Gaston Beef Stew

From The Joy of Cooking

 

Bea's Green Chile Stew

This recipe comes from the novel, Pie Town, by Lynn Hinton (Morrow, 2011).

2 pounds lean ground round, cubed
1 tbl. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped well
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 can (14 oz.) pinto beans
2 medium potatoes, diced
4 cans (14 oz. each) chopped tomatoes, with juice
4 cans (4 oz. each) chopped green chile
2 cups water

Brown the ground round over low heat in the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic. In another pan, dissolve the bouillon cubes in the water. In a larger pot, mix the remaining ingredients, then add the dissolved bouillon cubes and the cooked ground round. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Serves 8.

My note: Taste before serving, adding salt and pepper as needed.

Beef Enchiladas

Because Beez has been working in another part of the state, he has been doing a lot of cooking for himself and even trying out some new recipes. He loves this one and plans to make it for our company tomorrow night. You can see the original at AllRecipes.Com.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (1.5 ounce) package dry enchilada sauce mix
• 10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium skillet over medium high heat, cook the ground beef and onion until beef is evenly browned and onion is tender.
2. Prepare the enchilada sauce according to package directions. Pour 1/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. On each flour tortilla, place an equal portion of the ground beef mixture and about 1 ounce of Cheddar cheese, reserving at least 1/2 cup of cheese. Then tightly roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the baking dish.
4. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and olives.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and cheese is thoroughly melted.

Marie's Taco Soup

Everything that Marie has ever brought to our knitting group's potlucks is always delicious, and she is very generous about sharing her recipes with us.

1 pound of ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can Ro-tel tomatoes with chiles

1 can regular pinto beans

1 can pinto beans with jalapeños

1 can yellow corn

1 can hominy, drained

1 cup salsa

Brown the beef and onion. Add the contents of all the cans, undrained (except for the hominy, which is drained). Add the salsa. Mix well and simmer for a bit to combine the flavors. Taste for seasonings; add salt, pepper, and chile powder, if you wish.

Note: I added some water to the mixture by rinsing out the emptied cans into the soup pot. If you want it soupier, add more.

Serve with cornbread.

Marie said to tell you that this soup freezes well.

Pot Roast of Beef in Beer

1 tbl. sugar

1 tsp. salt

Grated rind of 1 lemon

1 - 1/2 cups beer

1/2 cup salad oil

2 onions, chopped

4 lbs. bottom round beef pot roast

Bacon drippings or olive oil

1/2 cup water

3 beef bouillon cubes

2 cups chopped celery

8 whole carrots, peeled

8 small potatoes, peeled

8 whole small onions, peeled

Mix the first six ingredients together and marinate the beef in the mixture for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove the beef and reserve the marinade.

Brown the beef in the bacon drippings or olive oil in a deep pot. Add the marinade, water, and bouillon cubes.

Simmer, covered, for 3 hours. Add the celery and the whole vegetables during the last hour. If the gravy boils away to less than two cups, add hot water or more beer.

Serves 8.

From The Boston Globe Cook Book, 1974 (now out of print).

French Pork Pie (Tourtière)

So many people in New England come from Canada--now that I live in New Mexico, I miss hearing all those [anglicized] French last names. The French Canadian traditions include this wonderful pork pie, which you can usually only get if you know somebody's mom who still makes tourtière.

This version comes from one of those little cookbooks you get for free along with your

subscription to Yankee Magazine. This one was published in 1980 and is called Yankee's Main

Dish Church Supper Cookbook. It was apparently a small edition of a full-sized cookbook

of the same name, which is now out of print.

Crust:

1 cup shortening

1 tsp. salt

3 cups flour

2/3 cup water

Cut half the shortening into salted flour, then add the remaining 1/2 cup of shortening. Mix well and

stir in water. Roll out. Makes enough pastry for one 10" two-crust pie.

Filling:

2 lbs. pork, trimmed of fat and ground or cut into 1/2" cubes

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup hot water

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice

2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 tsp. pepper

3 cups bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together, place in a pastry-lined 10" pie plate, and top with the remaining

pastry. Cut a few slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 1 - 1/2 hours at 325° or until the pie is nicely browned. Serves 6-8.

Chinese Pie

I have an old 1962 cookbook called Creature Comforts that was compiled by the Ladies' Evening Circle of the Chester Congregational-Baptist Church in Chester, NH. Chester is the town next door to Candia, where our family spent so many wonderful years. This recipe is contained in that cookbook.

When we first arrived in New Hampshire from Washington state, we were puzzled by a number of things. For instance, we could hardly understand what people were saying a lot of the time. I took a call at work from someone in the "Kearsarge" School District and couldn't for the life of me understand the name of the district. It was pronounced something like Keeeahhhsaaaj and, since I had never heard of the place, I was at a loss as to what to write on the message pad. Asking the person to spell it didn't help at all--my request just resulted in a mystifying series of unfamiliar sounds: K-E-A-Ahh-S-A-Ahh-G-E.

Ladies who sewed shared dress "pattens"--back in those days when there were ladies and sewing and dresses.* And patterns.

Dinner was suddenly called supper (suppah), and lunch was dinner (dinnah). A "little lunch" could be eaten as an evening snack--perhaps after the business part of a community meeting.

Something else we had never heard of was "Chinese Pie," which was a popular dish served in school lunchrooms and at potlucks. My questions about it were met with incredulity--You've never heard of Chinese Pie??? Here is the recipe, courtesy of the Congregational-Baptist ladies of Chester.

1 lb. ground beef, fried

1 onion, cut up and browned

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cans cream-style corn

5 or 6 potatoes, cooked and mashed

Put beef in the bottom of a buttered casserole with onion and seasonings. Add the corn and cover with the mashed potatoes. Bake in a moderate oven till hot [I'm guessing this would be a 350° oven for 35 to 45 minutes]. Serves 4.

***

*Here is a delightful "household hint" from this same 1962 cookbook (incidentally published the year I graduated from high school): When ironing dresses for school girls, put hanky in pocket before hanging it up.

Don't you just love it? Ironing! Dresses! School girls! Hankies! It makes you think about how much times have changed.

At Last! New Mexico's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail

If you live in New Mexico, you have probably debated one of our big questions: Who has the best green chile cheeseburger in the state? If you don't live here, you will want to plan your next vacation around New Mexico.org's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail--map and guide "coming soon."

You see, they can't make up the map until they've stopped adding newly nominated restaurants around the state. Here is the current list of nominees.

Just to get your taste buds in gear, here is the description of our state's favorite burger from the New Mexico.org website: A juicy thick patty grilled over an open flame or sizzled on a griddle, then blanketed in molten Cheddar or other cheese, and topped off with enough New Mexican green chile to tingle the tastebuds—what could be more glorious?

Don't forget to vote!

Planked Steak

You just never know what memories will come floating out when you start a recipe blog like this. I came across this recipe for "Flank Steak" or London Broil, and remembered the production that my parents used to do for us on some Saturday nights. They prepared and cooked the steak and then placed it on a large "planking board," which had little steel teeth to keep the steak in place and a groove around the edge to collect the juices. Mashed potatoes were piped decoratively around the edge of the board and brushed with melted butter. The plank was then run under the broiler just to brown the potatoes. As a finishing touch, cooked vegetables were piled around the steak and inside the potato border. It was a beautiful presentation and one of the few occasions that I remember my parents cooking together in the kitchen.

This recipe comes from the Stillmeadow Cook Book, by Gladys Taber.

1 flank steak, a pound or more

Meat tenderizer

1 clove of garlic

Salad oil

Butter, salt, pepper

Sprinkle the steak with meat tenderizer and let stand (following directions on the tenderizer package). Rub the cut garlic over both sides of the meat, and sprinkle it with salad oil. Broil 5 minutes on high about 1 1/2 inches from the heat, turn the meat over and broil for 5 minutes or less on the other side.

Dot with butter, season with salt and pepper. Cut the steak in thin, slanting slices against the grain.

Yorkshire Pudding

1 - 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs, well beaten

1 - 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup shortening or beef drippings

Mix the flour and salt. Gradually stir in the eggs combined with the milk. Beat until smooth. Pour the batter into a shallow pan containing the melted drippings. The batter should be 1/2" deep.

Bake in a 400˚ oven for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve at once.

Mexican Cornbread Casserole

This makes a nice supper, just by itself.

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 lb. ground beef

Salt, pepper, cumin, chile powder to taste

1 cup of corn (you can use creamed corn, or just canned or frozen whole corn)

1 can of diced tomatoes and green chiles

Additional green chiles, if you wish

Grated cheese--about 1 cup

Your favorite cornbread recipe--this one is mine

Saute the onion and garlic in a little oil until they are a bit transparent. Add the beef and seasonings and cook until there is no more pink showing. Add the corn, tomatoes, and chiles. Stir well, heat until simmering, then remove from heat.

Mix up the cornbread. Spread half of the batter in a greased 2-quart casserole or a 9" x 13" pan. Sprinkle the meat mixture evenly over the batter. Sprinkle on the grated cheese, then top with the rest of the cornbread batter.

Note: If you want a less bread-y meal, you can prepare a half-recipe of cornbread and just spread it on the top of the meat mixture, and proceed with the baking.

Bake at 350˚ for 35 to 40 minutes.

Green Chile Cheeseburger

This is my homemade version of this New Mexico favorite, and I thank my sister for the idea of using soy sauce. If you want to skip all the cooking and do a bit of driving instead (see Driving 580 Miles for a Burger on Beez's blog), you could just go to the Owl Cafe in San Antonio, New Mexico for one of the world's best Green Chile Cheeseburgers. Be sure to follow the recommendation in the restaurant review (click on the Owl Cafe link given here) and go up the road afterwards for some homemade fudge for dessert. My family heartily recommends the Chocolate Coconut Fudge.

Ingredients:

Savory Hamburger Buns (made with or without the oregano, marjoram, or basil)--you may substitute store-bought hamburger buns if you must

The best ground round you can get

Soy sauce

Fresh ground black pepper

Fresh green New Mexico chile, peeled, seeded, and chopped (if you are silly enough to live somewhere else than New Mexico, you can order fresh chile from Hatch Chile Express in August of any year, and prepare it like this).

Slices of Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

Mix the soy sauce and black pepper with the meat. Shape the meat into patties about 1/3 lb. each. Grill over an open fire. When almost done, top with a generous amount of green chile and a slice of cheese. Grill further until the cheese melts.

Lightly toast the split hamburger buns. Assemble the burgers with chopped lettuce, sliced tomato, and a slice of sweet onion, if you wish. Eat them outside on a summer day on a covered patio.

Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs with Mango Salsa

Last night, Marc and Becky invited me over for our usual Friday grilling. I had some bacon that I needed to use, so I came up with this. I worry that I might be going to hell for making this. It's just THAT good. So good, in fact, that it's actually illegal for Los Angeles street vendors to sell them!

--8 Hot Dogs (I prefer Nathan's Hot Dogs)
--8 rashers of GOOD Bacon (A nice thick-cut smoked variety with not too much fat)
--Toothpicks
--1 Mango, small cubes
--Juice from 1 Lime
--Half a Red Onion, chopped fine
--1 Serrano Pepper, seeded and chopped super-fine
--1 tbsp Olive Oil
--Salt and Black Pepper
--Fresh Rolls

In a small bowl, mix the mango, chopped onion and serrano pepper. Squeeze lime juice over it all, add olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix and refrigerate while you cook the dogs. Wrap one rasher of bacon around each hot dog, securing with a toothpick on both ends. Cook on a grill. Be aware that the bacon fat will cause the fire to flare up (so don't burn your meats!). When bacon is cooked, remove from the grill and take out the toothpicks. Serve in a fresh roll (I smeared on a light mayonnaise) topped with the mango salsa.

Tamale Pie

Back in the 1950s when this recipe was popular, we knew very little about Mexican cooking. We put catsup and tabasco sauce on our tacos, for Pete's sake, and the tacos were something new my mom made from a recipe in Sunset Magazine!

The only tamales we ever saw were in a can from Hormel, so this tamale pie was considered a big improvement. Even though we now love the tamales made in homes here in New Mexico by groups of friends or family working assembly-line fashion and making dozens for holiday eating or freezing, this recipe still counts as comfort food in my family.

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green pepper

3/4 lb. ground beef

2 8-oz. cans seasoned tomato sauce (2 cups)

1 12-oz. can corn, drained (you may use frozen corn, of course--it was pretty newfangled when this recipe was first written)

1 cup chopped ripe olives

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt to taste

2 to 3 tsp. chile powder

Dash of pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Cornmeal Topper:

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups of cold water

1 tbl. butter

Cook onion and green pepper in a little olive oil until tender.

Add meat; brown lightly.

Add the next 7 ingredients. Simmer 20-25 minutes until thick.

Add the cheese and stir until melted.

Pour into greased oblong 10" x 6" baking dish.

Make the cornmeal topper: Stir cornmeal and salt into cold water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick. Add the butter and mix well. Spoon over the hot meat mixture in 3 lengthwise strips.

Bake casserole at 375˚ about 40 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Mongolian Beef

When I was around 12 years old, my Papa and step-mother Marj were living in Santa Barbara (yes, I call my birth-father "Papa"). Every summer I would stay with them for 6 weeks or so. One afternoon while they were at work, I halted my mission to complete the Lord of the Rings trilogy and began flipping through Chinese Cookery, by Rose Cheng and Michele Morris. It occurred to me that I wanted to show my appreciation to them and give them a night off in the kitchen, so I started making a grocery list. The resulting feast hardly constituted "a break" for them, I'm afraid. I planned something like 4 or 5 courses: Mongolian Beef, Mu Shu Pork, Fried Rice, Wonton Soup, and some Chicken Broccoli Cashew thing, if I recall correctly (we eliminated the last one, I think). Madness, I tell you! It must have cost them a fortune, with all the types of special Chinese sauces that took forever to gather. They supported my plan though, and I always appreciated that. This recipe is adapted from Chinese Cookery, found on the Sweet Sugarplums blog:

--2/3 lb Beef Skirt Steak, partially frozen, sliced with the grain into 1-inch long strips about 1/4-inch thick
--1 tsp Sherry
--1 tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
--1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
--1 tsp Sesame Oil
--1/4 tsp Baking Soda
--1 tsp Cornstarch
--1/2 tsp Sugar
--5 tbsp Canola Oil
--1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
--1 tbsp Chili Sauce, or Hot Bean Sauce
--1/2 cup Water
--1 tsp Cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp Water
--8-10 Green Onions, sliced at an angle

Combine sherry, soy sauce, vegetable oil, baking soda, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add beef strips and mix well. Let marinade for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. When the beef has marinated, heat canola oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the beef until it is halfway cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon, set aside. Remove all but 2 tablespoons oil from wok and reduce heat to medium. Add hoisin sauce, chili sauce (or hot bean sauce), and water. Bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch and water mixture. Add green onions and the beef, then stir-fry for 30 seconds. Serve over rice or noodles.

Something Else That Oma Does With Shrimp

I don't know if this is a Dutch thing or an Oma thing, but I still think about these delicious meatballs. We seemed to only have them when camping with Oma and Opa.

2 slices stale bread, soaked in a bit of milk and drained

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup tiny shrimp

1/2 cup finely minced onions

Dash of nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and form into largish meatballs--about the size of a big lemon. Flatten slightly, and saute in a frying pan until done. 

Chili con Carne

This is really just a big old vegetable stew with a little meat for flavoring--especially if you add all the optional vegetables. 

1/2  lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped 

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

1 15 can tomato sauce

1 tbl. chile powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. oregano

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup red wine

2 cups kidney beans, cooked and drained. I suppose you could use canned beans, rinsed and drained) but the kind you cook from scratch are better for you.

Brown the onion with the garlic, add the meat and cook until all the red is gone. Add the celery, green pepper, and tomato. Stir well. Add the tomato sauce and seasonings. 

Add the water, red wine, and kidney beans and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down heat and cover pan. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring every once in a while and adding water, if necessary. OR in Instant Pot, 20 minutes on chili/beans setting.

Optional additions: Chopped green chiles that have been roasted, peeled, and seeded; chopped carrots; additional chunked up fresh tomatoes.

Almost White Castle Sliders

Mom used to have a cookbook called The Junk Food Cookbook by Lydia Saiger. In it was a recipe for a burger that approximated a fast food burger, complete with "special sauce" and reheating step to mimic that "heating-lamp taste!" As a child, I'd never seen heard of White Castle (none in New Hampshire), so I could barely imagine what a real "slider" tasted like. Now, I'm much older and wiser and experience has taught me that a Crave Sack of Real White Castle Sliders should only be consumed when one is too drunk to know better. I prefer the recipe from my childhood, if only because I can identify which part of the hamburger is meat and I can rest easy in the knowledge that "special sauce" is not a sinister mystery. Plus, my mom's rolls are much better. This version of the recipe comes from Recipezaar, modified by me to include what I remember.

--1 1/2 to 2 lbs Ground Chuck
--1 (4 tbsp) envelope Onion Soup Mix
--1 Egg
--1/2 tsp Black Pepper
--2 tbsp Water
--1/3 cup Breadcrumbs
--Dinner Rolls, sliced in half to make a hamburger bun (Mom's Dinner Rolls, here)
--American Cheese ("Plastic Cheese," as we used to call it)
--Dill Pickle
--1/2 cup Yellow Mustard
--1/2 cup Ketchup
--Aluminum Foil

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix ground chuck, onion soup mix, egg, black pepper, water, and bread crumbs. Press into an ungreased 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Prick with a fork, then bake for 10 minutes. Drain off juices if there's a lot of excess and allow to cool. Leave your oven on "Warm". Cut meat into 24 squares ("sliders"). Mix mustard and ketchup in a bowl, magically transforming it into "secret sauce". On the bottom bun, spread some secret sauce, then add a slice of dill pickle. Next, add a slider (it will be TINY, so you may choose to double up), a slice of American cheese, then the top bun. Wrap each slider individually in foil and put them in the warm oven for 5 minutes (or until you are ready to eat them).

Beef Bourguignon

I have a vague memory of a beef stew recipe and I've been bugging mom about it lately. She tells me it's the Beef Bourguignon recipe from her old copy of The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer. I've been looking online for this recipe, but have found no success. Many of the recipes online seem to be variations on this recipe from The Food Network's Ina Garten.

--1 tbsp good Olive Oil
--8 oz dry cured center cut Applewood Smoked Bacon, diced
--2 1/2 lbs Chuck Beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
--Kosher Salt and fresh-ground Black Pepper
--1 lb Carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
--2 Yellow Onions, sliced
--2 cloves Garlic, chopped
--1/2 cup Cognac
--1 750 ml bottle good Dry Red Wine (such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir)
--2 cups Beef Broth
--1 tbsp Tomato Paste
--1 tsp Fresh Thyme Leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
--4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature, divided
--3 tbsp All-purpose Flour
--1 lb Frozen Whole Onions
--1 lb Fresh Mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate. Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside. Toss the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork. Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

Grilled Flank Steak with Lime and Onions

Ever since I began posting on this blog, I've had two worries in the back of my mind: (1) My recipe box will fill up. (2) I'll run out of recipes I want to post. Now that I've got a recipe-posting rhythm, I'm still very concerned about running out of space in the box, pretty much because my second concern has not been a problem at all. I'm not running out of recipes any time soon. The other day, I remembered a Cuban feast from Food Network's Rachael Ray that Marsha had cooked for me as a welcome-home dinner. As Marsha and I tried to find the recipe, we found a couple others that we'd forgotten about (...not running out of recipes any time soon). Here's part of the Cuban feast:

--2 lbs Flank Steak
--Olive Oil
--2 tbsp Grill Seasoning Blend (i.e. Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
--1 tbsp Cumin
--Zest of 1 Lime
--1 Yellow Onion, thinly sliced
--1 Lime, cut into wedges (or more lime, if you're like me)

Preheat a grill pan (or a large cast iron skillet) over high heat. In a shallow dish, drizzle enough olive oil over the flank steak to coat (about 2 tablespoons). In your palm, blend the grill seasoning, cumin and lime zest, then rub evenly over the steak. Cook steak in the grill pan for 4 minutes, then turn over and cook 3 minutes longer. Remove from heat and set aside to let the juices redistribute. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet on high heat. Add the sliced onion and sear, but do not keep on heat too long. The onions should still have some bite to them. Cut the steak across the grain into thin slices and spread out on a serving platter. Squeeze lime juice over them and top with the onions.