaking the surface.) Then pour sauce over the corned beef and bake at 350.

DOUBLE the sauce mix if you have more than 4 lbs of meat.
In general, I double the sauce anyway!  I like to use it as a gravy.

This is a three-generation recipe in my family.  We have this on holidays.  Easter, the 4th of July, St Patrick’s Day, etc.  My grandmother found the recipe in a women’s magazine in the early 1940s and tried it.  Everybody liked it!  So her two daughters make it, her two granddaughters make it, and everybody likes it!  (Including some Tibetan Buddhist monks.  The ones who tour the world making sand mandalas.  During 2001 I helped to host some monks during a tour, and when I discovered they weren’t vegetarians, I made the corned beef.  It wasn’t as spicy as their regular food!  But there were no leftovers.)
 
Please note: this is one recipe that frequently tastes better two days after it is made!  If I have the patience, I make it and then store it in the fridge (in a cassarole dish) for two days.  Then I use the stove burner to warm up the cassarole dish and serve.  Mmm. 

Decadent Hot Chocolate

Two great recipes for decadent hot chocolate (one is thicker):

1.

6 ounces 70% Cacao Bittersweet or 62% Cacao Semisweet Chocolate (Ghiradelli’s works really well

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1 quart milk-from nonfat to half & half (your preference)

Break-up chocolate and place in a small, heavy saucepan. Melt with one cup of the milk over med-low heat while stirring constantly.

When the chocolate has melted, bring up the heat to medium and add the remainder of the milk while whisking rapidly.

Do not allow to boil.

Serve in small cups with a dollop of whipped cream or fortify with flavored syrups (I use raspberry sugar free and it’s delicious) or Cognac, Rum, Irish Whiskey, or Brandy.  You can add a dash of unsweetened cocoa on top (I keep cocoa in a shaker so I can dust it over the top with ease)

2.

2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup water
10 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
2 tablespoons brandy (optional), or flavored syrup of your choice (I still prefer rasberry sugar free with this recipe)

Whisk together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons milk.

Bring water to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then reduce heat to moderately low and add chopped chocolate and a pinch of salt, whisking until smooth.

Add cream and remaining milk (1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons) and increase heat to moderate, then cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture is smooth and heated through. Taste; for a deeper chocolate flavor, whisk in cocoa.

Whisk cornstarch mixture, then add half to chocolate mixture and simmer, whisking, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add brandy (if using) ot flavored syrup and remaining cornstarch mixture to thicken if desired, then simmer, whisking, 1 minute. Top with whipped cream!

Mari’s Chocolate Coffee

Make some coffee.  We buy Fair Trade green beans, roast them in a popcorn popper, grind them, and make our coffee.  Pour your coffee in a large mug.  Add a spoonful, to your taste, of cocoa powder.  Sweeten with local-bought honey (here on Knotts Island, NC, our honey producer is also the guy you call if bees or wasps invade your house, as they did at our house the time a swarm of bees came down the chimney and into the bedroom).  (He also raises kiwi trees, which gives his honey a unique flavor.)  Add soymilk; stir a lot and keep the spoon in the mug because the cocoa will want to settle into the bottom.  Do not allow it to do so.  Drink it all up.

Grilled Cajun-Style Chicken Breasts

4 thin-cut chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper
1 Lemon

Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound until about 1/4 inch thick.

In a plastic ziplock bag combine the oils and the cayenne, Italian seasonings, and garlic powder.  Add the chicken and close, then massage the bag until all the chicken is coated with the oil and seasonings.  Refrigerate the bag for at least an hour.

Just before serving, heat a stovetop grill until it is screaming hot.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and grill about 3 or 4 minutes on each side.  (Cut into the thickest piece to check for doneness).  Remove from the grill and squeeze fresh lemon over the chicken.  Serve this with Sweet Potatoes Au Gratin.

Sweet Potato Au Gratin

3 medium sweet potatoes (not yams), peeled and cubed
1 cup plus another 1/4 cup grated fontina and parmesan cheese mixture
1/4 cup low or non-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons butter or non-hydrogenated margarine
garlic powder
salt

Place the cubed sweet potatoes in cold water and bring to boil.  Salt the boiling water to taste. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are done.   Drain and put back into pan.  Let the potatoes sit for a minute or two to allow the moisture to evaporate.

Add 1 cup of the cheese mixture, sour cream, butter and a dash of garlic powder to the potatoes.  Mash until smooth.  Pour the potato mixture into a butter casserole.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and put it under a hot broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is brown.  Makes about 4 servings.

Grilled Caprese Sandwich

If you have a panini press, great; if not, then use a cast-iron skillet.  Heat the skillet until it is screaming hot.

While the skillet is heating, make a sandwich out of two slices of crusty bread (I prefer a whole grain bread), a couple of slices of mozerella cheese, a few pieces of sundried tomatoes (in oil), a few leaves of fresh basil, and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.

Brush one side of the bread with olive oil.  Place the sandwich oiled side down into the skillet.  Put a weight on top of the sandwich (I use a smaller skillet).  Watch it carefully because it will toast very quickly.   Remove the smaller skillet and brush the top of the sandwich with more oil.  Flip the sandwich and replace the weight.  Grill for another minute or so.

Lori Gloyd

Crab Hot Pot

2 tablespoons miso

1 bottle (8 oz.) clam juice

½ cup white wine or sake

6 cups water

¼ cup soy sauce

2 cups chicken stock

Chopped onions, garlic and ginger root

Chopped Savoy cabbage

Faux crab (about half a package)

Somen noodles

First I put the water, clam juice, wine, soy sauce and the chopped onions, garlic, ginger root and cabbage into the crock pot and turned it on high (it’s a 3 ½ quart model). Miso is a paste made of fermented soy beans, the instructions say to dissolve the paste in a small amount of boiling water before adding it to your soup (or whatever) so I dissolved my 2 tablespoons in the 2 cups of chicken stock that I made with a chicken bouillon cube and boiling water, then added it to the pot. Then I put on the lid and left it for about two hours.

After about 2 hours, the contents of the pot were boiling so I added my fake crab (I think this fake crab is made from some other type of fish and comes in a package about the size of a paperback book. If you can’t find it, I think real crab, shrimp or any type of shellfish would work). I also taste-tested it to see if it needed any more seasonings and to see if the cabbage was cooked. All was fine so I put a package of Somen noodles (like Ramen only straight instead of curly; you could use Ramen or rice even) in 2 cups of water and ½ teaspoon of salt on to boil for about 2 minutes. Drained and rinsed them, put them into a shallow bowl and then ladled the soup over top of them. Then I cut some green onions over the top and served it with soy sauce on the side. We also had warmed sake, it was a good meal for a cool evening.

I adapted this recipe from a book I got at a library sale (love those $1 books!) called The Book of Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko.

Recipe by Mari Mann

Turkey and Lentil Soup

1 cup dried lentils (picked over for stones)
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup white wine
1  8 oz can tomato sauce
dried thyme, sage, salt and pepper to taste

Soak the lentils in water for a few hours.  Drain off excess water.  Cover with the chicken broth and bring to boil.  Simmer until soft (follow the directions on the package of lentils).

While the lentils are simmering, sauté the onion, celery and garlic in a pan until translucent.  Add the ground turkey and continue cooking until the turkey is thoroughly cooked.  Deglaze the pan with the wine.   Combine the vegetables, turkey, lentils and broth to a slow cooker.  Add the tomato sauce and seasonings.  Cook on slow for 2 hours until the flavors combine.

Simple Sandwich

My husband was nervous and tense. He was preparing for a difficult five-course dinner for two for a client. He was hungry, but had not time to make lunch. I was on my way to the Post Office, and I offered to pick up something to eat.

“Keep it light,” my husband said, “and no onions or garlic, I can’t breathe on the people while I’m serving otherwise. Oh, and make it flavorful,” he added.

When I came back, I had the basics with me: Prosciutto, cut as thin as lace,  fresh buffalo mozzarella, and  that bread I like so much–the dark bread that looks like its just pressed seeds and grain.

I buttered four slices, keeping the butter thin, just enough to keep the prosciutto attached to the bread and add flavor. Then I  laid the prosciutto on the bread, all the way to the edges.

Slicing the mozzarella into medium slices, then patted it dry in a paper towel. I took some fresh basil leaves and patted them dry, too. The basil went against the prosciutto and the mozzarella on top of that.

Close the sandwich, slice it diagonally, and serve with red grapes. A lunch that will revive the flagging spirit and make you smile!

Slow-cooked Chicken & Mushrooms with Mustard Sauce

1 onion, sliced

8 oz of whole white mushrooms

1 pound, boneless, skinless chicken pieces

Dried rosemary

Salt

Black pepper

¼ cup, Marsala

¼ cup, chicken broth

½ cup, sour cream

1 tablespoon, brown mustard (prepared)

 

Put the onions in the bottom of the slow cooker, then the mushrooms, then the chicken on top.  Add salt, pepper and dried rosemary to taste.  Add the Marsala and broth.  Set on high for 3 hours or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

 

Drain off the liquid and move chicken mixture to serving plate.   Mix the sour cream and mustard.  Top the chicken with the sauce.  Serve with noodles or rice.

 

Lori Gloyd