Brisket With Garlic

This is one of my favorite recipes.  It is the only way I have ever tried cooking brisket, and it is probably the only way I ever will make brisket.  Do not let the quantity of garlic daunt you, it is well worth the effort for the flavor.  If you can, get yourself a garlic peeler.  It's just a little silicone tube, but it makes this dish far easier.

The original recipe called for red wine, but I choose to use balsamic vinegar instead.  I am not a fan of win in general, so I prefer not to use it.  The balsamic vinegar gives more of a full flavor, without the alcohol overtone.  I also use a smaller cut of meat, to fit in my pot, and halve the amount of garlic used.  Everything else stays the same.

Beef Brisket with 40 Cloves of Garlic Recipe

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 (5 to 6 pounds) beef brisket, rinsed and patted dry

Kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper

40 large cloves garlic, peeled (about 3 to 4 heads of garlic - see Notes)

1 large sweet onion, sliced and separated into rings

1/4 cup red wine (or substitute balsamic vinegar)

2 to 3 cups beef or chicken broth

2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed

1 teaspoon dried basil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Season brisket liberally on both sides with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy, deep-sided, oven-proof skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to coat the bottom. Sear both sides of brisket, beginning with fat-side down, until golden brown. Remove to a platter.

Add garlic cloves and sweet onion rings to the remaining oil in the pan. Cook and stir until garlic begins to turn golden and sweet onions are limp.

Add red wine (or balsamic vinegar) and deglaze the pan, stirring for 1 minute while scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add beef or chicken broth, oregano, and basil. Bring back to a simmer, then turn off heat. Move garlic and onions to the side and return brisket to the Dutch oven or skillet. Spoon garlic and onions over the top of the brisket, cover tightly, and place in the oven.

Bake for 1 hour at 325 F. Reduce heat to 300 and bake an additional 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until brisket is fork-tender. Remove brisket to a platter and cover to keep warm. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Remove half of of garlic cloves and most of onions to a bowl. Skim off excess oil from the pan gravy and discard. Blend pan gravy and garlic until smooth. You can add a flour or cornstarch slurry to thicken gravy, if you wish. Return reserved whole garlic cloves and onions to the gravy.

Slice brisket diagonally across the grain. Serve with the pan gravy.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Light and Crispy Granola

I got this recipe from a friend, made one little modification, and it is truly one of the best homemade granolas I have ever made.  It has all the best yummy stuff in it, and is also very quick and easy. 

Now, a lot of you might wonder what on earth puffed millet is, and why in the world you'd want to eat bird seed... but puffed millet is one of my favorite things, especially when mixed in with yummy sweetness.  It adds a nice airy texture to this granola that is irresistible.  If you don't like millet, or would prefer not to use it, just replace it with a cup of oatmeal. 

When I make it again, I think I will add a vanilla bean to the liquid mixture as well, just to add some extra vanilla flavor. 

Light crispy granola

3 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups rice crispy type cereal

1 cup plain puffed millet
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup natural sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 Tablespoon molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 325*. In a Dutch oven, boil the butter, coconut oil, sugar, honey, molasses, cinnamon, vanilla and salt together for 2 min. Take off the heat and add oats and cereal. Mix well. Divide onto two cookie sheets and spread out evenly. Bake for 8 min, then switch and continue baking for 6 min. Make sure to watch it. You want it golden brown. The edges could burn.

Herb Peel-Away Bread

I still remember the day I found this recipe.  I remember what I was doing.  I remember the store I was at.  I remember the calender I languidly picked up from the counter, and thought... This looks interesting, I guess since it's free I'll take it....

I was at the Pfaltzgraff outlet, looking for table decorations for my wedding reception.  My mom and grandma were with me, having come up specially from Kansas.  I got 10 little clear glass, flat bottomed bowls for floating candles.  I might have one left, the rest have broken by now.  But, that's ok.  I still have the recipe.

The recipe.  Herb Peel-Away Bread.  One of my first endeavors into yeast bread baking.  The first few attempts were.... interesting.  I was barely 20 at the time.  Not even old enough to buy alcohol, unless my husband gave me permission.  We never did try that... I wanted to though.  Go to a bar and show them my marriage license showing that my husband had the authority to allow me to drink.  What can I say, I like living on the edge.  But, as the taste of alcohol was totally unappealing.... it never happened.  And now I'm old enough to buy my own alcohol.

Back to the bread.

It is a pretty easy bread, which is nice.  It's a quick rise bread, using double the amount of yeast you would normally use, to give it a very quick rise with lots of air in the dough.  Such a light texture.  Then, you add in all the herbs.... it's so good.  I do have to keep an eye on the times, as you really want to eyeball the rising, rather than relying solely on the timer, but other than that it's pretty easy and tastes very good. 

Herb Peel-Away Bread

3 ½ cups all purpose flour, divided

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 pkgs. Rapid rise yeast

1 tablespoon parsley, fresh or dried

½ teaspoon basil

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup water

6 tablespoons butter, divided

1 egg, room temperature

Combine 2 ½ cups flour, sugar, salt, yeast and herbs in a large mixing bowl.  In a small saucepan combine water and 4 tablespoons butter.  Heat until hot to touch, about 125° to 130° F.  Add liquid to dry ingredients.  Stir in egg and just enough of remaining flour to form a soft dough.  On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 4 minutes or until smooth and elastic.  Let rise, covered, for 10 minutes.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12 inch square.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter and brush the top of the dough with the butter.  Cut into 36 squares.  Overlap squares in three layers, butter side down, in a greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.  Let rise, covered, in a warm place until doubled in bulk.  Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes.

Yield: 1 loaf

Colorful Cookies

This recipe was in the Betty Crocker Cookbook I gave my mom in 1987.  I believe it was published in 1986.  It has some really good recipes in it though, and Colorful Cookies was one of my favorites.  I still like making them on occasion.  You can be as versatile as the jello section at your grocery store allows.  I like orange, personally.  Lemon is good also.  The kids like some of the funkier flavors.  You can mix them too, and make several flavors and colors, mixing icings, etc. 

Colorful Cookies

1 package (3 ounces) fruit flavored gelatin

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Colorful Glaze (below)

Heat oven to 350°.  Reserve 1 tablespoon gelatin (dry) for the glaze.  Mix remaining gelatin, the powdered sugar and margarine.  Stir in flour and salt.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake until set but not brown, 8 to 10 minutes.  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet.  Cool completely.

Prepare Colorful Glaze.  Dip tops of cookies into glaze.  Decorate with coconut, nuts, cherries, colored sugar, small candies or chocolate shot if desired. 

Yield: about 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Colorful Glaze: 

Mix reserved 1 tablespoon gelatin and 3 tablespoons hot water.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Stir in 2 cups powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth and of desired consistency.

 Recipe Courtesy Betty Crocker Cookbook 1986

Cola Roast

Cola roast is about as easy as it gets, and it gives good results, too.  All you need is a big hunk of meat, a can of cola (no diet!, though sugar soda is fine as opposed to hfcs soda), and some beef bouillon granules.  It's taken a while, but most of my kids like this now, and they can be a tough crowd.  Serve it up with a big pot of mashed potatoes, and add some veggies as a side, and you're good to go.  I like to buy the huge 5lb. chuck roasts when they're on sale, cut them in half, and toss them in the freezer.  On the day I'm ready to make it, I stick it in the slow cooker around 10 or 11 am, and it's ready for dinner at 7pm.  I take the roast out about 20 minutes before serving, so that it has some time to rest before cutting.  This helps keep your juices in where they belong.  I also spoon extra juices over the top, and cover it with foil before placing it on the table.  Serving extra juices on the side also helps keep the roast nice and moist.   I have made gravy from the drippings too, but my family isn't huge on gravy so I don't make it often.



1 large chuck roast, enough to feed your family with a few leftovers if desired
1 can Pepsi or Coke
Beef Roast Seasoning (available from Penzey's, it adds a nice flavor but the roast is fine without it too)
1-2 Tablespoons beef bouillon granules
1-2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
OR
in place of the beef granules and onions you can use a packet of beefy onion soup mix, but I like a little stronger beef flavor


Place your beef in the slow cooker.  If it is frozen, I like to put it on high for an hour or two to get things going, and then turn it down to low.  Or you can put it in a little earlier, too.  It's pretty forgiving.

Sprinkle the bouillon granules and minced dried onions on the top (and beef roast seasoning if you have it), then gently pour the can of soda over everything.  Turn on the slow cooker and you're done. 

You want roughly 8-9 hours for this recipe, but play around with it a bit to see what works.  It's pretty forgiving, and you can go a little longer or shorter as needed.

Strawberry Apple Jam

Strawberry Apple Jam is one of my most favorite jams ever.  Even more favorite than Strawberry Rhubarb, which is really saying something, because I just love Strawberry and Rhubarb together. 

Now, me being me and all, and not starting out with anything simple, this is one of the first jams I really tried to make.  I did attempt one batch of raspberry jam a long, long time ago.... but we'll just forget about that.

Moving on.  I chose this recipe, because I have a strawberry apple pie that is divine.  It has such a soft, sweet flavor, one that you wouldn't expect from a combination of Granny Smith apples, and strawberries.  But, the flavors balance out so amazingly, that you get a really beautiful, mellow flavor that is quite satisfying.

I did some digging, and found this recipe at Through My Kitchen Window.  It does not use pectin, so it's an older style recipe that cooks down the fruits until it's all soft and mellow and yummy.    I have found that with this recipe, it does require a bit of babysitting to really make it the right consistency.  It seems to take me longer than the recipe states, so you do need to do a bit of looking around on how to determine the right consistency of the jam once it's finished.

Oh, and don't throw your jam scum away.  Seriously, jam scum is the best.  It sounds awful, but tastes just as good as the jam.  It's nothing harmful, it just doesn't make your jam look as pretty in the jars.  And believe me, this is a pretty jam. 

A few other notes.... I tried reducing the water to make the jam cook quicker and thicken up better..... don't.  It was so sweet it was practically unusable.  I have one jar that I'm trying to find some way to use in a cake or something where the flavor will be mellowed.  It's unbelievably sweet though.  Another note... you can add in a vanilla bean for a bit of pretty flecks of vanilla, and to add to the soft, mellow flavor.  I admit to being a vanilla addict though, so this is entirely up to you. 

Lastly, this recipe does not have instructions for using a water bath, so I do half pints for about 15 minutes, and then cool.  Quarter pints make great gifts too, and are so pretty in their teeny little jars.  But, quarter pints are really only good for your friends who are single, or very small families who use jam very sparingly.  Or someone you want to tease to get them knocking your door down at 3 am looking for more of that jam because they had a craving for scones and jam.  Doesn't everyone crave scones at jam at 3 am?  I like my jam scum right about then, personally.

Strawberry and Apple Jam

500gm strawberries  (1 lb. plus 1 ½ oz.)
3 medium green apples
1/4 cup lemon juice
1kg white or caster sugar  (2.2 lbs.) (5 cups)
extra lemon

Hull and halve the strawberries. Cut out bruised spots and do not use any that are too ripe. Set aside in a clean bowl.

Get some lemons; if you're fortunate enough to have a tree, pick them straight from the tree as the pectin content will be at it's highest. Select lemons that are slightly underripe. You will get the best possible jelling results doing this.

Squeeze a whole lemon into a big bowl of water; peel and quarter the green apples; remove seeds and core; slice thinly. Place the apple slices straight into the lemon water.

Take some muslin fabric and cut out a small square. You only need enough to hold the pips from a couple of lemons.

Take a clean bowl; pour in some boiling hot water and place your muslin square into the water. This is the next best step to sterilising the cloth.

Squeeze a couple of lemons and reserve the juice.

Line a small bowl with the well rinsed muslin square and place all the lemon pips you can extract from the lemons.

Secure the pips well and tie a knot with some twine to create a small muslin bag.

In a heavy based pan place the strawberries, drained apples, muslin bag, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and three cups of water. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer covered for about 20 minutes or until the apples have softened. Take out muslin bag; pour the sugar into the center of the pot; stir gently till the sugar has dissolved then boil steadily for about 30 minutes or till the jam has set. I place a saucer in the freezer and test the jam by dropping a little onto the saucer; then pressing to see how wrinkled it looks. If it is quite runny then more cooking is required.

It is important to allow the jam to sit for about 10 minutes before pouring into sterilized jars. You risk the fruit sinking to the bottom if you pour it in right away. Make sure that any scum has been removed. You will find scum always rises to the top and moves to the sides of the pot so it is easy to spoon off. I use the pictured ladle to fill the jam jars. Seal while hot.

Christmas Morning

Around here, Christmas morning breakfast usually consists of, if nothing else, cinnamon rolls.  The kind that come in a can.  Although occasionally, I am able to get away with homemade cinnamon rolls.  It does take some arm twisting, and a promise of bucketfuls of homemade cream cheese frosting.

However, I believe that this year, I may be able to get away with something slightly different.  It's a Cinnamon French Toast Bake from Pillsbury.  And really, it is worth it.  With our family of nine (only eight of whom have teeth), we polished off two batches of this french toasty goodness.    My only change was that I used walnuts instead of pecans.  I'm not a big pecan person, but I do like my walnuts.  I'm sure almonds would have been yummy too.  I probably could even add apples, but I'll leave that for now.

I made this on Thanksgiving morning, because I do like having nice yummy things on holidays to splurge on.  And with 4 cans of cinnamon rolls in two batches, I did need to splurge, just a teeny bit.  But it was oh so worth it.  And it will be made again.  Soon.  Very soon.  Probably on Christmas morning.