Beef Brisket with Mushrooms & Pearl Onions

Whenever I think of Beef Brisket, I think back many years ago at a friends wedding reception.  They served this amazing brisket from, Hoggy's.  It was the first time I've ever had that cut of meat, and I had the "mmm" reaction right away!  I've never attempted to make it, but I figured now--why not?  I looked up some recipes, and I came across one from, Smuckers.  The ingredient list is minimal.  Therefore, I like it.

[TO BUY]
Beef Brisket (2 lbs)
Mushrooms (~8 oz, sliced)
Frozen Pearl Onions (~10 oz, thawed)
Butter (2 tablespoons)
Foil
Non-Stick Cooking Spray
Sauce Mixture:
Dry Onion Soup Mix (1/2 of 1 oz pouch)
Smuckers Low Sugar* Concord Grape Jelly (~5 oz)
Seafood Cocktail Sauce (~6 oz. I used Crosse & Blackwell brand)

Here's your end result.  And here's how you get there:

                 

Gather your ingredients.

Combine the Sauce mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees OR 300 degrees.

Mix until it's a smooth consistency.

Line a shallow baking pan with foil. Make sure you have at least 6" of foil that extends beyond the edge of the pan. (I layed the foil out to go across each other-horizontal & vertical)

Spray the bottom of the foil with Non-Stick cooking spray.

Take the Brisket, and place it FAT SIDE DOWN in the middle of the foil.

Pour half of the Sauce Mixture over the Brisket..then turn the meat FAT SIDE UP, and pour the remaining sauce mixture over it.

Bring both sides of the Foil to the middle...

Fold/roll the foil down on itself several times.

Then with the other sides of the Foil, fold them down to seal in the meat securely. Once the oven has reached 350 degrees OR 300 degrees, put the meat in the oven. (If you heat the oven at 350, cook for 3 hours. If you heat the oven at 300, cook for 4 hours...when you cook at a lower temperature for a longer period of time, the meat gets more tender. But if you're short on time, do the higher temperature!)

15 mins before the Brisket is done cooking, get a skillet and melt the butter on Medium heat.

Cook and stir the Mushrooms and Pearl Onions for 5-8 minutes, or until golden brown.

When the Brisket is done cooking, remove from oven. Open the foil slowly...it's steamy in there!

Place the meat on a cutting board or just on something you can cut on.  If you have an Electric Meat Carver--that would work the best!  If not, use a large Serrated Knife.  Slice the meat ACROSS THE GRAIN (perpendicular to the lines in the meat) into 1/4 inch slices.

Pull together the foil in the roasting pan, and try to not let any sauce escape!

Set aside.

Return the sliced Brisket back into the roasting pan (without the foil).

Cover the Brisket with the browned Mushroom and Pearl Onions.  Then pour the sauce all over.  Even though the oven is turned off, there still should be some heat in there...place the roasting pan back into the oven for about 10-15 mins so the flavors can marinate together.

Once that time has passed, remove the Brisket from the oven and present it nicely on a platter!  It goes great with a side of mashed potatoes!

ENJOY!

Good Ol' Chicken & Dumplings

I love comfort foods. 
Something that is nice, simple, and just delicious.
My boyfriend loves Chicken & Dumplings...and if we go to a restaurant that offers that meal, he'll order it!  You see, I have a texture issue.  And something about chewy dough balls doesn't sound appealing to me. SOOO I did some research and found a great recipe that came up with a unique way to make Dumplings not so chewy and goopy! So, we both win.
(thanks pioneerwoman.com)

[TO BUY]
Butter (2 tblspns)
Olive Oil (2 tblspns)
All Purpose Flour (1/2 cup)
Chicken (1-2 lbs depending on how much Chicken you want. You can buy boneless, skinless breasts/tenderloins, or Cut Up Fryer--which is generally a whole chicken (skin on) that has been already cut into pieces)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Carrots (diced, 1/2 cup)
Celery (diced, 1/2 cup)
Medium Onion (diced)
[Ground] Basil (1/2 teaspoon)
Chicken Broth (6 cups--you can buy premade broth. I used the Chicken Flavored Bouillon Cubes--so I made that first out of everything. Let it cool, and set it aside.)
Apple Cider (1/2 cup)
Heavy Cream (1/2 cup--you may find Heavy "Whipping" Cream, thats fine)
DUMPLINGS:
All Purpose Flour (1 cup)
*Yellow Corn Meal* (1/2 cup)
Baking Powder (1 tblspn)
Salt (1 teaspoon, I prefer using Kosher Salt)
Half-n-Half (1 cup)

Here is your end result. And here's how you get there:

Gather up your ingredients.

Start by doing the small prep work first...

Dice the Carrots, Celery, and Onion.

Set aside.

Season both sides of the Chicken with a good amount of Salt & Pepper.

I used about 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins--it was less expensive!

Put the Flour in a separate dish.

Coat the Chicken thoroughly on both sides with Flour.

Like this!

In a large cooking pot, melt the Butter with Olive Oil over Medium-High heat.

Once the Butter has melted, add in the first batch of chicken to the pot. 

(Don't try and cook it all at once. Only put in as much as the pot can hold without stacking the Chicken)

After about 2 mins, flip the Chicken over.  It should look like this :o)  

The chicken isn't going to be cooked all the way in the center, but that's okay. We will finish cooking it later in this recipe. Again, cook the other side for 2 minutes. Set the Chicken aside on a plate.

This is about 1 lb of Chicken.

In the same pot you used to cook the Chicken, add in the diced Carrots, Celery, and Onion.  This allows the veggies to soak up all the yummy juices from the chicken! Decrease the heat to Medium-Low, and cook the veggies for about 3-4 minutes...or until its tender.

I didn't have Ground Basil, so I just poured out some of the Basil (the one you buy in the Spice aisle at grocery stores) into the palm of my hand and used my fingers to grind up the herb.  As Rachael Ray says, "it helps to wake it up".

So once the veggies are tender, add in the [ground] Basil. Stir it up until everything is combined.

*I don't have a picture of this...but AT THIS POINT, POUR IN THE CHICKEN BROTH AND THE APPLE CIDER TO THE VEGGIES*

Stir it up!

Now, you want to reintroduce the cooked Chicken back into the mixture.  Increase the temperature just above Medium heat. Cover with a lid.  Let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes.

While the Chicken is simmering--start on your Dumpling Dough!

Mix together the Flour, Yellow Corn Meal, Baking Powder, and

[Kosher] Salt.  Then pour in the Half-n-Half.  Make sure everything is completely combined.  It's kinda tough to stir together, but USE THOSE ARM MUSCLES!

Once 20 mins is up, remove the Chicken from the broth.  You can shred the Chicken, or cut it up into pieces.  Whichever you want :o)

Add the shredded/cut up Chicken back INTO the broth.

Now, add in the Heavy Cream. Stir around.

(taste it to see if it needs extra salt)

Dumpling time!

I used a Tablespoon to scoop out the Dumpling Dough.

The shape of the Dough really doesn't matter...

Just drop it in without shaping or messing with it at all.  It gives the Dumplings more character! (its kinda hard to drop the dough in because of how sticky it is--I just used my finger to loosen up the dough from the spoon. AND you most likely will have extra dough left over, thats fine.) Cover with a lid, and again, DON'T MESS WITH IT.  Let this cook for another 15-20 minutes at the same heat (just above Medium).

After 15-20 minutes, go ahead and do a quick stir just so the top of the Dumplings can be flipped into the broth.

The dumplings will shrink down in size.

*The Yellow Corn Meal gives the Dumplings a Unique texture. The dough is soft on the outside, but has a soft, grainy texture in the center. To me, it tastes like a chewier version of corn bread!*

Turn off the heat, and allow it to cool for about 10 mins before serving.

(its also really delicious served over egg noodles!)

ENJOY!!

*Raspberry Chipotle Sauce* (over Baked Salmon)

It's all about the sauce.
This Raspberry Chipotle sauce has been by far, one of my favorite things I've made (thanks, allrecipes.com).  It has a simple combination of sweetness, saltiness, and a little kick of spice.  The amazing thing is that it works SO well with different types of food.  You can drizzle the sauce over meats...ie: Fish, Chicken, Pork, etc.  You can even pour this sauce over cream cheese and eat it with crackers!!  For this recipe, I poured it over Salmon & Chicken :o)

[TO BUY]
Raspberry Chipotle Sauce:
2 containers of Fresh Raspberries (6 oz each)
1-2 Jalapeno Peppers (fresh or from a jar, seeded & diced)
Garlic (fresh or in a jar, ~2 tablespoons, minced)
Adobo Sauce (4 teaspoons-you can find canned Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce in the Latin aisle at grocery stores)
Apple Cider Vinegar (just a little less than 1/2 cup)
Brown Sugar (1/4 cup)
White Sugar (1/2 cup)
Olive Oil (2 tablespoons)
Salt (1/2 teaspoon...or to taste)
*Pretty* way to make Baked Salmon:
Prepackaged Salmon Filets (however many you're serving)
Lemon (sliced)
Minced Garlic (from a jar or fresh)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Here's the end result.  And here's how you get there:

Gather up your ingredients.

Let's start by making the Salmon look *Pretty*

Slice the lemon. 

Then take 2 of the sliced lemon, and cut those in 1/4's.  Sorry, the picture shows the slices in half, but quarter them.  (if you're making 4 Salmon Filets..there will be 2 slices in each filet)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES.

You want to take a sharp knife, and slice the Salmon down the center.  Don't cut all the way through the filet, just enough to make a "pocket".

Wedge 2 of the 1/4 sliced lemon into each Filet Pocket.  Then add in some Minced Garlic (in the same pocket) on each side of the lemon. Season each Filet with a good amount of Salt & Pepper.

Fancy looking, huh?

Lay out the Filets on a Baking Sheet/Pan. (I put foil down on the baking sheet first)  Then loosely cover the Salmon with Foil.

Once oven has reached 350 degrees, Bake up to 20 minutes..or just until the meat flakes apart. (If you have a meat thermometer, Fish should be at least 145 degrees)

While the fish is in the oven, start on the Raspberry Chipotle Sauce.

I used pre-sliced Jalapeno Peppers in a jar, but you can use fresh ones if you want.  You can decide the amount you want to put in..1 or 2 Jalapenos.  I put in as much as I thought I could handle! (the Adobo Sauce has its own kick too, so keep that in mind!) Just make sure you seed them (remove seeds) and dice them up.

Then heat oil on Medium.  Add in the diced Jalapeno Peppers.  Cook it until tender, or when it starts to simmer a bit...

Once the Jalapeno is tender, mix in the Minced Garlic and Adobo Sauce (from the jar of chipotle peppers)--bring to a simmer.

Add in the Raspberries.

Stir the Raspberries, and cook for a few minutes until soft.

At this point, stir in the Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt, Brown Sugar, and White Sugar.  Mix well.  Increase the heat to Medium-High.  Stir occasionally...Allow the sauce to simmer and thicken up. (~10-15 mins)

Now check back on your Salmon!

The Salmon should be done baking in the oven at this time.  Don't worry if white stuff is oozing out.  That's normal. Its also a good way to know when the Salmon is well done--without being burned.

(just scrape off the excess before serving..)

Checking back to the sauce--it should be thickened.  Turn off heat and transfer the sauce into a bowl.  Allow it to cool a bit before serving.

*Good sides for this meal is Rice and mixed Veggies*

(if you have Oyster Flavored sauce -found at Asian Markets or the Asian aisle at some grocery stores- I would add that to the mixed veggies.  It gives it a nice salty flavor which really compliments the sweetness of the Raspberry Sauce!)

Here's grilled chicken topped with the Raspberry Chipotle Sauce!

Like I said before, you can do many things with this sauce.  It also would be a great Do It Yourself gift in a jar!

Enjoy!