***Reposting…

Many people say this time of year, “I don’t like corned beef and cabbage.” Others say, “New England boil dinners are disgusting.” The same people love ordering a Rueben Sandwich at their favorite deli or restaurant.

I grew up eating boiled corned beef and cabbage. My adopted mother is Irish, and this was her biggie every year. I liked it and looked forward to it. I put a shitload of butter on the waterlogged potatoes and cabbage that I smashed with my fork. Even though the corned beef is salty, the potatoes and cabbage were bland and needed salt and pepper. The beef always fell apart, and we ended up with fatty chunks of meat. I’ve had boiled corned beef out, and it is basically served the same way.

A few years ago, I upped my corned beef and cabbage game. Instead of the typical boil dinner, I now roast my corned beef and make either colcannon or other delicious dishes with cabbage, potatoes, and onions. 

The meat is the easiest thing to make in the world!!! Just rinse off your corned beef and pat it dry. Top the fatty side with pickling spice and a couple of cloves of minced garlic. The little packet of pickling spice they give you with your corned beef is not enough and, most times, not very fresh. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful store called the Market Wagon in Bennington, VT. They sell dried herbs and spices in bulk. I can promise you their spices and herbs are very fresh; they have the date they weighed and packed it on. Bulk herbs and spices are available at many health food stores and online, which are much better than dollar store spices.

Pre-heat your oven to 350-degrees. Next, wrap the corned beef tightly in aluminum foil and place it in a Pyrex dish—Bake at 350-degrees an hour for every pound of your beef. Mine was 3 lbs, so I baked for 3 hours. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely!!! Do not unwrap. I like to make mine ahead and will throw it into the refrigerator for a day or two.

When you are ready to use your corned beef, unwrap and trim off the fat cap and pickling spice on top. I always save the juices that are in the pyrex dish after I unwrap the corned beef. Slice it against the grain they tell you. If you aren’t comfortable slicing meat, slicing the corned beef when it is cool makes it very easy to learn how to slice properly.

Since the meat is cool, you can actually pick it up and see which way the grain or the beef lines are going. You are going to slice in the opposite direction or against the grain. Having a sharp carving knife is also key to slicing any meat. I like my corned beef sliced thinly on an angle. Please don’t be afraid or intimidated; I take my time when I am slicing up a piece of meat that I cooked and cooled longingly.

Now you can have your corned beef as part of a St. Patrick’s Day meal or just for Rueben Sandwiches. They sell corned beef all year, and it doesn’t have to be eaten only once a year or at a deli. After the corned beef is sliced, it’s time to reheat it. This is what all Jewish delicatessens do with their corned beef and pastrami. Basically, you are steaming the meat by slowly heating it in the braising liquid. Just put your sliced beef into a saute pan and add the juices to the pan. Cover with a lid and simmer gently until the beef is hot. If you forget and throw away the braising liquid, use water or low sodium beef broth.

Colcannon is something I never heard of until a few years ago. What can I say, except this is a big game-changer? The best part of boiled corned beef and cabbage was the leftovers the next day, fried up in a cast iron pan. So why eat the flavorless boiled stuff, to begin with? Why wait until the next day to have the cabbage and potatoes the way you like them?

To make colcannon I start by making a batch of homemade mashed potatoes. Next, I slice up some onions and cabbage. I start with the onions cooking them slowly in a little bit of butter in a cast-iron pan until they are soft and translucent.

Next, add the sliced cabbage to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the onions and cabbage are caramelized and golden brown. Remove from the pan and mix with the mashed potatoes. The last time I made colcannon, I spread it out in a Pyrex dish, topped it with sharp cheddar, and baked it until the cheese was melted and golden brown. Holy Mother of Jesus was that good! Do that last line with an Irish accent!!! 😆☘️

Some other side dishes that I have made with my corned beef dinner are Parsnip Puree, Carmalized Onions and Cabbage, Cornmeal Crust Three Cheese Onion Tart, Shaved, and Caramelized Brussel Sprouts. All of them were delicious and there are many more recipes I want to try making with my corned beef.

Before you throw your corned beef into a stockpot or crockpot, please consider roasting it. If you still want boiled potatoes and cabbage, you can do that separately. If you want to try something new, go for it. Remember there aren’t any rules, you can make whatever you want or like.

If you aren’t Irish and don’t give a rats ass about St. Patrick’s Day, then roast up some corned beef and make yourself a delicious Rueben Sandwich, Ruben Eggrolls, Ruben Casserole, or have a little corned beef on rye with a schmear of mustard.

Protein waffle topped with a bit of peanut butter, bananas, and walnuts.

I promised to share any healthy, clean-eating recipes I came across; I tried one on Sunday morning, which was outstanding.

It was a bit more work that I wasn’t prepared to do, but now I know how to smooth things out to make the waffles easier.

I made an eating mistake on a chilly morning last week. I went back to having a carb-only breakfast and paid for it the rest of the day. Now I know why I was always tired, hungry, and grumpy mid-morning.

I made a bowl of grits with a pinch of salt and a small amount of maple syrup. It was yummy and satisfying. Not!

By mid-morning, I was starving and falling asleep. I had been hungry all day and tired. It wasn’t until we had a dinner salad that I started to wake up.

No more carb-only meals again, ever. I started looking for breakfast options that weren’t just yogurt or cottage cheese based.

Then, I found this fantastic protein waffle recipe. It’s a perfect carrier for other proteins such as peanut butter, cashew or almond butter, nuts, and fruits.

Below is the recipe I found. In the future, I will grind my GF oats ahead of time and store them in a canister, which takes another step and removes a small appliance from the mix.

https://www.skinnytaste.com/high-protein-oat-waffles/

I followed the recipe exactly and was rewarded with the lightest, fluffy, filling, and delicious waffles.

I wonder if I can make pancakes with the same batter for quicker preparation?

On a rainy day, I plan to make a double or triple batch of these babies, wrap them individually, and freeze them.

How easy on a busy morning to pop in the toaster oven and have a quick hand-held breakfast.

I haven’t been this excited about a recipe for a long time. If you are serious about healthy eating like I am, I hope you try it and enjoy it too.

Since the end of April, Marty and I have been eating clean. What is eating clean, you may ask? Eating clean is following these basic principles. It’s been easy to adapt to, especially since it’s almost summer. I started feeling better immediately.

• Eat breakfast every day within an hour of getting up.
• Eat lean protein and complex carbohydrates at every meal.
• Have two or three servings of healthy fats every day.
• Get fiber, vitamins, nutrients, and enzymes from fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Control your portions.
• Drink 2 to 3 liters of water (about 13 8-ounce cups) daily.

The foods to avoid:

• Overprocessed foods, especially white flour and sugar
• Artificial sweeteners
• Sugary beverages, such as soda and juice
• Alcohol
• Foods with chemical additives like food dyes and sodium nitrite
• Foods with preservatives
• Artificial foods, such as processed cheese slices
• Saturated fats and trans fats
• Anti-foods — foods with no nutritional value, such as Cool Whip.
  

Eating clean isn’t a diet; it’s a lifestyle choice. Since I stopped drinking alcohol and eating clean, I have lost 16 lbs and have no symptoms of lung disease. For me, clean eating equals feeling healthy and active without restrictions due to lung disease!

I realized we weren’t eating enough fruits and veggies because of laziness. Yup, it’s true. I would prep food for meals for hours, but I didn’t want to cut up fruit and veggies to eat uncooked. Ugh.

After speaking with my pulmonologist a month ago, I learned that to stay feeling this good, I needed to continue losing weight to fall into my BMI (Body Mass Index) range of 117 lbs—129 lbs.

Right now, I am at 130 lbs and motivated as hell. My weight before I had pneumonia was 158 lbs. No wonder why I felt like shit and didn’t feel comfortable in that body. I was miserable at that weight.

My first real love of summertime fruit has been cherries. How could I not love cherries? George Washington loved them!

“The cherry tree myth is one of the oldest and best-known legends about George Washington. In the original story, when Washington was six years old, he received a hatchet as a gift and damaged his father’s cherry tree with it. When his father discovered what George had done, he became angry. Young George bravely said, “I cannot tell a lie…I did cut it with my hatchet.” Washington’s father embraced him and declared that his son’s honesty was worth more than a thousand trees.” The Washington Library.

I love American history, especially the Revolutionary War era. Archeologists found 35 bottles of preserved cherries on Mount Vernon’s property. I guess Washington did love cherries!

I bought a small bag at Aldi for $7.99 and gulped at that price, but I bought them anyway. I washed and removed the stones as soon as I got home. I knew if I didn’t do it right away, they would sit until they rotted in the bag.

Boy, was I surprised by how easy it went and how incredibly delicious they were! I used a large round cake piping tip, a trick I was on a cooking show years ago.

I ate vanilla Greek yogurt with cherries while I was still removing the pits; sometimes, I used the same ingredients and made a parfait topped with granola.

We ate them by the handful, and I made a beautiful salad with them: fresh peaches, lettuce, arugula from my garden, burrata cheese, and a simple vinaigrette. Holy shit, was this good!

The good news after we ran out, Marty picked up a pint at the Troy Farmers Market on Saturday! Yum! I will be searching for more ideas for cherries. I can’t tell you that I am kicking myself for being such a lazy ass for so long.

But…it’s better late than never. 🍒

Cold shrimp scampi salad

Inspiration comes from everywhere. As a young cook, I HAD to use recipes; if I didn’t, I would become paralyzed by fear of messing up. I felt the same way when I was driving and feared getting lost.

Once, I made a dish, probably more than ten times; I didn’t need the recipe anymore but never deviated from the original.

I made the dish this way for years; then, I began to learn what flavors went with what and started cooking “my” food. It is an ever-evolving process.

I watched the documentary Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, which changed my thoughts about food. I finally understood why some food was spectacular, and others were mediocre at best.

I learned how to balance a dish. I discovered what umami was and why it’s called the fifth sense. I finally learned how to season a dish properly. These things take regular home cooking to the next level and beyond.

Flash forward 20 years, and now I use recipes to inspire or see ingredient ratios. I will still follow a new or tricky recipe until I learn it. In baking, recipes are a must for most people since you can’t wing it.

My inspirations for the summer.

Look, anyone can cook and has to start somewhere. Back in the day, I used Betty Crocker and The Joy of Cooking cookbooks. Today, new cooks have YouTube, online cooking classes, food blogs, and other social media platforms.

Food was always an essential part of my life back then, and I wanted to get better. It took a decade or two before I stopped apologizing for my food and getting embarrassed when people complimented me on my cooking.

I use the food blog Love and Lemons whenever I am looking for new fantastic vegetable mains, sides, or salads. The food and recipes on this blog feel a bit like sunshine to me.

One of my readers asked for the lemon vinaigrette dressing recipe I used on the green beans & scallops salad I made this week. Here is the link to Love and Lemons recipe for Lemon Vinaigrette. I replaced the thyme used in the recipe with tarragon.

I have no affiliation with Love and Lemons, but when I like something, I share it. I’m sure anyone could find at least 3-5 recipes they would like to try; I have mine earmarked.

I hope this post inspires someone and a new food blog to check out. Something I always have on hand? Lemons. 🍋

I wrote about St. Joseph two years ago on my blog. This post was fun for me to research and share the history of the feast day.

I’m having Noah and Aja over for dinner tomorrow night to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day. I don’t know if he remembers always having Italian food and cream puffs on March 19th growing up.

Sadly, I may have to wait until next week to start my seeds. It will be in the teens and twenties in the evenings for the rest of the week, which is too cold for germination.

I wish I had a grow light to set them up in a warm place in our house.

Well, enough about me; here is the link to my blog post, “Make Way for San Giuseppe.”

https://julziestyle.com/2021/03/make-way-for-san-giuseppe

I used to make my cream puffs with Bavarian cream, but have switched to whipped cream. It’s so much easier and delicious. I learned this from my bio mom. 😊

Tomorrow is also the first day of spring! Because of leap year, it’s on the 19th and not the 20th. Winter is holding on for dear life this week, even though spring has sprung.

We all know by now that I am a techie knucklehead; I have many other strengths after trying to share the recipe link from my cooking class numerous times.

I’m glad the link didn’t work because now I can share other thoughts, notes, and advice with you.

A few of my cooking students feared Thai and Indian food because they thought they were too spicy.

After explaining to them when you prepare Thai and Indian food at home, you can adjust the spice level you are comfortable with.

Their favorite things we made in class were Thai and Indian cuisine, which I loved so much. I loved even more that they made the recipes they learned at home!

With this recipe, you can use any protein, such as chicken, shrimp, fish, tofu, soy curls, or vegetarian.

Speaking of vegetables, add what you like, have on hand, or do a kitchen sink curry with anything leftover in your fridge.

Spice levels can be left up to you. If you are afraid of spice, start with just a teaspoon of curry paste. If you love spice, use a whole can. I use half a can when I make it and adjust when I have guests.

This recipe can be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, or gluten-free, using tamari sauce and not soy sauce containing wheat. Many cooks don’t realize this, and gluten poisoning their dinner guests.

Additional gluten-free information: these are the brands of curry paste and fish sauce I use, which are safe and gluten-free. All pure coconut milk is naturally gluten-free.

Whatever brand of broth you use, always check the label that it says gluten-free. Many are not.

I’ve had many requests for the recipe this week. Alas, here it is.

Thai Red Curry with Chicken

Ingredients

1 TBSP vegetable, coconut, or canola oil
1 TBSP Thai red curry paste (more or less depending on your spice level)
1 14 oz can of coconut milk (stirred well)
2 or 3 cloves of finely minced garlic
1 tsp of finely minced garlic
1 large onion cut into crescents
1 red & 1 green, yellow, or orange sweet bell pepper cut into strips
2 carrots cut diagonally or julienned
1 1/2 cups of your choice additional veg (sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peas), etc
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
1 TBSP fish sauce
1 TBSP soy or tamari sauce for gluten-free
1-2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 lime freshly squeezed
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Directions

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil & red curry paste to the pan, stirring in 1/4 can of coconut milk. Cook for 1 minute making sure not to burn, lower heat if necessary.

Add the onion, peppers, carrots, and additional vegetables to the pan and stir-fry the vegetables in the curry paste mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger to the pan. Cook for another minute. Be careful not to let them burn. Add the rest of the coconut milk and chicken broth to the pan. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.

Add the chicken to the pan and stir. Simmer over low heat covered for 20 minutes or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.

Uncover and add the fish sauce, brown sugar, soy or tamari sauce, and lime juice to the pan. Stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.

Taste, taste, taste. Check for the balance between spice, sweet, acid, salt, or umami. Trust your taste buds and adjust as necessary.

Serve in bowls with steamed jasmine rice and garnish with additional chopped cilantro and lime wedges if desired. Enjoy.

Last Wednesday, when I was at my dance partner Kathleen’s house between belly dance classes, she showed me what she baked earlier that day. 

You guessed it, butter swim biscuits. She let me smell them, and I looked at them. They made my mouth water.

Within one minute, I found a gluten-free recipe almost identical to the conventional recipe she used. 

Friday morning, Marty’s birthday, I decided to make the biscuits. I failed. Dammit. I did everything correctly and knew I failed before putting them in the oven. 

The dough was described in the recipe as a moist dough. I had a soupy mess. Shit. I added more flour than the recipe called for just until it came together. I proceeded with the recipe.

As they baked, I thought I saved them. I let them cool as instructed. Then I tried serving them. The insides were gooey. I was pissed. We ate one each, but eating it wasn’t pleasant, and we needed salt big time.

The next day, I went on YouTube and watched Southern cooks turn out the most glorious butter swim biscuits, and there was no fussy shit.

I watched their technique and how they measured their flour by scooping a cup into it. I used to measure flour this way, and that’s why I failed.

When I follow gluten-free baking recipes, they are always more complicated than necessary. Every gluten-free blogger tries to up the others since they compete for how many subscriptions they have.

“You must not scoop when measuring your flour; you spoon the flour into the cup.” 

I follow the instructions if I want these gluten-free recipes to come out correctly. The next time I make the recipe, I cut out the bullshit extra steps and dishes.

The butter swim recipe I used had very few instructions for measuring the ingredients, followed by stirring it until a “moist dough” is formed.

There were no demo photos like most food blogs. Photos are extremely helpful, which is why I use them when I am writing a recipe.

I guess I back-seat drove the first time and measured my flour the “professional’ way. That was my mistake, silly Julz.

On Sunday morning, I needed to try making these butter whatamacallits again. Did I have to? Yes! I was still pissy; the first ones didn’t come out. I HATE wasting food and ingredients.

This time, I got to bake the way I used to, plunging the measuring cup right into the container of flour.

I added salt to the recipe, as all the Southern cooks did on YouTube. I was pleased with the outcome of the butter swim biscuits. They looked, tasted, and smelled like the ones I saw on YouTube.

After writing this, I know many people are shaking their heads and saying, “tisk tisk” at how bad these biscuits are for you since they are “swimming” in butter.

Butter swim biscuits use the same amount of butter or shortening as regular biscuits. These biscuits are a treat, not something you can eat daily unless you want to end up in a cath lab. 

Scones also use the same amount of butter, so I rarely make them. I believe food and eating should be thought of as “everything in moderation.

For example, if I want to eat a scone, biscuits and gravy, or high-fat items, I’d rather eat a small amount and be satisfied than make a low-fat version. Moderation.

So would I recommend making butter swim biscuits? Absolutely! They are also the easiest biscuits to make. 

We had the biscuits over three days with sausage gravy, preserves, and ham. They are so filling that you can only eat one, which helps when counting fat and cholesterol levels. 

I must admit I miss the days when I could buy pop & fresh biscuits and crack open that tube, like winding a jack in the box. Pop!

So, if you like dense, crunchy, and buttery af biscuits, these are for you! 

Just google butter swim biscuits, and a slew of recipes will come up, or go on YouTube and check out the southern cooks that helped me. 😊

When my friend Maria planned a bonfire cookie party to celebrate her 60th birthday, she texted me that she knew I wouldn’t be able to come.

I couldn’t go because of my lung disease and the smoke. I was so touched that she remembered and thought of it.

She went on to text why don’t we do a tea party to celebrate both of our birthdays. 

Of course, I began planning what type of tea sandwiches, tea cakes, and sweets to make. 

I also invited our friend Kat to join us. Kat and I have been belly dancing for 20 years. 

Kat and Maria were friends. She brought Maria to one of our belly dance shows. I think she came to class the following week.

Yesterday morning, I found an article about Galentine’s Day. Here’s the article I read to find out about it.

What Is Galentine’s Day? Meaning and Origin of the Modern Holiday | YourDictionary

“Gal”entines Day can be celebrated between February 1 and 13. The tea party was set for Saturday, February 10, so it qualified 

I baked Earl gray tea cakes on Friday and glazed them with a made-from-scratch lavender glaze. Next, I baked lemon bars made with Meyer lemons. They came out amazing. 

Finding Meyer lemons at Trader Joe’s that were $2.99 a bag, the same price as conventional and less than $3.99 for organic, is fantastic. 

Just before the party, I made two kinds of tea sandwiches. The first was a cucumber and Boursin cheese sandwich. I used the Boursin cheese I made for “Sydney’s omelet.” It made the sandwiches so flavorful. 

I forgot to take a photo of the sandwich platter. 😑

I whipped up a small batch of curried egg salad for the other sandwiches. The table setting came together quickly since I had a lot of different serving pieces and dishes.

Maria brought a tea party floral arrangement in a teacup. It couldn’t have been more perfect!

Nelly was a little doll and so happy to have friends over. She loves Maria, and she took her to Kat immediately. She settled into her little bed in the dining room. She would go over to Kat for a little loving. 

She also spent her time inside Maria’s sweater that was hung on the stair post. Nelly smelled Maria & Jon’s three dogs, two donkeys, two chickens, one cat, and a flock of sheep. 

Note…the sweater didn’t smell like any of the animals to a human’s nose. LOL.

I have always loved having tea parties since I was a little girl, plus I got to use my Mema’s rosebud teacups. I have beautiful memories of Mema and me drinking tea and having Stella Dora Anisette Toast. 💖

My friends and I enjoyed the food and tea. We had fun conversations and lots of laughs, exactly like the new holiday we had learned about, Galentine’s Day!

I took the leftover cookies with me to Martin’s dinner party last and got to share them with my other friends. Life is really good.

One of my favorite TV series is “The Bear.” I’m not going to get into the series or episodes, but in season two, Sydney makes Natalie, who is pregnant, an omelet. An omelet that is made with so much care and love.

After watching that episode, I started craving Sydney’s omelet. I watched Sydney several times making the omelet, taking note of Chef Sydney’s carefully prepared ingredients and techniques.

I made my first ever Boursin cheese and bought a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, something I hardly ever purchase. I finely chopped some chives and was ready to go.

Marty likes to turn everything into a competition, which I knew when I asked him if we wanted to make our omelets together.

This is what was left in the sieve. When working on your culinary skills, this is a necessary step.

Marty is a better short-order cook than I am and can make a perfect French omelet. It is harder than you think.

This is why an executive chef will ask an applicant to make a French omelet. It tells them everything they need to know about the person’s skills.

Marty’s omelet is on the left, and mine is on the right.

I circled the flaws in my omelet in these two photos.

Long story short, Marty made a perfect omelet, while mine had two golden patches. I would not have been hired if this was an interview.

I know most people would think, “Big shit,” that I had flaws in my omelet, but I am working on my skills, and this bugged the hell out of me.

The last scrumptious bite.

The omelet is a viral recipe, and people are going nuts over it. We aren’t the type to try anything viral like people do on TikTok, but this was different because we “know” Chef Sydney.

Many people are making the omelet their own by using different chips, but we wanted to make it exactly as it was on the show.

I’m skeptical if cheddar jalapeño chips would have paired with the Boursin cheese, or would it take over?

It was every bit as delicious as it looked on the show. The smooth Boursin cheese and the sour cream and onion ruffle chips crunch were a flavor bomb with a great mouth feel.

Even perfectly cooked French omelets can be a bit bland, but this takes it to the next level. That is why this scene in the episode and the recipe is the talk of the town.