3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

Project 52

How to Cook Corned Beef

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Even though I grew up in a heavily Irish area of Connecticut I never ate corned beef. So when my husband asked me to cook it, I was a little lost, he is part Irish and Corned Beef was a family tradition on St. Patricks Day. When I said I didn’t know how to cook it, and wasn’t planning on adding it to the menu a pout appeared and he mentioned driving home to his Mom’s. That wasn’t going to happen.

Cooking Corned Beef and Cabbage

So, I started asking around for recipes and my co-worker Kelly told me about this awesome recipe on, where else, Allrecipes. Have to admit, even for someone with no Irish heritage I did pretty well. On second thought, since I’m adopted, I don’t know what mix I am and the freckles that appear in the summer might have some “Touch of the Irish” , but I’d like to think I’m just a good cook.

I bought the already packaged and brined corned beef, I guess I cheated a little. I did learn a little trivia about corned beef. It’s not named because the beef are fed corn, but because the brisket was cured with corns of salt.

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Omaha Steaks 1 (30 oz.) Rustic Corned BeefOmaha Steaks 1 (30 oz.) Rustic Corned BeefUnderwood Corned Beef Spread, 4.25 Ounce (Pack of 12)Underwood Corned Beef Spread, 4.25 Ounce (Pack of 12)Homemade Pastrami and To-Die-For Corned BeefHomemade Pastrami and To-Die-For Corned BeefCorned Beef Hot Sandwiches: 101 Delicious, Nutritious, Low Budget, Mouth Watering CookbookCorned Beef Hot Sandwiches: 101 Delicious, Nutritious, Low Budget, Mouth Watering Cookbook

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For more of my favorite recipes check out my Pinterest Food page

Corned Beef Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 (3 pound) corned beef briskets with spice packets
  • 2 (12 fluid ounce) bottles beer
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 cup peppercorns
  • 1 bulb garlic cloves, separated and peeled (didn’t have, used freeze dried garlic)
 Directions
  1. Place the corned beef briskets into a large pot (I used a crock pot). Sprinkle in one of the spice packets, and discard the other one or save for other uses. Pour in the beer, and fill the pot with enough water to cover the briskets by 1 inch. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns and garlic cloves. Cover, and bring to a boil.
  2. Once the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 4 to 5 hours, checking hourly, and adding more water if necessary to keep the meat covered. (which I didn’t do, still turned out great)
  3. Carefully remove the meat from the pot, as it will be extremely tender. Set on a cutting board, and allow it to rest until it firms up a bit, about 10 minutes. Slice or shred to serve. I discard the cooking liquid, but it can be used to cook cabbage and other vegetables if desired.
Cabbage, Potatoes & Onions
  • 1/4 of a cabbage, cut into 1-2″ chunks
  • 1 onion cut into 1″ pieces
  • 4 potatoes, cubed
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Cube all ingredients and place in shallow baking dish
  2. Drizzle with olive oil and melted butter
  3. Liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper
  4. Bake for 45 minutes

Favorite Irish Foods

There is more to Irish food than Corn Beef and many people who have moved from Ireland, or have Irish history remember distinctly Irish brands such as Barry’s Irish Tea or Irish Stew. If you’re craving a taste of Ireland, or just wanting to throw an Irish Themed party then check out the pantry items at Amazon and have them delivered right to your door.

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McCann's Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal, 36-Ounce CanisterMcCann’s Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal, 36-Ounce CanisterReally Great Food Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread Mix 25 OzReally Great Food Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread Mix 25 OzBoyle's Irish ScreamBoyle’s Irish ScreamIrish Biscuit Pack - Orignal Kimberley Biscuits, Chocolate Kimberleys, Jam Mallows and Irish Shortbread BiscuitsIrish Biscuit Pack – Orignal Kimberley Biscuits, Chocolate Kimberleys, Jam Mallows and Irish Shortbread BiscuitsThompson's Punjana Irish Breakfast 80 teabags (8.82oz) x 1 packThompson’s Punjana Irish Breakfast 80 teabags (8.82oz) x 1 packTayto Irish Cheese & Onion Crisps - 6 Pack ( 6 x 25g bags)Tayto Irish Cheese & Onion Crisps – 6 Pack ( 6 x 25g bags)Follain Irish Rhubarb & Ginger Jam 370gFollain Irish Rhubarb & Ginger Jam 370gBarry's Tea Irish Breakfast, 80-Tea Bag Boxes (Pack of 6)Barry’s Tea Irish Breakfast, 80-Tea Bag Boxes (Pack of 6)Princes Irish Stew (400g)Princes Irish Stew (400g)Garvey's Organic Traditional Irish Soda Bread Mix, 16-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 5)Garvey’s Organic Traditional Irish Soda Bread Mix, 16-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 5)

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More Corned Beef Recipes

Here’s Your MMMM Delicious Mustard Sauce For Super Easy Crockpot Corned …

Isn’t it nice to have dinner mostly ready when you get home from a long day of furiously refreshing Wonkette at the office? A slow cooker makes that easy while minimizing the risk of burning your house down. Let’s make a corned beef in the crockpot and …

Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage Recipe for an Easy St. Patrick’s Day Meal

corned beef cabbage Attention leprechauns: St. Patrick’s Day is just 12 days away. Do you have your corned beef recipe ready? How do you like yours? We happen to like ours easy, nice and easy. That’s what slow cookers are for. So go ahead and have fun …

Brian Scott’s Favorite Corned Beef Recipe

I have always cooked my corned beef by boiling it with cabbage and potatoes and have always loved it that way, but this year I wanted to do something a little different. I remember my mother cooked her corned beef and then glazed it with a mustard glaze.

St. Patrick’s Day: Modernized Corned Beef recipe

To help you get ready for St. Patrick’s Day, celebrated Irish chef and TV personality Kevin Dundon features modern Irish country house cooking in his “Modern Irish Food” cookbook, which accompanies a 10-part series airing on PBS. Filmed at Dunbrody …

Glazed Corned Beef Recipe

St Patricks day is one of my favorite pauses in a regular schedule for one reason. Corned Beef. Of course a good corned beef sandwich can be had at any time of the year but being the only one around the house that really likes corned beef, I seldom …

#10/52: Crispy Oven Baked Onion Ring Recipe

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Yes, I  admit it, I love Pinterest and this Baked Onion Ring recipe was one of the first to get me hooked. Maybe because I’m such a visual person. Half the time I search Google by Google images, so why didn’t I think of Pinterest? I have a Favorite Foods (surprised, not) board that I’m going to have to divide into sub categories pretty soon.

Below is my rendition of the Low Fat Baked Onion Rings. I had my doubts that oven backed rings would be crunchy. Not only did I like them, but so did every one else. They were soooooo good. Thanks to Skinnytaste.com for posting them originally

Homemade Oven Baked Onion Ring Recipe

Since I adapted the recipe a little (don’t I always) I posted my own picture, but if you want to check out the original visit my Favorite Food board

  • 1 medium onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
  • 2 1/4 cups milk + 1 TBSP vinegar (original called for buttermilk, which I never have)
  • 2 cups finely crushed bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup crushed corn flake crumbs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Parsley, garlic powder, seasonings to taste and preference
  • olive oil baking spray
1. Slice onions and let soak in milk/vinegar mixture for one hour in refrigerator
2. Preheat oven to 450F
3. Line cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with olive baking spray
4. Mix seasonings and bread crumbs in bowl, set half aside for 2nd half of dipping.  (Helps prevent clumping)
5.  Remove onions from milk and dip in breading mix.
6. Place on tin foil, spray with olive oil and bake for 12 minutes.
 

More Onion Ring Recipes

Old Fashioned Onion Rings Recipe – Allrecipes.com

This is an actual recipe from a former employee of a popular drive-in restaurant. Crispy coated onion rings like the pro’s make!
Onion Ring Recipe | Hillbilly Housewife

I love fall. It’s getting cooler and of course there’s football. I’m not the worlds biggest fan, but it’s nice to curl up on the couch with my husband to watch the game. A few weeks ago he mentioned that he missed hanging out with a beer and an …
 
Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings | Two Forks One Love

Yesterday, I teased (okay blurted out in all caps) that I had an awesome bacon wrapped onion ring recipe for you today. Well, here it is! I really should have held it for a Side Dish Sunday, but BACON. If you’re trying to figure …
 
National Onion Rings Day – The Foodie Patootie

I’ll never even attempt a different onion ring recipe. I am pretty much satisfied with everything this one had to offer. And they were easy! Which is always my favorite part. (I’m looking forward to the day when I can actually take …
 

#10/52: Lutheran Lenten Services, My Favorite Piano, and my Favorite Lenten Hymns

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Lutheran Lenten Services and my Favorite Piano

My favorite piano sits in front of my home church, Trinity Lutheran Church in Murdock Nebraska.  It is my favorite church season of the year, Lent.

My favorite piano and my favorite sheet music Lorie Line
Lorie Line During Lenten Vespers

It’s a time of reflection when I play the piano every Wednesday night during Lent. Lorie Line is my favorite pianist and her amazing piano hymn arrangements just perfect for this Holy season before East.

I have played the piano for the Lutheran Lenten Services at Trinity Lutheran Church since 1997 (I think)  and sometimes I think I should change up my sheet music. But I keep going back to the Heritage Collection II because I love these standard hymns.

These hymns are friends, they have seen me through the worse times in my life and given me comfort.  Sitting at the piano at the front of the church listening to the reading of the passion served as a therapy.

My Favorite Hymns: Lenten Season

Below are a few songs directly from Lorie Lines You Tube Channel. I can’t count the number of times I had this CD on auto-repeat.

  • Be Thou Vision
  • Nearer, Still Nearer
  • Faith of My Fathers
  • In The Garden
  • Rock Of Ages
  • Take My Life and Let It Be
  • David of the White Rock
  • Beach Spring
  • Con Que Pagaremos?
  • O Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
  • Nearer to God To Thee
  • Be With Me Lord
  • This Is My Father’s World
  • How Can I Keep From Singing?
  • An Irish Blessing
  • How Great Thou Art

I have played this piano book from front to back and most pieces are at the intermediate level and have a strong arpeggio style. This makes it easy to play but still very stylish and sounds wonderful.

Although I have played many pianos over the years my favorite piano my church piano and is the home of my spiritual soul and faith.

As the journey of Jesus takes me through Lent, Good Friday and Easter I am humbled, I pray for peace and glory at the promise of resurrection on Good Friday and celebrate Christ resurrection on Easter.

Last year I finished a daily Advent Devotional Series and this year I will concentrate on a weekly Lent series revolving around the Lutheran Lenten services at Trinity Lutheran Church.

If you have a favorite piano hymn or link to sheet music you like place your link or website here, I’m always interested in finding more piano hymn variations.

#7/52: Chevy Truck in the Barn

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Old Chevy Truck

Had some time to play around with Photoshop tonight and have been sitting on this photo for a few weeks. I miss Photoshop and post production.

For those interested I created duplicated image layers. Posterized one layer heavily, the set the opacity to 73%. Used gradient, from upper left to lower right and added a orange color overlay at about 20%. I always create adjustment layers in an action, some I use, others I don’t, but the action saves time. For the car I bumped the contrast and adjusted the levels.

#6/62: Venison Stew Recipe

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My husband was a very successful deer hunter this past fall/winter and as a result we have venison in the freezer. I’ve never cooked venison before and was a little hesitant. Always heard venison tastes “gamey”. So I started off with venison stew, figured all the flavors and vegetables would cover any gamey taste. To my surprise it taste identical to beef stew!

Venison Stew recipe
Venison Stew

We are a big fan of  jerky and the dehydrator has been going pretty much non-stop. ( I love deer jerky, but that’s another post) With so much meat, and beef prices going through the roof, I thought venison would be better used to stretch our meat budget.

I’m pretty confident with soup and stews, so it was a natural transition. Was it a success? Would I be posting it here if it wasn’t? My daughter loved it so much she would eat two bowls at each sitting. Needless to say there was no left overs. Venison stew really tastes like beef stew.

Venison Stew recipe
Venison Stew recipe

The following recipe is a guideline. I’m a dash of this and a dash of that type of cook. Pour some of this in, a little of this, a little more, and…that looks good. So use your own judgement, get creative and feel free to substitute.

Venison Stew Recipe

  • 3-4 lbs venison (cubed into 1/2-1″ pieces)
  • 32 oz beef stock (homemade from shank leg bones)
  • 16 oz potato stock (water left over from boiling potatoes)
  • 20 oz can tomato sauce
  • Olive oil for browning
  • 1 large onion
  • 3 stalks celery
  • 1 frozen bag mixed soup vegetables
  • 3 potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 5 bay leaves
  • 3 TBSP dried parsley
  • 1 tsp seasoning salt
  • 1 TBSP black pepper

Directions

1. Cube the venison, season well with seasoning salt and pepper

2. Pour 2 TBSP olive oil in skillet, sear & brown venison, do not cook all the way through.

3. Place browned venison in large stock pot

4. Alternate placing venison, vegetables, and seasonings in stock pot.

5. Add liquids and stir thoroughly

6. Heat to boiling

7. Set to LOW and simmer for 3-4 hours and stir occasionally.

8. The venison stew can be cooked, or left on low for many more hours as the flavors continue to blend. In only improves with time.

In the past few years I have learned to love the taste of deer meat. In Eastern Nebraska corn fed whitetail tastes just like Angus beef. Western Nebraska mule deer fed on sage need a little different seasonings and preparation. So my mother-in-law bought me a wild game cookbook.

If you don’t have home grown venison harvested by your favorite hunter with a rifle, muzzle loader, or bow then you can order venison or other wild game online.

The Sporting Chef’s Better Venison CookbookReal Meat Venison Jerky Dog Treats (12 oz)Buffalo Bills 10oz 100% Farm Raised 7Gourmet Game Steaks – Avg 2 LB Case (all sizes are approximate)Venison Medallions – 3 pieces, 4 oz eaVenison Ground Meat – 1 lb

More Soup and Stew Recipes