Norm Matthews

We had our corned beef dinner today. Corned beef was homemade then simmered in beer with garlic and other seasonings. Cabbage served with a balsamic reduction. new potatoes boiled, smashed, buttered, seasoned and roasted. We also had soda bread, rutabagas and carrots.

I guess I can live with lopsided lava cakes. Whipped cream hides a lot of it and no body cares what it looked like right after it's cut into.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/silicone-baking-cups-set-of-6 Ref. # 4953

I just got 6 of these from King Arthur. Problem is they aren't round. What does everyone do with these? Do they round up in the heat of the oven or do I need to put them in custard dishes to help them hold their shape? .... or do you just bake with them and overlook the asymmetry?

I don't know if there was any green beer that first year. I think they had a green calf in the parade a few years later. All the CB I found was $3.49/ lb.

Kansas City had a lively Irish Day parade tradition in the 19th century but it died out until in 1973 when Dan Hagerty, Mike Murphy and Pat O'Neal decided to resurrect it and walked 1 1/2 blocks from the Continental Hotel to Hagerty's Cocktail Lounge for drinks. It has grown somewhat since then. http://kcirishparade.com/history/the-modern-parade

Darch, I am always in awe of the great food prices you find. I didn't find anything that compares here in Kansas City when I went looking for a bargain on corned beef today. If I could find any at those prices, I'd get some for the freezer to use later in the year for sandwiches, hash and colcannon. However once a year in March I always make it at home because St. Patrick's Day is a special meal for us and homemade is so much better that it is worth the extra effort once in a while. You seem to be such a perfectionist, that I am surprised that you would use store bought but I can understand it. Most people use store bought and New York has those legendary deli's. Just for comparison here is what I found out here in the midwest today. I found that there is deli corned beef, corned beef in a bag-ready to cook and corned beef in 15 ounce cans. The deli corned beef is uber expensive, not made with brisket but top round and is good for sandwiches. Canned corned beef is not very good at all and I avoid getting it unless i am really lazy and plan to make it with eggs. Finally the corned beef brisket in a bag, ready to cook is very good but we can tell the difference. So at Price Chopper, deli corned beef was $9.99 a pound, in a bag was on sale for $3.49/lb and canned was $1.87 for a 15 ounce can. Aldi didn't have a deli but the bagged ready to cook corned beef was not on sale but still $3.49/ lb and the canned was $1.89 Hen House Market where I usually shop had top round corned beef in the deli for $12.49/ lb. Bagged corned beef brisket on sale for 3.49/lb and 15 oz can corned beef for 1.94. Brisket at Price Chopper was the best deal at 3.99/ lb. Aldi didn't have brisket and Hen House was the worst at 7.99. I did not think to notice whether Price Chopper and Hen House had different grades though.

I did some checking at the Costco website and brisket was 2.73/lb while corned beef brisket was 3.25/lb.

There was a minor revolt in my family one year when I said I thought I'd just buy a corned beef instead of making one from scratch.

Saltiness in home-corned beef is analogous to country cured ham. Ham is skinned, soaked in hot water for around 24 hours, water changed, then boiled, baked, sliced and sometimes simmered in water again to decrease the saltiness. The result is ham, not leg of pork. Corned beef is cured beef, not roast beef.

Some of the 'flavor' drawn out of the corned beef is saltiness from the brine. The 'soup' is seasoned, not just plain water and that adds flavor to the vegetables as well as additional flavor to the meat.

It has been 30 years since I owned a restaurant and things may have changed since them but the health dept. said a bleach solution was a satisfactory sanitizer. A friend told me he asked his butcher what he used to clean his cutting board and he said he used the bleach solution with salt as an abrasive.

Jelly is made from fruit juice. Jam uses the actual fruit. Marmalade is made with citrus fruit pulp and peel and has no pectin. Not sure about chutney. I think it is more of a relish Edit: I usually opt for jam.

For dinner tonight we had Tacos de Carnitas and Chile Rellenos. Cassie made the guacamole.

Last year when I first moved back to Kansas City, I could not find everything I wanted to make corned beef so I used a small end tip... enough for three people to have one meal ...with kosher salt for the cure and it was ready in less than a week. I don't have SV and it never occurred to me to try a pressure cooker.

I have made it with a small brisket in less time even without pink salt or Tender Quick or SV and the results were OK but the full cure without sodium nitrate or special equipment takes about two weeks. Ruhlman said that sometimes his method does not cure all the way through.

Just FYI, if anyone would like to make homemade corned beef for later this month, it's time to start now. I understand that corned beef isn't a traditional Irish dish but rather it is a meat that Americans often serve on St. Patricks Day.

Our dinner was pork loin riblets, potato cakes, green bean dill salad, cheese tortellini, and store bought walnut apple caramel pie.

In the US Canadian bacon is cured pork loin. I used tenderloin once. It was smaller in diameter and so took less time. Tastes like ham. Per pound of meat use 1 tablespoon Tenderquick plus brown sugar and onion powder, garlic, rosemary etc. Rub on, seal in plastic wrap and turn daily for 7 days per inch (measured to the center). Remove, rinse, soak in cold water 6 hours, smoke at 200-230 until internal temp is 150-160 for fully done. Use 1 Tbsp of it per Lb. of pork loin- plus any spice/herbs you may want to use. I think just garlic and onion is traditional. but honestly I am not sure there. Then you rub the meat, wrap and keep chilled for 7 days PER INCH DIAMETER to cure. If your loin is 3" across...that's 1.5" diameter. Allow an extra day or so for fat caps, which cure does not penetrate very well. I usually add 3 extra days. If you use the right amount of cure, you cannot overcure..ONLY under... 5T. QT 1T. onion powder 1T. garlic powder 1T paprika 1t. montreal steak seasoning one week per inch radius, soak in cold water 6 hours, dry out 1 or 2 days, smoke to 160º Before smoking, slice off end and fry, taste for salt and soak some more if needed. OK.. for a dry cure... which I recommend- use 1 Tbsp TQ per Lb of meat. You may add some garlic, onion, rosemary...whatever flavors you like to this. Curing time is 7 days per inch thickness... thickness being .5 times the total thickness as you are curing from both sides. And IMO... with the right amout of cure, you cannot OVER cure..only under...so add a couple days....patience is key. After the curing time, Slice off a chunk and fry it up before smoking and check for salt. if it's salty to you, soak in cold water for 6 hours... and try it again. repeat if necc... but prolly won't be. Then let rest loosely covered in the fridge to develop the "pellicle" or well..just let it dry a bit. Smoking it kinda personal in wood choice..I like apple, but hickory works. I will advise against mesquite for this,-it's too strong IMO, but whatever. Run your smoker in the 200-225 range. Bring it to an internal of 150-160 for a ready to eat lunchmeat/bacon, or 125-130 for a "must be cooked" version. The lower internal temp stuff tends to be mellower in flavor, but the texture is little different than the other.

I can clean my large rubber cutting board in the sink but often scrub it in place with coarse salt (kosher) and a cut lemon. I've been told that butchers clean their boards with watered bleach and salt. Every few years I go over it with a sander. I have had it for around 10 years. When I had a wooden cutting board, I scraped it with a bench knife. I have never seen a wood cutting board rot.

I wasn't planning to cook today but shrimp was on sale and then on impulse I got some mussels. Then I figured I'd better cook the mussels right away so I steamed them in dry white wine and butter. The shrimp was cooked in a recipe called Louisiana Killer Shrimp. I also cooked some sausage, potatoes and corn. Corn was a mistake. It was frozen and cooked up mushy.

building on pbears list, I agree with Julia Child and James Beard and add Jacques Pepin. Chefs like Waters and Keller, imho, have had more influence on other restaurant chefs than on the rest of us.

Jacques Pepin makes cheese ball appetizers with pignoli nuts. He takes left over cheese(s) such as fontina, camembert, blue or other soft cheese and mixes about a cup of it with 1/2 C. pear or apple and about 1/4 cup dried cranberries and salt and pepper, combines them in a blender then rolls little balls of the mixture in toasted pine nuts.

Here is a link to scalding milk in the microwave. When you scald milk, you do not want to scorch it or boil it. Around 85 C or 185 F is as hot as you want to get it. http://www.howtobaker.com/techniques/baking/how-to-scald-milk/ "Scalding milk in the microwave is as easy as making popcorn! But do we really have to our scald milk? Many older baking recipes call for scalded milk to kill potentially harmful bacteria and to remove enzymes which prevent the milk from thickening when cooked. Today, the pasteurization pretty much takes care of both these fears for us." "So why do modern recipes still call for scalded milk? The main reason is heated milk speeds the baking process. By scalding the milk, we are helping butter melt, sugar dissolve, and yeast rise more quickly. Scalding is traditionally accomplished by placing milk in a saucepan and heating until “scalded” or near boiling (185-190° F)." But, since scalding has essentially become a way to heat the milk why not use the microwave?

I know this is after the fact but, pasteurized milk for custard does not really need to be scalded. Scalded milk does not need to be scorched. When it is scalded, technically it just needs to be heated and not necessarily very hot, certainly not boiling. Around 90 C degrees is plenty hot enough. So microwave heating should work just fine. This link discusses why to scald milk. http://www.thekitchn.com/scalding-milk-is-it-really-nec-112360