Brisket, April 25, 2016

Since the kids are moving away at the end of the week, I expect most of our dinners will be with them---and y'all should have seen Pie devour the fruit kugel I made last night! We weren't sure the kids, who both tend to like very basic food, would like last night's dinner, which was brisket, fruit kugel, tzimmes, and a romaine salad. Jeannene was very careful, when asked what those dark things in with the carrots were, to avoid the word "prune," but she wasn't being quite accurate when she told Bubbles they were a kind of date. I supplied, "Plums! They're a kind of plum!" I didn't notice whether or not she ate them. She said her favorite thing was the meat, but Pie said he really liked "the sweet noodles," and proceeded to go back for two more giant helpings. It wasn't the best kugel I've ever had, but I liked it pretty well, myself. I am not a big fan of sweet cooked carrots, but this version was better than any other I've had. They were a bit too tart for Jeannene and Pie, who are the big sweet carrot people of the family. I like my regular brisket recipe better, but this was also quite good and had the added bonus of not requiring my presence in the house during the long cook time.

Slow Cooker Brisket

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, smashed

3-4 lb. brisket, excess fat trimmed

Salt & pepper

32 oz. beef broth

Place onions and garlic in slow cooker. Season brisket with salt and pepper. Place atop onions, fat-side up. Add broth. Cover and cook on high 6-7 hours, until tender. Serves 4-6.

Fruit Kugel

8 oz. egg noodles, cooked and drained

2 tbsp. butter, melted (this can be omitted)

2 eggs, beaten

A small handful of raisins (I like golden raisins for this dish)

7 oz. cinnamon applesauce (cinnamon optional, but delicious)

7 oz. crushed pineapple

1 jar apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss noodles with butter. Mix eggs with fruit. Stir gently into noodles. Turn noodles into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Spread the preserves over the top (it helps to microwave them for about 30 seconds before spreading). Bake about 45 minutes. Serves 4-6

Carrot Tzimmes

1 1/2 c. tangerine juice (or use o.j., if you like---I had tangerine on hand)

1 lb. sliced carrots

1/2 c. prunes

3 tbsp. honey

Heat juice on medium heat and add carrots. Cover and cook 1/2 hour. Add prunes and cook, covered,  another half hour. Stir in honey just before serving. Serves 4-6. 

Chicken & Noodles, January 12, 2016

After having wonderful aromas permeating the house all day Monday, I got to have a repeat of the experience yesterday. I had signed up to take some food to friends who were recovering from surgery, in one case, and spending time with a new baby, in the other. So, I just made enough for us to have some of what I was delivering. It was a perfect night for chicken & noodles, all snowy and blowy and generally requiring comfort food. With our chicken and noodles, we had a green salad and peach slices.

Chicken & Noodles

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed

Salt & pepper

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 lb egg noodles, cooked al dente

Put chicken in greased crockpot. Salt & pepper it. Top with soup, cover, & cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours. Stir to break up any chicken pieces that have stuck together. Gently stir in noodles. If noodles are not freshly cooked & hot when added, cook another 1/2 hour on low to heat through. Serves 6. 

Asian Chicken & Noodles

On a cold night in December, there's nothing like comfort food and chicken & noodles has long been a favorite of many people. This version we enjoyed the other night throws an Asian twist on the old classic. I served it with steamed pork & vegetable dumplings from the freezer section and a green salad with dried cranberries and almond slivers, dressed with an apple cider vinaigrette. I made a dipping sauce of sorts for the dumplings by adding sliced scallions to tamari. 

Asian Chicken & Noodles

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

A bit of minced ginger

A pinch of salt

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 Knorr chicken cubes

A healthy shake of tamari

1 package bean thread noodles (although, I suspect rice sticks might hold up better than the dainty bean threads next time)

2 scallions, sliced

Bring chicken to boil in a saucepan of water, along with ginger and salt. Cook until very tender, removing any froth that rises to the surface of the water. Remove chicken from pan and allow to cool. Add onion, tamari, & bouillon to water in pan and bring to a boil. If you like mushrooms, some shiitakes might be a nice addition. Add the noodles and cook about 5 minutes over medium heat. Shred chicken and add to noodles, heating through. Serve with scallions. Serves 6-8. Leftovers make a good brunch sautéed with some beaten eggs and additional scallions.