Eggnog

In November our chickens began to molt, during this time they did not lay any eggs.  They just began again, just in time to make Christmas treats.  I'm starting with eggnog, based upon the Laura Ingles Wilder Cookbook. 

In Laura's day people did not worry about eating raw eggs.  This was for a few reasons, first the assessment of risk on the frontier was different than it is now.  When life is that risky people just cannot worry about as many dangers.  The other is that eggs are actually more dangerous than they were.  Chickens raised with space and freedom are less likely to be ill and less likely to pass salmonella on through the eggs.  Factory farming actually makes eggs more dangerous and it is likely with our fresh eggs there would be no danger, however I still modified the recipe to cook the eggs.  (Please note that that putting rum into your eggnog is not enough to kill salmonella). 

We start by separating 3 eggs, set the whites aside.  Beat the yokes with 1/4 cup sugar.

Heat 2 cups milk and 1 cup heavy cream.  Heat until it is warm but not boiling. 

Poor the milk into the eggs while mixing, then put back into the pot and heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.

Cool the milk and yokes while you beat the whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold whites into mixture and put a dash of nutmeg into it.  Put into picture to serve and add rum as you wish. 

Corned Beef and Pastrami

Work has been crazily busy.  Between that and pulling up the garden I haven't had time to post, but with winter things calm down.  Winter is the best time for doing cooking that does not require fresh veggies and preferably will last into the summer.  Today we are making corned beef. 

Start with a 4 lb brisket. 

In a Bowl mix 8 oz salt, 3 tablespoons Prague Powder (you can find this on the internet), 1 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons pickling spices, and 4 cloves garlic.

Add 1/4 gallon very hot water and mix to dissolve salts.

then add 3/4 gallon very cold water.  Add the meat to the brine (if you will be eating the corn beef as a finished project remove excess fat, if you will be turning it into pastrami leave it).  Be sure the meat is covered by the brine. 

Let cure in the fridge for 7-14 days.  It is then great cooked with cabbage, in hash, or turned into pastrami.

When you are ready to make the pastrami mix together 1/4 cup coriander, 2 T ground black pepper and 2 T smoked paprika.  Rub these on your corn beef and let it sit for up to 2 hours. 

Preheat your oven to 300 and place the meat in a roasting pan on a rack.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake 1 hour per lb or meat.  Cool and slice onto you sandwich.