Corned Beef Brisket

Corned Beef Brisket

Corned beef is a favorite cut of beef in various cuisine around the world: Irish, Caribbean, Jewish, and American, just to name some.  Corned Beef usually comes in two forms, a cut of beef or brisket, round or from the point, cured or pickle in a salty and seasoned brine.  The other form is canned, already cook, and salty.  The brisket is commonly use in deli cuts, and the can is a staple of Caribbean cuisine, usually made with saute sofrito (the trinity of caribbean cuisine), and tomato sauce.

The red meat at left is corned beef

Slow cooker, boil or baked??

There`s 3 cooking methods for doing corned beef brisket: in a slow cooker, boil, or bake.  For me bake is the way to go.  Garlic cloves, slice onions, carrots, wine, and the seasoning packing that comes with the cut of meat are added and place in a baking pan.

Cover it with foil, and bake for 2 1/2 hours at 300.F

To give more moisture to the meat, I added mushrooms, and Kale at the end of cooking time.

the red meat at the left is corned beef

This cut of meat is usually serve with boil potatoes, and cabbage, that`s the traditional way. For this time it was served non traditional way with potatoes salad, pigeon peas rice (arroz con gandules) and fruits and green salad.

Pigeon peas rice (arroz con gandules)

fruits and greens salad

 

Polenta Cakes w/Chicken Salad

Mini Polenta Cakes w/Chicken Salad.  I had try this recipe multiple times, and always is a favorite of my family and friends.  Maybe is the delish combination of sweet from the dried cranberry and the salty kick from the parmesan cheese and  the polenta. Very simple and stress less when you use a chicken from the supermarket Deli.  This is an original recipe from Giada De Laurentiis with some variations.  Enjoy!!

Polenta ready to cool with parmesan cheese on top

Polenta Cakes

Frying then without oil, to get a little crust and color

Flake and Shredded Chicken

Chicken Salad in pipping bag

Polenta Cakes w/ Chicken Salad

Quinoa Salad

The Quinoa  is a seed, not a grain, but is refer as a “super grain” or “the mother of grains” . It is a staple in the South American cuisine, and comes from a  plant related to the spinach, beets, and Swiss chard.  It can be can be use as a substitute for rice or pasta.  High in unsaturated fats, protein and lower in carbohydrates, very easy to cook, and cooks in half the time of rice, and it multiply by 4 times in volume.

Ingredients:

2 cups Quinoa grain + 4 1/2 cups of chicken stock, and 2 tablespoon of olive oil

1 cups chick peas (garbanzo)

1 small green pepper small dice

1 small onion small dice

2 stalks of celery small dice

1 small carrot small dice

1/4 cup raisins

Salad dressing

Olive oil, Vinegar, lemon juice, yellow mustard, salt & pepper

How to do it:

Wash and rinse Quinoa. Moving constantly pan fry the Quinoa in a saucepan with 2 tablespoon of olive oil for about 3 minutes.  Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper and cook cover, until fluffy and the grain change the original white color.  Let it cool, and add the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste.

Pan fry w/olive oil

Coolin down

Ingredients

Ensalada de Quinoa

A pesar de que no es un grano, es una semilla, la Quinoa, es tambien llamada el “super grano” o la “madre de los granos.  Es un alimento muy importante de la cocina de Sur America y relativamente nueva en America del Norte.  Pertenece a la familia de las remolachas, espincas, y el Swiss chard.  Se puede utilizar como sustituto del arroz o la pasta.  Es alta en grasas no saturadas, proteinas y baja en carboidratos.  Es muy facil de cocinar y se cocina en menos tiempo que el arroz y su volumen es 4 veces mayor.

Ingredientes:

2 tazas de Quinoa + 4 1/2 tazas de caldo de pollo, y 2 cucharadas de aceite de oliva

1 taza de garbanzos

1 pimiento verde pequeno picadito

1 cebolla pequena picadita

2 ramitos de celery

1 zanahoria pequena picadita

1/4 taza de pasas

Aderezo:

Aceite de oliva, vinagre, mostaza, jugo de limon, sal y pimienta

Como se hace:

Lava y escurre la Quinoa.  Sofriela en sarten con el aceite de oliva por 3 minutos.  Anade el caldo de pollo, sal y pimienta y cocina tapado hasta que el grano se abra y cambie de color.  Anade el resto de los ingredientes y verifica la sason.