…from the Perspectives’ St. Patrick’s Day Happy Hour Bar![]() How you doin’? Yes, it’s Saint Paddy’s Day! What are you drinking tonight? Here’s one for our Irish friends who may live in Mexico. It’s The Irish Cactus cocktail bringing together an unlikely duo creating a simple, creamy cocktail. It’s a surprising cocktail owing to the hints of the tequila that come through the creamy liqueur when you least expect it. It’s a little on the sweet side, but with a little tequila kick. Not only is this a great St. Patrick’s Day drink, it’s perfect for any Happy Hour, and for a dessert drink, too. And it's so simple to make that it will become one of your at home happy hour favorites, too. Prep time: 3 minutes Yield: 1 cocktail Ingredients 1 ounce white tequila 2 ounces Irish cream liqueur A few drops of green food coloring (don’t go overboard, just enough to let people know it’s for the holiday) Directions
ChefSecret: You don’t need to use an expensive aged tequila, white tequila is a great choice for this cocktail. For the Irish cream I used Baileys which is the best-known Irish cream, but there are other brands available as well. I used one of those large ice cubes to reduce dilution—nobody wants to drink a watered-down creamy drink. St. Paddy’s Quip of the Day: May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enfold you. May the blessings of St. Patrick behold you. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #Cocktail #HappyHour #IrishCactus #IrishCream #Baileys #Tequila #StPatricksDay #Cheers #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023
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…from the Perspectives’ Kitchen![]() How you doin’? Corned beef is made from a cut of meat called brisket. It’s a great piece of meat that can be cooked using several different methods. I love barbecued or smoked brisket, Texas-style. There is also a wonderful Jewish preparation which, if long-braised in tomato and vegetables, creates a wonderful holiday meal. And then there is my beer-braised preparation with a proprietary Guinness brine that takes on a new dimension of flavor—but then again there is darn little that Guinness doesn’t make better. Brisket used to be an inexpensive cut of meat—it isn’t anymore. What is brisket? It is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of a steer. Beef brisket is one of the nine beef primal cuts. The brisket muscles include the superficial and deep pectorals. As cattle do not have collar bones, these muscles support about 60% of the body weight of standing or moving cattle. This requires a significant amount of connective tissue, so the resulting meat must be cooked correctly over time to make it tender. Why the long cook time? This normally tough cut of meat, due to the collagen fibers that make up the significant connective tissue in the cut, is tenderized when the collagen gelatinizes, resulting in more tender brisket. The fat cap, which is often left attached to the brisket, helps to keep the meat from drying out during the prolonged cooking which is necessary to break down the connective tissue. Water (wine or beer) is necessary for the conversion of collagen to gelatin, which is the hydrolysis product of collagen. In this recipe I combine brisket with onions, bay leaf, veggies, a robust Guinness stout, and molasses. The result is a corned beef that emerges from the slow cooker fork-tender and juicy. It’s full of delicate spice and has a pleasing sweetness. The vegetables are fragrant and richly flavorful, having braised in the hearty broth made by the meat and aromatics. If you’re looking for things to do with the leftover corned beef, try tossing it with shredded potatoes for a great corned beef hash, tucked into a taco with cabbage and avocado, or the classic, layered on a sandwich with a soft cheese and loads of horseradish. Prep time: 20 minutes Slow cook time: 10 to 12 hours Cool time: 5 to 10 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 3 to 4 pounds corned beef brisket 6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered 6 carrots, peeled and chopped 2 tablespoons minced garlic 2 large bay leaves 12 ounces Guinness Extra Stout 3 tablespoons molasses 1 small cabbage, cut in large wedges (optional) Directions
Quip of the Day: “What do you call two ears of corn having a fight? Corn Beef!” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to\]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #Entrees #CornedBeefAndCabbage #Brisket #Potatoes #Cabbage #Carrots #StPatricksDay #2023Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 …from the Perspectives’ Kitchen ![]() How you doin’? Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! If you’re like me, you don’t like to go out to restaurants on “amateur” days when many restaurants are over-booked, understaffed. If you want to make your sweetie a special homemade dessert here is one recipe you ought to put in your Survival Guide. My crêpes will make you the star of Valentine’s dinner and it so easy. If you can scramble an egg, you can make a sophisticated French dessert. This is one of the most romantic desserts you can easily make at home. Don’t be intimidated by the thought of making crêpes at home. My crêpe recipe yields perfectly delicate, tender results that are failure proof every time. Crêpes are very thin pancakes that can be served with a wide variety of sweet and savory fillings and toppings. This dessert or breakfast staple dates back to at least 13th-century France. Making homemade crêpes is easier than you think. You'll find a detailed ingredient list and step-by-step instructions in the recipe below, but let's go over the basics first. Crêpes are easy to make with just the basic ingredients you already have on hand. Basic French crêpes start with a cup of all-purpose flour for the basic matrix; eggs act as a binder to hold all the batter ingredient together; milk adds moisture and keeps the crêpes light and tender; water helps thin the batter to keep the crêpes thin; just a pinch of salt enhances the overall flavor; and butter lends richness and moisture to the crêpes. You can fill and top your crêpes with whatever you like! Popular choices include whipped cream, fresh fruit, fruit sauce, cream cheese, chocolate sauce, Grand Marnier and granulated sugar and chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella) or peanut butter. They make perfect blintzes and you can also make savory crepes with a variety cheeses, meats, and veggies. Prep time: 10 minutes Batter rest time: 20 minutes Cook time: 3-5 minutes Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 large eggs 1/2 cup whole milk 1/2 cup water 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract( for sweet crêpes) 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter, melted Directions
ChefSecret: Stack the crepes with wax paper in between each layer. Place them in an airtight container or zip-top bag, then store in the refrigerator for up to two days. You can freeze the crêpes for up to a month. Quip of the Day: I checked in to one of the haunted bed and breakfast places in France last summer. I had to leave because the place was giving me the crêpes. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #Desserts #Crepes #SweetCrepes #SavoryCrepes #DarkChocolate #ValentinesDayDesserts #HappyValentinesDay #Covid19 #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 Happy Lunar (Chinese) New Year ![]() Chinese New Year—often referred to as Lunar New Year--is a time to celebrate long-honored food traditions and delicious celebrations where the foods are symbols of luck and prosperity. Longevity Noodles celebrate long life and usually are one of the most delicious elements of the holiday meal. My recipe for Longevity Noodles includes all the essentials that make for a well-balanced stir-fry, along with a few culinary tricks I learned along the way at China Rose. See all my secrets in the ChefSecret section of this blog. The entire dish is hot and flavorful with great contrasting textures. Add shiitakes, green onions tops and plenty of crisp Napa cabbage to the wok. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables, just let them sizzle for a moment in the wok. You’ll notice the red pepper flakes and ginger bloom in the oil bringing a wonderful fresh flavor to the dish. It is rumored the longer the noodle the great the longevity for you and your family. Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Yield: 4-6 servings Ingredients 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2- inch thick, bite-size pieces (thighs are perfect for high heat wok dishes) 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger 2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons Shaohsing rice cooking wine (or dry sherry), divided 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce, divided 1 teaspoon, divided (plus a pinch for the noodle water) 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 1 10-ounce package dried lo mein noodles 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided 1/4 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper 3 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage 2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps thinly sliced 1/2 cup green onion tops, plus more for garnish (cut 1-inch long) Chinese chili oil, for serving Directions
ChefSecret: Toss the noodles in a wok separately, add in just a small amount of peanut oil keeping them light and springy (so they won’t stick together). Marinate the chicken in sherry, soy sauce, fresh ginger and just a bit of cornstarch. This keeps it moist when cooked in a hot sizzling hot wok with oil and red pepper flakes. This process of coating the meat in cornstarch is called velveting giving it that lovely smooth texture—the sign of a professional Asian chef. Quip of the Day: Confucius Says: “Food can never be too clean and meat can never be sliced too thin.” (食不厭精,膾不厭細) ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #Entrees #LongevityNoodles #LoMein #LunarNewYear #ChineseNewYear #YearOfTheRabbit #2023Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023 …from the Perspectives’ Kitchen![]() How you doin’? When I lived in Dallas, I discovered Black Eyed Peas were a potluck dish to help ring in the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, many African-Americans make a point to cook black-eyed peas to usher in the new year, and as author John Egerton wrote in his book Southern Food, it is believed they have a “mystical and mythical power to bring good luck.” Actually the black-eyed pea isn’t a pea at all—it’s a bean that is in the cowpea family. Black-eyed peas were brought to the Americas on slave ships from West Africa to feed the enslaved people who made the long and tortuous journey across the Middle Passage. In Africa, black-eyed peas would have been either boiled and eaten with rice, or fried and eaten with rice and fried plantains. Once in America, black-eyed peas were able to be planted by enslaved people in their gardens because they were viewed as a food for poor people and were also used to feed animals. They were often used in soups, stews and fritters. After the Civil War, eating black-eyed peas became more common throughout the South and was not limited to being food for the Africans or the poor. The Union Army raided the Confederate Army’s food supplies during the Civil War and took everything that they considered edible, with the exception of black-eyed peas. At this point, the Confederate Army had to eat whatever they could find and ate the beans out of necessity. No one knows for sure where the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for good luck and prosperity in the New Year came from; there are a couple of theories. One theory is that the enslaved ate black-eyed peas when the Emancipation Proclamation became effective on January 1, 1863. Another theory is based on the Southern phrase, “eat poor on New Year’s and eat fat the rest of the year”—grounded in the historically held belief that black-eyed peas were for poor people. The most common way to eat black-eyed peas is in the Hoppin’ John dish. The earliest recipe can be found in an 1847 cookbook, A Carolina Housewife, written by Sarah Rutledge. Most recipes for Hoppin’ John call for cooking the black-eyed peas with rice, pork (usually fatback or bacon) and seasonings. Some variations include chopped onions and hot sauce. My Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas are just as delicious as the good old-fashioned recipes that are still served for New Year's Day feasts. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes Release time: 15 minutes Yield: 8 servings Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup chopped yellow onion 3 bay leaves 8 tablespoons minced garlic 1 pound dry black-eyed peas, rinsed 1 pound smoked ham hock (see ChefSecret) 4 slices thick cut smoky bacon, rough chopped 5 cups water 2 teaspoons low sodium Better Than Bouillon chicken base 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin Directions
ChefSecret: Ask your favorite meat cutter to saw the smoked ham hock into several pieces to make it easier to separate the meat from the bones after cooking. This can be a "dump and cook" recipe if you don't want to bother to do the sautéing steps. Quip of the Day: “You don’t realize how old you’ve gotten in the last two years until you sit on the floor and then try to get back up.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America and/or American Red Cross. #InstantPot #BlackEyedPeas #TexasStyle #Entrees #HamHocks #BetterThanBouillon #Holidays2022 #2022Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2022 |
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