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.

Hot Buttermilk Cornbread

It's a long road to Pie Town from our house. Along the way we always take photos of
the Very Large Array (in the far distance) on the Plains of San Agustin. 

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

2 cups buttermilk
3 cups creamed corn
2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbl. baking powder
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
8 oz. diced green chiles

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix all the ingredients together except the cheese and chiles.

Pour half the batter into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Place the chiles on the batter then sprinkle on half the cheese. Pour in the remaining batter. Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.

Bake about one hour. Serves 12.

My note: The part about this being Hot Buttermilk Cornbread? I can only guess that's because it should be served warm. In the book, it was especially good when served with Oris's Famous Cowboy Beans.

Oris's Famous Cowboy Beans

From the novel Pie Town, by Lynne Hinton (Morrow, 2011).

4 cups dry pinto beans
2 slices bacon, cooked and broken into small pieces
1 small can (4 oz.) diced green chile*
1 medium onion, diced
2 cans crushed tomatoes (14 oz. each)
1 bottle dark or amber beer
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Sort and rinse beans. Soak for 8 to 12 hours, drain and rinse. Place in a large pot on the stove, cover with water, and add all the rest of the ingredients. Bring beans to a boil and then simmer, covered, for about 2 hours. Serves 10.

My notes: These go well with Hot Buttermilk Cornbread.

*Canned chile is obviously meant for those of you who don't live in New Mexico. New Mexicans know to just grab a bag out of their chest freezer that is devoted to green chile storage.

Stay Home Pie (Tomato Pie)

This recipe comes from the novel, Welcome Back to Pie Town by Lynne Hinton (Morrow, 2013).

3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
4 or 5 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbl. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. black pepper

9-inch deep dish pie shell (baked at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes and cooled)

Sprinkle half a cup of the cheese on the bottom of the baked and cooled pie shell.Top with salted tomato slices, allowing them to overlap in a circular pattern. Mix the mayonnaise, basil, oregano, pepper, green onions, and one cup of the cheese and spread this mixture over the tomatoes. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve cool.

Dutch Oven Bread

I got a gift certificate for Christmas and used it to get a beautiful 5 quart cast iron Dutch oven with lid. The first thing I wanted to make was some artisan bread. 

The bread is mixed up in the afternoon and baked the following morning. I only had to work on it for a very few minutes; the rest of the time it was doing a long, slow rise of 12 to 18 hours. 

I was surprised that it only took 1/2 teaspoon of yeast and was tempted to throw in some more until I read more--the long rising time gives the yeast time to ferment and gives the bread a better flavor. 

And the flavor is absolutely delicious. The crust is just like the Italian bread we used to buy in Connecticut. I hope you'll try it--it takes just four ingredients (flour, salt, yeast, and water) and a few minutes of your time. 

6 cups flour

1/2 tsp. dry yeast

2 - 1/2 tsp. salt

2 - 2/3 cups cool water

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then add the water and mix well to make a rather sticky dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter top for 12 to 18 hours. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Turn and fold it over a couple of times, then tuck the corners of the dough underneath to form a rough ball. 

Place a large sheet of parchment paper on a large clean dish towel and dust the paper with flour. Place the ball of dough on the paper, seam side down. Dust with more flour and pull the parchment corners up over the dough, then wrap the towel over. Let rise for two hours until doubled. 

After about 1 - 1/2 hours preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place a heavy Dutch oven covered pot in the oven while it preheats. When the dough is risen, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and remove the cover. Remove the coverings from the dough, slide your hand carefully under the dough ball and flip it over into the hot pot, seam side up. Shake the pan a bit to sort things out. Don't worry about the appearance at this point. 

Put the cover on the pot and put the pot into the hot oven and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10 to 15 more minutes to brown the crust. Take pot out of the oven and remove the bread and let it cool on a wire rack. Best eaten in the first two days. 

I first saw this recipe on Frugal Living NW. Now that groceries are getting more expensive by the minute, I will be checking there more often for money-saving ideas. 

Vegan Burgers with Pinto Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Corn, and Polenta

The inspiration for this burger came from the Whole Foods recipe for their Southwestern Veggie Burger. These take some time to put together; I cook a big batch of pinto beans the day before in the crockpot while steaming the sweet potatoes and roasting the corn. I used prepared polenta (comes in a roll at the store), but you could whip up some fresh.

Even though they are labor-intensive, you will end up with a lot of really delicious vegan lunches prepared and in the freezer.

Note: You will often see veggie burgers served on a whole wheat bun. That seems kind of redundant to me, so I leave out the bun. Your choice.



2 cups pinto beans, cooked, drained, and mashed (reserve cooking liquid)

2 cooked sweet potatoes, cooled and mashed

2/3 cup roasted corn (use fresh or frozen and thawed kernels, slowly roast over low heat in an iron frying pan, stirring frequently)

1 cup of polenta, mashed and smooth

1 tbl. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

3 tbl. nutritional yeast

1/4 cup of salsa

salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
Add some or all of the following, finely chopped: Bell peppers, onions, carrots, celery, kale, tomatoes
I have also added leftover cauliflower puree; use up whatever you have!

Mix all together, adding some of the reserved bean juice if the mixture needs to be more moist. You can add in a few shakes of bread crumbs to help hold things together, if necessary. When all is thoroughly mixed, form into patties (my batch made 12 patties). Place on parchment-covered cookie sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, turn over carefully, then continue baking for another 15 minutes. The goal is to get them crispy, so you may want to bake them longer.

Cool and freeze. Reheat in the microwave, or in a pan on the stove, or on a parchment lined cookie sheet in the oven at 300 for about 15 minutes.

Pizza!

This article was so mouth-watering and has so many good pizza tips and ideas that I am putting the link right here, so we'll always have it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/dining/a-little-pizza-homework.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

And one more pizza dough that is everything they say it is:

http://www.foodgal.com/2011/09/pure-pizza-dough-heaven-the-recipe-from-pizzeria-mozza/

For links to a whole lot of unusual pizzas, see my Pinterest page for Pizza and Flatbreads.

Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Muffins

Fall is the perfect time for pumpkin recipes. When I looked around online for pumpkin muffin recipes, the ones I found called for tons of sugar; some even started with a cake mix. However, I wanted some nice substantial muffins that were not too sweet or filled with preservatives from a mix.

I found my recipe the old-fashioned way--in a book that was sitting on my shelf! This is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1989), [with my changes in brackets].

I've tried this now with pumpkin, and with sweet potato. Both ways make a delicious muffin.

1-3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
[1/2 tsp. salt]
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves

1/2 cup [you can use as much as a cup] canned pumpkin [or cooked, mashed sweet potato]

1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil

1/4 cup chopped nuts [toasted pecans]

Mix in a large bowl the egg, milk, oil, and pumpkin. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients and the chopped nuts, just until mixed. Lightly grease muffin cups, fill 2/3 full. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

Marj's Salad Dressing

Our friend Marj drove down from the Netherlands to visit us when we stayed in Monts-sur-Guesnes (See Vacationing in French Country House, Was it all a Dream?). As you can see from the photo above, we had a wonderful kitchen and lovely food available from all the local outdoor markets. 

Marj made a salad dressing for us one night, the sort of thing a good cook just throws together, adding a bit of this, tasting a bit, and adding a bit of that. When I asked for the "recipe" she gave me the list of ingredients:

Equal parts of:

Olive oil

Apple cider vinegar

Add to taste and whisk all together:

Sautéed pine nuts

Chopped garlic

Mustard

Honey

Salt and pepper

The salad was delicious. We ate it on this veranda. What a wonderful evening!