Easy Restaurant-Style Salsa

March 21, 2013
With just a few simple ingredients and a few whirls in a blender or food processor, you've got yourself  a batch of tasty & easy restaurant-style salsa.

Easy Restaurant-Style Salsa


I am a total sucker for chips and salsa.  Of all kinds.  Plain ol' regular salsa, fresh pico de gallo (or simply 'pico,' as we call it), fruit salsas like peach-pineapple or mango, and even blueberry salsa.  Yes, blueberry salsa.

In fact, eating chips and salsa is my total downfall when eating out at a Mexican restaurant.  I can easily steer myself to the healthier menu options ... but, dang if those bowls of chips and salsa don't crush my willpower spirit every time.  Oh well, there are worse things in life.

So, being such a lover of salsa, this easy restaurant-style salsa recipe of my sister-in-law's quickly became one of my go-to recipes.

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New England Boiled Dinner {aka ~ Corned Beef & Cabbage}

March 10, 2013
New England Boiled Dinner ~ A traditional hearty one-pot Northern classic of corned beef and cabbage with root vegetables.  It's Sunday dinner memories at their best!

New England Boiled Dinner with Corned Beef Image

New England Boiled Dinner ... corned beef, cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes, and turnip all simmered together until tender ... oh, how I had forgotten how much I love you!

I grew up on this stuff.  But until last weekend, I had never made it myself.  And, seriously, it had been about twenty years since I'd had it last.

Now, my Southern-born-and-bred husband had never had it.  His Mama's stovetop pork roastBaked hamWhole roasted chicken? -- Sure.  But corned beef? -- Nope.

This weekend I decided I needed to change all that.

If you can chop and boil water and babysit a pot for a few hours, then New England Boiled Dinner can be on your table.

Growing up in Vermont, we had New England Boiled Dinner a whole lot growing up.  I remember having it most at my grandmother's house when our entire family would get together for a Sunday dinner.  She'd serve up a big old pot of this tender deliciousness.  My Mom would make it at our house, too.  And I always loved it.

But then I kind of forgot about it.

I'm glad to say that I have now remembered!

And it truly couldn't be easier to whip this up.  If you can chop and boil water and babysit a pot for a few hours, then New England Boiled Dinner can be on your table.

It starts with corned beef brisket, a cut of beef brisket that's been preserved through a salt-curing and brining process.  While readily available year-round in some parts of the country (including New England), around St. Patrick's Day it can typically be purchased in most grocery stores, regardless of region.  Yes, I can even get it in the sunny South right now.

And look what I found? -- I just love this grocery store leaflet from 1963, providing shoppers this classic New England recipe:


To create this one-pot hearty meal, all you do is simmer a corned beef brisket for a couple of hours on your stovetop, then cut up a bunch of veggies ...

Vegetables for New England Boiled Dinner with Corned Beef image

... and throw those in the pot, too.

How to Make New England Boiled Dinner with Corned Beef image

Continue to simmer it all for another hour until the veggies are tender.  And then you've got New England Boiled Dinner, all yummy and ready for the enjoying.  Yes, it's truly that simple.

Sure enough, my love of New England Boiled Dinner has been renewed.  And I'm happy to report that the 100%-Southern-boy-hubby loved it, too.  

So if you'd like to enjoy the classic combination of corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day, rest assured this traditional New England recipe's got you covered.

New England Boiled Dinner with Corned Beef Photo
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New England boiled dinner recipe, classic New England recipes, corned beef recipes, corned beef cabbage recipe
Main Dishes
Yield: about 8-12 servings

New England Boiled Dinner

A traditional hearty one-pot Northern classic of braised corned beef and cabbage with root vegetables. It's Sunday dinner memories at their best!
prep time: 40 Mcook time: 3 hourtotal time: 3 H & 40 M

ingredients:

  • 4 to 5 lb. corned beef brisket
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 carrots, peeled and cut in large chunks
  • 1 head green cabbage, cut in wedges
  • 8 small red potatoes, halved or quartered
  • 4 to 5 onions, peeled
  • 1 turnip, peeled and cut into chunks

instructions:

How to cook New England Boiled Dinner

  1. Remove the corned beef brisket from its packaging, setting aside the spice packet that comes with it. Rinse the beef brisket with cold water. 
  2. Place the beef brisket in a large Dutch oven and cover the beef with cold water; let stand for 30 minutes to remove some of the salt. After soaking, discard the water.
  3. Add fresh water to the Dutch oven until the water level reaches about 1 inch over the top of the beef brisket. 
  4. Add the spices from the spice packet and the bay leaf to the pot. 
  5. Bring the water up to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours or until the beef is fork tender.
  6. Add the carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, and turnip to the pot. Increase the heat and bring the pot to a boil. 
  7. Reduce heat and continue to simmer for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender.
Created using The Recipes Generator

You might also enjoy these other yummy St. Patrick's Day-worthy recipes:







New England Boiled Dinner ~ A traditional hearty one-pot Northern classic of corned beef & cabbage with root vegetables. It's Sunday dinner memories at their best! #NewEnglandboileddinner #cornedbeef  www.thekitchenismyplayground.com

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Leprechaun Shakes {& Trapping a Leprechaun!}

March 6, 2013
It may be hard to trap a leprechaun, but it's easy to whip up Leprechaun Shakes!  Made with vanilla ice cream and lemon-lime soda, enjoy these tasty little shakes for one super easy St. Patrick's Day treat.

Easy Leprechaun Shakes Image


It's that time of year!  Yes, the time of year when rascally little leprechauns make their appearances in all the craziest of places.  And last year ... we had one turn up in my 1st grade classroom!  Can you believe it?

He turned over the chairs in our classroom.  Threw little shamrocks all over everything.  Left us silly notes on the whiteboard.  Dropped his hat one day ... and his sock the next.  He even tried to steal our pot of gold, leaving our carpet littered with little gold pieces ... how dare he.

So, of course, my students decided we needed to try to trap him - I mean, he did try to take our gold and all.  And here's how we decided to do it.

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