That said, I wanted to share some of these oldies of recipes, because, well, they are just plain good.
One of these is my Mom's beef stew. However, Mom never, ever, used garlic. Once in a great while, she might, maybe, use a slight dash of garlic powder, though you couldn't prove that by me. I never really saw fresh garlic until I started cooking in Guatemala at age 21. And I promptly fell in love with all that garlic can do for a dish. These days, it is nearly essential for me to use at least 4, if not 6 or 8 cloves in a dish. Including Mom's Beef Stew. I don't think I made any other significant changes to her recipe, but it now includes garlic, you can bet on that!
Mom's Beef Stew, Enhanced
Serves about 6
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| Mom's Beef Stew Enhanced |
2 thick slices bacon, or 4 thin slices cut in ¼-inch slices
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed or through a garlic press
1 green bell pepper, in small cubes
1 pound stew meat in 1 inch cubes
¼ cup all purpose flour
3 cups water
½ cup ketchup
3 - 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet
3 - 4 carrots, sliced
4 - 6 potatoes, depending on size, in 1 inch cubes
Vegetable of Choice: 1 can corn, drained, OR 1½ cups either frozen peas or fresh green beans cut in very small chunks
In an oven safe stew pot or braising pan, brown bacon, then remove and set aside. Brown the meat on all sides, using the bacon grease in the pan. Return the bacon to the pan, along with the onions, garlic and bell pepper and toss to combine. Sprinkle the flour over all and stir to moisten the flour, as when gravy, until no white remains. Add the water and stir well. Add in the ketchup, Worcestershire, bay leaves and Kitchen Bouquet (to enhance the color - Mom always used this). Add in the carrots and potatoes and other vegetable of choice. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
Heat oven to 275, or whatever temperature will maintain a simmer. Cover the stew and place in oven to cook slowly for 2 to 2½ hours, or until meat is very tender.
NOTES: When I was growing up, Mom always, always made this stew in an electric frying pan. A one-pot meal at its best.
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Another meal, one I created myself about 8 years ago, has become a particular favorite. Who doesn't love tacos? I decided to make a taco pizza, going on the idea of things in a taco, but done as a pizza. It goes together quite easily, with ingredients often on hand. Something like shredded cheese I buy in two or three (8-ounce) bags and freeze them. Simple to thaw one and use that way, without worrying it will go bad. I generally keep a can or two of re-fried beans as a matter of course. However, as I have been making pureed black beans for our weekend breakfasts, something my husband now adores and can't live without, well, I generally have those on hand as well. Either work great here. Salsa is another thing I always have on hand, as my husband always has salsa on his eggs for breakfast (with the black beans!).
The crust for this pizza is one I created with some cornmeal added, and this makes the crust have a lovely bit of crunch. It is not a yeast dough as with other pizzas, so there is no waiting around for dough to rise or being afraid to attempt it because it has yeast in it. It is a simple crust, put together similarly to a pie dough. And, as a bonus, if you add in a tablespoon of sugar when making this crust, it is a wonderful crust for free-form fruit galettes as well.
Taco Pizza
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| Taco Pizza |
One 13 - 15-inch pizza
One cornmeal crust (below)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
¼teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder (or ½ packet taco seasoning)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chilies
1 (8½ ounce) can re-fried beans
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped coarsely
8 ounces "Mexican Blend" shredded cheese, or use a combination of shredded Monterrey jack and cheddar
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Tomato Salsa of your choice, for serving
Sour cream, for serving
Guacamole, for serving if desired
Prepare the Cornmeal Crust (below). Roll out to fit a 15 inch round pizza pan. Form a small edge to hold in ingredients.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a skillet, fry the ground beef in the olive oil until it begins to lose its color, then add in the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are becoming translucent. Add in the salt, cumin, chili powder and chopped green chilies. Stir well to combine. Allow to cool slightly.
Spread the re-fried beans over the cornmeal crust. This may require heating the beans and possibly adding some water to soften. Spread the meat mixture over top of the beans. Scatter the tomatoes and bell pepper over the meat. Strew the shredded cheese over all and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden. Serve with the tomato salsa, sour cream and guacamole on the side.
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Makes one 13 - 15 inch taco pizza crust
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter or shortening
½ cup milk or ice water
In a large bowl, mix together the first 4 ingredients. Cut in the butter or shortening as for a pie, until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle on the cold milk or water and toss with a fork until the mixture comes together. Turn out onto a floured surface and lightly knead (flatten, fold over, make a ¼ turn, flatten, fold, and repeat about 5 times). Roll out the dough to whatever size is needed. Roll up over rolling pin and unroll over the pizza pan. Trim and crimp edges up slightly to hold fillings.
NOTES: This would be great for a rustic blueberry pie, where the edges are folded up over the filling rather than placed in a pie plate. Add 1 tablespoon sugar to the dry ingredients for a sweet application.
Another go-to recipe I use is one that came about completely by accident. Every so often an accidental addition turns out well. Anecdotally, one of these accidents happened to my Mom while making her spaghetti sauce. I was a teenager at the time. And Dad, a great lover of black pepper, was always a bit more willing to try new things, go for flavors previously unknown. Mom, while making her sauce, was sprinkling in some black pepper from her pepper shaker, when . . . . .the lid fell off and the contents of the pepper shaker all fell into the pot! Mom was mortified! She fished out the lid of the shaker and proceeded to scoop out pepper. However, enough remained to give the sauce particular piquancy previously unknown in our household. And we all loved it. Except for Mom, who felt we were all just humoring her, but this was truly not the case. We really loved the flavor. She refused to repeat this addition of more pepper than usual, but Dad would just add his own. And thus began my love of things spicy!
But back to my own accident.
Tomato Salsa of your choice, for serving
Sour cream, for serving
Guacamole, for serving if desired
Prepare the Cornmeal Crust (below). Roll out to fit a 15 inch round pizza pan. Form a small edge to hold in ingredients.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a skillet, fry the ground beef in the olive oil until it begins to lose its color, then add in the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are becoming translucent. Add in the salt, cumin, chili powder and chopped green chilies. Stir well to combine. Allow to cool slightly.
Spread the re-fried beans over the cornmeal crust. This may require heating the beans and possibly adding some water to soften. Spread the meat mixture over top of the beans. Scatter the tomatoes and bell pepper over the meat. Strew the shredded cheese over all and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden. Serve with the tomato salsa, sour cream and guacamole on the side.
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Cornmeal Crust
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| Cornmeal Crust |
Makes one 13 - 15 inch taco pizza crust
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter or shortening
½ cup milk or ice water
In a large bowl, mix together the first 4 ingredients. Cut in the butter or shortening as for a pie, until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle on the cold milk or water and toss with a fork until the mixture comes together. Turn out onto a floured surface and lightly knead (flatten, fold over, make a ¼ turn, flatten, fold, and repeat about 5 times). Roll out the dough to whatever size is needed. Roll up over rolling pin and unroll over the pizza pan. Trim and crimp edges up slightly to hold fillings.
NOTES: This would be great for a rustic blueberry pie, where the edges are folded up over the filling rather than placed in a pie plate. Add 1 tablespoon sugar to the dry ingredients for a sweet application.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another go-to recipe I use is one that came about completely by accident. Every so often an accidental addition turns out well. Anecdotally, one of these accidents happened to my Mom while making her spaghetti sauce. I was a teenager at the time. And Dad, a great lover of black pepper, was always a bit more willing to try new things, go for flavors previously unknown. Mom, while making her sauce, was sprinkling in some black pepper from her pepper shaker, when . . . . .the lid fell off and the contents of the pepper shaker all fell into the pot! Mom was mortified! She fished out the lid of the shaker and proceeded to scoop out pepper. However, enough remained to give the sauce particular piquancy previously unknown in our household. And we all loved it. Except for Mom, who felt we were all just humoring her, but this was truly not the case. We really loved the flavor. She refused to repeat this addition of more pepper than usual, but Dad would just add his own. And thus began my love of things spicy!
But back to my own accident.
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| Texicali Meat Sauce for Pasta |
I was also making spaghetti one evening. I had a jar of spaghetti sauce opened in the fridge. I went to get the opened jar. Poured it into the pot with the meat, thinking it looked a bit different than usual, but going ahead anyway. And then, setting the bottle onto the counter I realized it was tomato salsa and not the spaghetti sauce at all. Horrors!
I presented my supper t my husband with apologies for my mistake. We sat to eat - and both of us decided that this had also been a happy accident, because, while it didn't taste like spaghetti sauce, it was amazingly good! And thus was born Texicali Meat Sauce for Pasta!
Texicali Meat Sauce for Pasta
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| Texicali Meat Sauce for Pasta |
Serves 6 to 8
1 pound hamburger meat, fried in a large pan
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups your favorite tomato salsa
1 can tomato paste, 6 ounces
1 cup water
1 small can chopped green chilies
Herbs of choice: chopped fresh basil, rosemary or thyme, use any or a combination (or use some of your favorite pesto sauce instead)
5 – 10 green olives, chopped finely
Brown the meat in a large skillet, breaking up well. As the meat is nearly done, add in the onions and green pepper and toss, cooking for about 5 minutes. Add in all the rest of the ingredients, mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for at least half an hour, until everything is cooked through.
My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.
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