Jen's Savory Summary- German Pancake

Marblehead Neck

Our first weekly recipe back was a pretty simple one, which I think was definitely needed.  I didn't even make it on Sunday since my weekend got away from me.  Jason and I spent the weekend exploring more New England places, falling even more in love with our little corner of the United States.  We took a day trip up to Marblehead, which is only 15 miles away for our house.  It is the self proclaimed birth-place of the Navy.  The town itself is all coastline, dotted with gorgeous houses and too many sailboats to count.  I absolutely loved it, it might be a close second to my favorite place, Nantucket.  The short drive definitely makes it more appealing.

All the ingredients ready to go!

This recipe was so unbelievable easy.  I think it is perfect if you are craving pancakes but don't want to babysit a pan constantly flipping batches.  The one tricky part was the brown butter.  I love brown butter, its butter that's living on the edge.  It develops such depth of flavor with nutty undertones, but its right on the edge of being burnt.  If you let it go a bit too long you have a disgusting burnt mess.  I use another recipe that calls for browned butter that is out of this world, grown up rice krispy treats from Flour (recipe here).

Almost browned butter
perfection

The rest of the recipe was foolproof, pour batter into brown butter and pop in the oven for 15 minutes.  Now you have 15 minutes to do whatever you please, surf Pinterest for more food ideas, binge watch Pretty Little Liars, my new obsession, and no I am not 15 years old.





Once its done its a beautiful puffed pastry, reminding me almost of a funnel cake.  I drizzled a bit of maple syrup on it.  I'd eat right away since it deflates pretty quickly.  Hope you enjoyed too!

 

Finished pancake still puffy from the oven! 

Shrimp (actually) on the Barbie - Joanne's Savory Summary

Look, I am going to level with you. I had the 'barbie' (or as us Americans call it - a grill) and I didn't have much success either.  As Jen mentioned I think the key to flavorful shrimp may be all in the spice rub.  My marinade seemed thin too so as soon as I put it on the shrimp they seemed to repel it.  This was especially the case as I cooked the shrimp on the grill grates.  Instead of my shrimp basting in flavor, my grill served as a mere drip pan for the discarded marinade.  Well lessons learned.  Still, it was nice to have some shrimp during the summer even if I ended up only using it as the protein in my salad.  

We'll do better next time.  We promise!
Joanne

Yea it was kind of like this...

Shrimp on the Barbie- Jen's Savory Summary

First, let me start off with an apology.  This recipe was terrible, awful...worst one yet.  I don't know what happened but my shrimp did not turn out well at all.  Let me say I think this is where I went wrong - I have no barbie. So shrimp on the barbie was bound to be problematic.  I had to use just a plain old pan.  I surmise this where the horribleness came from.  When the shrimp went into the pan the marinade just kind of seeped out and I was basically boiling the shrimp in this liquid.  The result was just not good.  To put it kindly, it was rubbery and very tasteless.   To imitate Gordon Ramsey: BLAND.  Looking back, it would be better to either have a BBQ or just do a spice rub and call it a day.  Again fellow Sunday supper people my sincerest apologies.  I hope yours turned out much better than mine.

There's always next week...
Jen

Finished Dish - Meh

Terriyaki Chicken & Shrimp Kabobs- Joanne's Savory Summary

Between the weather turning from not-so-good to beautiful to the four day weekend of relaxation, this really was the perfect way to kick off the summer.  I waited until Monday to make the kabobs so David and I would have some leftovers for the week.  In fact, I just finished the last two skewers and they were still delicious.  Also, since David typically mans the grils, this gives us a chance to make the meal together, something that we normally don't do.  Finally, the easy assembly and clean up make this perfect for any summer night.
 
Not being fresh off a 21 hour flight like Jen, I bought my veggies and chicken separate so I could chop them up myself.  This time I went with yellow zucchini, onion, mushrooms and grape tomatoes.  I also opted to forgo the shrimp since I thought the chicken would reheat better and, as I mentioned before, we always have leftovers.  I let the chicken marinate in the glaze for 4 hours while we relaxed outside.  Finally, we assembled the kabobs which took less than 20 minutes while simultaneously preheating grill. 

Ready to cook!

David cooked the kabobs over medium heat for about twenty minutes, flipping them 3-4 times and dousing them with extra glaze every time he did.  The result was the same consistently delicious meal, both healthy and easy to make.  This will once again be a summertime staple in our house!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend.  
Joanne

Terriyaki Chicken & Shrimp Kabobs- Jen's Savory Summary

SEMI HOMEMADE!!

I can't tell you how much I've missed cooking. Last night as I was preparing everything I realized I hadn't cooked in close to two weeks.  Cooking is my stress reliever.  It just zones me out and relaxes me.  I so needed that repetitive chopping, mixing, sizzling in the pan...it brought me to my happy place.  This was a super simple recipe this week and I made it even easier.  Okay, don't call me lazy just yet.  I will tell you I made two chopped little salads to go as sides with this week's meal. I also cut up an entire pineapple for dessert.  I totally Sandra Lee-ed it this week.  I hate Sandra Lee, loathe her in fact.  Parading around like a chef when her meals consist of reheating most things.

Well I'm ashamed to admit..... I bought my kabobs pre-assembled.  I know... so LAZY. They were just staring at me in the Whole Foods case saying: "buy me... buy me...I look so yummy".  So I bought them and they were delicious.  I did however make that delicious glaze.  I love ginger.  Most things I was served in China had ginger in it and it is so refreshing.  I think I am the only person who enjoys ginger ale when they don't have a stomach ache.  Perhaps it's from having it so much as a kid at my grandma's house.  So back to the lazy kabobs.  I had one with chicken and one with swordfish.  I would highly suggest eating more swordfish.  It gives you that steak feeling without the steak calories. Also, the swordfish tasted amazing with the terriyaki glaze.  Finally, for all you apartment dwellers like myself, don't say I can't make this because I don't have a grill.  I did!  With my amazing grill pan that gets so much use this time of year!!


I hope you all enjoyed this recipe!  It definitely felt like a kick off to summer for me.

Happy Cooking!!

Jen

Pulled Pork- Jen's Savory Summary

Katie- happy to help!

This past Sunday was my first Sunday Supper including the littlest sister.  I was happy to finally make something for more than two people.  For some reason, I get more enthused when there are more people to cook for.  Also, having Katie here was such a huge help.  This girl loves to help cook.  I even gave her the bad jobs, i.e. taking the pork off the bone and she happily helped!

Dinner for Three!

So let me tell you why I love this recipe.  It all come down to this one sentence: cook for 8 hours.  I was so excited!  This weekend was hell for me.  I have my final tonight for my grad school class and I was just told I'm leaving for Hong Kong on Friday (let the freak out commence).  So the eight hours of non active cook time was a God-send and gave me so much time to just get stuff done.  Also, expect some Chinese food featured in this week's recipe with my impending trip!

Finished Pork with a side of beets!

Onto the recipe...it was super easy even for an non crock pot owner like myself.  Since I didn't have a crock pot I baked this bad boy for 6 hours at 225F.  The slow and low method always results in deliciousness.  I didn't cube my pork either.  This may of been a mistake since Katie had to shred off the pork from the bone after it was cooked.  This recipe resulted in a super delicous, tender, and flavorful pulled pork.  I also loved the fact that it didn't use a store bought BBQ sauce.  Instead you made your own delicious one.  Also, since we are a bread free family we had ours sans bun.  Even then it was still delicious!  Hope you enjoyed as much as we did!

Enchiladas Verdes- Jen's Savory Summary

I had every intention of making this week's recipe. I seriously did.  I bought the chicken and had it sitting out on Sunday to defrost.  I even got the corn tortillas.  Then, Sunday happened....  

Apparently, I cannot enjoy a lovely day of day drinking like I used to. In college, this was a weekly occurrence, especially in the fall. Saturday football games, yes University of Delaware had football where we did tailgate, were centered around day drinking. These days, this Sunday of day drinking destroyed me.  I thought I could muster up the energy to make it on Monday evening, but the thought of anything green made me sick.  It was a full 24 hours since I had my last glass of delicious bubbles but I still was feeling "wicked hungovAH".  Instead of delicious enchiladas, I dove into the yearly supply of Omaha Steaks my father-in-law sends us.  So last night my meal consisted of a twice baked potato and a piece of fish.  

I hope you all enjoyed your enchiladas .. I hope to make them this Wednesday instead.  Maybe this hangover will be gone by then...

  

Italian Wedding Soup - Joanne's Savory Summary

This soup was a great ending to a fabulous weekend. The moves Jen and I were showcasing on Friday night at Jess's wedding will be legendary (or they should be).  The weather was gorgeous and the wedding was fun, elegant and memorable.  Since the amazing weather lasted all weekend long, David and I spent as much time as possible outside simply sitting on a blanket on our front lawn.  With Monday came the rain and, more appropriately, the soup. 

Since summer is just around the corner I decided to use all ground pork instead of any ground beef.  However, what I eliminated in

fat I definitely did not lose in flavor.  I also didn't use fresh parsley because I have an abundance of dried parsley.  I had over a dozen meatballs so I was a little concerned about them cooking through in the boiling broth.  To hedge my bet, I baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for only 6 minutes.  Then I put them in the boiling chicken broth with the escarole for 8 minutes. 

The egg/parmesan mixture was an unexpected bonus.  I didn't know how this would turn out at first glance.  I was surprised to see how easy it was to add it to the soup and just how much flavor it added as well.

I would definitely make this soup again.  I even have leftovers for tomorrow's and Wednesday's lunch.  Fortunately, it's light enough for me to enjoy with bikini season right about the corner.

Italian Wedding Soup- Jen's Savory Summary

Maggie a few years ago

As many of you know, I am a big fan of soup.  My soup eating days are coming to close this year with summer approaching, so I was so happy that Joanne featured a soup this week.  I love Italian wedding soup, the little meatballs and the super flavorful broth, yum!!  Also, I learned this weekend that this is my little niece Maggie's favorite soup.  That little girl and I have so many things in common!!  One other big surprise with this recipe was how darn easy it was.  I made it last night since we were gone until late on Sunday evening.  

All the ingredients 

I did not want to cook last night at all.  I was dreading cooking because I was so tired and had a mountain of homework to tackle.  However, surprise, this was super easy.  So easy that I even just bought the ingredients yesterday as well.  A few problems with my recipe.  One, no beef.  The selection at my local food store was looking dodgy so I stuck with a solo pork meatball.  Two, no escarole.  There probably was escarole in my grocery store but I don't know what it looks like.  Also, Foodies (that's the name of my grocery store) does not like it when you ask where something is, so I quietly grabbed a bag of spinach and thought what the hell it should work.

Meatballs ready for their bath

The meatballs were so easy to make.  The one weird part was the grated onion.  I have never grated an onion and grating an onion is basically asking for puffy teared stained face.  It was like juicing an onion and the juice was spraying everywhere.  I was a freaking mess, sniffy faced, tear stained cheeks, but I was able to grate that onion.  The soup assembly was even easier.  Simply, boil broth.   I was a bit nervous just having a low sodium broth for the soup.  I really thought it was going to lack flavor.  However, once you added the meatballs, spinach, and the egg mixture it was so flavorful   I also added some small pasta, orzo, to the soup to beef it up.  

I hope everyone enjoyed this soup as much as I did, I certainly have enough leftovers to enjoy this soup for the rest of soup season!

Finished Soup! 

Happy Cooking!
Jen

Baked Beans- Jen's Savory Summary

You don't need this
secret for good beans!

Hi Everyone out there!  This past Sunday was a bit hectic for Jason and I.  Not only are we in crunch time to get in shape for a vacation coming up, but finals are also around the corner.  Our Sunday started making Joanne's protein pancakes (so delicious!) and a three hour trip to the gym.  I could barely move after.  Next, my afternoon was spent sitting the library writing a paper for my finance class.  Not finished by the way and due at 7:40PM.  One would say I'm quite a procrastinator.  Anyway, I was very thankful this recipe only took about an hour to cook, thank you canned beans.  However, I did have a pork shoulder slow roasting all day to have with it.  

All the ingredients

I assembled all my ingredients when I got back from the library, and boy was that a lot of ingredients.  It was a pretty basic recipe, cook up some bacon, eat some bacon straight out of the pan, add onions, soften, add the rest.  I don't know about you but I cannot resist freshly cooked bacon, extra crispy.  I have the burn marks on my fingertips from eating it right out the pan.  Also, I didn't discard any bacon fat, its such a sin.  I let the bacon grease go to amp up the porky goodness. 

Finished Beans! 

My beans simmered with the lid off for about an hour.  In hindsight, I should of put the lid on a half an hour in so that they didn't over reduce.  Never the less, they were still delicious.  This is one of the few Sunday's where I don't have any leftovers to speak of.  I think this recipe would be easily adaptable for a weeknight side dish since it can be completed in 15 minutes if you want.  Hope you all enjoyed as much as we did!

Happy Cooking!
Jen

  

Chopped Chinese Chicken Salad- Jen's Savory Summary

Sash say- shan tay

Hello everyone, I am so ecstatic about spring finally starting up here in Boston.  Yesterday was my first official day to use my sunroof.  So I was cruising down the pike and Ru Paul Supermodel came on (woooorrrkkkk).  All in all a perfect day today.  Let

me start by saying this is the largest salad I've ever made.  It was HUGE.  Thank god I had guests over so that I could unload some salad on them.  Also, this weekend I brought back the Korean short ribs...sooo good.  Anyway, the ingredients for this were so simple and easy to find.  I went to Whole Foods and bought all of it with no problems.  Also, I opted to add a little carrot to mine to spice up the color even more.  

That's alot of salad

So let's start with the chicken, I was disappointed - not going to lie.  I marinated those tenders for an hour and there was no flavor.  Also, the texture was a bit rubbery.  Definitely not for me.  Next time I'd grill them on my nifty grill pan.  Next, came the chopping and there was a lot of chopping.  I also skinned my cucumbers and took all the seeds out.  I find it makes the salad less watery.  I definitely recommend this.  Lastly, the dressing...so good!  I was a bit taken a back by the lack of vinegar, however, the soy sauce packed a punch.  Also, the addition of the peanut butter reminded me a bit of the peanut sauce you get with satay. All in all, this was quite a delicious little salad to add to my diet arsenal. 

Finished Salad! 

Chopped Chinese Chicken Salad - Joanne's Savory Summary

Since Sunday was the nicest day we've had in a long long time, I opted to make the salad Monday night.  Instead we decided to spend Sunday morning with our best friends, Pat and Nicole, and their beautiful daughter Ella going to brunch and then to the park.  Plus, after I looked over the recipe, I figured it was easy night to do after a full workday. 

I bought all of my ingredients at Wegman's, including mistakenly picking up radicchio instead of red cabbage.  It still worked well with the recipe despite being different from what was specifically called for.  I decided to use almond butter instead of peanut butter as well.  This, however, was more of conscious choice since I prefer to eat almond butter and didn't really want to bring peanut butter into the house. 

I have to be honest.  I was disappointed with the chicken.  I expected more flavor.
Instead I could have easily topped my salad with plain grilled chicken and not known the difference.  What the chicken lacked in flavor was absolutely made up for with the amazing dressing.  I didn't follow the letter of the recipe but instead kept adding the three ingredients until I got a perfect blend.  I ended up going heavier on the almond butter than suggested but the result was a nutty flavor with a salty bite.  Finally, although the recipe called for limes, I didn't see them anywhere in the instructions.  And after making the complete meal, I'm not sure where they would have ended up anyway.   

Once tossed with the chicken and salad, the plain chicken became instantly better.  In fact, next time to save time, I may make this recipe without the extra prep on the chicken.  The dressing does more than enough to coat the chicken.  Overall I thought this was a delicious meal and incorporated a lot of healthy ingredients in an unusual way.

Happy eating!
Joanne

Pineapple Stuffing- Jen's Savory Summary

So first I want to apologize for my lateness in posting.  I am in the fabulous city of Indianapolis for a trade show.  This trip so far has been quite a nightmare.  My hotel last night was conveniently located below a train station.  Yes, a train station with trains that go by every hour on the hour throughout the night.  It felt like an earthquake...walls shaking, lights flickering.  Needless to say, I'm exhausted having only gotten about a solid hour of sleep.  Instead of sleeping, I stayed up reading Trip Advisor reviews about how horrible the hotel is.  Well, this morning I have transferred to the fabulous Marriott, which is where I am right now freshly showered and enjoying a train free afternoon.

Katie on Easter many years ago

Let me tell you, I was a big fan of this recipe.  HUGE!  Not only was it quite easy but it was so unbelievably delicious.  The combination of the tartness of the pineapple and the sweetness from the sugar made me sad I didn't double the recipe.  I decided to make it for this potluck I was having at my house on Saturday night.  We were having Jason's first year grad students over.  They are from all over the world so I thought it would be pretty cool to expose them to a Sharp family tradition.  Well, this was the only dish that had no leftovers.  Everyone was asking 'how did you make that?!'  I even think we got some more blog readers out of it!

One thing I wanted to note: I doubled the bread.  I figured out why my stuffing was so soupy.  I bought thin bread.  Lesson learned.  Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did and maybe add it to your Easter dinner next year!

Completed Stuffing-
 the corners  were
the best part jammed
 pack with crunchy sweet goodness

Happy Cooking!
Jen

Pineapple Stuffing - Joanne's Savory Summary

This week, it turns out that not only was the recipe unorthodox but also my savory summary follow up post is as well.  Easter this year was a big deal for me.  Not only was it my first Easter as a married lady but also I had the privilege of hosting my in-laws, sister-in-law, and my parents.  David and I currently live in an adorable (read: small-ish) two bedroom town home which, while plenty big enough for us, lacks some crucial seating space for holiday entertaining.  So it comes as no surprise that David and I were running to Ikea for more chairs Easter morning followed by 2 hours of assembly while I prepped the meal.  In the end, it all worked out and Easter dinner was a success filled with lots of wine, great conversation, and full bellies.  Onto to reviewing the pineapple stuffing...

Seating for 3 more coming right up!

I went with a classic white bread for my stuffing at my Mom's recommendation.  I left out 7 slices on a baking sheet overnight to make sure they were sufficiently stale.  Since we were eating at 5, I started my prep work on the stuffing at about 3:00.  I wanted to make sure everything was timed correctly so it was ready at the same time, the mark of a truly great hostess and a skill I am still perfecting.  The prep process for this recipe was extremely easy and I was quickly finished folding in the bread crumbs.  I think I may added too much bread since it just covered the bread without any juice leftover.

Photo Credit - MomWhoThink.com

I popped the stuffing into oven at about 3:45 along with the ham and brussel sprouts.  I long for the days of having a dual oven.  Someday in the kitchen of my dreams!  I checked on the stuffing whenever I shook the brussel sprout pan.  At about 4:45, the stuffing looked golden and juicier than it did when I originally put it in.  This was a huge relief since I was nervous about being left with a dry, caramelized mess.  Unfortunately, in the holiday madness I forgot to take a picture of my finished product so I Googled for a close resemblance.  In the end, there was not one small crumb left in the pan.  My father-in-law even said this was the only stuffing he's ever liked in his entire life.  If that's not a compliment, I don't know what is!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday!
Joanne

Matzo Ball Soup - Joanne's Savory Summary

Being a huge soup fan, I was excited for this meal.  I've also had Hymie's matzo ball soup and it is absolutely delicious.  The recipe looked easy enough so I figured this would be a success.  Since Passover began Monday, I found most of the ingredients I needed on an end cap in Whole Foods.  I opted to use oil for my matzo balls rather than chicken fat.  The thought of asking the butcher for chicken fat in the middle of Whole Foods was an experience I wanted to avoid.  Don't get me wrong...I love the healthy options and amazing variety but I have noticed a level of 'attitude' in the patrons at my local Whole Foods.  Chicken fat would have thrown the judgmental glances into overdrive.

Originally I had intended on making this Monday because I had to work on Sunday.  However, after
IT issue after IT issue, I thought I would give the recipe a try on Sunday with my unanticipated free time.  However, this was after David had already ordered a pizza.  Needless to say we are both deflating today.  I made the matzo ball mix around 2 and left it in the fridge to chill while we watched March Madness.  Around 4, I started making my chicken and broth.  I decided to use skinless chicken legs with the bone in.  We eat enough chicken breast around this place to last a lifetime so I needed a slight variation.  I figured the chicken legs would give a different flavor to the broth and add some dark meat to the soup. 

After about 3 hours of chilling, I put together my matzo balls with as much care as I could muster.  While they weren't as light and fluffy as Hymie's, I was pretty impressed with my matzo balls.  They weren't super dense but they weren't exactly airy.  Definitely something I can work on for next time.  David absolutely loved the soup even though initially I got plenty of side eye when he realized soup was on the menu this week.  He finished all of the leftovers already and even requested I make it next week.  Considering I have half a jar of matzo meal left, I will be glad to!

Matzo Ball Soup- Jen's Savory Summary

Hello everyone!  I am enjoying a short week here at work since we have off on Friday! Woohoo!  Also, I've been enjoying a mountain of leftovers from this past Sunday.  Matzo ball soup all around!   I do not know why but I decided to double the recipe.  When I was mixing up the matzo to rest before balling it together, I thought that is definitely not enough.  Boy, was I wrong.

Anyway, back to the beginning of the recipe.  I don't know if many of you recognized it but the beginning of the recipe was identical to the poached chicken from chicken a la king a few weeks back.  When I was making the a la king, I thought wow this chicken is good and it would make a fabulous soup so that's why you see it here in the matzo ball soup recipe.  I made up the matzo first to let it rest for a full four hours.  I opted to get the Manischewitz brand of matzo.  Who knew there were so many different kinds?  I had three at my local grocery store.  I did not use schmaltz  (chicken fat).  I had intentions of trying it but I couldn't get to the butcher for it.  I will save my schmaltz experimentation for another day.

Next I got going on the chicken soup.  It was pretty simple since I just did it two weeks ago.  The chicken was so delicious and tender. When I was shredding it for the soup, I did snack on a bit.  Finally, it was time to make these matzo balls.  I really tried hard to not press the balls so they were light.  This may of been my cause of failure since I may of compressed them too much.  My matzo balls were a bit dense in the middle when finally cooked.  I laid on them on a prepped cookie sheet and got the broth back to a boil.  Next, I plopped those bad boys in and waited for the magic to happen. 

When I went to put the chicken back in with the carrots, they had exploded and actually doubled in size.  This is when I began to question my double the recipe mentality.  I let them simmer for quite some time since I had finished the soup at 4PM, a little early for dinner.  And I figured the longer they simmered the better the soup would be.  I could feel the healing powers of this soup already.  It was so comforting.  I will be enjoying this for many more days...lunch every day this week in fact. Hope you all enjoyed this recipe and now share my love of matzo ball soup!

Happy Eating!
Jen

Corned Beef & Cabbage - Joanne's Savory Summary

I have to admit I am not a big meat and potatoes kind of girl.  Instead, I would totally opt for a giant plate a pasta anyday if I didn't feel like a bloated load afterwards.  Luckily, there is a great alternative to spaghetti with almost no carbs...but more on that tomorrow.  It will either blow your mind or convince you that I've lost mine. 

So given my initial dislike for this meat heavy dish, I had low expectations for it meeting my personal satisfaction.  But first things first...how did I secure the elusive corned beef?  Jen had given me visions of throngs of freckled Irishmen and women fighting over the last piece of corned beef.  She even sent me a  reminder text... 'Did you get your corned beef yet?!'.  Turns out, in the less St. Patty's Day crazed state of Pennsylvania, we had plenty to go around.

In an effort to get a little bit more health conscious, David and I decided to start shopping at Whole Foods.  Despite the common misnomer of 'Whole Paycheck', I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't much more than our usual Wegman's food bill, only now our entire cart was filled with organic, minimally processed food.  Whole Foods even had a display specifically set up for St. Patrick's Day where I grabbed one of the many remaining packages of corned beef.  Gray or red?  I had no idea.  But after cooking it, I am settling on gray.  Or an overcooked red?  I also unnecessarily picked up peppercorns not reading the clear as day label letting me know my corned beef was pre-spiced and ready to go.  

I decided to get started early on Sunday since we had little else to do besides have a House of Cards marathon (phenomenal show).  David said the house smelled just like his Oma's house which after a little more digging I was assured was a good thing.  I added the onions, carrots and the cabbage within the last hour.  I also boiled some potatoes.  After they were sufficiently soft, I dressed them up with a good amount of butter, dill weed and parsley.  

The corned beef was moist and spicy and, unbeknownst to me, David loves cabbage!  While this wasn't my favorite meal, I will commit to making it annually for this holiday.  

Happy Cooking!
Joanne

Cornbeef and Cabbage - Jen's Savory Summary

The man behind the meat

I loved this recipe.  It was so perfect for a lazy Sunday.  The only part that took some intense planning was securing the corned beef.  It is quite a popular cut of beef this time of year.  Then there is the on-going debate, do you get the gray or the red, the flat or the tri cut?  Instead of debating back and forth I called my trusty butcher, MF Dulock, and let him decide.  They used the red tri cut, a more fatty piece which makes it less likely to dry out when you boil it to oblivion for 6 hours. When I walked into the store at 10AM on Saturday I was surprised at how packed it was.  There was a stack of orders for their corned beef and more people picking up other treats in the store.  I picked up a bag of dog treats as an extra little tidbit for Ethel.

Relaxing while beef cooks

On Sunday, I woke up around 9AM and took the corned beef out of the fridge.  I don't know if this helps but I think meat should always be at room temperature before you start cooking.  Who knows if its true, but I read it somewhere and I've adapted it as my bible.  At noon, I took out my large dutch over and covered the corned beef with water and adding some peppercorns and a dash of pickling spices.  I got both spices at Williams and Sonoma. Now here's the best part of the recipe - let it simmer for six hours.  I went over to the couch still in my jammies and relaxed. At around one I mustered up some energy to go to brunch and, yes, I left my stove running when I went to brunch...

At 4PM, I chopped up an onion, a bunch of carrots, and some celery.  I tossed them into the water and while tossing grabbed a piece of beef to try.  Sweet Jesus, it was good.  I sent Jason out to get some cabbage.  He decided to go to Ming's and get this 'cabbage looking thing' (his description). It turned out to be Napa cabbage.  So we had an Asian twist on our Irish meal.   For the last step, instead of putting melted butter on the veggies, I melted butter into a cast iron pan and sauteed up the veggies so they were nice and caramelized with a buttery finish.  Finally, I added the beef on top.  The corned beef and cabbage was complete!

I can't wait to make this again.  It probably won't be until next Saint Patrick's Day though because it feels wrong every other day of the year!

Happy Cooking!
Jen