St. Patty's Day!

It's been a little while since I've posted last, but fear not! I've been saving myself for a good recipe! I decided earlier this year that this St. Patty's Day I was going to make a completely homemade corned beef. The whole shebang! High quality brisket, brining, cooking... and I chronicled the whole process.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I initially browsed through a myriad of recipes, finally going with a combo of the one on Robb Wolf's website and the one on Caveman Bistro. I then set off on my corned beef journey with a grass fed brisket, cut in half. I think mine was 4-5 pounds weight-wise. 

I stuck it in a large stock pot and poured in my brine (recipe to follow). I then covered it with a heavy lid and stuck it in the fridge to sit for 7 days. Trust me, this is worth the wait...

Seven days later, I pulled out the brisket, drained the pot of the brine and rinsed off the meat. It's going to look somewhat gray. I know it looks a little gross, but I want to stress again that it's worth it.

I put the meat back in the pot with some fresh water, carrots and onions. Brought everything to a boil, reduced the heat and let it simmer for 2 hours.

After the two hours, I added the chopped cabbage and returned the mix to a simmer and let it cook for an additional 30 minutes. I added a little extra seasoning, to taste, and voila!

Corned Beef & Cabbage!

Ingredients:

• 1 4-5 lb grass fed brisket, cut in half
• 2 + 2 quarts water
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 6 cloves garlic – crushed
• 1/4 cup salt
• 4 dried bay leaves
• 1 TBS whole peppercorns
• 1 TBS whole mustard seeds
• 1 TBS whole all spice
• 1 1/2  tsp whole cloves
• 1 head cabbage, outer leaves removed and cut into eighths
• 6 whole carrots (I guessed on this as my carrots were rather funny looking and all different shapes)
• 2 onions, cut into large chunks
• salt/pepper, to taste
• garlic powder/cinnamon/cloves/ground mustard seeds, to taste (and if you think necessary)

Method:

• In a large stock pot, add the water, vinegar, garlic, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard seeds, whole all spice, and whole cloves, over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and allow the brine mixture to cook to room temperature.
• Add the brisket to the pot and push it down so that it's submerged in the liquid. Cover the pot with a heavy lid and place it in the fridge. Leave it for 5-7 days. (I covered my pot with plastic wrap first and then a lid, as the cast iron lid I was using wasn't a snug fit. I let my brisket sit for the full 7 days.)
• After done brining, remove the brisket and rinse it. Drain the pot of everything.
• Pour another 2 quarts of water to the pot and add the brisket, carrots and onions, over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let cook for 2 hours.
• Add the cabbage to the pot. Bring back to a simmer and let it cook for 30 minutes. Taste, adjust with the additional seasoning, if need be.
• Take the pot off the heat and remove the brisket to a plate. Slice the meat against the grain in thin slices. 
• Serve the sliced meat on plates with the chopped cabbage, carrots and onions. 
• Enjoy!

This recipe takes a fair amount of patience and planning to pull off well. However, the flavors that come from this absolutely ROCK! I don't know if I can go back to eating other corned beef again... The meat was melt in your mouth tender and the cabbage perfectly cooked! Serve this up with a pint o' Guinness or cider and you'll be a very satisfied eater. (Plus, you can totally use the leftovers to make corned beef hash, reubens, or corned beef stew!)

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

Birthday Treat

Monday of this week is my boyfriend's birthday. In light of this event, we decided to do dinner and a movie last night. This is a treat for us as it seems as though we rarely get a chance to do so. I tend to deal for my Dad's company on the weekends or we're too tired from work... or we're just being lazy... That being said, last night I needed to create something that was a little more special than our usual nightly fare. I splurged a bit and bought some beautiful looking skin on salmon fillets. (Again, this is a rarity for us. Fish can get pretty expensive!)

Salmon with Cilantro Pesto

Ingredients:

• 2 6oz skin-on, salmon fillets
• coconut oil, or butter
• 1 large handful of cilantro
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• the juice of 1 lime
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• extra virgin olive oil  

Method:

• Place the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, salt, pepper and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Puree everything until smooth. You can add as much olive oil as you like to get your desired thickness of the sauce. I prefer mine a little thicker, so I went with a couple tablespoons full. Set aside.  
• Heat coconut oil/ butter in a large pan over medium-high heat.
• Pat the two salmon fillets dry and sprinkle with a little salt/pepper.
• Place the fillets skin side down in the pan and let cook for 3 minutes.
• Flip the fillets over and let them cook for an additional 2-4 minutes, depending on the size of your cuts.
• Place them on plates, top with the pesto and serve along with your favorite side.
• Enjoy!

I love this method of cooking fish. It's simple and oh so delicious and did I mention that it only takes about 5 minutes? Easy! I will admit that the pesto is a little heavy with cilantro flavor, but seeing as it's my favorite herb, I don't really mind. Feel free to adjust the sauce as you see fit. It's quite forgiving. 

Super Soup!

This past Saturday, I picked some interesting chicken parts from my oh so favorite Seven Bridges Farms. I discovered that if I asked ahead of time, they'll get some of the innards that aren't always used and sell them for pretty cheap. By 'innards' I mean the gizzards, livers, hearts, necks and feet. Yes, I said feet! (I know they're not technically an innard, but chicken feet are pretty odd... and scary looking... like some sort of zombie, franken-feet...)

I only ended up buying the feet, livers and gizzards. The livers were saved to make some fried chicken livers, which, by the way, turned out to be a complete fail! It's not the flavor of the liver that's the problem. I'm not so good at frying foods...

Anyhoo, I did some research and found out that chicken feet make the best stock. I took my franken-feet and used my fave bone broth recipe to create just that. I then used the sauce to make a fantastic soup with the gizzards and stew beef.

Pressure Cooker Gizzard and Beef Soup

Ingredients:

• coconut oil
• 1 lb chicken gizzards, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 lb stew beef
• 3-4 cups spinach, roughly chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 4 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 5-6 cups homemade broth
• salt/pepper, to taste

Method:

• Heat coconut oil in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add the beef and gizzards and cook until browned. Remove and set aside.
• Add a little more coconut oil to the pressure cooker, if necessary. Add the onions, carrots and celery, and cook until softened (3-5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
• Add the broth, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, rosemary, parsley and a some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and add the browned meat. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and increase the heat to high. Wait until the cooker comes to high pressure, then turn down the heat to the lowest possible setting to maintain high pressure. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Turn the pressure valve to release the steam.
• Take the lid off and remove the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and rosemary sprigs (the leaves should have fallen off). Move the pot back to medium heat. Add the spinach and let cook until wilted. Taste, adjust the seasonings.
• Enjoy!

The beef and gizzards end up nice and tender. There's no real funk to the soup that you might expect. It's beautifully seasoned and a wonderfully herby/warm.  Fear not the weirdness that is the chicken gizzard! 

Tip: I must say that if you have the time, try making your own stock. When you hear people say that you should have some chicken noodle soup or chicken broth to help you feel better, they don't mean getting some canned stuff. You'll get the most benefit from making it yourself! Save the bones from rotisserie chickens, beef bones or go out and get some chicken feet. An easy recipe is to take the bones, some salt, a little apple cider vinegar, black peppercorns and a couple bay leaves, and throw them into a crock pot. Pour in enough water to just cover the bones. Cook on low for 24 hours. Strain the spices, bay leaves and bones from the broth. Voila! Homemade Stock!