Corned Beef Brisket with Sauerkraut and Potatoes

1 Corned beef brisket, 2.5 to 3 lbs
1 medium onion, sliced
32 oz. sauerkraut (bag of refridgerated kraut if you can get it)
2 lbs. small red potatoes (smallest you can find)
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
12oz. beer (not light beer - regular Budweiser works fine)
1 bay leaf
ground black pepper to taste
spicy brown mustard or horseradish (optional)

Place the corned beef, fat side down, in a 3qt. or larger slow cooker. If the brisket comes with spices, seal them in a fabric spice bag and place on top of the brisket. Add the onions, sauerkraut, and potatoes. Season with pepper and allspice. Pour in the beer, and nestle a bay leaf in the center. Cover and cook for 4-5 hrs. on high or 8-10 hrs. on low. Discard the bay leaf. Discard the onions if you don't want them.

Lift the potatoes with a slotted spoon and arrange them around the perimenter of a serving platter. Mound the sauerkraut in the center. Transfer the beef to a cutting board and cut into thick slices. Arrange on top of the sauerkraut, and spoon some of the cooking liquid over the meat. Serve with spicy brown mustard or horseradish if desired.

A Blast from the (recent) Past

I was going through some old files and I came across this. I commented here under "jigawatt". As for the others, backing up their arguments with examples and facts are obviously not their speciality.


http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/comments/christian_apologetics_and_research_ministry/

Chicken Salad

There are a lot of bad chicken salad recipes out there. This, however, is NOT one of them. And don't let the curry powder drive you away; a good friend of mine who doesn't like curry liked this recipe. My favorite store-bought curry powder is McCormick Gourmet Collection Curry Powder.

This recipe comes from my maternal grandmother, Mary Helen Turpin of Bastrop, LA.

Servings: 6 to 8

5 c. cooked chicken chopped fine
(about 1.75 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast)
2 tsp. grated onion (I grate it with a cheese grater)
1 c. minced celery
1/4 c. capers
1/4 c. heavy cream (or half & half)
2/3 c. mayonnaise (light mayo optional)
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. curry powder (yellow, not red)
1 Tbsp. tarragon vinegar
1/2 c. toasted silvered almonds
(Optional) 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Instructions: Mix it good.

If you're not serving this immediately, you can combine all except almonds and eggs in a large bowl and refrigerate overnight. Then add almonds and eggs right before serving.

Ham Casserole

2 lbs lean ham cut into cubes (3 cups)
2 Tbs. butter
2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper

Mix all above in sauce pan and simmer and stir about 15 min.

1 (8 oz) package wide egg noodles
8 oz. block cream cheese (not low fat)
1 c. (8oz) sour cream
1 small bunch green onions chopped
1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

Cook noodles till barely tender and drain. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, onions. Spoon noodles into an 11x7 glass baking dish. Mound cream cheese mixture over it spreding top with tomato sauce mixture. Sprinkle cheddar over the top. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Mamaw Thomas' Cornbread Dressing

Same as before. You can't improve on perfection.
Both of these recipes are from my paternal grandmother, Verdell LaForge Thomas of Bastrop Louisiana.


1 cornbread
2 stalks of celery (chopped)
1 onion (white or yellow)
1 can cream of chicken soup

Crumble cornbread in a large mixing bowl. After crumbling, it should look something like a big bowl of couscous. Saute celery and onion in skillet. Mix celery and onion with crumbled cornbread in the mixing bowl. Warm a can of Cream of Chicken soup with 1 can of water in skillet then mix into dressing. Pour into buttered 9x13 aluminum pan – cut slits into dressing with knife before baking.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 min.

Mamaw Thomas' Cornbread

You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off the ole Lone Ranger. And you don't mess around with Mamaw Thomas' Cornbread. This one is straight from the source - no tweaking is done here because none is needed. And yes, I prefer cornbread plain. No jalapenos, no onions, no whole or creamed corn. No excuses.


1 1/2 c. Martha White’s self-rising corn meal
1 Tbs. oil (corn, canola, vegetable, etc)
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking powder (newer is better)

Preheat oven at 400 deg.
Beat eggs before adding them to the rest of the ingrediants in a medium sized bowl, mixing well. Grease and flour skillet and pour mixture into it.

Bake 20-30 min.

Chocolate Chip Cake

I'm not sure who came up with this recipe. I think I've seen it or something close to it on a box of yellow cake mix. It's a good recipe for "we'll bring dessert" times like church small groups. This was also the groom's cake at our wedding.


1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
3/4 C. oil
3/4 C. water
3 eggs
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Place cake mix and pudding mix into a large mixing bowl. Mix with fork to break up clumps. In another medium bowl, mix water, oil and eggs using an electric mixer. Pour on top of dry ingredients and blend with mixer. And sour cream and continue mixing. When smooth, fold in chocolate chips with a spatula. Pour batter into a greased an floured bundt pan (we use Pam for baking) and bake at 350 deg. for 50-60 minutes.

Steph's Recipes

Steph has a few of our favorite recipes on her blog, and rather than redoing them, I'll just link to them. We made the peach glazed spare ribs for July 4th.

Steph's Recipes

French Bread Pizza

This is not a traditional pizza by any means, but it is a very good and very easy dish. It is an original creation (with minimal tweaking by Steph and me) of my mother, Fay Thomas of Bastrop, LA


1 loaf bakery French Bread, sliced as if making a giant po-boy

Topping:
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 stick melted butter
1/2 c. mayonnaise (low-fat optional)
6 green onions chopped
1 small can sliced black olives
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Mix topping ingredients in a bowl and spread on cut faces of bread. Place both slices on aluminum foil, topping side up, and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes at 350.

Note: This is also tasty with traditional pizza toppings and sauce in place of the olives, green onion, mayo and butter.