Slow Cooker Corned Beef

Yes, we had this for St. Patrick's Day last Sunday, but honestly who doesn't love good corned beef anytime. Other than being delicious, this is like most slow cooker recipes, super simple. Put your corned beef in the slow cooker with the pickling spices in the package. Add one beer and top with some peeled potatoes. If you want cabbage to got with your corned beef and potatoes remove the them  after 8 - 10 hours on low, leaving all the liquid in the slow cooker. Add your cabbage, over with water and cook on high for another hour. Yum!

Ingredients
1 package uncooked corned beef brisket
1 beer
4 -5 five medium potatoes, peeled and halved
1 head cabbage, quartered

Directions
Rinse liquid off corned beef after removing it from packaging. Place in slow cooker. Add pickling spices from package. Pour in beer. Top with potatoes. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours or on high for 4 - 5 hours. Then remove meat and potatoes from slow cooker to an oven proof dish. Put in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Add cabbage to liquid remaining in slow cooker. Add enough liquid to cover cabbage. Cook on high for another hour. Remove and serve with corned beef and potatoes.

Potato Turbate - AKA Pinellas County Schools' Shepherd's Pie

I rocked Pup Daddy's world this week. Yep, I made Potato Turbate. Many of you will ask, "What the heck is Potato Turbate?" But those of you who attended Pinellas County Schools know. For some reason the school cafeterias decided to call their Shepherd's Pie recipe Potato Turbate. Everyone I know has fond memories of it. In fact, when I worked for PCS I would be sure to put in my order early in the morning on Potato Turbate day to make sure I got mine. Pup Daddy has such fond memories of lunch in the school cafeteria, he has had a long time dream of opening a restaurant called, "School Food." Customers would line up, pick up their small carton of milk and be served the meal of the day by women in hairnets. Be careful, if you're too slow or talking too much you will get yelled at. Of course, the best meal on School Food's menu...Potato Turbate.

I found this recipe online in an article from the St. Petersburg Times. I tweaked it a bit, and it honestly tasted just like I remember. You should try it for some easy, yummy comfort food!

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp pepper
1 ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2  Tbsp. flour
1  Tbsp water
1/2 cup beef stock
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups mashed potatoes
 1 tsp paprika

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown beef and onions lightly in a saute pan. Drain off and discard fat. Add salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce garlic powder and onion powder to pan. Cook five minutes. Mix flour and water and stir into meat. Add beef stock or beef extract combined with water.

Put ground beef mixture in the bottom of a 9x11 pan. Top with cheese and then potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for ½ hour until lightly browned.

Perfect Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

I'm not kidding, I think this is the best roast chicken I've ever made. The skin is crispy. The meat is tender and moist. The potatoes soak up all the flavors from the roasting chicken. Delicious! Not to mention lots of left over chicken for other meals.

If you have the time, let the chicken sit in the fridge with a good coating of salt inside and out for an hour, or up to one day. It's a bit like brining. The salt has time to penetrate the chicken for extra flavor. The other trick is to cook the chicken over the potatoes and some onions. The drippings from the chicken will totally flavor the veggies on the bottom. If you like carrots, you could add those, too.

You should try this very soon!

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
5 Yukon Gold potatoes
1 small onion
1 TB fresh rosemary, chopped
1 TB fresh thyme, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated
2 TB butter, melted
salt/pepper

Directions
Remove packet of giblets from inside chicken. Pat dry. If you have time sprinkle the chicken inside and out with salt, and let it sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour to one day. Before roasting, bring chicken to room temperature.Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice potatoes and onions. Place in the bottom of a roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper. Top the potatoes and onions with a baking rack. Put salt and pepper all over and inside the chicken, and put it on the baking rack. Mix herbs and garlic in the melted butter. Brush half of the butter mixture on the chicken. Place it in the oven for 1 hour, until the juices from the thigh of the chicken run clear. Half way through baking time brush chicken with the remaining melted butter mixture.

Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes

 

The Whippets love comfort! Pillows, blankets, beds, couches, you name it, they'll snuggle and sleep on it. In fact here's where they found comfort while I cleaned the house and did laundry today.

 

 In fact, I'm sure they were quite comfortable while I made this comfort dish for dinner last night.




While this dish does take a while to bake, about an hour, it is fairly simple to put together and turns out so creamy and yummy. You need to slice the potatoes thinly, so I used a mandolin. You could also use a food processor with a slicing blade, or just cut them with a knife.

 After you slice the potatoes, put them along with everything else except the Parmesan cheese in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Then put 1/2 the potatoes in a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with half the Parmesan. Top with the rest of the potatoes, the cream mixture and the rest of the Parmesan. Bake covered at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes. Let the potatoes sit for 10 - 15 minutes before serving.

This makes a lot of scalloped potatoes. You can halve the recipe, which I did the first time I made it, but it does freeze very well, so I made the full recipe this time.

You should try this soon!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into thin rounds

1 1/4 cups whipping cream

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup green onion , chopped

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped 

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. Place potatoes, cream, milk, wine, onions, thyme, salt, pepper and remaining 2 tablespoons butter in large pot. Cover and bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat.

Transfer 1/2 of potato mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the Parmesan. Top with the rest of the potato mixture and the rest of the cheese. Cover dish with foil. Bake 40 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until potatoes are tender, sauce bubbles thickly and top is brown, about 15 minutes. Let potatoes stand 10 minutes before serving.