Crock Pot Brisket

Crock Pot Brisket

4 to 6 pound brisket

1/3 cup Dijon or Honey mustard

1/3 cup ketchup

2 Tablespoons dry onion soup mix

1 - 10 or 12 ounce Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon red pepper (optional)

In a small bowl, mix mustard, ketchup, onion soup mix, and spices. Spread mixture over brisket and place into the crock pot. Pour cola over the meat. Cook on high for 8 hours. Slice and serve. Save your leftovers for sandwiches the next day.

*Briskets are usually larger that 4 to 6 pounds so I buy a 10 to 12 pound brisket and cut it in half. I use one half and freeze the other for another day.

Try black beans with jalapeno peppers, they are fantastic!

Louisiana Meat Pies

Louisiana Meat Pies

The filling:

1/2 to 3/4 lb spicy pork sausage

1/2 lb ground beef or ground buffalo

1 large chopped onion

2 chopped green onions

Chopped parsley

Salt to taste

Tony's cajun seasoning to taste

Red pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

Brown meats and onion in olive oil. Add seasonings to taste. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons flour over meat mixture, mix well and set aside.

The Pastry:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Crisco

1/3 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

Mix dry ingredients together, cut in Crisco till the size of peas. Add liquid and mix till the dry ingredients are all wet. Chill about 10 minutes. Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into 4 to 5 inch rounds. Place some filling in each round. Wet the edges of the pastry with water or egg and fold over, press edges with a fork to seal. Chill the pies while you are heating your oil. In a large skillet heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry pies till golden brown on both sides. Drain on a papertowel. Eat them hot. Great with sour cream or Greek yogurt. Substituting plain Greek yogurt for sour cream can really save you on fat and calories.

Homemade Buttermilk

3 cups milk, you can use prepared powdered milk or store bought milk, whole or 2%

1/2 cup cultured buttermilk (store bought)

In a quart jar, combine milk and buttermilk and mix well. Cover with a coffee filter and let sit out on the counter over night at room temp. In the morning you will have buttermilk! I know this sounds nuts to buy cultured buttermilk to make more, but if you use buttermilk a lot you can just wait till you are near the end of your store bought jug and make your own. We use the powdered milk to make ours. We start with warm water to mix up the powdered milk, then add the cultured buttermilk.

Boeuf Bourguignonne

6 Strips bacon -- cut in 1/2" pieces
3 pounds Beef rump or chuck -- cut 1.5" cubes
2 Carrots -- sliced
2 Onions -- sliced
Salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons Flour
1 can Condensed beef broth -- (10oz)
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
2 cloves garlic -- minced
3/4 teaspoon Whole thyme
1 Bay leaf
1 pound Fresh mushrooms -- sliced
2 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Red or burgundy wine

Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove and drain. Add beef cubes and brown well. Don't cook the meat all at once or you will crowd your pan and the meat will not brown. Place browned beef in 3 1/2-quart crockpot. Brown carrot and onion and eason with salt and pepper; stir in flour. Add broth, mix well and add to crockpot. Also add cooked bacon, tomato paste, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf to crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours (or on low for 8 to 10 hours).
One hour before serving: Saute mushrooms in butter and add, with wine, to crockpot. If you want a thicker gravy combine three tablespoons of flour with 3 tablespoons melted butter and stir into stew and cook on High until thickened (I skipped this step). Remove bay leaf before serving.

I served my stew with mashed potatoes. The meat is so tender you can cut it with a spoon! You don't have to use expensive wine in this recipe. I used a $5 Post Familie red wine, well because it is made in Altus, Arkansas. As for the garlic, I use the jar garlic that is already minced. I also used ground thyme because that's all I had and it worked fine.

Rein de Saba (Chocolate Almond Cake)

Okay, who hasn’t seen the movie Julie and Julia yet? I watched it last week and was compelled to make this chocolate cake, called a Rein de Saba, or Chocolate with Almonds Cake. Yes, most of the recipes by Julia Child are long and complicated with lots of ingredients and steps, and this one is no exception, although not the worst.
I had to give it a go and I will say that the cake was very tasty. My only problem is that it tasted similar to a brownie and my dad even made the brownie statement. Before I go to the trouble of making this cake again, I will first make a pan of brownies and frost them with the icing recipe. I would even add the pulverized almonds to the batter with a little almond extract. It would probably come pretty close.
This recipe will make a single layer cake that is baked so that the center is slightly underdone, giving the cake a creamy texture

**A note about Julie and Julia: I read the book when it first came out and was very surprised that someone would want to make a movie from it. The book is full of the “F” bomb (which is a BIG snag for me) and Julie Powell isn’t the best writer in the world. I was somewhat reluctant to watch the movie and the only reason I did was because everyone was raving about Meryl Streep’s preformance as Julia Child. The movie was much better than expected, although the “F” bomb is dropped once.

For the Cake:

4 ounces or squares semisweet chocolate , melted
2 Tbsp. rum or coffee (I used coffee)
1/4 pound or 1 stick softened butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar to mix with butter
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar to beat with egg whites
1/3 cup pulverized almonds
1/4 tsp. almond extract (I used vanilla)
*1/2 cup cake flour , scooped and leveled, turned into a sifter
Chocolate-Butter Icing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water ( a double boiler); let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients. Cream the butter and 2/3 cup of sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture. Beat in the egg yolks until well blended. Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle 1 Tbsp. sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in the almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir in one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated. Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 ·minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

*If you do not have cake flour on hand here is a substitute, and what I used to make my cake. In a one cup measure add two tablespoons corn starch. Fill the remainder of the cup with all purpose flour (I always used unbleached flour). Sift three times. This gives you one cup of cake flour.


Icing:

2 ounces (2 squares) semisweet baking chocolate
2 Tbsp. rum or coffee (I used coffee)
5 to 6 Tbsp. butter

Place the chocolate and rum or coffee in the small pan, cover and set in the larger pan of almost simmering water (a double boiler). Remove pans from heat and let chocolate melt for 5 minutes or so, until perfectly smooth. Lift chocolate pan out of the hot water, and beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Then beat over the ice and water until chocolate mixture has cooled to spreading consistency. At once spread it over your cake with spatula or knife. Garnish the icing with slivered or chopped almonds.

*Granny's Peach Pineapple Pie

This is, by far, the best fruit pie you will ever taste. The sweet tangyness of this pie is amazing! I have heard this pie called an Amish pie, but it came to my family through my Granny, Betty Watts. My mother made this pie for our Christmas dinner in the form of a cobbler. Either way, you must try it!

Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium sauce pan heat together:

1 - 16 ounce bag of frozen peaches
1 - 15 ounce can crushed pineapple

To fruit mixture add:

2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix well.

Pour into prepared piecrust and dot mixture with butter. Top with another pie crust and bake at 375 degrees till golden brown and bubbly.
For a pie crust, you can use storebought or make your favorite recipe.
Love ya Granny!

Aimee's Roast Turkey

1 turkey (10 to 12 pounds)
½ stick butter
3 or 4 tablespoons of Salt Grass 7 steak spice or your favorite
1 onion, peeled and cut in two
1 apple cut in two

Preheat the oven o 350 degrees.

Remove giblets and neck from turkey and set aside. Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey in large pan.

Place the onion and apple in the cavity of the turkey. I also place either half the apple or half the onion in the neck cavity. Melt butter in microwave and brush on the turkey. Sprinkle the bird with the Salt Grass 7 steak spice, coating well. Tie the legs and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.

Roast the turkey 2 ½ to 3 hours, or until juices run clear. Remove from oven and cover with foil and it rest for 20 minutes. Slice and serve.

Use giblets to make your favorite giblet gravy.

I used a Natural Honeysuckle White®, no hormones, etc. I have also used this recipe with a Smart Chicken®, whole and leg quarters. I love this method for roasting turkey and chicken. They turn out very moist and YUMMY!