Baked Corned Beef and Red Potatoes - Dont boil the life out of it!

Although it is authentically American-Irish (Authentic Irish used boiled bacon, it wasnt until they came to America they used Corned Beef.) to boil a piece of meat to a dither... You might find you love the texture, color and flavor of this baked version better!

Baked Corned Beef and Red Potatoes

3-5 lbs     packaged corned beef (discard spice packet)

10-14      whole cloves

1/4-1/3    (depending on size of corned beef) cup hot sweet honey mustard

2-4          Tbsp brown sugar (2 tbsp for 3 lbs)

Preheat 300°F.

Remove from package and rinse any juice from corned beef. Pat Dry. Prepare roasting pan with a large piece of heavy duty, wide, aluminum foil. On the exterior sides of it leave a little space if your pan is large enough to add potatoes an hour and a half into cooking. 

Lay meat, fat side up, in foil. Insert the cloves into the top of the slab of corned beef, evenly spaced. I usually cut a small space with a knife to insert the clove. Spread the top with the hot sweet honey mustard. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top.Wrap the corned beef with foil in a way that allows for a little space on top between the corned beef and the foil, without them touching. The goal is to catch as much of the juices as possible. Bake for 3 hours, add 30 minutes for each additional lb over 3 lbs .

Around 2 hours into cooking add potatoes on the sides of foil, outside the foil. 

Red Potatoes

Depending on guests 8-15 red potatoes (bake extra in a side dish if you plan on making corned beef hash in the morning)

olive oil

salt

Pare a narrow strip of peel from the middle of each potato. Drizzle or toss is bowl with olive oil and lightly salt.  Add potatoes on the sides of foil, outside the beef.

Open the foil wrapping, and broil it for 2-3 minutes, until the top is bubbly and lightly browned.

Rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then place on cutting board and cut at a diagonally, across the grain of the meat, into 1/4-1/2-inch thick slices.

Serve immediately with Authentic Irish Soda Oat Bread and Cabbage sauteed with onions, salt, pepper in  olive oil/butter.  

Authentic Irish Soda Oat Bread

Authentic Irish Soda Oat Bread

1 cup oats, 1 cup buttermilk mixed together

1 3/4  Cups Flour (1 cup all purpose, 3/4 cup cake flour)

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt

6 Tbsp. Butter, softened  cut in

1 tbsp Orange zest (optional)

1 Cup Currants (or Raisins chopped)

Preheat oven to 375.
In a large bowl mix together oats and buttermilk.

In a seperate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut in in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk and oats, currants and orange zest and mix until the dough just becomes cohesive. Knead a few times score brush with buttermilk. Do not over mix, or your loaf will be very tough.

Form the dough into one or two rounds (depending on what size you want your loaf) and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Make an “X” in the top of your loaf (loaves).
Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

Serve it steaming hot with sweet cream butter!

Or mix softened butter with honey and serve!

PRINTABLE VERSION

Molten Chocolate Soufflés

God bless whoever bought me an entire bag of truffles for being my inspiration for this little bit of heaven! To be honest you will never see me a eat a bag of candy.  Left to my own devices that bag will surely sit there for years to come!

Melty, rich, molten chocolate truffles flowing from a warm cloud of chocolate! Similar to a flourless chocolate, but this cake is light and fluffy, still packing a major chocolate punch.

Molten Chocolate Souffle

ingredients

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
¼ cup flour, plus more for dusting
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1-2 tsp. Espresso powder
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. kosher salt
3 eggs
Store bought truffles, or homemade ganache or truffles
Confectioners' sugar

instructions

Heat oven to 425°. Grease bottom and sides of six 6-oz. ramekins with butter and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside on a baking sheet. Heat butter and bittersweet chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat until just melted; remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until thick and pale, 3–4 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate mixture; add flour and mix until smooth. Divide half the batter between prepared ramekins and place a (2-3) truffle in center of each; top with remaining batter and smooth tops. Bake until just set, 15-17 minutes. Let cool 3-4 minutes. (Parental warning-when serving to children or those a little more sensitive to hot food, rest for 5-6 minutes and serve with ice cream to cool each bite!)

To serve, run a paring knife around edge of ramekins and invert cakes onto 6 serving plates or leave in ramekins. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.

Serving suggestions: serve with with ice cream as a perfect compliment to the molten center! Raspberry sauce, a good chocolate sauce drizzled over your plate(leaving one tbsp from the pan to drizzle your plates works well!), sliced strawberry... All of the above?

Can be prepared ahead and chilled.

 

Standing Rib Roast(Prime Rib) and Yorkshire Pudding

Not much has to be said about a Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib). It speaks for itself in tender cuts of beef, herb crusted and delicious on its own or served with a creamy horseradish sauce and au jus.

Yorkshire Pudding is really more like a puffed pastry style bread flavored with the savory beef drippings. It is light and fluffy and yet loaded with salty roasted prime rib flavor.

Serve with Creamy Horseradish or Apple and Horseradish and Au Jus





Rib Roast Buying Guide:

When buying one you want to choose a roast at least 3 ribs big, each rib is about a serving and a half. Consider the size of your oven, i.e. make sure it will fit.

Specifically, prime rib is actually a prime cut of meat and the best quality, anything else is a standing rib roast. However, prime rib is also a generalized name.

Aged beef is preferred, it tenderizes and amplifies the taste.

Bones add flavor, don't have them removed. AND they can be used for soup stock the next day!

Have the butcher cut off the chine bones from the bottom of the roast and the rib bones from the meat just along the bone line, but SAVE THEM! Any butcher can do this, you do not need a specialized meat shop if that intimidates you, cheers if you do! 

3 ribs	7 to 8.5 pounds	450 deg/325 deg F	1 3/4 to 2 hours	135 degrees F
4 ribs	9 to 10.5 pounds	450 deg/325 deg F	2 to 2 1/2 hours	135 degrees F
5 ribs	11 to 13.5 pounds	450 deg/325 deg F	2 1/2 to 3 hours	135 degrees F
6 ribs	14 to 16 pounds	450 deg/325 deg F	3 1/4 to 3 1/2hours	135 degrees F
7 ribs	16 to 18.5 pounds	450 deg/325 deg F	3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours	135 degrees F

Standing Rib Roast 

3-5 rib standing rib roast
Salt
2 tbs. coarsely cracked pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced into paste
2 tbs chopped rosemary
2 tbs chopped thyme
2 tbs chopped parsley
2 tbs chopped oregano
Olive oil

Rib roast is one that thing I love to start a few days in advance. Salt the meat a full 48 hours before you are going to cook it. Cover it and return it to the fridge.
Before cooking, tie roast to rib and chine bones, this keeps the tender meats from separating and drying out. Mix the herbs, garlic, olive oil and pepper into a paste. Rub it all over the meat and let it sit out for an hour or two a room temperature. Insert meat thermometer into deepest part.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Place roast on a rack in a large, heavy roasting pan; roast elevated on a rack, bone side down. Roast for 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 325°. Place at least 1 cup-2 cups water in bottom of roasting pan, water should not touch roast. Roast at 325 degrees F for 1.5-2 hours (or 16 min per pound), or until internal temperature (stay away from the bone while checking temp) reaches 135 degrees F. Remove from oven, remove from roasting pan, loosely tent and allow to rest for 15 minutes while making the au jus and Yorkshire Pudding.
Reserve the bones for some incredible beef stock or French Onion Soup!

Individual Yorkshire Pudding

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pan drippings from roast prime rib of beef

12 muffin tin, or cast iron skillet, or oven proof baking dish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In blender, beat together the eggs and milk until light and foamy, add salt and flour on high. Stir in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.

CAST IRON OR BAKING DISH- After removing roast from oven, reserve beef juices. Pour the drippings into a 9-inch pie pan, cast iron skillet, or baking dish.
Put the pan in oven and get the drippings smoking hot.
Carefully take the pan out of the oven and pour in the batter. Put the pan back in oven and cook until puffed, 15 to 20 minutes. slice into serving sizes and serve immediately along with Prime Rib. 

• INDIVIDUAL-After removing roast from oven, reserve beef juices.
  Measure 1/2 teaspoon of remaining 2 tablespoons beef fat into each cup of standard muffin pan.
  Place pan in oven to heat for 3 minutes (fat will smoke).
  Working quickly, remove pan from oven, close oven door, and divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
  Immediately return pan to oven. Bake, without opening oven door, for 15-20 minutes.
  Using hands or dinner knife, lift each pudding out of tin and serve immediately with Prime Rib.

Fried Rice- Incredibly Easy, Incredible Flavor!

A few easy tips on Fried Rice that those of us to don't have a Chinese Grandmother need to know!

1. Use day old rice! Makes a huge difference! If I don't have have any from a previous meal, Ill just cook a couple cups and leave it in the fridge! Use long grain not minute rice. This is actually a general requirement in my house. It takes longer to digest so you stay full, its healthier and doesn't make you do the blood sugar slump afterwards! 

2. Chinese and Asian dishes always add their sauce or flavor in the end, coating the rice or noodles in a delicious finishing touch. 

3. Make fried rice at a medium high heat, should be very hot, but not smoking. 

4. In fried rice you can very well clean out the refrigerator.  Shrimp, chicken, beef, ham, just egg fried rice,  peas, diced carrots, ginger, add it, skip it... It should be called "Everything, But the Kitchen Sink, Fried Rice"! 

5. Don't skimp on the green onions. Something about them makes the flavor.  

This is my favorite combination~ 

BBQ Pork Fried Rice

Bunch green onions, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup diced Chinese BBQ pork

OR cooked ham, shrimp, beef, or chicken

3 large eggs 

3-4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed

2 tsp sesame oil
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs oyster sauce (if you don't add oyster sauce substitute 1-2 tbs more soy sauce)
4 cups previously cooked long grain white rice, at least 1 day old (I prefer Jasmine) 

Dice BBQ Pork, slice green onions, and beat three eggs in separate container. In a deep 12-inch heavy non-stick skillet or wok heat 2tbs oil over medium heat, adding eggs beaten with a fork. Cook until just done and chop loosely with spatula or fork. Will only take a minute or two to cook, flipping once. Set aside in serving dish.

Raise burner, adding 2 tbs oil and 2 tbs sesame oil, to moderately high heat until hot, but not smoking. Add pork and sliced green onions, flipping and tossing for about 2-3 minutes, Add rice and toss for about 1-2 minutes more.  Creating a empty area in center of skillet; Stir together oyster and soy sauce and add to center, quickly combine in fried rice, tossing to coat evenly. Cook for about 1-2 more minutes, finally tossing back in chopped eggs.  Serve immediately or even at room temperature! Its so tasty and delicious!