Fun-filled Memorial Day Weekend and Slow-cooked Beef Brisket & Vegetables

Our Memorial Day weekend turned out to be all about cooking, partying and spending time with good friends. It was a bit exhausting, but we definitely had fun!

Saturday was our goddaughter's birthday. She had a "Spring Tea Party" themed birthday celebration, and for that, I baked Inipit and Food for the Gods, which I wasn't able to take pictures of. But here are pictures of the birthday girl and my girls during the Tea Party. All the girls were really so pretty in their spring dresses and hats.

Then Sunday, after attending mass, we spent a few hours at our friend's lake house for a pre-Memorial Day celebration. I brought some Filipino Egg Rolls and Inipit. I was kinda in a rush so my inipit was a little more toasted than it should be. :)

Sunday was also the birthday of our dear friend, Melo who is Cherlin's godfather. We prepared a simple dinner for him and invited a couple of friends to come over. I cooked Filipino Egg Rolls and Pancit Canton. Ryan grilled some pork chops, pork belly and bratwurst. I didn't have enough time to make an elaborate cake...but I wanted his birthday cake to be homemade, so I decided to just make a simple strawberry shortcake which the kids really liked.

Yesterday, we decided to just stay home the whole day and take some rest while enjoying some good food. Ryan cooked Fish and Chips for lunch. He used White Bass fillet from the dozen of White Bass he caught last week when he went fishing at the lake.

And for dinner, we had Slow-Cooked Beef Brisket and Vegetables. This is one of my daughters' favorite slow-cooked dishes which I love making because of the ease of preparing and cooking it--- no basting, no flipping...It’s the kind of thing you can throw together and just allow to cook on its own.

It's so easy and delicious that I want to share the recipe with you...

* I'm linking this up on Savory Sunday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mangia Mondays, Hearth and Soul Hop Hub,  Tuesdays At The Table, Tasty Tuesdays, Foodie Wednesday, Let's Do Brunch and These Chicks Cook.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs beef brisket, cut if necessary to fit in pot
• 6 medium- sized potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 6 medium-sized carrots, sliced
• 2 medium-sized onions, sliced
• 1 head garlic, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and ground black pepper
• 1 ½ cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

Procedure:

1. Trim fat from brisket. Wash and drain then rub with salt and pepper. Let sit for at least 15 minutes. 

2. Place potatoes, carrots, garlic and onions in crockpot. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. 

3. Place brisket on top of the vegetables. Add bay leaf and 1 ½ cups beef broth. Cover and cook on LOW for 10-12 hours. 

4. Turn off crockpot. Remove bay leaf. Lift brisket onto cutting board. Cover with foil. Drain vegetables and reserve 1 ½ cups of the cooking liquid. Add butter to vegetables and mash; season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep beef and vegetables warm while you prepare gravy.

5. In saucepan blend 1/3 cup cold water slowly into flour, stirring until smooth; stir in reserved 1 1/2 cups cooking liquid, along with 2 Tbsp soy sauce. Cook and stir until gravy is thickened and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper to suit your taste.

6. Slice brisket thinly across grain. Serve with the mashed vegetables and gravy.