Cooking corned beef tongue and Paella

I cooked the beef tongue last night, shredded some Brussels sprouts and caramelized a whole bunch of onions; the latter of which I canned.  I made a really good Reuben sandwich with the tongue and recreated a Brussels sprout salad I had recently at a restaurant here in Denver.

Cooking corned beef tongue:

Rinse tongue well under cold water and 2 Tb. of pickling spice.  Fill a pot with enough water to cover and cook on stove top until it simmers.  Cover and place in a 300-degree oven for three hours, flip meat every hour to ensure even cooking.  Remove from oven and place tongue on cutting board for 10 minutes to cool.  Remove tongue cover by making an incision and peeling the cover off.  Slice, shred or dice to make your favorite beef recipes.  I also made hash with diced tongue, potatoes, peppers (hot and sweet), onions, herbs and spice all in a cast iron skillet with two fried eggs!  Holly even liked it!!

I will try to get the casing (taste buds) off in one piece and dry it for Scout next time

Sliced for a Ruben

I did cook Paella this weekend, which turned out really well.  I only took a couple pics but below is the recipe I followed with a few adjustments.  I omitted the lobster, water (I used stock; chicken I had previously canned and shrimp, made from the shells) and peas.  I added jalapeno, mussels and my home-canned tomatoes.  Right before I started to cook Holly reminded me we had a Paella pan; I didn't know there was such a thing.  Special notes: Instead of using a whole chicken like in the recipe I used 4 thighs/ legs.  I will try wings next time because my guest thought it was too much food with everything that is in it.  I used 1.5 cups of rice (recipe says 4) and by the time I had everything in this pan, it was full!   Good luck!  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-paella-recipe.html 

Mise en place for Paella

Paella pan

I start Cross Fit tomorrow-and will tackle it for the next 30 days.  Updates to come...