Beef Brisket

I promise that this piece of beef tastes a LOT better than what is looks like in this picture! You may remember a previous beef brisket recipe. Since there are only 2 of us here, I had cut the meat in half and stuck it in the freezer for future use. Well, the future has arrived for the second half to be used. Jake found a great recipe from allrecipes.com. Our changes are noted below.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef-Style Brisket

Ingredients

1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 bay leaves, crumbled
8 whole black peppercorns, crushed
1 tablespoon pickling salt (we used sea salt)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon celery seed (omitted)
1 (4 pound) beef brisket
1 cup water
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (omitted)
1/2 small head cabbage, sliced into strips (omitted)

Directions

Stir together the onion, garlic, mustard, vinegar, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, parsley, and celery seed in a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours. (We

Rub the brisket with the mixture, wrap tightly, and refrigerate overnight.

To cook the brisket, place it into a slow cooker along with the water. Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours. Add the carrots, and cabbage, and continue cooking until the brisket is tender, about 3 hours more.

We omitted the overnight part and the slow cooker part of this recipe entirely! We mixed up the rub, rubbed it on the beef and put it in the oven for about an hour (it was a small piece!) We served it with a side of curry couscous!

CEiMB: Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary and Chocolate

Well, if you follow my blog regularly you know that I have been absent from Craving Ellie in My Belly. But I'm back! I have to confess that my husband actually made this week's recipe but he gave me the approval to claim it for myself. I have such an amazing husband. Work has been physically stressful this week and he knew how much it meant to me to participate in this week's recipe so he offered to make it. I sat at the counter and kept him company.

Ellie mentions in her notes that this really works for any cut of beef. Since it is just the 2 of us, I decided to just pick up 2 steaks. The sauce takes quite a while to reduce down but it was worth the wait. I was very hesitant. If fact the picture above is my husband's plate, my sauce was in a dish on the side in case I didn't like it! I was pleasantly surprised.

The aroma of the sauce with the spices was quite overwhelming and I thought for sure I wouldn't like it but Ellie proved me wrong and I will definitely make this again in the future.

Other than substituting the cut of meat, the only other change we made was using a cooking sherry instead of red wine. I was not interested in making an extra stop to the liquor store this week. I'm not a wine drinker so I can't tell you if it made a huge difference but if it did than I like it better my way!

Thank you to Amanda of Beckett Bakes It for this week's selection. You can find the recipe on her blog. Don't forget to visit CEiMB too!

CEiMB: Sweet and Sour Brisket

In case you missed it a couple weeks ago, I've joined a new cooking group, Craving Ellie in My Belly. We are cooking from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger.

This week's selection was chose by Natalie from What's For Supper? It was a perfect pick for a comfort food night. I have been craving pot roast and this definitely hit the spot!


I cut the recipe in half and put the other half of the brisket in the freezer for a future meal. I only made a few minor ingredient changes. I left out the allspice berry of which I didn't have and added a pinch of both cinnamon and nutmeg. I also added a bag of carrots and cut up a few potatoes as a side.

I don't own a Dutch oven (yet, its on the Christmas list!) so I used my slower cooker. I put the carrots and potatoes right on the bottom and brisket on top with all the sauce. It could have used just a bit more sauce since the carrots and potatoes soaked some of that up.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ingredients and the flavor outcome. I never would have thought that beef, tomato sauce, raisins, chicken stock, cinnamon and nutmeg would all got together. But, I really loved it and my husband requested it to be a a regular meal this winter.

CEiMB: Steak Tacos with Cucumber Avocado Salsa

Are you tired of cookies, chocolate, and only seeing baked goods on my blog? Then you've come to the right place because......I've joined a new event!! This time its a cooking and eating healthy event! Craving Ellie in my Belly or CEiMB is cooking out of Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave.

I must be a glutton for punishment as my blog has been severely lacking this past month. But, I'm thinking this might be just what I need to get my game back and better for the waistlines in this house.

My husband is excited about this one as well because he prefers cooking over baking so this is an event we can do together. We are always looking for healthier recipes. He also said this is something we can actually eat rather than taste and give away to someone! (Side note: Don't for a second think I'm leaving TWD though!)

So, thank you to Leigh for starting this new event! And thank to my good friend Clara for a hosting a great pick this week!

Now about this week's recipe...it was a great one for us to start with. We LOVE tacos and the like. I really loved the flavor of the steak. I omitted the cayenne pepper because we didn't have any but probably could have used that kick.

The salsa I was a little nervous about and therefore I ended up changing quite a bit. Basically I diced the cucumber and avocado and added the lime juice and salt to taste. My husband added red onion to his tacos and I diced up some tomato for mine. I had a bad experience with cilantro one time making my own salsa and hated it. I love things with flavor but not super spicy so I left out the jalapenos.

In the end I wanted to add sour cream and cheese for more flavor since I left most of it out but I resisted the urge to add fatty calories to my healthy dinner. I will be making this again, especially since I have a lot of red cabbage left even after buying the smallest one! Any good cabbage recipes out there?

For more information about this new event or to join us go to Craving Ellie in My Belly!

(I'm working on my photography skills. What do you think?!)

Elsa's Cider Beef with Smashed Cheddar Potatoes

My new claim to fame is that I met Rachael Ray! She has just come out with a new cookbook and kicked off her book tour this past Friday night at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square. She did a Q&A session and then a book signing. It was a long wait but totally worth it. She personalized our book by saying, "Jake and Beth, Keep your pots hot! Rachael Ray" Well that's exactly what we did. We chose a new recipe from her book to kick off our week and it was great!


Ingredients

2 tablespoons EVOO
3 tablespoons butter
2 pounds top sirloin, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
salt and black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 pound turnips, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups good-quality apple cider-go dark and cloudy
1 (15-ounce) can of beef stock
3 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons chopped or snipped chives

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425.

Place a large stew pot or Dutch-oven with lid over medium-high heat. Add EVOO and butter. When the butter melts, season the beef with salt and pepper and add to the pot. Brown on all sides, 7-8 minutes total. Add onions, carrots and turnips and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the vegetables with the flour and stir to combine and coat, 1 minute. Stir in apple cider and the beef stock, bring to boil, cover the pan, and transfer to the over. Braise the beef for 45 minutes.

Once the beef has been in the oven for about 15 minutes, place the potatoes in a large sauce pot with water to cover by at least 1 to 2 inches. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce the heat a bit, add some salt, and cook the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes.

When the potatoes are tender, drain them and return them to the pot. Add the milk, sour cream and cheese. Use a potato masher to smash them to your preferred consistency. Season with salt and pepper and add the chives. Cover and keep warm until the beef it done.


To serve, ladle the stew into sallow serving bowls. Make a well in the center and fill with the potatoes. (It should be noted, however, that there are members of our family-like my brother-who would fill a bowl with potatoes instead, leaving a small well in the center to hold a few bites of stew.)

My tips: We eliminated the turnips, something we've never tried and we weren't daring enough tonight. My husband doesn't like white cheddar so we used regular sharp cheddar. We also forgot to buy the chives at the grocery store. We both enjoy a good amount of spice and felt this was lacking some spice. Note: This is one of her 60-minute meals and it serves 4.

Husband Rating: A+ He says it needs to be well seasoned when cooking but over all he enjoyed.

Wife Rating: A+ I really liked the cider, it adds a sweetness to an otherwise regular beef stew. I didn't love the onions but they add good flavor. We also opted to fill the bowl with potatoes and then pour the stew over top like Rachael's brother. I won't lie the potatoes are why I chose the recipe and they were amazing!

Recipe from: just in time! All-new 30-minute meal, plus super-fast 15 minute meals and slow-it-down 60 minute meals by Rachael Ray
Picture take by me