I was watching Diners Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network TV. At one of Guy Fieri stops he tasted brisket from a restaurant and made good faces and yummy noises like he really liked it. They also had all the customer testimonies on how amazing that the brisket was there. I jotted down the way on how the restaurant owner said that she made it. It was so easy I couldn’t believe that you could make a really good brisket this way. No trimming. No separation of fatty and lean muscles of brisket. No smoking. VERY FEW INGREDIENTS. Basically just toss it in the oven with LOTS of onions, lots of garlic, a can of beer and salt and pepper…………Brisket was on sale recently so I wanted to try this out. Here is my version of what I thought I saw on Food Network. Serving size will differ. I don’t know if you want a small serving or a large serving. I also don’t know how much fat you want to eat. I don’t like fat so I might cut off more than you might. I got around 9 pounds of brisket from a 14 pound brisket and around 24 servings of onions with brisket liquid after I removed the fat.

Ingredients for around 36 servings

1 whole brisket (mine was around 14 pounds and it was too big to fit in a turkey roasting pan so I sliced off a few pounds of it and put that part of meat in another pan.

3 lbs onions – sliced thin

30 garlic cloves – sliced thin

1 – 12oz can of beer ( I used a lager beer)

a good sprinkling of my home make pecan sea salt (over and under the brisket) (after onions I topped it with a little more.)

a good sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper (over and under the brisket) (after onions I topped it with a little more.)

Above is most of the brisket before I finished covering it with onions. I didn’t even trim it.

Below is what I sliced off so I could fit most of the brisket in a turkey roasting pan (that was supported by a real sheet pan).. This one is free of onions so I can give some to my dogs.

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

My main pan of brisket goes in a pan with salt and pepper, onions, garlic and beer. Cover tight. (My small pan just gets a little bit of salt and pepper and a good splash of beer. (Both pans get covered tight)

I put the main pan on the middle rack and the small pan on the bottom rack.

5 1/2 hours latter I remove the small pan and after 6 hours I remove the large pan.

They came out completely different but both very good. I don’t like that succulent fat that many people love. So you leave it on if you like it or remove now like I did from both pans…It’s easy it just scraps off.

The small pan developed a delicious crust and is solid but moist.

The brisket in the main pan is fall apart tender.

Back Tracking………

I have to chill it overnight to slice it when it’s cold or it will fall apart and I have a delicious onion-ee liquid. While cold I remove the brisket fat that stays at the top. So that means results will differ depending on size and how you slice it. Without even thinking I sliced off the lean side but it still came out fine. If I did the same again I might have maybe just cut off the fatty end.

Someone here stayed by my feet the whole time.

The below plate is all cold.

I hate cutting brisket. I let my husband cut it up.

If you have dogs they will flock over to the brisket.

The restaurant owner I saw on Food Network serves her brisket with the onion sauce and chipotle mayonnaise. I added a few chipotle flakes to the onion-ee liquid.

A Special THANKS!!!! to Food Network and that Restaurant Owner that was on. (Sorry I didn’t catch who she was or I would insert her name and restaurant here) Thanks for sharing such a great and easy recipe!

I was inspired by reading about different meatloafs and came up with this. It’s not really a meatloaf inside of the cabbage but it was the inspiration for the flavorings. I boiled the cabbage leaves with apple cider vinegar, sea salt and smoked paprika to give them a nice flavor. Well these came out FORKING DELICIOUS!

Ingredients for around 8 servings

1 medium cabbage – core removed

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

1 lb 93% lean ground turkey

1 small onion – fine chopped

1 small carrot – either fine chopped or shredded

3 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin

1 teaspoon – dried thyme

2 eggs – slightly beaten

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard (I used Amora Brand)

1 Tablespoon ketchup

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire

1 Tablespoon (or to taste) bomba Calabrese or a dash of hot sauce or hot paste of your choice (I used Coluccio Bomba Calabrese)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

pinch ground allspice

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil – chopped

1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon seasoned vegetable base (I used Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Soup Base) ((This is more flavorful than salt and adds less sodium))

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

neutral non-stick spray

Directions

Your cabbage with the core removed goes in a pot of boiling water with the apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and smoked paprika added. After a minute or so the leaves sort of come off by themselves. You pull them off one at a time with tongs and place on a dish or tray. Set to the side.

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix the onion, carrot, garlic, scallions, thyme, eggs, dijon, ketchup, Worcestershire, bomba, nutmeg, cayenne, allspice, sun-dried tomatoes, panko, soup base, and black pepper. Mix well. Then mix in ground turkey till incorporated. Score the bowl of meat mixture into quarters. Each quarter can be two portions.

Grab a smaller cabbage leaf and stuff with 1/8 of meat mixture. (excuse my bad photo…It’s hard to photo when you are using your hands)

This goes on a larger cabbage leaf that you wrap around the ball.

Wrap this so it is neat and together looking and place on non-stick sprayed sheet pan. Repeat till out of meat. You might have a few extra cabbage leaves that you need to use with your side vegetable.

Pour a small amount of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes over the cabbage leaves and rub it all around the cabbage leaf.

These go on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven till done. 15-20 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!

ENJOY!!!!!

I had potatoes still hanging around and some lemons that were getting old so I made my version of Greek Potatoes……….but…..I had some white sweet potatoes that used up too so I cooked them the same together. Both potatoes came out good. But those white sweet potatoes tasted not just good……but really great so this recipe should be Marinated Roasted White Sweet Potatoes. Serving size is always difficult to determine. All potatoes are different sizes and all people are different sizes and like to eat different size portions. I used 5 smaller potatoes and they shrink from cooking so I’d say that mine made 5 smaller servings so that means 4 servings for most people.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

5 white sweet potatoes (yams have darker skin. White sweet potatoes have light tan skin) – remove skin and cut into wedges

6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

2 Tablespoons dijon mustard (I used Amora Brand)

2 lemons (just the fresh squeezed juice)

1 Tablespoon vegetable soup base paste (I used vegetable Better Than Bullion Brand because this is more flavorful than salt and less sodium)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Neutral non stick spray

optional- a little bit if fresh parsley for finishing

Directions

Either boil your potato wedges 5 minutes or put them into a microwaveable bowl or container. Fill halfway with water, cover, and microwave 6 minutes. Let sit on counter.

In a small bowl mix together the oil, garlic, lemon juice, soup base paste, oregano, mustard, and black pepper till it emulsifies.

Drain potatoes. Let cool till just warm. Add them to a gallon zip lock bag. Add the small bowl of marinade you just made and massage it around the potato wedges. Squeeze out all the air you can from the bag. Let this marinate over night in the refrigerator.

The next day.

Set oven to 400 degrees F

Spray a sheet pan with non stock spray. Set out the potato wedges with a little space around them. They go on the middle rack till done. Timing will differ….Wedges may differ in size and age of potato can be a factor. Mine took 50 minutes.

These potatoes are delicious as they are but are also delicious with whipped feta cheese. (Just crumble a good quality feta cheese and blend with Greek yogurt)

Add a little pinch of fresh parsley if desired.

Enjoy!

All I had to cook with was carrots and I happened to come across Mark Huxsoll’s recipe modestly called Butter Roasted Carrots from Cook’s Country Magazine. It’s very similar to a lot of other recipes I did with carrots so I thought it would be good. due to what I have around the house I did change a few things. For the recipe I didn’t have goat cheese or parsley so I used a good quality feta cheese and cilantro instead. I also didn’t have fresh thyme so I used dried. I do think that it makes more crunch topping than is needed so add it to your liking. You can always use the extra in a salad or on chicken. I also didn’t think that this needed added oil with all the butter that was used so I left that out. Feel free to dress with olive if you care to. They say that this recipe makes 6-8 servings. I’m not sure that you will get that many servings. My carrots shrunk a lot when they caramelized. To me it’s looking like 4 servings…We’ll see and maybe I’ll update.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1/4 cup skinned hazelnuts – crumble

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds – crumble

1 Tablespoon coriander seeds – crumble

1 teaspoon dried thyme – crumble

1 lemon – just the grated zest – crumble

1/4 teaspoon sea salt – crumble

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted – split into 4 Tablespoons + 1 Tablespoon

3 lbs carrots – peeled – cut in half long ways and cut in half short ways

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper

4 oz Good Quality Feta Cheese – crumbled

3 Tablespoons pepperoncini – stemmed and sliced into thin rings

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, parsley, or scallions or a combination of all

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Get a sheet pan with a rim and spread out the hazelnuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds in an even layer. This goes on lowest rack in the oven for 7-9 minutes or until hazelnuts have browned some and everything is fragrant. This needs to cool off before you can process it. Set it to the side.

Turn up the oven to 450 degrees F.

4 Tablespoons of melted butter go on a rimmed baking sheet. The carrots go in a big bowl and get tossed with the one remaining melted tablespoon of butter, salt, peppers, Roast this on the lowest rack until the carrots are fork tender and nicely caramelized (40-50 minutes).

Transfer carrots to a serving dish. Sprinkle with crumble (to your liking), cheese, pepperonchini, thyme, lemon zest, and cilantro. Serve warm or at room temperature.

A Special THANKS!!!! To Mark Huxsoll and Cook’s Country Magazine so I could come up with what I got here.

I made an EZ Roast chicken that was delicious but the skin didn’t crisp up like I thought it would so I remedied. I pulled the skin off didn’t add a thing and in around 30 minutes shattering crisp skin. By The Way…The stuffing was EXTRA EASY and also came out extra delicious. I just used 1 cup of leftover take out rice that I saved, added some store bought kimchi and a few minor things, stuffed it into the bird and it came out FORKING Delicious too. Serving size is always difficult to judge. Chickens run different in size and people run different with their portion sizes. I got 6 – 4oz dinner portions and two – 3 oz lunch portions of chicken. I only got 4 small servings of the delicious stuffing……….You can double the stuffing recipe but you won’t be able to fit the stuffing all inside the bird so it won’t taste as amazing…..Do what you need to do.

Ingredients for at least 4 portions

1 whole chicken (remove packet of insides….I cooked some of it and sprinkled with olive oil on tray for around 25 minutes 350F and gave as treats to my dogs….gizzards you have to slice)

2 oz gochujang -(or to taste…they all are different. I recommend to buy one from an Asian Market because it will taste better. I used one small tube that I buy from Asiana Market. ( like buying the tubes because when I used to use the tubs they’d dry out before I could finish them.

6 cloves garlic – ground to paste

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 cup cooked rice – stuffing

1 cup kimchi (you might need to lightly chop) – stuffing

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin – stuffing

2 teaspoons ginger – grated – stuffing

1 teaspoon soy sauce – stuffing

1 teaspoon rice vinegar – stuffing

2 tablespoons cilantro – chopped – stuffing

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl mix together the gochujang, garlic and canola oil. This gets rubbed all over the chicken, under the skin, and into the cavity.

Then you mix up the stuffing mixture. In a medium bowl mix together the rice, kimchi, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, cilantro.

Stuff the rice into the cavity.

Roast for 30 minutes uncovered. Then cover with foil and cook another hour. You can shut the oven off for an hour or so and then heat the oven up again to 350 F to crisp the skin.

This needs to rest and cool down for an hour or more. When cool enough to handle just pull off the skin and place in a single layer on a sheet tray. The chicken skin goes on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. After 12- minutes turn the skin over and cook another 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

The whole house smells really great. If you have dogs they will stay in the kitchen for food.

To serve – pull the chicken, remove stuffing, serve gochujang chicken stock on side, and crispy skin on side.

ENJOY!!!!

I had sweet potatoes, cabbage, chestnuts, one homemade turkey chorizo link and chimayo chili powder that needed to be used so this is what it became. It did come out delicious……I’m so glad I thought of using the chimayo chili powder…..It has a unique delicious taste. It’s almost raisin-ee and also almost chocolate-ee.It is also smoky, and has a mild delicious heat. Chimayo chili powder is hard to find. You have to look it up on-line and find it. Serving size is always difficult to judge. I’d say that this makes either 4 small side orders or two meals…..so I’ll round it to three servings.

Ingredients for around three servings

1 lb sweet potatoes – peeled, diced (around 3/4 inch I used two different types of sweet potatoes but it doesn’t matter)

1/2 medium cabbage – core removed, diced (around 1 inch)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

2 1/2 oz chorizo

3.5 oz packaged cooked peeled chestnuts – slightly chopped

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 Tablespoon chimayo chili powder

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Sweet potato cubes and cabbage cubes go on sheet pans. Spray or sprinkle generously with olive oil. Then salt and pepper them to taste.

This goes on the middle rack of your pre-heated 400F oven until the cabbage is crispy and the sweet potatoes start to brown. In my oven this took around 25 minutes but all ovens differ.

While the vegetables are roasting heat up your chorizo in a fry pan on medium-high heat. If yours has casing squeeze it out of the casing and cook it up. Then toss in the chestnuts. Take off heat and set to the side.

In a small mixing bowl combine the lemon juice, honey, and chimayo chili powder.

In a large bowl toss the cooked sweet potatoes, cabbage, with the chorizo, chestnuts, and small bowl of lemon hot honey with chimayo chili.

Serve and ENJOY!!!!!

This recipe method was adapted from Food Network Magazine. I cut out the coffee, cut back a little on the sugar, and added more chocolate, rounded some things. This was my latest spin on this recipe. This is a recipe that is not to skip. It’s one of the biggest crowd pleasers ever.

In case you didn’t know….Pots de Creme is the ultimate chocolate pudding. If you like chocolate pudding then you will LOVE chocolate pots de creme. I tried this dessert for the first time at a small French Bistro Restaurant that used to be in business called Amuse Bouche. As soon as I tasted it I had to learn how to make this dessert. Most methods require a hot water bath in your oven that can be dangerous. The Food Network method is brilliant. On the stovetop you thicken your milk, cream and yolk mixture and then add your chocolate and blend till smooth. This is best done with a stick blender. You pour into cups. Chill over night and you have incredibly rich, smooth, chocolaty, FORKING AMAZING pots de creme. You can top with a little whipped cream if you desire. I do very small servings for this because it is very rich and satisfying……but you might want larger servings. For me this made 20 small servings. For you this might make 10 servings if you do them in coffee cups like they are normally done…..so I will round the servings to 15. This freezes perfect. When you thaw from frozen it still seems fresh made.

Ingredients for around 15 servings

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

12 oz 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips

4 oz milk chocolate chips

3 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

12 egg yolks – beaten

10 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

In a sauce pot on medium-ish heat (just slightly more than medium) add the milk, cream, beaten yolks, sugar, and sea salt. Whisk or blend. Occasionally whisk until thickened and then take off the heat and add the chocolate. Blend till smooth and pour in cups. When they cool down to room temperature refrigerate over night.

You might want to serve with a dab of whipped cream. (1/2 cup heavy cream blended with 1 Tablespoon 10x sugar is very good for whipped cream but I find that for a crowd people enjoy playing with the canned stuff more)

It’s so rich and so smooth and so CHOCOLATEY!

A Special THANKS!! to Food Network Magazine so I could come up with what I got here.

ENJOY!!!!!

Our local supermarket often has specials on ground turkey. I also happen to have lots of turkey stock in my freezer. I was reading a Vietnamese watercress soup recipe………Then I got the idea to do something Vietnamese Inspired…… So then I read a few Vietnamese meatball recipes. This came out to be a mishmash of my thoughts and what I read. it’s different from the way I’d normally make a meatball. I do note that the meatball raw meat mixture comes out very loose and is impossible to roll into balls. I used my small scooper and didn’t even worry about rolling them. This recipe makes 4 servings.

Ingredient for around 4 servings

1 lb 93% lean ground turkey – meatballs

1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin – meatballs

1 egg beaten – meatballs

1 Tablespoon fish sauce (preferably Red Boat Brand) – meatballs

2 teaspoons ginger – grated – meatballs

1 Tablespoon sugar – meatballs

1 garlic – ground to paste – meatballs

1 Tablespoon lemongrass powder (fresh is better but it’s always rotten at the stores near me. Powdered lemongrass is easy to buy on-line) – meatballs

3/4 teaspoon sea salt – meatballs

1 teaspoon ground white pepper – meatballs

neutral non-stick spray

2 Tablespoons canola oil – soup

1 onion – chopped – soup

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste – soup

6 1/2 cups stock (I used home made turkey but you can use what you want or have) – soup

1/2 small cabbage – chopped – soup

1 Tablespoon sugar – soup

1 Tablespoon rice vinegar – soup

1 teaspoon lemongrass powder – soup

2 teaspoon ginger – grated – soup

1 teaspoon fish sauce – soup

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (or to taste) – soup

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste) – soup

Lime wedges for serving (1/2-one lime)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

Set oven to 350 F degrees.

Spray a sheet pan with non stick spray and set to the side.

Put a sauce pot on medium high heat and add the canola oil. When the oil is hot add the onions and cabbage. Lightly cover with foil. Stir occasionally. Cook till vegetables are moist. Add the garlic. Cook till you smell it (around a minute). Then you can add the stock, sugar, vinegar, lemongrass, ginger, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer.

Make the meatballs. In a large mixing bowl combine the ground turkey, scallions, egg, fish sauce, ginger, sugar, garlic, lemongrass, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Scoop out 16 balls. This goes on your middle rack of a 360 F preheated oven for 15 minutes or until done.

Serve 4 meatballs per person with soup. Add a lime wedge or two. Top with some fresh cilantro.

ENJOY!!!