Few things are worth cooking all day…but brisket is one of them. It cooks for hours, smells amazing and is never disappointing.

 

 

Most people in the south think of brisket as something you order at a bbq joint. It gets smoked and bathed in sauce, which is delicious, but not easy to recreate at home. What IS easy to do at home is braised brisket. Old Jewish grandmother style.

 

 

This recipe is from Saveur.com and was originally written by someone’s grandmother, Lil. I have changed a few details, but not too much. Lil knew what she was doing.

 

Braised Brisket

   Adapted from Lil Pachter’s Jewish-Style Braised Brisket (Saveur.com)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp paprika (Funny story- One time I accidentally substituted cayenne pepper for the paprika. Almost killed us both from the pepper fumes. Had to frantically air out the house before party guests arrived. I do not recommend this.)

1 tsp dried oregano

2 1/2 lb. flat cut brisket (If they do not have this out at the store, just ask them to cut it for you. I almost always have to ask for this size.)

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 14-ou can low sodium chicken broth

1 14-ou can beef broth

1 14-ou can stewed tomatoes

2 bay leaves

2 small yellow onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

 

Mix together the salt, pepper, paprika and oregano. Rub on the brisket.

Heat the oil on medium-high heat in a dutch oven. Brown the brisket for about 7-8 minutes on each side. It may look a little burnt, but that is ok, the crust adds flavor and texture.

 

Add the chicken broth, beef broth, tomatoes (first cut them up with scissors while still in the can) and bay leaves. Sprinkle the onions and garlic over the meat.

 

Cover and cook in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Then, remove the cover, baste the meat and cook another hour.

 

Re-cover and continue to cook and baste at 30 minutes intervals until the brisket is tender, usually about 2 more hours (or 4 hours total cooking time). Slice and serve with mashed potatoes. Drizzle some of the braising liquid on top.

 

Well, it is still only ALMOST Fall. In fact, Fall doesn’t start until Friday. So, I decided to sneak in one more Summer recipe, but this is the last one, I swear.

You see, I have the BEST intentions every time I go to the grocery store. I stock up on things like kiwi fruit and salad greens. I imagine myself eating these things. And sometimes I do. Sometimes.

Most of the time, I find lots of other things to eat until the fresh healthy produce that I bought starts to look less fresh and I frantically try to incorporate it into something that I may actually eat. Like a crostada. Yep, cook that produce with some sugar and fold a buttery pie crust around it and I somehow manage to get around to eating it.

And that is exactly what happened this week with the nectarines and plums that I ambitiously purchased last week. I made a pie crust and then rolled it out until it was real ugly rustic looking. Then, I filled it with cooked fruit.

I sliced my remaining piece of fresh fruit and laid it on the top. I folded the crust over, brushed the outside with cream, sprinkled it with sugar and baked it. And then ate three pieces. Well, only two that counted. The last one I ate over the sink when no one was looking.

Stone Fruit Crostada

   (Crust adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book)

 

Crust:

 

3 Tbs. ice water

1 Tbs. plus 1 1/2 tsp. sour cream

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

cream for brushing

raw sugar for sprinkling

 

Whisk the ice water and sour cream together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Sprinkle the butter on the top and then cut it in with a pastry cutter (or fork or food processor) until the chunks are the size of small peas and are starting to incorporate into the flour. (Try to do this quickly so your butter doesn’t get too warm.)

 

Make a well in the middle of your flour/butter mixture and pour in the sour cream/water mix. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry mix into the liquid until a dough forms. Take the crust out of the bowl and knead on the counter for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just to finish incorporating the flour. Pat dough into a round patty and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hr. Meanwhile, make the filling.

 

Filling:

 

2 plums

2 nectarines

1/2 cup sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

 

Peel, pit and chop the plums and one of the nectarines. Put chopped fruit in a medium-sized sauce pan with sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat 10-20 minutes or until fruit has cooked down and thickened enough that it will hold its shape when placed on the crust.

 

The cooking time will vary depending on the amount of water in your fruit. The amount of sugar and lemon juice may also need to be adjusted depending on the ripeness and flavor of your fruit. Just start with these measurements and add until the filling is to your taste.

 

Take the fruit off the heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile, take the crust out of the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface. Try to keep a round shape. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet. Then, brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

 

Scoop the cooked fruit into a mound in the center of the crust. Slice the remaining nectarine (you can leave the skin on) and lay the slices on top of the cooked fruit, overlapping them in a spiral.

 

Begin folding the dough over the filling. Leave about an inch between the crease in the dough and the filling, as the filling will spread during baking. Start on one side and make small folds all the way around until you have folded in all of the dough. Be careful not to tear the dough. If you do, try to press it back together as best you can so the filling will not leak out.

 

Brush the top with cream and sprinkle again with sugar. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and holds it shape when touched.

Its September and I am ready for it to be Fall. I want to put on my sweaters, watch some football (ok, watch is probably too stong of a word…its more like turn it on and wear the right colors), and toast some marshmallows. So, this week I chose to ignore the fact that it is still 90+ degrees outside. I planted cabbages and turnips and broccoli in my garden and made cottage pie.

 

 

Cottage Pie is just another name for Shepherd’s Pie. Martha says that you should call the dish “Cottage Pie” if it is made with beef and “Shepherd’s Pie” if it is made with lamb. And I am not one to disagree with Martha. So, cottage pie it is.

 

 

I got this recipe from a Martha Stewart magazine and made a few changes. Traditional cottage pie is made with mashed potatoes, but this recipe is made with crispy sliced potatoes instead. Very tasty in my opinion and not as fattening for sure.

 

 

I started by sautéing the vegetables with butter and adding tomato paste. Then, I added ground beef, wine, and thyme and thickened it with flour. Then, I put in the peas and was relieved the see that it made the mixture look a lot less like Alpo.

 

 

I poured it into my dish and topped it with sliced potatoes that I had tossed with melted butter.

 

 

Then, I just baked it until the potatoes were all brown and crispy and Fall-like.

 

 

Cottage Pie

     Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

 

3 Tbs. butter

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 tsp. dried (or 2 tsp. fresh) thyme (I was being lazy, so I used dried)

1 cup red wine

2 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1 cup water

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 Tb. red wine vinegar

1-2 yukon gold potatoes, sliced very thin (try not to cut your finger off)

salt and pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt 1 Tb. butter over medium high heat in a large frying pan. Add the onion, carrots and celery and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes or until soft, but not dead. Add the tomato paste and try to work it into the vegetables.

 

Add the ground beef and brown, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula and incorporating it into the vegetables and tomato paste. Add thyme and wine and cook until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes.

 

Sprinkle flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Add water and cook until thickened, about 2 more minutes. Add peas and red wine vinegar and cook about one more minute or until peas have thawed. Taste the mixture and add more salt and pepper if needed.

 

Pour mixture into baking dish (1 1/2 to 2 quarts). Melt the remaining butter and toss the potato slices in it. Start in one corner and overlap the potatoes in rows until the entire top is covered. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put it in the oven. Bake about 45 minutes or until the potatoes look done and are soft if poked with a fork or knife. Try to let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving. 

 

 

Ingredients:

tons of inspiration

approximately 1 million name suggestions, most of which are terrible

several days spent trying to figure out wordpress

Mix ingredients together and let simmer until done or until you can’t wait anymore and you post something.