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Corned Beef – Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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Corned Beef, cooked in a Coffee Maker.

St. Patrick’s Day has become all about, The Wearing Of The Green, the day where every body is Irish for a day, and one of my favorite holidays.

It’s the day where everyone eats corned beef and cabbage, though it is not a  traditional Irish food, but instead an Irish American dish.  Being 3 rd generation Irish American, it’s something I grew up with and it’s not just for St. Patties Day.

You can’t cook a very big brisket in a coffee maker but you can make enough for two. But there were no left overs, and it’s been a while since I made one and I had forgotten how much I love it, so I will get a few more for the freezer, because I do love corned beef sandwiches.

The first time I cooked a corned beef in my coffee maker, my cousin Traci was visiting. She said you can’t cook a corned beef in a coffee maker, I reminded her of all the soups, muffins and chickens I had prepared for her in the past few weeks. Her reply was, but you can’t cook a corned beef in a coffee maker, I think I really got her Irish up. Being O’Hara kids we are all really opinionated, so I asked her how she cooked hers, she said she cook them in a slow cooker, I laughed and 4 hours later, she said that it was the best corned beef she had ever eaten.  Traci, I miss you and wish you were here to share this with me, I’m so glad that you realized that it’s not what you cook it in but that the proof is in the tasting.

Corned Beef

ingredients
2 1/2  lb Corned Beef Brisket  (trim off the fat) (approx 1/2 kg)
          (you can fit a larger one, but you will need to trim
          all of the fat off)
5        cups water (approx 1 liter)

I used a point cut, I don’t know the difference between the cuts. The next time I make one I will try to date.

directions

Rinse the brisket.
Cut it in half length wise.

pre-warm the meat

Pour 2 1/2 cups water into the reservoir to heat and allow to drip into the coffee pot, pour this water back thru and drip into the pot again.

Put brisket in a bowl, pour the double heated water over it . Allow it to sit in the water for a few minutes to warm. (This gives it a jump-start, it raises the temperature of the meat about 40 degrees, it keeps the water in the pot from cooling off so much. In most cases it will shorten your cooking time considerably, but in this case you are still going to cook it for a long time as a brisket is a very tough cut of meat.)

Insulate the pot by wrapping it in a double layer of foil.

cook
Double heat 2 1/2 cups more water.
Drain the brisket and put it  into the pot with the heated water.  Use plastic tongs and be careful, the water is very hot.  Add the season pack that came with it. If it is not covered with water, pour a little more into the reservoir and let it drip thru onto the meat.
Cover the top with foil.
Cook time 3 1/2 – 4 hours.

Corned Beef pre warm

 Pour double heated water over meat  to pre-heat it.

 

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

 

Chocolate Cupcakes..Be Mine

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Chocolate Cupcakes.  Making special treats with your coffee maker is fun and easy and even better if it’s chocolate. You can bake 4 mini cupcakes at a time with your coffee cake maker.

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I only make  mini cupcakes, as larger ones won’t cook all the way thru. Use any recipe or your favorite Chocolate Cake Mix. If you don’t want chocolate use any flavor you like.
I only use water when using a mix to make cupcakes with my coffee maker, it makes a lighter cupcake than using eggs and oil. I’m not sure why, it might have to do with baking at such a low temperature. (Anyway it’s all about experimenting, so try what ever you want.)  Besides it makes it real easy to just add water,  you don’t need to have anything else on hand. Since you’re not using eggs, you can eat the batter raw, it makes a great frosting if you have any left over.

You can make  4 mini cupcakes at a time with your coffee maker.  But you’ll need to build a mini oven.

Mini Oven  1 metal bowl, (three cup size will works nicely).

Cupcake Holders   4 metal cupcake holders.
A few things I’ve tried.

  • 1/8 cup measuring cups, sold individually as coffee measuring cups. Cut the handles off leaving about 1 in. I used tin snips to cut mine.
  • Sleeves made from a soda can. Cut 3/4 in. strips from a soda can and use 2 paper clips to hold them together. I used my scissors to cut them, be careful they will be sharp.

DSC_0955    DSC_0941

                   Mini Oven                                                        Cupcake Holders

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       1/8 cup measuring cups and a sleeve made from a soda can

Pre-warm your oven place your metal bow upside down on top of the burner and let it warm for about 5 minutes.

Bake Your Cupcakes (4 at a time)

  • 1 cup cake mix (makes about 12 cupcakes / 3 batches).
  • 1/2 c water (this is only a approximate, some batters may take less).
  • Make the batter just slightly looser than brownie batter, but not so loose that it will pour.
  • Put papers into your metal cups and fill just over 1/2 way with batter.
  • Put your 4 cups onto the burner.
  • Put your heated bowl back over them.
  • Bake 15-18 minutes.

Frost or leave un-frosted, but remember if you make your cupcakes with out eggs you can use some of the batter to frost them. And who doesn’t love to eat the batter and lick the spoon.