Friday, June 22, 2012

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
I know this is a St. Patty favorite, but I didn't get to make it this year and I couldn't wait until next year! Ingredients Needed
  • 1 Small bag of carrots
  • 3-4 Large red potatoes, quartered
  • 1 onion, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 (4 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet
  • 6 ounces beer
  • 1/2 head cabbage, coarsely chopped 
 Place the carrots, potatoes, and onion into the bottom of a slow cooker, pour in the water, and place the brisket on top of the vegetables. Do not use spice packet yet!
Pour the beer over the brisket (for some reason I couldn't get my picture to rotate). Yes, I know, I'm sorry you don't have a really good German beer to use like I do......;) Now you can sprinkle on the spices from the packet, cover, and set the cooker on High. Cook the brisket for about 8 hours. An hour before serving, stir in the cabbage and cook for 1 more hour. Enjoy!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Garlic Spinach Lasagna Rolls
I found this recipe online but changed it up a bit. I added crushed garlic to the recipe. One because I love cooking with garlic and two, I mean really who makes an Italian dish without garlic? haha
Ingredients Needed
9 Cooked Lasagna Noodles, 10 oz of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained), 15 oz of Ricotta Cheese, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, salt and fresh pepper to taste, 32 oz of tomato sauce, 9 tbsp (3oz) of part skim shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 cloves of crushed garlic (not in picture)
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Make sure it is mixed well with no clumps of spinach or the garlic.
Lay out noodle on a paper towel and pat dry (noodles must be dry). Spread 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture evenly over noodle. Roll the noodle carefully. Repeat with remaining noodles.
Place about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.
 Place rolls seam side down onto the baking dish.
 Poor a small amount of sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes. (I lost two of my rolls to overcooking so be careful not to over boil them. Boiling 10-12 minutes is best) 
Serve with a side salad (I served with creme cheese stuffed peppercini's) and your favorite garlic french bread! Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

GRILLED MARINATED FLANK STEAK AND GRILLED VEGGIES 
INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR FLANK STEAK MARINADE
1/4 CUP OLIVE OIL, 1/4 CUP SOY SAUCE, 2 TBSPS RED WINE VINEGAR OR SHERRY COOKING WINE, 1 TSP DIJON MUSTARD, 4 CLOVES OF FRESH CRUSHED GARLIC, 1/4 CUP BROWN SUGAR, 1TSP FRESH GROUND BLACK PEPPER, 1 WHOLE FLANK STEAK 
(ABOUT 1 1/2-2 POUNDS) AND SALT TO TASTE.
ADD ALL INGREDIENTS, EXCEPT THE FLANK STEAK AND SALT, INTO A LARGE ZIP TOP FREEZER BAG. SEAL AND SHAKE TO COMBINE. ADD THE FLANK STEAK AND RESEAL THE BAG, SQUEEZING OUT MOST OF THE AIR. REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT.
REMOVE THE FLANK STEAK FROM THE MARINADE 15 MINUTES PRIOR TO COOKING.  THE LEFTOVER MARINADE CAN BE WARMED IN A SAUCEPAN AND SERVED WITH THE COOKED STEAK. SEASON BOTH SIDES OF THE STEAK AGAIN WITH SALT AND FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER TO TASTE. LET SIT OUT AT ROOM TEMPERATURE FOR 15 MINUTES. PREHEAT THE GRILL. GRILL OVER LOW HEAT TURING OVER ONE TIME. BEST IF IT IS PINK IN THE MIDDLE BUT SOME LIKE IT REALLY RARE. 10-15 MINUTES TOTAL. DON'T OVER COOK IT!! I CUT THE STEAK IN THE MIDDLE WHEN IT IS ALMOST DONE TO MAKE SURE I HAVE DESIRED DONENESS. TRANSFER TO A PLATE A LET REST A FEW MINUTES BEFORE CUTTING INTO THIN SLICES ACROSS THE GRAIN.
'THE BEST' GRILLED MARINATED FLANK STEAK.....YUMMO!


INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR GRILLED VEGGIES
 OLIVE OIL TO COAT VEGGIES, MONTREAL CHICKEN OR STEAK SEASONING TO TASTE...I LIKE LOTS OF IT! ONE ZUCCHINI, ONE EACH OF YELLOW, GREEN, AND RED BELL PEPPERS, ONE LARGE ONION, AND 3 CLOVES OF FRESH CRUSHED GARLIC
CUT ALL INGREDIENTS AND MIX WITH OLIVE OIL AND MC'CORMICKS MONTREAL CHICKEN OR STEAK SPICE IN A LARGE BOWL
PLACE ON GRILL PANS IN ONE LAYER AND GRILL ON LOW HEAT OR PUT ON TOP RACK IF GRILLING WITH COALS (DO NOT PUT GRILL LID DOWN OR YOU MIGHT START A FIRE WITH THE OLIVE OIL AND BURN YOUR VEGGIES)
AND VIOLA GRILLED YUMMY VEGGIES! ENJOY!!