The Brisket Experiment

Was a success!!!

I am not really a carnivore. Prefer veggies over meat if possible but my stars was this good!

Dear Pinterest pinner, Thank you!

The original recipe I followed to the T for Texas Style Brisket, well almost.

Brisket (slow cooker) 7-8 hours on Low

*Prep and marinate the night before*

Ingredients for marinade:
3 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbs Chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Bay leaves
1 Tsp Celery salt
1 Tsp Pepper
1 Fresh beef brisket (for this our Commissary did not have, so I used a Top Round Flank, cheaper and works just as well.)
1/2 Cup beef broth (I used the whole can just because it was a can and times are hard so I didn't want to waste).

Directions for marinade:
Combine Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, bay leaves, garlic cloves minced, Celery salt, and pepper. Stir together and place in resealable bag such as Ziploc.
Cut brisket/flank into strips and place in bag. *original recipe called for half but I liked strips better*
Shake, shake, shaky, shake the bag. Get the beef nice and coated.
Refrigerate over night.

Next day, transfer everything but the bag to the slow cooker. Add broth. Cook on low 6-8 hours or until tender.

For BBQ Sauce (Ingredients):
1 medium onion, chopped (I skipped the onion because I just don't like them).
2 Tbs Canola or cooking oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 C ketchup
1/2 C Molasses
1/4 Apple Cider vinegar
2 Tsp Chili Powder
1/2 Tsp ground mustard

Directions:
Combine everything except onion in bowl.
In a small sauce pan, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, cook 1 minute.
*I skipped this step and just threw in the garlic with everything*
Heat over medium until boil.

While heating sauce, remove brisket/flank from the slow cooker, discard bay leaves. Place 1 Cup brisket/flank juice, skim away fat. Add to the BBQ sauce. Discard remaining juices in Crock Pot.
Return Brisket/Flank to the Crock pot with sauce mixture. Cook on high for 30 minutes.

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:
4 medium red potatoes washed and cut
2 Tbs Olive oil
1/3 C Parmesan Cheese ( I use Sargento's, it's finely shredded)
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C)
In a small bowl combine everything except for the potatoes and oil
In a medium bowl toss potatoes and oil until coated.
Then add the small bowl mixture, toss until potatoes are nice and coated

Arrange on a cookie sheet or a casserole dish. Each is a different cooking time
Cookie sheet 30-40 minutes, check middle potatoes for tenderness
Casserole dish 45-55 minutes, check middle potatoes for tenderness

Serve with a veggie, in this case white wine sauteed green beans from the farmer's market. Enjoy!

Hurricane 5 hits Key West Grilled Chicken

Some genius said that this could cook in the crock pot. They were full of it. It burned.

The original Pinterest idea called for
3Tbs soy sauce
2Tbs Honey
1Tbs Veggie Oil (I used Canola because it's cheaper and I'm poor)
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp minced garlic
Chicken

Directions (pfft)
1. Combine in small bowl: soy sauce, honey, veggie oil, lime juice, and garlic.
2. marinate chicken for 30 minutes in fridge
3. Crock pot on high 4-6

End result: chard coal.

I might try this again after I've fumed at it for a while. Next time I'm going to broil.

No pictures. It was bad. Really, really bad. CSI had to be called to identify the chicken. xP

The improvised Lemon-Herb Zucchini Fettuccine

There was a chicken shortage at the Commissary for a few weeks so I had to make adjustments to dinners.

This recipe is orignally Lemon Herb Zucchini Fettuccine with chicken.
It called for the chicken breast (2) to marinate in the juice of one lemon, 2 tbs of olive oil and 2 tbs of red wine vinegar. Who has time for that?
In theory while the chicken marinates cook your pasta. Well I didn't have fettuccine, only speghetti, didn't turn out so well. Definatley need thicker noodles for this.
Also cut the zucchini thick, I sliced mine and it was meh.

Also, since I was sorely lacking chicken I used sausage and cut it up in tiny chunks. Not the breakfast sausage but the Hillshire Farms. Not bad, skip the lemon with the sausage though. Prep the zucchini ahead of time, spares you time while the kids are hollaring.

While the noodles are boiling, remember thick not thin. Prep your veggies by pouring 1 tbs oilve oil over them and sprinkle pepper and salt. It brings out the taste better.

For the chicken: I love to use the George Forman grill, so if you have one use it. 10 minutes and then save some marinade to splash over it once grilled since some of the flavor will leak out with the fat.

In a pan, add 1 garlic cloves minced with 1/4 C olive oil. Turn burner on lw-med heat and add the chopped sausage. Cook until all sides are browned. Add zucchini, thick cook for 2 minutes, thin 1 minute. Burnt zucchini isn't very good.

Drain the pasta, slice and juice another lemon add the zucchini and sausage to the pasta and sprinkle with shreaded parmasean, but let the noodles cool down. It taste better when the cheese isn't melted. Sprinkle herbs in. Give everything a good toss and serve with a salad.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast or 1 sausage (Hillshire farm is easiest to work with)
2 lemons
2 tbs Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
1/2 lb Fettuccine or Linguine (thick noodles only)
Garlic Cloves (4)
2 medium zucchini
1 C shredded Parmasean
Fresh Basil 1/2 C
1/4 C Oregano

Oh! Intro!

The Great Recession might have snuffed my career as a teacher, but it has brought me into the wonderful world of cooking. While pregnant with my son and on strict bedrest for the entire duration I discovered a magical land called Pinterest. Pinterest is a wonderful world in which all the woes of the real world magically melt away. We, the Pinners or Pinheads, can imagine a life we might one day have of lushious gardens, gorumet dinners and a living room that Norman Rockwell would paint over and over. My boredom was cured and my sanity saved by the food section in Pinterest. I'm a thin person by nature and was all baby while pregnant. I found recipes that were healthy, good for PCOS, and fun to make. Narry a extra pot or pan was purchased, as I had no money, and some ingredients I was introduced too makes me wonder how it is I have gone on this long in life without them.
I made a list of dinners I wanted to make, some turned out wonderful, some needed adjustments and some need to be on the no-fly list. All of these were fed and assessed by my husband. If he asked for seconds I knew it was a keeper. If he ate his veggies only, I knew to never make it again.
This blog will be a place to disect and assess Pinterest recipes. If I can figure out the technology, then pictures will accompany.
Welcome to my new classroom and the revamp of Home Ec.

:)