Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

  • I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

    ALL CLASSES ARE ON ZOOM AT 10:00 AM PDT

    Tuesday Gentle Yoga 

    Wednesday Nia

    Thursday Stretch

    Please see my website for details!

    I am also available for private Nia / yoga / Personal Training all virtual, of course!

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • My Bloggey Past

  • ******

    Chose a month above to visit archives, or click below to visit a page.

Posts Tagged ‘Worcestershire Sauce’

« Previous Entries

Chicken, Asparagus, Biscuits, and Cheese Sauce

Posted by terrepruitt on September 13, 2021

As a reminder my category “Recipe” is that because sometimes I don’t actually have amounts for the ingredients I use, I just basically have the idea for the dish. I was at a loss last night as to what to cook for dinner and for some reason I thought of biscuits and gravy. I don’t even eat biscuits and gravy. I had biscuits in the refrigerator so that is probably why I was thinking “biscuits”. Anyway, I threw together a dinner that turned out to be pretty tasty.

____________________________________________________________________

Chicken, Asparagus, Biscuits, and Cheese Sauce

(Coconut) oil
Onion
Asparagus
2 cans of chicken
garlic salt
Worcestershire sauce

Cheese Sauce
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup shredded (sharp cheddar) cheese

Biscuits (tube, container? What is it called)

 

Heat the oil in a pan large enough for all of your asparagus and chicken.  While the oil is heating, chop up the onions, then put in the pan.  While the onions are cooking, wash and chop up the asparagus. Put the chopped asparagus in with the onions, sprinkle with garlic salt and cook.

While that is cooking – in a different pot – melt the butter. Add the flour while stirring.

Bake the biscuits according to the instructions on the package.

Put the drained chicken in the pan with the onion and asparagus.  Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce. The chicken is cooked, it only needs to be heated, but cook the asparagus to your liking.

Back to the sauce . . . . add the milk, stirring all the while. (My recipe says all at once, but it doesn’t work if it is cold . . . so I do it a little at a time.) Once the milk is incorporated into the roux (butter and flour), add the cheese a little bit at a time.  Stirring and keeping it on the heat until it is all melted and mixed.

To assemble split the biscuits putting the bottom half on the plate, then pile on the chicken and asparagus mixture, then spooned on some cheese sauce, then top with the top half of the biscuit.

____________________________________________________________________

It was good because I like all the ingredients. The biscuits are sooooo good. It is fun sometimes to cook easy things and enjoy simple flavors.

OH!  And the leftovers!  I put the bottom half of the biscuits in an oven proof dish, then pilled the chicken mixture on top, topped it with the cheese and put it in the oven (350°) for about 30 minutes,  I put the tops of the biscuits on foil and heated them for about 10 minutes.  Then put it on plates to serve.  Delicious!

There are so many things you could do with with.  What would YOU do?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Faux Chicken Pot Pie

Posted by terrepruitt on August 18, 2021

Faux Chicken Pot Pie

2 cans of chicken
one can of cream of mushroom soup
milk
sherry
bag of mixed frozen vegetables
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon garlic salt
can of biscuits

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  (SEE NOTE!)

Empty the cans of chicken into a large bowl, add the soup.  Use the can to measure the milk and sherry.  Use a ratio that you like to fill the can.  I used most milk with a splash of sherry (which is completely optional).  Empty the frozen bag of vegetables into the bowl.  Mix well.  If you feel you need more liquid than add more.  Sprinkle in a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.  Sprinkle in some garlic powder and garlic salt.  Mix everything well.  Pour the mixture into a baking dish (mine is not quite 9X13).  Spread it evenly.  Then put the biscuits on top and bake.

40 (or so) minutes at 375°F.

NOTE:  The above it what I did, but when I make this again, I am going to partially bake the biscuits bottom side.  Then I am going to put them on the mixture and then bake it all.  Putting them on top of the mixture “raw” didn’t allow the bottom of the biscuit to bake!

_______________________________________

This was good, but I love biscuits and it had been years since I had them so I was just happy to be having biscuits.

Do you have an easy chicken pot pie recipe?  Do you have a recipe where you use biscuits with the chicken pot pie?

 

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Starting 2020 With Some Melty Goodness

Posted by terrepruitt on January 1, 2020

Here it is another New Year.  WOW!  2020!  Here is another opportunity to recap last year or write about the year to come.  Not feeling either of those things this year.  So, I thought I would start off the year with a recipe.  Ooooo!  Ending the year with a “recipe” and starting the year with a recipe.  Sounds good to me, how about you?  Does that sound good to you?  Well, with this recipe comes a story.  I can’t say exactly when, but I can say that I remember it, so I couldn’t have been so young that I don’t remember.  My parents used to go out to dinner very infrequently.  We didn’t always have money for things – my dad worked a type of construction so there wasn’t always work – so going out to dinner was a super special treat.  When they went out to dinner one of their favorite places was a restaurant called The Bold Knight.  Now, unless you are over 50, even if you live in the bay area you have not been to The Bold Knight I am talking about.  Ya know, things change.  But back in the day I am talking about they used to have this cheese fondue that was delicious.  The last time I went to The Bold Knight, they had melted Velveeta.  Now, my husband loved it and I am sure there are other people that do, but back in the day they had a cheese fondue that tasted as if they actually cooked it and didn’t just put a chunk of yellow food-stuff in a pot and melt it.  Anyway, my mother LOVED their fondue.  She went on a quest to find a recipe that tasted just like it.  I know she tried a lot of things.  She finally settled on one.  And it has become the family recipe for fondue.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga

 

Cheese Fondue

(1 cube)   1/4 C butter
(1 tsp)   1/2 tsp salt
(1/2 tsp)   1/4 tsp dry (powdered) mustard
(3 tsp)   1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
(1/2 tsp)   1/4 tsp garlic powder
(1/2 C)   1/4 C flour
(2 cans)   1 can (12 oz) BUDWEISER Beer*
(1 lb.)   1/2 lb. mild cheddar cheese (grated)

Melt butter, then stir in salt, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder.  Add flour, a little at a time,  keep stirring, stir all the lumps of flour out.  Bring to a boil, then stir in a little beer at a time.  Cook until thickened.  Then put in cheese a little at a time while stirring.

Serve hot.

_______________________________________________________________________________

(The measurements in parentheses are for a DOUBLE batch.)

We dip raw vegetables; broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower.  Also, cooked cubed steak.  Sometimes apples.  And ALWAYS bread.  I prefer sourdough bread, but my hubby is not a fan of the sourdough so I usually have two types of bread; sourdough and French bread.

*As a VERY IMPORTANT NOTE, it does not matter what type of cheddar cheese you use, you can use medium, you can use sharp, you can use mild, but it DOES MATTER what type of beer you use – it MUST BE BUDWEISER Beer.  Not light, not ultra, not lime, nothing other than plain ol’ BUDWEISER Beer!  Believe me.  I have thought it would be good to use something else to add a unique flavor or bring more to the fondue – NOPE!  Doesn’t work.  In fact, just this Christmas I laughed when my uncle said, “You have to use Bud.  I’ve tried other beers and the best one is Budweiser.  It doesn’t come out the same if you don’t.”  I agreed and told him I actually discovered that some years ago.  I thought I had told him that, but perhaps not.

For many years I was unable to attend Christmas dinner at my family’s house due to a scheduling conflict, once we started going I was surprised and happy to learn that one of their traditions is to have fondue as an appetizer during the day.

My husband and I have had a few years where we have fondue as our New Year’s Eve dinner or our New Year’s Day dinner.  We had it on New Year’s Eve this time.  I am always surprised I haven’t posted the recipe before, so I am doing it now.  Starting off 2020 right!

As you can see from the handwritten recipe, I can spell Worcestershire sauce as well as I can say it!  🙂

I hope you enjoy this family recipe.  We love it!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga
Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

My Meatloaf

Posted by terrepruitt on January 23, 2017

I always cook the same thing.  If you have read my blog for a bit or looked at the recipe page you can see what I cook.  I actually USE my blog for my recipes.  I use it for

Cauliflower Cake

Easy Peasy Chicken Enchiladas With Sour Cream Sauce

My First Tomato Sauce Lasagna

A New Recipe To Love – Red Beans and Rice

Chai Tea Latte For Me

Celery Soup

Although I don’t make some of those that often.  What I do make all the time is just ground turkey and whatever leafy green (besides lettuce) that we have in the refrigerator.  If I have any ricotta in the fridge I might stir that in.  Or if I have any cream cheese.  That makes it “different.”  I would make that at least once a week, if it didn’t drive my hubby batty.  But he gets tired of it.  I don’t.  I haven’t made meatloaf in a long time.  But I just made it this past weekend.  It used to be that it wouldn’t stay together for nothing.  But then I started using less liquid in it.  Ya see, I am not a fan of tomato paste or ketchup so I  don’t always use it.  I usually make it with ground turkey.  But this last time I decided to use beef.  And while I was in the aisle about to buy some tomato paste I remembered that I had some marinara sauce in the fridge and I thought, “Hey, I can use that.”  Here is the basic recipe I use.

_____________________________________

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitMeatloaf

2 tablespoons of butter, plus enough to grease your loaf pan
1/4 of a large onion
1 lb ground meat (beef or turkey)
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs*
1 large egg
3 tablespoons ketchup**
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
a couple of turns of pepper
soy sauce
cooking cherry
1 green bell pepperDance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit

 

Mince the onion.  Heat the butter in a pan then saute the onion.  Grease the loaf pan with butter.  Heat the oven to 350° F.  Put the meat in a large bowl.  Finely chop the garlic or use a garlic press.  Mix the garlic in with the meat.  Then add the bread crumbs and mix well.  Add the egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and salt.  Incorporate it all into the meat.  Sprinkle some pepper into the mixture.  Mix well.  Then use a measuring cup and make a combination of soy sauce and cooking cherry – totalling a 1/2 cup.  Pour it into the meat mixture and stir.  Mix it in with the meat.  Dice the bell pepper then mix it in with the meat.  Add the onions.  Mix it all together.

 

Put the mixture into your loaf pan.  Spreading it out until it fills the whole pan and is level.  Then bake it for about 50 minutes.

Slice and serve.

___________________________________________

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitIt might not stay together . . . mine rarely does.  If you like your meatloaf to stay in the loaf shape and you want to be able to slice it, use less liquid.

*in this last batch I used Panko bread crumbs and I really liked that.
**sometimes I use ketchup, sometimes I use tomato sauce.  I use whatever I have.  I have made it before without any ketchup at all.  It works.

I like it with beef, but it could be that I am just used to it with turkey because I think I like it better with turkey.

What is YOUR favorite meatloaf recipe?  One with two kinds of meat?  Maybe one with sausage? 

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Sweet And Spicy Mixed Nuts

Posted by terrepruitt on September 14, 2016

So, this is kind of a “cheat” because it is so close to the Sweet and Savory Mixed Nuts, ha, in fact it is, but with minor changes.  But there were enough for me to have to make note of it and I thought I might as well put it online since having recipes online helps me a lot.  Plus I thought someone else might want to make the sweet and savory nuts sweet and spicy nuts.  I actually did not try them because I knew they would be too hot for me.  The last time I made them I put one packet of crushed red peppers in them and my hubby said that it was not really that hot.  So this time I upped a few things.

______________________________________________

Sweet and Spicy Mixed NutsDance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit

–1 cup raw unsalted almonds
–1 cup walnuts
–1 cup raw unsalted pepitas
–1 cup raw unsalted pecans
–2 tablespoons olive oil
–1 tablespoon and 2.5 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
–1 teaspoon thyme
–1 teaspoon crushed rosemary leaves
–1 HEAPING teaspoon rosemary leaves
–1 teaspoon cumin
–1 teaspoon salt
–1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
–1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
–3 packets of crushed red peppers / flakes
–sea salt
–brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitMix the nuts together.  Mix the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, cumin, salt, syrup cayenne pepper, and ONE packet of crushed red peppers together.  Then mix in the nuts.  Stir to make sure nuts are well coated.  Then spread the nuts out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Spread the nuts out, you want them somewhat in just one layer.  Then, sprinkle with one packet of crushed red peppers / flakes, bake at 350° F for 10 minutes.

Then stir the nuts and spread them out again, making at thin layer.  Sprinkle with another packet of crushed red peppers / flakes, some sea salt,  AND brown sugar (not a lot, just a sprinkle over all of the nuts) bake for 10 more minutes.

Then stir the nuts one more time and let bake for 10 more minutes.

Then take them out of the oven to cool.  You have a choice while cooling, you can stir them to break them up or you can let them cool in one big chunk or chunks.  It depends on how you like to eat your nuts.

______________________________________________

Basically, let nuts and more of everything else, and the addition of the crushed red peppers / flakes.  That is what the original recipe, the one my friend made for us for Christmas, had in it.  But I don’t like spicy hot so I adjusted the recipe.  I was originally making the nuts for me, since my hubby doesn’t normally like nuts.  But when I make them he liked them so I make more – as I said with one packet of crushed red peppers / flakes, but that wasn’t enough, so I added more.  I think it might be enough.

I mean I could just continue adding more until they are just hot nuts, but the sweet needs to come through, too.  I wish I could taste them.  I just can’t/won’t because a burning mouth is just not comfortable for me.

I think next time I will experiment with adding another flavor, like GARLIC!

So, do you like spicy food?  Would these work for you, ya think?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Sweet and Savory Mixed Nuts

Posted by terrepruitt on August 22, 2016

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitEvery year at Christmastime my three friends and I gather for what I call “Christmas with the Girls.”  We have been doing it since were 18, so I’ll just say decades!  Well, when one of us four moved away it was sad.  We couldn’t have the four of us meet for Christmas.  Three of us still meet.  There is usually eating, drinking, opening of gifts, laughing and visiting.  Well, last year our distant friend sent us some mixed nuts.  She had made Sweet-and-Spicy Mixed Nuts from a Bon Appétit recipe.  They were pretty good.  A little spicy for me as they had crushed red pepper flakes in them, but they were good.  I thought I could just leave the peppers out when I made them.  The recipe also calls for maple syrup.  We didn’t have maple syrup.  When I would go to the store I would forget to buy some.  Plus I was thinking I needed a couple of tablespoons and I didn’t want to buy a whole bottle for just that.  So I kept putting off making the recipe.  Eventually I did buy the nuts (from Amazon).  But when I went to the store I kept forgetting the syrup.  Finally one day I remembered to buy the syrup and it was sitting on the counter and my husband says, “What did you buy maple syrup for?”  And I explained the whole thing to him.  He says, “We have maple syrup.”  He explained to me that someone went to Vermont and had asked him if he wanted anything and he said, “Maple syrup.”  So she had brought a little bottle back.  It probably would have been the perfect amount.  Oh well, I am sure I will make these nuts again.  Although I did not use the recipe my friend used.  I ended up making something up.  I am not too big on the spicy so I didn’t use any crushed pepper flakes.

______________________________________________

Sweet and Savory Mixed NutsDance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit

–1 1/2 cup raw unsalted almonds
–1 cup walnuts
–1 cup raw unsalted pepitas
–1 cup raw unsalted pecans
–2 tablespoons of olive oil
–1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
–1/2 teaspoon thyme
–1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary leaves
–1/2 teaspoon cumin
–1 teaspoon salt
–1/3 cup and 1 teaspoon maple syrup
–tiny sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Put all the nuts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Put the pan in the oven, letting the nuts roast, for 10 minutes.  In a big bowl mix the olive oil, worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, cumin, salt, maple syrup, and sprinkle of pepper all together.  Then put the nuts in the bowl and mix.  Coat the nuts with the mixture.  Then transfer all the nuts back onto the parchment lined baking sheet.  Let the nuts toast/bake for 20 minutes, but toss them occasionally.

Allow nuts to cool before storing.

_________________________________________

This makes a flavor snack.  And, of course, you can use whatever type of nuts you like.  And perhaps futz with the amount of spices and herbs.

Now I need recipes that call for maple syrup.

Do you like mixed nuts?  Do you have any recipes that call for maple syrup?

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Light Ginger Marinade

Posted by terrepruitt on March 14, 2016

Unfortunately I don’t always measure when I am cooking or making a marinade.  I actually hear a lot of people say that.  When you are cooking you just pour and sprinkle and shake, right?  It makes it very difficult to share recipes.  Normally I don’t even remember what I put in a marinade and every once in a while I wish I had.  This one was a little different from my normal marinades and I really liked it.  I liked it so much that in the middle of eating I jumped up and wrote down what was in it.  Then later that same week I made it again.  The first time I used it with boneless pork chops.  It was really good.  Then second time I used it with boneless chicken breasts . . . just as good.  I have not used it with beef so I don’t know if it will be as good with that as it was with pork and chicken.  I’m calling it Light Ginger Marinade.

I put in:

_________________________________________________

Light Ginger Marinade

sherry  (1 1/2 cup)
teriyaki (1 tbsp)
soy sauce  (1 tbsp)
worcestershire sauce  (1 tbsp)
garlic powder  (1 tsp)
ginger (powder)  (2 tsp)
dry mustard (this is a powder) (1 tsp)
ground thyme  (1 tsp)
and chopped onions  (1/4 to 1/2 of a medium sized one)

Put it all in the dish you (or even a zip lock bag) are going to marinate the meat in and let it set for at least an hour.  I like mine to marinate at long as possible.

_________________________________________________

I have guesstimated the measurements because, as I said, I didn’t measure.  But I really liked it.  Ha, as I look at it I realized it really is not all that different from my normal, but it is — in my opinion — really good.  And that is really all that matters when I am cooking to eat it, right?  I need to think it is really good.  Ok, well, yes, my husband has to at least like it or why would I make it again, but I am the one that needs to think it is good.  But I still felt I needed to type that.

I think the difference is that instead of using a lot of the teriyaki, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce I only used a tablespoon of each.  Usually I use a lot more of all of those.  Or I make the base the teriyaki.  But this time I was trying to just add those flavors a little bit.  That is why I am calling it “light” because it is not as dark as the other marinades.

I am going to use this recipe the next time my hubby makes a Costco run.  We can do some of the chicken AND some of the pork in this.

Of course, when you make it, adjust it all to your liking . . . and to the amount of meat you are trying to juice.  Perhaps adding some salt and pepper?  For me, everything needs salt, but not pepper.

I bet it would be really awesome with fresh ginger!

Do you have a “go to” marinade you always make?

 

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Brisket In A CrockPot

Posted by terrepruitt on October 29, 2013

I have a friend who buys a grass-fed cow for beef by offering portions to her friends.  So my husband and I purchased a portion.  The meat is really amazing.  If you have read any of my meat posts you know that I prefer to douse my meat in marinades and seasonings.  Well, with this beef I don’t do that normally because the grass-fed flavor of the meat is good.  When I picked up my meat my friend gave me a few choices about some of the cuts.  I know nothing about cuts of meat.  I based my selection on this cut being one or two servings and that cut being three to four.  Of course I chose the value.  Plus a couple of the selections were new-to-me cuts.  So I was excited at the prospect of learning how to cook different cuts of meat.  Well, as I said, I was excited at the prospect.  I haven’t had as much time since I picked up the meat.  I have not spent time learning how to cook both the different cuts AND the way this meat cooks. So I have been cooking the ground beef — A LOT.  I make burgers often.  Used to be I couldn’t get my hubby to want to eat a burger that I handmade, now he LOVES them.  The beef is spectacular!  Anyway . . . I finally have to get to cooking the meat in my freezer so my first attempt — BRISKET.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaOn Facebook I asked my friend what to do and she said, “Brisket: crockpot, red wine, bay leaves, onions. Can add bell pepper, tomato sauce too. Cook. FYI: I say crockpot because I’m guessing you have one. I don’t use them, so I couldn’t fathom how much time. Brisket is one of my faves. Remember what I said: look up how to cook grass fed. Because this cow was so lean, look up veal. Not the same product, but the cooking is the same.”

I am really not a fan of brisket, unless my friend cooks it.  I had one she made once and I was so amazed.  But as she said, she doesn’t use a crock pot, but I did.

I don’t like cooked bell pepper that much so I nixed that idea and I am also not a fan of tomato sauce so I decided against that.  What I did was I looked up crockpot brisket and found a bunch of recipes.  I looked at the ingredients I liked from each one and decided I would put them together and see what I get.

Here is what I used.  I actually thought to write it down BEFORE I prepared it.

_________________________________________________________

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaCrockpot Brisket

About 3 pounds of brisket
-4 or 5 cloves of garlic, minced
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp pepper   (1/4 tsp)
-1/2 tsp dry (powdered) mustard   (3/4 tsp)
-1/2 tsp cumin    (3/4 tsp)
-1/2 tsp thyme
-1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce  (1 1/2 tbsp)

-3/4 of an onion, chopped
-1 tbsp of sherry
-1 bottle of beer
-1 cup water
-1 tsp Better than Bouillon

Mix all the dry ingredients including the Worcestershire sauce together in a bowl, then rub it on the meat.  Cover all of the meat.  Put some of the onions on the bottom of the pot.  Place the meat in the pot on top of the onions.  Put the rest of the onions on top of the meat.  Then pour in the sherry, beer, and broth (I had mixed the water with the Better than Bouillon).

Sprinkle more cumin on top.

Set it on low and cook it for 5 hours.  (I will cook it for less next time.)

_________________________________________________________

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaWhen I looked up brisket I saw times from 6 to 9 hours.  So I had been planning on cooking it for 5 hours.  But then I looked up veal and it said 7 to 9 hours.  So I set one timer for 7 hours and another for 5.  At 5 hours I checked on it and it seemed done so I turned off the crockpot.  I will cook if for less next time because, as you know, it keeps cooking even after you turn off the heat.  I will also remove the crock pot from the heat next time.

The meat actually came out moist and fine.  But I would like it a little less cooked.

My husband loves meat, especially beef, so he loved it.  He kept making yummy noises.  And I actually observed him eat the meat except for one piece. Then he eat everything else then the last piece of his meat.  He saved it for last.  He wanted to savor the last bits.  As I have said before, I am blessed because he likes pretty much anything, but he loved this.

The amounts in parenthesis are the amounts that I am going to use next time.  I want a little more flavor.  But I am happy with my first cooking of brisket.  And now you know what?  Yup, my favorite . . . . leftovers!

Are you a brisket fan?  Do you have a brisket recipe?  How do you cook brisket?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

No More High Fructose Corn Syrup

Posted by terrepruitt on October 27, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaAwhile back, March 2010, to be more accurate, I posted about one of my favorite condiments.  I use Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce in almost all of my marinades and whenever I cook meat.  Sometimes I even splash it in my vegetables.  I was upset back in March of 2010 when I realized that it had High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in it.  This sweetener is being used in way too many products.  I actually think that people recognize it to be an awful sweetener and so some companies are removing it from their products.  I believe HFCS to be awful because it is made from corn and there is too much corn in too many products.  One of the main problems with corn is that at least 88% of the corn produced in the United States (in 2011) was from Genetically Engineered seed.  So, corn is an altered vegetable.  Next the processing in which the corn has to go through in order to create HFCS involves many additional chemicals making it, in my opinion, a double-whammy of things I don’t want to eat.  So annoyed was I that there was HFCS in the Worcestershire Sauce that I gave feedback on the Lea & Perrins site.  Their response was that HFCS does not cause obesity.  That was very odd to me since I never mentioned weight or fat or anything.  I just asked if they could make their sauce without HFCS.  Well, they are.

I am not saying that it was my doing at all, but I am just here to report that Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce does come in versions without High Fructose Corn Syrup.  In my opinion it is only fair of me to report that.  If I complain about something in a Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumbapost on my blog and it gets changed, then it is only right that I post something about it being fixed.  I am very excited that it no longer contains HFCS.

However it does contain “sugar” and the general rule with “sugar” is that if it just says “sugar” and not PURE CANE sugar then it was made from sugar beets.  Sugar beets is another highly genetically engineered food.  Ninety Five percent of sugar beet acres in the US were planted with the genetically engineered seed in 2011.  Sugar Beets are “Round-up ready”.  While sugar from sugar beets is from a genetically engineered food, I believe there is a lot less processing involved.  With less processing the chances are there are less chemicals being used.  So it is a whammy, but not a double-whammy, although it is a BIG whammy!

The less our food is processed with chemicals the better.  The closer to natural it is the better.  But again, when the vegetable has been genetically engineered it probably isn’t close to natural at all.  But again, I for me, I would rather eat sugar beet sugar than High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Anyway . . . Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce now lists sugar as an ingredient instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Now if we could just get them to use Pure Cane Sugar . . . .

Or what I really need to do is try the kind that my Nia friend told me about.  It is organic.  But it doesn’t have anchovies (ewww, I know) and that is what makes worcestershire sauce worcestershire sauce.

Have you tried another brand of Worcestershire Sauce?

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Shopping Step to help Dinner Prep

Posted by terrepruitt on July 16, 2011

You know how Rachael Ray says to clean your veggies when you get home from shopping?  Well that doesn’t work for me, because although I LOVE the idea of the veggies being all ready to go when I want to use them, I think they start to go bad faster once they are washed and prepped. I don’t do that.  I really like the idea, but I don’t do that.  One thing my husband and I do after shopping that helps with dinner prep though is marinate the meat.  I do not like steak or pork that has not been marinated.  I figured out that this is why I thought I didn’t like steak, often steak in a restaurant has not been marinated it is just seasoned.  I like it to have soaked in the flavor.  So when we bring home steak we make up a bag of marinade and put the steak in it then freeze it.  Marinating the meat seems to add a step to shopping, but helps with preparing dinner.

Sometimes we have a big hunk of meat so my husband trims off the fat and cuts it up and we make some sauce then bag it up.  Sometimes he wants to have steak on hand for his beef stroganoff so he will chop it up in little bite size chunks.  We will put the chunks in a bag of sauce and freeze that.  When we need to use the steak we take it out to defrost and it is already marinated.  It has soaked in the juices while it was freeze and while it is defrosting.  Instead of defrosting THEN marinating, it is doing both at once.  AWESOME.

A little while ago he decided he wanted to do that with pork too.  We don’t buy bone on pork chops, my husband buys the thick chops.  I just remembered a funny story, one day he came home with steak and pork and told me to “make up” x number of bags.  He said some of the bags were for pork and some of the bags were for steak.  Not that he minded, but I could tell the difference when we cooked them he had put the steak in the pork marinade and the pork in the steak marinade.  It turned out ok, just a little different.  We always marinate the steak and we marinate the port most of the time, but sometimes we want to cook it another way so we don’t put it in bag with marinade.

As I was sitting here trying to think of something to post, I was thinking, “I didn’t learn anything this week.”  I know that is not true but I couldn’t think of what I learned so I decided to share something I already knew.  I was smelling the grilling my hubby was doing and it made me think of what a time saver the marinade in the freezer is and I thought, “Huh.  Maybe I could share that.”  So I am.

We use zip lock bags and I put whatever we have on hand in it; sherry/wine, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, onions, garlic, marjoram, parsley, garlic, whatever.   Then we squeeze out as much air as possible and freeze it until we are ready to use it.  Cool.  I love that.  When I go into the freezer to get out something for dinner and there is meat in there already marinated I am so happy.  I think we should try it with chicken too, what do you think?

I know you can by meat that is already marinated but you never really know what is in those pre-made ones and for me .  . . one who cannot tolerate any kind of spicy heat, they normally are too hot.  This way you are in control of the flavor you get.

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

« Previous Entries