There is nothing better on a cold winter’s night than an old-fashioned, home-cooked meal. This delicious Corned Beef recipe is the ideal meal, served with a creamy white sauce and steamed vegetables, that will have the family asking for more. Leftover corned beef is also great on sandwiches, served with mustard pickles or cut into strips for salads.

What is Corned Beef?

Corned Beef or silverside is brine-cured beef. The usual cut of beef used for corned beef is the silverside and corned beef is often referred to as corned silverside in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland for this reason. In America and Canada, eating Corned Beef is associated with St Patrick’s Day.

Cooking Corned Beef in a Slow Cooker

Recipe (serves 6)

        1.5kg piece of silverside

        water

        6 pepper corns

        1/2 cup of white vinegar

        2 tbls brown sugar

        1 clove of crushed garlic

        1 tbls mixed herbs

        1 onion, cut into wedges

Place silverside into slow cooker and pour in water until it just covers the cut. Add pepper corns, vinegar, brown sugar, crushed garlic, mixed herbs and onion wedges. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Slice and serve with creamy white sauce, potato bake and steamed vegetables.

Corned Beef (Silverside) with White Sauce

Recipe

        4 tbls butter or margarine

        4 tbls plain (all purpose) flour

        2 cups milk

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan. Add the plain flour and mix well away from heat. Return to the stove and cook mixture for 1 minute. Pour a little milk into the mix and stir continuously over heat until it begins to thicken. Add the rest of the milk gradually, stirring until the sauce is thick and hot. Pour over corned beef or serve in a gravy boat.

Side Servings for Corned Beef

Steamed vegetables served with corned beef, adds the perfect touch to this home-cooked meal. Steamed baby carrots, broccoli and beans are ideal.

Other sides to be served with corned beef may include:

        roast potatoes

        steamed pumpkin

        cauliflower au gratin

        steamed cauliflower

        baby peas

Potato Bake

        4 medium potatoes, sliced

        1 pkt of Maggi Creamy Cheese and Garlic Potato Bake

        2 tbls milk

        300ml thickened cream

        1/2-1 cup of grated cheese

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (Celcius). Empty Potato Bake sachet into a medium sized bowl. Add milk and mix well, combining the mixture. Add thickened cream and again mix well. Lay sliced potato into the bottom of a casserole or oven-proof dish. Move mixture over potato and place on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake uncovered for around 40-45 minutes. Remove dish from oven and sprinkle with grated cheese. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and potato is cooked.

Enjoy this corned beef meal at family gatherings or dinner parties. For a great family dish, with all the trimmings, pop a piece of silverside into the slow cooker and return home to a delicious, home-cooked meal.

The post Cooking The Perfect Corned Beef appeared first on Not So SuperMom VS Society.

Today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, so I decided to share my favorite recipe for baking them! There are millions of recipes out there, all with slight variations, however, this one always consistently comes out delicious and it’s easy to make.

I discovered this recipe a few years ago after trying out a lot of combinations and having quite a few fails- like the time I accidentally used corn starch instead of flour! Whoops! Since then I’ve tweaked it a little based on how many I want to bake and what types of flavors I want to add, like mint or cbd. Today I’ll be giving you my basic recipe and you can modify it how you see fit!

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (Optional. If omitting, add 1 to 2 Tbsp. of all-purpose flour.) I usually omit nuts, though sometimes I use almonds.

In addition to the ingredients above, you’ll also need a cookie sheet (I use 3), a mixing bowl, measuring cups, measuring spoons & cups, a mixing spoon, and a spatula. I also use a cooling rack.

Steps

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl until creamy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts/additional flour. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
5. Chill the dough 10-15 minutes while oven preheats to 375° F.
   • The longer you chill the dough, the more the flavors will develop and the chewier your cookies will be!
6. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.
   • Tip: the best way to make soft chocolate chip cookies is to slightly under-bake the cookies. In order to slightly under-bake the cookies, the edges should look set (but not brown). The center of the cookies should look soft and even a little puffy still. This trick will help to keep your cookies nice and soft.
   • You can bake 10 minutes for a softer cookie or up to 14 minutes for a crispier cookie.
7. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely
8. Enjoy!

Keeping Your Cookies Soft

We don’t often have a lot of extra cookies lying around, but when we make the full recipe we definitely have an excess amount. Here are a few tips for keeping your cookies fresh, especially handy for those of us who like to prep cookies for giving away during the holiday season!

• Be sure to seal your cookie container well, whether you’re storing them in the freezer, refrigerator or a zip-top bag. You want your cookies to be in an airtight container for maximum freshness.
• If you are storing your cookies at room temperature or in the refrigerator, add a small piece of bread to the container with the cookies. This will help to keep the cookies soft.
• My favorite way to keep homemade cookies fresh is to freeze them. Freeze your extra cookies as soon as they cool completely after baking. I know many people freeze extra raw balls of cookie dough before baking so that they can have fresh baked cookies whenever they want. If this is the method you love, then go for it. For me, it’s too much effort to preheat the oven and wait whenever I want a cookie. I bake all of my cookies at once and then freeze the extras right after they are cool. Then I can just defrost (on the counter for a few minutes) and enjoy!

I hope you love these cookies as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below if you try it!

The post Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe appeared first on Not So SuperMom VS Society.