As many of you know, the part of me that isn’t Norwegian is Irish.  My family has always celebrated the day with corned beef and cabbage.  Even though G and I are still confined to barracks so to speak, we did not mess with our tradition.  I made an absolutely fabulous corned beef yesterday, so that must mean today begins the cook-off.

I wrote about the last one.  It wasn’t pretty.  G actually admitted defeat very early on in the competition.  It was the Worcestershire sauce that did him in.  He’s always hoping to discover the next best taste sensation.  I just want a hash that would make my dad proud.  I’m much more into simplicity then G is.

G is making his version tomorrow.  Be kind.  There are only 6 ingredients in my recipe.  It’s not as crispy as I would like so I think I’m going to get a weighted press to help hold it down next year.  Give it a try Laddies and Lassies.  

*****From the Recipe Box:

If you don’t like corned beef, these recipes aren’t for you, but for G and I, we are in hog heaven.

and remember:  Erin Go Bragh.  Big kiss, Lynn

If you have ever had Mississippi Pot Roast, this is very similar.  I posted the meat version of this in October of last year.  This is almost identical with just chicken as the only difference and so flavorful.  The Mississippi Pot Roast recipe in case you are interested is super easy and very handy to have in your rotation.  You will not be disappointed.

The gluten-free-girl was here for dinner and I made this. I checked all the ingredient lists and everything was copasetic for her tummy. I made it with rice and corn, but there are so many options. I’m making the leftovers into tacos. I’m also using it in salads. It freezes well if you want to keep some on hand.

1 packet Au Jus gravy mix

1 packet Ranch seasoning or Onion Soup Mix

1 cup reduced chicken broth

1 cube of butter

as many pepperoncini plus juice as you like

Place everything in your crockpot.

Cook on LOW for 6 hours.  Shred and serve with your choice of sides and enjoy.  

*  From the Recipe Box:

I’ve not made it with thighs yet, but I will.  When I do, I will probably serve it with rice and teriyaki and leave out the pepperoncini.

I think it would be great with stuffing or mashed potatoes as well. I made gravy with the au jus. I added a bit of Worcestshire sauce to darken it up and add to the flavor. It was good.

We like gravy. I made the jus into gravy using Worcestshire sauce. Way good. This week I used balsamic, cream and butter. I think we both thought it was even better. Give them a try, you won’t be disappointed.

and remember:   Life humbles you as you age.  You realize how much time you wasted on nonsense.  Big kiss, Lynn

I never think of myself as a finicky eater, but the longer I write this blog the more apparent my finickiness appears.  Of course, it could be I only have so many years left and I’m not going to waste it on food that doesn’t ring my bells.  As I look through cookbooks, I will flip right past recipes that have no appeal or too many ingredients.

So, what do I love?  Don’t you play that game as well?  We spent a couple of years living in Hawaii and I fell in love with Kimchi.  I’ve always liked pickles, but this goes beyond pickles to spicy and funky.  My mom used to always put a bowl of sliced onions and cucumbers in vinegar on the dinner table and this reminds me of that.  Korea, Norway, very similar in its own way.  I could eat it every day.  I love, love, love watermelon, especially cubed with mozzarella and basil.  Or mozzarella with grape tomatoes.  You’re going to notice a little trend, I will never pick cow when I could pick shrimp.  I don’t want heavy pasta, but I do enjoy pasta with vegetables or seafood.

This is my version of linguine and shrimp.  It comes together so quickly and with just a few ingredients.  I’m just cooking for G and I tonight, so the ingredient list will be a little scaled down.  I put enough water for 8 ounces of linguine on to boil.  If my shrimp is frozen, I start thawing it.  I like using 16 to 20 count shrimp.  That simply means 16 to 20 per pound.  I prefer unpeeled, tail on.  I think they last longer in the freezer and it gives me more options.  I put them in a colander and run cold water over them.  When they’re thawed, I peel them.  This was one pound of shrimp.

By this time the water is probably boiling and I throw the pasta in.  I heat butter and olive oil in a fry pan and cook the shrimp.  I add fresh lemon juice, more butter and garlic to taste.  When the pasta is done, I add it to the shrimp with a little pasta water if needed.  A wee drizzle of olive oil to finish.  This is a light yet filling meal and it looks pretty as well.

This is probably more than you needed to know about me, but if you stick around, you’ll hear even more.

* From the Recipe Box:

For those of you paying attention, that is not linguine.  You know the drill, no store runs for one item.  This is angel hair, which is not my favorite pasta, but it will work in a pinch.

and remember:    I’m only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.  Big kiss, Lynn

My sous chef is here visiting and he is a total spare ribs freak.  I don’t make a lot of ribs:  too messy to eat and they get stuck in my teeth.  Yes, I’m that girl.  We did an online search and came up with this recipe.  It was originally posted by Fifteenspatulas.  I’d never heard of that blog before, but you can’t go wrong with a 4.9 out of 5 rating.  I’m going to look for more of their recipes because these turned out fabulously.

4 to 5 pounds of St. Louis-Style Pork Spare Ribs

2 teaspoons kosher salt

18 ounces barbecue sauce, 1.75 cups, either store bought or homemade

Season two racks of St. Louis Style Spare Ribs with 2 teaspoons of salt, concentrating it on the meaty side of the ribs,

Cut the rack into individual ribs, cutting in between the bones

Place the ribs on a rimmed half sheet pan and drizzle with about 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce.  I used Sweet Baby Rays because my sous chef was here and that’s his favorite.  Toss the ribs in the sauce until evenly coated.

Arrange the ribs on the pan, placing them meaty side up.

Cover the pan very tightly with aluminum foil.  You really want to create a tight seal here.

Bake the spare ribs for 1 hour and 45 minutes at 300 degrees, then remove the foil.  They will look fairly unglazed at this point.

Take half the remaining barbecue sauce and baste the ribs.

Bake the ribs uncovered for another 30 minutes.  They should be starting to get some caramelization on the edges, but they need another basting.  So baste the ribs with the remaining barbecue sauce, about 1/3 cup.

Bake the ribs another 20 to 30 minutes in the oven.  They should look wonderfully glazed by now.

 * From the Recipe Box:

Remember to remove the silverskin from the ribs.  You don’t want to eat it and it’s very hard to even bite through.

These were amazing.  Yes, you heard me, the non-meat eater, say that.  Next I’m going to find good Asian sauce recipe to make for the ribs.  I actually can’t wait.  I’ll keep you posted.

and remember what Albert Einstein said:  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.    Big kiss, Lynn

I think this might be SJ’s favorite thing I make.  I was in the mood for it the other night.  They are super easy and you can have dinner ready in less than 30 minutes.  I prefer making them with chicken breasts rather than thighs.

We butterfly 3 chicken pieces and pound them out to about 3/8 inches.  I set up a lovely dredging station.  I put approximately 1 cup of flour and S & P on the first plate.  Two beaten eggs on the second plate and 1 cup of Panko on the third plate.  Once the chicken pieces are pounded out, we begin the dredge.  Pat off the chicken, dip both sides in the flour.  Give them a quick dip in the beaten eggs.  Now a quick trip through the panko.  See the first picture.  The crust is really thin, as is the chicken itself.

I put about a quarter inch of canola oil in either a non-stick pan or a cast iron pan.  Cook the chicken on both sides until golden brown.   I usually cover it up with my trusty pizza pan.  Heaven forbid I buy a pan with a lid.  This only takes about 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Remove from the pan and place them in a pre-heated 200 degree oven to keep warm while cooking the rest.  Add more oil, let come back to temp and fry more.  For 3 large breasts butterflied, plan on feeding 3 to 4 people.

I like serving them on a bed of arugula, but I didn’t have any tonight.  And, you know the rule, no trips to the grocery for one item.  I drizzle the greens, in this case romaine, with olive oil and balsamic reduction.  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

 * From the Recipe Box:

This is such an easy dinner yet so very tasty.  The chicken stays so tender.

Even if it’s just G and I, I will cook up 3 breasts because this makes a great salad protein.  I try and make salads for dinner every other day so we get our greens.

and remember what Padma Lakshmi shared in her Instagram:  Germany doesn’t have Nazi monuments to “remind” citizens of their history.  Instead, they have memorials for the 6 million Jews and others who were murdered.  The U.S. doesn’t need statues of confederate generals to “remind” us.  The confederacy was created solely for the purpose of subjugating and controlling Black people through enslavement.   We need monuments for Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, people who fought the good fight.  Big kiss, Lynn

This is the third of the “Impossible” recipes.  They were so trendy once upon a time.  The whole ‘new’ thing is a big deal for a lot of people, but it doesn’t really ring my bell, I’m more of a tried and true type.  There were so many picky eaters in my family, I didn’t have the time or the money to be very creative.  Now that I have both, I’ve lost my desire.

This could be the last of the impossible dishes.  Mom’s Betty Crocker Cookbook featuring Bisquick yielded a ton of memories.  You kids know how I hate being redundant though.  Ha-ha.  So, why do you suppose these recipes fell out of favor?

Due to my love of chicken pot pie, my mom would make this every so often for me.  Do you see a trend here?  The old broad loved making things she knew her family would love.  I do think I inherited this quality.

2 cups thawed mixed vegetables

1 cup chopped chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup Bisquick

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

Combine veggies, chicken and soup in a 9 or 10 inch pie pan.

In a separate bowl, mix the Bisquick, milk and egg. Pour batter on the veggie mixture. Bake for 30 minutes.

If you don’t usually have Bisquick, use Jiffy Baking Mix or anything else you might have on hand.  I’ve always loved Jiffy.

* From the Recipe Box:

Today I broke one of my cardinal rules.  I sent G to the store for 1 item.  I only did it so I could make the recipe as written.  Big mistake.  There was no Bisquick, there was no Jiffy, there was no anything on the shelves.  He came home feeling like a failure.  That’s the problem when you have been the most complete caregiver.  So we did what anyone would do, we went on-line and got a recipe to make our own Bisquick.  This is the recipe we used:

6 cups white flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup shortening

Combine the dry ingredients and sift them 2 to 3 times.  We used a fine mesh strainer, but anything that will sift flour will work.  Cut the shortening into the sifted flour until the mixture resembles corn meal.  I’m going to store my leftover ‘Bisquick’ in the refrigerator.

Keep this recipe handy if you use a lot of Bisquick.  This works for pancakes and waffles too.  Thank goodness for the Internet.

and remember:  If you think education is costly, try ignorance.  Big kiss, Lynn

G loves to smoke salmon.  I love his smoked salmon.  For years and years, that’s all he smoked.  And then, we saw a show about Franklin Bar-B-Que in Austin, Texas and he became possessed to smoke the best pork and beef.  We bought new smokers, cookbooks for days, spices neither one of us had ever used before.  And then came the experimentation.  While there are recipes for the different types of meat, how you do it to your taste buds is the ultimate quest.

G buys a big brisket and puts it in the freezer.  When he’s ready to start smoking, he pulls it out and cuts off a chunk.  If you don’t have a band saw, this could be difficult and I would recommend cutting before freezing.  Next you will need to thaw the brisket for a day or 2.   G trims the fat to approximately 1/4 inch and removes the silver skin.  He brings it to room temperature.  He mixes salt and pepper in equal parts and rubs it into the brisket on all sides.  He marinates the meat for approximately 1 to 2 hours before smoking.  He uses a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker and smokes the meat for 4 to 6 hours at 225 to 250 degrees.

When it reaches the desired color, he wraps it in butcher paper.  He returns it to the smoker and places it fat side on top and smokes it for an additional six plus hours until the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees.  This should take an additional 6 to 9 hours.

G and the boys love smoked meat.  I can’t in all honesty agree with them.  Even though he’s not smoking it quite as intensely now, it still tastes way too acrid for me.  One thing I will say, it makes a good French Dip sandwich.

* From the Recipe Box:

I would suggest reading Sean Brock’s book on smoked meat or the Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto.  G has gotten incredible lessons from both sources.

and remember:   This is what Stephen Chbosky said in The Perks of Being a Wallflower:  Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.  Keep the faith out there and be strong. Big Kiss, Lynn