Sweet Potato Hash

Sweet potato hash is always a "round two" meal for us. If I have any left over meat that needs using, I usually turn it into hash. The best one I ever made was with leftover chicken, steak, and pork tenderloin. Yummy. The one here, I only had steak to use...still delicious.

Ingredients
Steak (chicken, pork)
   1 onion, diced
   3 cloves garlic
   3/4 cup carrots
   2 sweet potatoes
   1 bell pepper, diced
   1/2 mushrooms
   1 Tbsp italian seasoning
   1 tsp garlic powder
   1 tsp ground sage
   1 tsp fresh sage (optional)


1 tsp fresh basil (optional)
salt and pepper to taste



Add 1 Tbsp oil to a pan on medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook for about 4 minutes. Add the carrot and sweet potato. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the sweet potato gets golden brown on some edges.

Add in the mushrooms and green pepper. Cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add in the steak and cook about 3 minutes. Add in fresh herbs at the end.

Hope that you try this one because it is quite tasty!

God bless you and your food!

Corned Beef!

The first time I had corned beef was at Cody's parents' house, and wowee! It was tasty! I thought it was difficult to make, but now I know that it is not too complex. Connie, Cody's mom, is an inspiration when it comes to cooking, and the corned beef definitely comes from her. Thanks Connie!

What you'll need:

Oil and water

Flat cut corned beef brisket 

3 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

Carrots and potatoes

Topping: Horseradish and spicy brown mustard 

Cabbage (I did not have any this time)

Pressure cooker (optional...but you're going to want it)**see note below

Corned beef is pretty easy to find in a package that also comes with a seasoning pack. Flat cut is good (point cut would also work).

When you take it out of the package, pat it dry on both side.

Remove some of the fat. In this picture I have already removed A LOT of fat.

Get the oil hot (about 3 Tbls), and then brown both sides a bit. I always feel as though I could brown it more, but then I get scared. Anyway, I usually let it go about 4 minutes each side.

This side has been cooked for about 4 minutes. Once the other side is browned remove the pot from the heat.

Quarter the 3 garlic cloves and add to the pot with two bay leaves.

The seasoning package came with the corned beef, but it is really just pickling spices that you can buy in the spice aisle.

Add the spice packet or pickling spices.

Make sure the pot is off the heat, and add about 4 cups of water. Then, return to  high heat.

Add the top and lock.

For my pressure cooker, I have to wait for the yellow pressure  button to pop up to know that the pressure has built up.

Once it pops up, turn the heat down a bit, and start the cooking time. I let it cook for 1 hour.

When the cook time is over, I use the quick release to reduce the pressure faster. I recommend putting a towel over the steam release for the first minute or so. The first time I did not cover it, and it melted the paper on a calender that was hanging on the wall five feet away. haha!    

After a while the steam and pressure reduce. If you want it to go even faster, run it under water, and the temperature and pressure reduce very quickly.

Once pressure is reduced, remove the brisket  to a pan.

The leftover liquid is great for cooking the vegetables--so much flavor!

Cut up the potatoes into about 1 inch pieces.

Add the potatoes and carrots. Re-pressurize the cooker and cook the veggies for only 4 minutes. If you have cabbage you can now cook it by itself for 2 minutes. The pressure cooker drastically reduces cook time for everything! 

We like to put a topping of equal parts mustard and horseradish on the corned beef. If you told me two years ago that I would like horseradish, I would not believe you. Long story short, you should try it.

Mix it up!

Shmear it!

Put the pan under the broiler in the oven for 5-10 minutes depending on how crunchy you want it.

Take the veggies out, and start serving!

Yumkins! Try it; you'll like it!

**If you don't have a pressure cooker, the brisket still has directions on the package for cooking without one(boiling in a pot or cooking in the oven). The veggies can just be roasted in the oven (with olive oil, salt, and pepper) at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes.
***My pressure cooker is 6 quarts made by Fagor. I got it for Christmas, but it seems as though you can get one from $40-$80.

God bless you and your food!

Crock Pot Chili

1 can (16oz) tomato soup
1 can (16oz) hot chili beans
1 can (16oz) chili ready diced tomatoes (should have jalapenos)
*1-2 can(s) (16oz) bean of your choice (i.e. black, pinto, great northern, navy.  I prefer the Private Selection tri-bean blend sold at Kroger).
1/2 cup beverage of your choice (coke, beer, whiskey)

*1-2 lb(s) ground turkey
1 lb hot italian sausage or chorizo
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

1 green pepper
1 jalapeno
1 hot pepper of your choice (to kick it up, habanero.  for a milder chili, serrano, poblano, or another jalapeno)
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic

(Optional Spices)
I usually add cayenne, crushed red pepper, pepper, and plenty of chili powder to the crock pot once everything is in.

*Depending on the size of your crock pot and the number of people you are serving,  you may want 1 or 2 cans of a bean of your choice and 1 or 2 lbs of ground turkey.*

Cook the turkey and sausage/chorizo together in a pan with three cloves of garlic, diced.  Add a little salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Meat should be fully cooked.  Drain the grease off then dump the meat and garlic into the crock pot.

Dice the green pepper, jalapeno, onion, and hot pepper of your choice.  Add to crock pot.

Add the can of tomato soup, chili beans, diced tomatoes, bean of your choice, and beverage of your choice.  Add spices if desired. Stir the contents well, put the top on, and turn on the crock pot.

Cook on low 6-8 hrs or high for 3-4 hours.  The longer the better, but as everything is already cooked, you can serve it once it is hot.