Brisket and Books

Tonight, I made my first brisket in forever. My Aunt Jill makes a phenomenal brisket. I have yet to replicate its flavor even though she told me exactly how she did it. I haven’t ever smoked a brisket either but I really want to do so. Brisket was on sale at the store this week so I picked up a small one that had been sliced into Brisket Fingers (or so the package said). I was home with an under the weather Maggie today so I threw the brisket in my crockpot and seasoned it up with the intention of making some chopped beef sandwiches for dinner. It was so good. Here is what I did.

The brisket was about 2 pounds and I seasoned it with hickory seasoning, garlic pepper, and some Old Milwaukee Street seasonings from the Spice House. I placed it fat side up and put about 1/4 cup water in the bottom of the crockpot. I set it on low for about 6 hours. When it was dinner time, I pulled out the brisket, and it was so tender I could break it apart with a fork. I did that with each slice and then mixed it with some Jack Daniels Honey Hickory BBQ sauce. I don’t like a lot of sauce so I made my portion and then added more for Matt. It was awesome. I highly recommend it. Next time, I might add a little liquid smoke to make it more smoky. We served it on grilled wheat bread with grilled asparagus and salad.

My friend Tonya loves to cook as much (and maybe even a little more) than I do. She told me about the Neely’s. I had not heard of the Neelys until she mentioned them to me. They are the BBQ King and Queen of Memphis with a show on the Food Network. I caught a bit of their show this weekend and LOVE them. They made a meal on Saturday that I will make this weekend – stay tuned. Anyway, they have a cookbook and I went in search for it at a recycled bookstore. I am a big fan of books, especially when they are discounted. I didn’t find the Neely’s cookbook, but I found an entire section of cookbooks. I didn’t have much time so I made it a quick trip and picked up two baking books. I can’t wait to try them. I am also a big Southern Living fan, and they had every Southern Living Annual Recipe cookbook from about 1981 until 2006. I was so excited. I almost – almost asked to see the manager to see if I could negotiate a deal on the whole set. They had a few more awesome Southern Living cookbooks too – they took up an entire four tier bookshelf. Can you imagine all the fun I’d have with those cookbooks? I am trying to figure out where I’d keep them if I make an offer on them and the Manager accepts it.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I’ll be blogging again soon about my visit and recent connection to cooks in the 1950′s and my trip down home with the Neely’s recipes real soon!

Stockyard Cuisine and Miscellaneous Ramblings

On Saturday, Matt and I enjoyed a taste of Texas in the Fort Worth Stockyards. We celebrated our 8th anniversary and spent the day hanging out in Fort Worth and Southlake. It was great. I finally had the Love Burger – a creation of Chef Tim Love’s Love Shack Burgers. For $10.29 Matt and I had two drinks, a Love burger, and fries. His burgers are a 50/50 mix of of brisket and ground tenderloin. He also puts something on there called Love Sauce. It was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Definitely in the top 3. That sauce was so good. I loved the fries as well. It reminded me of the shoe string potatoes that come in the can – except these were thicker. I wanted to have a milkshake but it was cold outside and I opted to wait.

The restaurant is all outdoors – something I didn’t know when we went. However, you can order the food and eat it inside the saloon next door. Perfect . For the record, I was ready to sit in the freezing cold and eat the burger if I needed to do so. Here is the link to the menu. If you are in the Stockyards, I recommend it. You won’t regret your visit http://www.loveburgershack.com/

We also stopped by the Spice and Tea exchange in the Stockyards. It didn’t disappoint either. I secured several spice selections that I plan to begin using immediately. You can check out their website here. http://www.spiceandtea.com/page.html?chapter=1&id=8

Tuesday night, I needed to use some Central Market whole wheat tortillas and some avocados before they went bad so it was taco night. I tried to make Spanish rice but it didn’t turn out like it does in my favorite Tex-Mex restaurants. It tasted great though but just didn’t look right. Here is our version of Taco Night . And, again, my toddler wouldn’t eat it. My fresh herbs are still pretty fresh. I think they probably only have a few days left in them, but they’ve stayed fresh for a little over two weeks.

I haven’t decided yet what I’m making this week, but I will soon. If you want to email me any suggestions, please do so at kimsculinaryadventures@yahoo.com.

Ya’ll have a great long weekend!

Dinner is Better Shared with Friends

Tonight, I made the Salisbury Steak. It was sooo good. The gravy it makes was great on the mashed potatoes. However, I have been known to eat gravy (and queso) out of the bowl with a spoon so I may not be the best judge of its quality. . Our friend Scott joined us (minus Amanda who is travelling for work) and Aengus. If you follow our family blog, you have likely read about Maggie’s friend Aengus – here is the link to that blog www.babybucket.blogspot.com.

I, of course, forgot to thaw the ground chuck in advance so I had to do that in the microwave first. I also forgot to take a picture as well – I apologize for that and will make up for it later with pictures of dishes.

I’ll list the recipe for you below and then tell you how I modified it .

You’ll need 1 1/2 lbs ground chuck, 1 can Beefy Mushroom soup , 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/4 finely diced onion, 1/2 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs (recipe calls for store bought – but I made my own), one egg beaten, and 1/4 water. Mix the ground chuck with 1/2 of the soup, the pepper, the onion, the breadcrumbs and the egg. Divide meat mixture evenly into 6 portions. Form patties 1/2 inch thick. Place in non stick pan on stove top and cook over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until both sides are browned. Mix remaining soup with water and pour over steak. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. The recipe is from the Southern Living Homestyle Cooking cookbook on page 214. It was submitted by the Butler Ruritan Club (Stepping Back to Old Butler) in Butler, TN.

I modified it because I didn’t have 1 1/2 pounds exactly. So, I used 2 pounds of ground chuck. Because of that, I also used 3/4 of the soup. I opened up another can of soup and used the remaining 1/4 cup plus the additional can. I mixed that with water to help form the gravy. I also made my own breadcrumbs with some leftover French bread I had and I added a chopped clove of garlic and some Old World Central Street seasoning from the Spice House in Chicago. I kept everything else the same. It was awesome. I will say that when I flipped the patties to brown them, they did not hold together well. This could be because of the breadcrumbs or I used too much soup. I am not sure. They did hold together better the more they cooked but still not the way I would have liked for them to hold together. I’ll experiment more but the taste was just great. I served it with mashed potatoes and a garden salad. Everyone at the table except for Maggie and Aengus loved the meal. I’ll keep you posted on future batches.

Thanks again so much for reading! Submit any suggestions you have for anything and anything you’d like for me to make and review. Have a great weekend!

Dinner is served . . .

And, my toddler wouldn’t eat the Chicken Pot Pie. She is terribly picky these days about what she eats. She did eat the bananas and strawberries that I served with the pot pie though so I will consider that a victory.

I think the pot pie was quite tasty, and I’ll definitely make it again. Matt said he really liked it and wants me to make it more often. I will take that as a good review . Because I arrived home a bit later than usual today, I was a bit off my game in the kitchen. I had three great conversations today when picking up Maggie, on the way home, and then when I arrived home so I didn’t start prepping the pot pie until around 5:30. I usually try to have dinner on the table by 6 so I knew it’d be late. I popped it in the oven at 6:10 and placed it on the table at 6:45.

I had read several recipes and whenI got ansy and disorganized, I threw all those recipes out the window and went with a modification of each combined . Here is what I did followed by what I would do next time .

I seasoned four chicken breasts with thyme, rosemary, sage, a tad of Kosher salt, and a tad of cracked pepper. (I used my dried herbs for that – not the fresh ones). I pan fried those until they were cooked through and then diced them up into small chunks. While the chicken was cooking, I worked on the crust and filling. I actually really didn’t work on the crust, I just pre-thawed the Pillsbury store bought crust (the kind you unroll and put in your pie pan).  I diced up about 1/4 of a large onion, about 12 baby carrots, and a sprig of fresh rosemary, a fresh sage leaf, and a sprig or two of fresh parsley. While I was dicing, I thawed 1 bag of Steamfresh frozen green beans and 1 bag of Steamfresh green peas in the microwave (about 3 minutes and 2 1/2 minutes respectively). Then, I mixed two cans of Cream of Chicken soup with a little milk, a little chicken broth, and about 1 cup of shredded Colby Jack Cheese. I combined that with the veggie mixture, fresh spices, and diced chicken. I spread it on the crust in the pie pan, and then realized I had half the mixture left over – enough for another pot pie. I put the second Pillsbury crust on top, sealed the edges, and popped it in the oven at 425 for 30 minutes. I brushed the top of the pie with a little butter too.

Next time, I’ll use the same pie crust and prepare about half the ingredients so I have 1 pie . I will definitely either cook the chicken the night before or pick up a broasted chicken at the supermarket and dice that up to use. It will save time on the cooking. I’ll also thaw mixed veggies (like green beans, carrots, and corn) and use that with the onion. I’d like to add some potatoes too. I wanted to serve it with a green salad but didn’t get that done. Oh well. Next time.

All in all, it was a good effort and yummy. I’ll definitely do it again. I placed the leftover filling mixture in the fridge. I will either mix it in a casserole and freeze it or make another pie and freeze it. I also thawed pork loin chops, and need to cook those tonight as well. I’ll probably throw those in the crock pot for dinner tomorrow night and then make the Salisbury Steak on Friday . Poor planning on my part with thawing the pork, but the pot pie is a keeper . Thanks so much for reading and all your fantastic feedback.

Central Market

The Flowers

The Fresh Herbs

I headed out to Central Market today, and it was one of my best visits ever. My parents gave me a generous gift card to Central Market for Christmas so I was a little more adventurous there today than I normally would have been. I picked up some fresh chicken for the chicken pot pie and some fresh herbs. I enjoy using fresh herbs in recipes but I really don’t buy them often because I find that they go bad before I use all of them. So, today, I asked a gentleman stocking the produce about fresh herbs. His name was Mark and I asked how long the fresh herbs would keep in my fridge. He response overwhelmed me. I felt like he gave me a 10 minute lesson on produce, freshness, and storage. He was incredibly knowledgeable. Basically, he told me that most herbs should be stored in the fridge in water (upright so the stems are in the water). I should trim the stems a tad at the bottom each day – just as I would with flowers. Apparently, basil likes the warmth and won’t keep in the fridge, but should still be watered like flowers. I purchased fresh basil, sage, rosemary, cilantro, and parsley all for $3.58. As I was picking out fruit, Mark approached me and asked if I had containers to keep the herbs in the fridge. I told him that I would find something. He said “I’ll be right back.” About 5 minutes later, he brought me six plastic containers for the herbs. I couldn’t believe it. He told me how they used them and said I could just rinse and reuse. I told him I was going to write a letter to the GM about how great he was. This is how customer service should be everywhere!

I also asked Mark how I would know when the herbs went bad. He says “they’ll look droopy and flimsy – like your fresh flowers do when they start to perish”. I decided tonight that I will use many of those fresh herbs and make some herb bread in my bread machine in the next day or so. I don’t have a recipe but will look for one or one I can modify. I’ll keep you posted on that.

They had the most beautiful flowers today – as they often do. I could not resist and purchased a bouquet. The florist was incredible and I loved talking with her too. I don’t know why today was such a great trip – I always enjoy my trips to Central Market and try to go at least once a week. Today, though, was just fantastic!  Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

The Spice House!

Hi again everyone,

Today, I ordered some much needed spices from one of my favorite places – The Spice House – in Chicago. They also have stores in Geneva, IL and Milwaukee. I love their spices. I ordered some Chicago Steak Seasoning, Quebec Beef Spice, Chicago Old Town Spiced Sugar, and Pure Vanilla Extract. I hope it arrives soon. It probably won’t arrive in time for the dishes Wednesday but maybe Thursday. Here is the website if you want to check it out. http://www.thespicehouse.com/

Because I’ve been paying so much in shipping for the spices, I am going to explore a new spice and tea store I have located in the Fort Worth Stockyards. I am a huge fan of Fort Worth and it is only about a 25 minute trek for me. I hope to check it out in the next two weeks. I’ll let you know how it is. It combines two of my favorite things – loose leaf tea and spices – so it will be hard for it to disappoint me. Plus, when I go, I will time it so I can eat at Chef Tim Love’s “Love Shack” burgers. I hear they are incredible. I love the show Top Chef on Bravo and am a wannabe Top Chef . Chef Love also owns the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Fort Worth. I want to eat there too. He was on Top Chef Masters, and I loved what he would cook. In all honesty, I think I just loved his Texas attitude . Here is a link to Chef Love’s website. To see the two restaurants and their menus, click on the “restaurants” tab at the top middle of the page. http://www.cheftimlove.com/

Speaking of Top Chef Masters, another chef on the show (and finalist for the title) was Chef Michael Chiarello. He is an outstanding and famous Italian chef. He owns one or two restaurants in the Napa Valley and if you watch Top Chef, he recently appeared in this season’s finale episode. He was quite arrogant on Top Chef Masters, and I don’t like arrogant people. However, for some reason that I cannot put my finger on, I did like him. He bugged me a little with his arrogance, but I just liked him. I have no idea why. While flipping through the channels today, I stumbled on his show on the Food Network. I had no idea he had a show. It’s called Easy Entertaining. I was shocked that this was the title because I didn’t see him do anything that I thought was easy on Top Chef Masters. It did dawn on me today that maybe I like him because he loves to cook and entertain. He loves to feed his friends and family with good food. I absolutely love to throw parties and entertain. I love having people over and cooking for them because it is sort of my way of letting my friends and family know that I love them. Plus, I love a house that is full of warmth and friendship, and that is what I believe feeds the soul . So, maybe I have that in common with Chef Chiarello – I just can’t cook like him . Regardless, I liked the recipes he presented today. Here is the link to his show if you want to check it out. http://www.foodnetwork.com/easy-entertaining-with-michael-chiarello/index.html

At some point tomorrow, I will go to one of my all time favorite grocers – The Central Market. I love it!! I will pick some excellent ingredients for the two dishes (Chicken Pot Pie and Salisbury Steak) that I’ll be making this week. I have also been perusing the cookbooks and am making a list of all the things to try in the coming weeks. If you have been looking for a good recipe for something but haven’t found it or don’t have the time to look, let me know and I’ll look for it, find it, try it, and review it. Please also feel free to submit anything you just want me to try and review.

Thanks again for reading. I am so excited that you are sharing this adventure with me.

Happy cooking,

Kim

Serious Comfort Food for the Arctic Outbreak

It’s Sunday night, and on Sunday nights, I usually read the forecast for the coming week. North Texas is expecting what the good people at the National Weather Service have called an “Arctic Outbreak”. This means temperatures will be below freezing Wednesday night around midnight and stay that way through Saturday. Wow – that’s cold. It rarely gets that cold in Texas so we now have all sorts of weather warnings. I am posting the link to that below so our Midwestern and Canadian friends can get a kick out of the way we handle the cold . 

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd/

Whenever it’s cold, I enjoy cooking what I refer to as good old fashioned comfort food. Usually, I throw a pot roast in the crock pot and then make a stew the next day. But, the point of this blog was to try something new each time. I was torn between Chicken Pot Pie and Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy. I couldn’t decide so I asked my dear husband, Matt. He settled on Chicken Pot Pie. Then, we read the forecast. I’ll be making both dishes starting on Wednesday. I’ll make the pot pie first on Wednesday followed by the Salisbury steak on Thursday night. I can’t wait. I’ll post pictures and detail the process for you (and of course, include the recipe). Thanks again for reading! I will have pictures up soon.