Irish Week (still?!?): Corned Beef Hash and a Reuben Sandwich

These pictures suck. I was much more concerned with eating than taking pics of the food this weekend. I apologize.

Making 4 pounds of corned beef for yourself means that you will have quite a bit of leftover corned beef. Hence, Irish week continues. 

Thank goodness there are a million ways to use leftover corned beef. And on Saturday, there sounded nothing better to a maybe slightly hungover me than consuming corned beef hash while watching NCAA basketball. So that's what I did.

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 baking potatoes (about 1 lb), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 onion, chopped

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 Tbsp prepared horseradish

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

8 oz shredded corned beef

1/4 cup heavy cream

1. Heat oil in a 10- or 12-inch cast iron (or other non-stick) skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes; cook, turning often, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Add onion; season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring often, until potatoes and onions are browned, 5 minutes.

3. Add bell pepper, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until peppers are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in corned beef and cream until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Who needs to go out to brunch when something so spectacularly tasty can be made at  home???

Still left with quite a bit of corned beef, I made a Reuben on Sunday (while watching NCAA basketball, of course).


2 slices rye bread
1/4 lb corned beef, sliced thinly
3 slices Swiss cheese
Sauerkraut
Russian dressing
Butter


For Russian dressing:
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp ketchup
2 tsp dill pickle relish (I minced half a dill pickle instead of using relish because I don't have or like pickle relish.)
Salt and pepper


1. Combine ingredients for Russian dressing in a bowl.


2. Place corned beef, cheese and sauerkraut on 1 slice rye bread. Spread the Russian dressing on top and place the second slice of bread on top of that. 


3. Butter the outside of the top piece of bread, place in a pan (or a panini maker) to grill butter side down. Butter the top side, flip, and grill. 

Another wonderful corned beef meal. I am sad to say goodbye to Irish week, but it has to happen. Until next year...

Bon appetit.

Irish Week: Shepherd's Pie

Doing all this cooking this week for St. Patrick's has left me with quite a bit of leftovers in my fridge, but being the good single girl that I am, I planned ahead for that. What do you do with leftover stew and colcannon? Make shepherd's pie, of course!

Leftover Guinness Beef Stew

Leftover colcannon

Splash of milk

1 1/2 cups shredded Irish cheddar

1. Preheat the oven to 450F.

2. Warm up the colcannon in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir it and add some milk to make it less dry. Then stir in 1 cup of the cheddar.

3. Pour the stew into an appropriately sized baking dish. My 9x9 dish was perfect, and it using it saved me from doing dishes because I removed the colcannon from it and poured the stew right in.

4. Spoon the colcannon over the top of the stew, spreading to the edges. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar over the top.

5. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until the top is browned and the stew filling is bubbling. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Those Irish sure do know of a delicious way to re-purpose leftovers!

Bon appetit!

Irish Week: Colcannon and Guinness Ice Cream Floats

I have never made colcannon, but I knew that I needed a dish with potatoes and cabbage for Irish week, because what is more Irish than those two vegetables (or a tuber and a vegetable, whatever)? I like mashed potatoes, but I have never been blown away by them. Who knew that you could add cabbage and leeks to mashed potatoes and your world would change? I am telling you, I am never going to make mashed potatoes again. It is colcannon from here on out, because it is SO delicious. 


1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
1 savoy cabbage, trimmed, pale-green leaves finely shredded (4 cups)
1 leek, pale-green and white parts only, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse salt


1. Preheat broiler. Peel and quarter potatoes, and place in a medium saucepan; add enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to saucepan. Mash with a potato masher or pass through a ricer; cover pan to keep warm.


2. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, combine cabbage, leek, milk, 2 tablespoons butter, and nutmeg; season with salt. Cover, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cabbage and leek is soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Stir into potatoes.


3. Spread mixture in an 8-inch square baking dish. Make a small well in the center, and place under the broiler until lightly browned on top, about 5 minutes.


4. Remove from broiler. Place remaining 2 tablespoons butter in well. Serve immediately, spooning melted butter from well onto each serving, if desired.


By the way, you may notice in the third picture above that the leeks and cabbage are cooking in a large saute pan. That gorgeous All-Clad pan was a gift from my parents for my birthday. Despite today being its first appearance on this blog, it has been used well. I love it.

I don't make dessert very often (refer here for more info on that), but I happened to have vanilla ice cream in my freezer and left over Guinness. So Guinness floats! I will not post a recipe because if you can't figure out how to make a Guinness float, please don't ever touch anything in a kitchen. Or at least in my kitchen.

Bon appetit.

Short Ribs Braised in Porter with Molasses-Rosemary Glaze

I copied this recipe out of Oregon FOODday a very long time ago but never made it for various reasons, one of which being regular country-style short ribs were never a cut we requested from the butcher for the beef we buy every year. We always get Argentine-style short ribs. This year we went for the country-style, and the change is a welcome one.


The recipe actually calls for a maple-rosemary glaze. There are very few food items I detest as much as maple (milk and eggs are two, but I don't mind cooking with those - I can't even stand the smell of maple syrup), so I made the substitution of molasses. Yum. Since molasses is a bit thicker than maple syrup, I thinned it with just a touch of porter. Yum again.


This recipe takes a LONG time. I read the cooking time of 2.5 hours, and thought, perfect, this will be done at right about 8. Like a total novice, I didn't think about the time needed for prep. Obviously I haven't been cooking regularly enough. I ended up eating at more like 9.30. 


3 1/2 to 4 lbs meaty, bone-in short ribs
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups porter ale, more if needed
3/4 cup beef, veal, or chicken stock
3 3 to 4 inch sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
3 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish


1. Optional: one or two days before braising, arrange the short ribs in a loose layer on a tray. Sprinkle them all over with 1 1/2 to 2 tsp salt (there is no need to rub the salt into the meat) and cover loosely with wax paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.


2. Preheat the oven to 300F. Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel, but don't try to rub off the salt. Season with pepper. If you didn't salt the ribs in advance, season them now with salt and pepper.


3. Pour the oil into a Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add only as many ribs as fit without touching and brown them, turning with tongs, until brown on all sides, about 4 min. per side. Transfer seared ribs to platter without stacking and continue until all ribs are browned.


4. Pour off and discard all but about a Tbsp of fat from the pot. Return the pot to medium high heat and add the onions and carrot. Season with salt and pepper and saute, stirring a few times, until the vegetables start to brown and soften, about 5 min. 


5. Add the porter and bring to a full boil. Boil for 2 min, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to dislodge and dissolve bits. Pour in the stock, bring again to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Return ribs to the pot along with any juices releases as they sat. Tuck one rosemary sprig and the bay leaves in between the ribs. The ribs should be partially submerged in the liquid. If necessary, add a bit more porter or water.


6. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, pressing down so it nearly touches the ribs and hangs over the edges of the pot by about an inch. Set the lid securely in place. Slide the pot into the oven and braise at a gentle simmer, turning the ribs with tongs so as not to tear up the meat, every 40 to 45 minutes, until fork tender, about 2.5 hours. Check after the first 10 minutes to see that the liquid isn't simmering too aggressively; if it is, lower the oven temp 10 or 15 degrees.


7. While the ribs are braising, combine the molasses with the remaining rosemary sprigs in a small saucepan. Heat to a gentle boil over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 1 hour (can be made ahead of time).


8. When the ribs are tender and the meat is pulling away from the bones, use tongs or a slotted spoon to carefully transfer them to a flameproof gratin dish that is large enough to accommodate them in a single layer. Try to keep the ribs on the bones and intact, but don't worry if some bones slip out. Scoop out the vegetables with a slotted spoon and arrange them around the ribs. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.


9. Tilt the braising pot to collect the juices in one end and skim off as much surface fat as you can with a large spoon. If the braising liquid exceeds 1 cup, bring it to a vigorous simmer over medium-high heat and cook it down to close to 1 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. It should have a syrupy consistency. Taste and season with salt and pepper.


10. Heat the broiler on high. If the glaze has been refrigerated, warm slightly so it is pourable. Remove the rosemary sprigs, running your fingers down the length of the springs so you save every drop of glaze. Put the horseradish in a small strainer, or the palm of your hand, and press or squeeze over the sink to eliminate as much liquid as possible, then stir the horseradish into the glaze. Brush the glaze on the tops of the short ribs. Pour the reduced braising liquid around the ribs. Slide the ribs under the broiler and broil until the surface of the ribs develops a shiny, almost carmelized glaze and you can hear them sizzle, about 4 minutes.


11. Transfer the ribs to serving plates. Spoon the braising liquid around, not over, the ribs and serve immediately.


I served the ribs with rosemary fingerling potatoes. I am not going to write out that recipe because the recipe above is super long and I am done writing out recipes. Also, I don't have a recipe for the potatoes so I'd have to make it up = a lot of effort. Some other time, readers.


Bon appetit.

Steak Frites (and a Missoni manicure)

America's Test Kitchen is a pretty amazing company, and their tweets lately regarding job openings are making me want to move to Massachusetts and test-cook for a living.  For now, I will just real-cook at home in Portland using their pre-tested recipes.

Steak frites is another recipe, like the Ultimate Chili, I spotted in a Cooks Illustrated magazine and have wanted to cook for a long time, but I have been afraid of frying.  After my total success with fried pickles and milanesas, I decided to give frying potatoes a try.

I actually combined two recipes for this recipe, Cook's Country Char-Grilled Steaks and America's Test Kitchen Steak Frites.  I didn't grill the steak, I pan fried it, but I liked the recipe's claim that my steak would have restaurant quality crust.  It did!

Steak frites should really be made with rib-eyes, but I only had T-bones left, so I made a T-bone.  The French would put their noses up to this, but I think the T-bone worked JUST FINE with the meal.

Also, I gave myself a Missoni inspired manicure over the weekend. Adiel over at It's because I think too much recently did a Kate Spade inspired manicure.  As I was browsing through In Style's September issue, I saw the Kate Spade ad that inspired Adiel, and just a few pages later was the Missoni for Target ad.  I thought, brilliant!  A Missoni manicure!  So I texted Santina to tell her about my soon to be Missoni-ed finger nails, and she replies, Ya, Adiel's are rad.  Adiel's?  That bitch stole my idea by thinking of it AND executing it before I could!  You can see my manicure below in the potato cutting picture.

Since this is a cooking blog, I will get back to talking about food now.

Steaks:

1 Rib-eye steak

1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

Frites:

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 4 large), scrubbed, sides squared off and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch fries
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 quarts peanut oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Herb Butter: 
(This is for 4 steaks, so change the quantity depending on how many steaks you are making)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1 clove garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Combine salt and cornstarch. Pat steaks dry with paper towels and rub with salt mixture. Arrange on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet and freeze until steaks are firm and dry to touch, at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.


2. Square the sides off the potatoes and cut lengthwise into quarter-inch by quarter-inch fries, like this:

This picture is included purely to show you my Missoni inspired manicure. The ring I am wearing is from BCBG. I don't really wear rings when I cook, but the spice shelf above my sink and cutting island holds many rings that I have taken off so that I won't get them wet and dirty while I cook. Just before I took the picture, I chose this snake ring off the shelf to make it look like I am well accessorized while I cook.

The above is the "squared off" potato.  Squaring it off makes it easy to cut the potato into quarter-inch by quarter-inch fries.

3.  Rinse cut potatoes in large bowl under cold running water until water turns clear. Cover with cold water and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.

4. Pour off water, spread potatoes onto kitchen towels, and thoroughly dry. Transfer potatoes to large bowl and toss with cornstarch until evenly coated. Transfer potatoes to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and let rest until fine white coating forms, about 20 minutes.


5. Meanwhile, in large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven fitted with clip-on-the-pot candy thermometer, heat peanut oil over medium heat to 325 degrees.


6. Add half of potatoes, a handful at a time, to hot oil and increase heat to high. Fry, stirring with mesh spider or large-hole slotted spoon, until potatoes start to turn from white to blond, 4 to 5 minutes. (Oil temperature will drop about 75 degrees during this frying.) Transfer fries to thick paper bag or paper towels. Return oil to 325 degrees and repeat with remaining potatoes. Reduce heat to medium and let fries cool while cooking steaks, at least 10 minutes.

7. Make herb butter by combining all ingredients in a bowl.


8. Heat a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Lay steaks in pan, leaving at least 1/4 inch between them. Cover skillet with lid, if you have one, otherwise cover with foil.  Cook, not moving steaks, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks and continue to cook until instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 120 degrees for rare to medium-rare, 3 to 7 minutes. Transfer steaks to large plate, top with butter, and tent loosely with foil; let rest while finishing fries.


9. Increase heat under Dutch oven to high and heat oil to 375 degrees. Add half of fries, a handful at a time, and fry until golden brown and puffed, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to thick paper bag or paper towels. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat with remaining fries. Season fries with salt and serve immediately with steaks.

As you can see in the picture at the top of the post, my fries were not beautifully puffed and golden brown like they are supposed to be.  They were pretty tasty though.  And the steak was perfection.

Bon appetit.

Rösti Potatoes

I haven't posted in a week, and I could give many excuses, but the real reason is that I haven't been cooking to the standards that I normally cook (think veggies with bottled indian curry).  I am embarrassed for the world to see some of the dinners I throw together for myself.  But, I started a new job yesterday (yay!), so what better time to have a new outlook on blogging.  I am going to attempt to post about every dinner I eat, even if it's chinese takeout.  


To start, my dinner last night.  The first day of a new job is bound to be exhausting even if you end up sitting at your desk for most of the day filling out paperwork and getting settled.  I think the first-day exhaustion is due to the weeks, or even months, of anticipation and anxiety about the huge change of a new job.  So, as expected, I was very tired when I walked in my door last night.  I was starving, and I immediately went to the kitchen to see what I could cook up.  Of course, there is a freezer full of beef, but I couldn't stand to wait for anything to defrost.  I have one of those hanging produce baskets, and in the basket was one lonely potato.  This potato was supposed to go in a beef and barley soup I made a couple weeks ago (and never posted, ahem), but I decided to omit it from the soup.  A rösti immediately popped into my head.  Quick, easy, and satisfying, it was a perfect dinner.


Not only was it the perfect dinner, but I also considered the post I could write praising cast iron cookware.  But now I have spent two paragraphs talking about new jobs and turning over a new (blogging) leaf, so I will rant the benefits of cast iron another time.


1.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add 2 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled, and cook for 10 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.


2.  Peel the potatoes and coarsely grate them (a food processor fitted with a medium-sized grater does the quickest work).


3.  Heat 2 Tbsp vegetable oil and 2 Tbsp butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add the grated potatoes and brown until a crisp, golden crust forms, about 10 minutes, gently pressing down on the potatoes with a spatula occasionally.  Season with salt and pepper.


4.  Invert the potatoes by placing a plate face down on top of the skillet.  Using oven mitts, grasp the skillet and plate firmly with 2 hands and carefully turn the potatoes onto the plate.  Add another 2 Tbsp vegetable oil and 2 Tbsp butter to the skillet, let the butter melt, and then return the rösti to the skillet with the crisp side up; cook for 10 minutes longer.  Transfer to a serving platter and season again with salt and pepper.  Scatter 1/2 cup Gruyere cheese over the top and serve hot.


The recipe is from The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook, from which I also made a Slow Roasted Beef Brisket (see here).


And no, I did not eat 2 pounds of potatoes for dinner last night.  I made a small version of this recipe with the one yukon gold potato I already had.  Also, I did not have Gruyere cheese, so I topped the rösti with pepper jack and a squirt of Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce.  Not quite so classy, but man was it delicious.


Bon appetit.