Carne Guisada Galore

This stuff is wonderful. It’s a Mexican stew, and it’s supposed to be very thick, and very spicy. And it makes the most wonderful burrito with some frijoles refritos and a few other condiments.

It has a lot of ingredients (though there are plenty of simpler recipes out there), but once thrown together, you can let it cook away all day with nothing much else to do until you can’t wait to EAT!

I am indebted to Kim Biegacki at JustaPinch for her recipe which inspired me. Frankly this is mostly her recipe, I just cut and added a bit here and there based on looking at a dozen or so similar recipes. Some of my changes were based on what was available to me, so do not feel bound to exactitude.

Here, the blending of flavors is more important than actual amounts, so change it up to fit your idea of heat and spice. I can tell you that what I ended up seemed awfully hot, but when we ate it, it was mouth warm rather than burning. So judge by my use of chiles what you might like.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 lbs chuck, diced into bite-size pieces
• 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes with their juice
• 1 1/2 c of a Mexican lager beer (I could find none so used Sam Adams Winter Lager)
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and deveined as you prefer or not, diced finely
• 1/2 medium onion, diced finely
• 1/2 of a sweet pepper, any color, diced finely
• 1-2 Serrano chiles, seeds removed or not (I did most of them) diced very finely
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 TBSP my Mexican spice mix
• 2 tsp adobo sauce
• 1 TBSP chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, micro-planed
• flour and oil for the meat
• tortillas
• 1 recipe of frijoles refritos (recipe follows)
• sour cream
• assorted cheddar or other Mexican cheese
• limes
• fresh cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat about 3 tbsp of oil in a large cooking pot. ( I use a big old cast-iron pot with a glass lid)
2. Throw all the meat into a plastic bag and sprinkle generously with flour, shake until all the pieces are well coated
3. Begin by browning in batches the meat. Just one layer at a time, and brown them well. Remove done ones to a bowl until all are completed. Then return all the meat to the pot.
4. Add the onions, chiles, peppers, and saute until they are just softened.
5. Add the tomatoes, beer, and all the spices and herbs, adobo sauce etc.
6. Put it on a low simmer and check every hour or so and stir. Let this cook for a good 4 hours. It should be quite thick. Make a roux from flour and butter and add if it is too liquid, or take the lid off and continue simmering and let it cook down.
7. Warm your flour tortillas
8. Make a recipe of frijoles refritos.
9. Place the rest of the condiments on the table.
10. Take a tortilla, spread with some frijoles, add a couple of tablespoons of the guisada, add sour cream, cheese, squirt some lime on top, and a sprig of cilantro. Roll into a burrito and chow down!

Serves: 4-6

Note: If you do not wish to make burritos, you could serve over rice, Mexican flavored or plain. It could also be served with tortilla chips. Obviously you can add other things like avocado, chopped scallions, ripe olives as you desire.

Related articles

• Tex-Mex Carne Guisada (hungryhugheys.wordpress.com)
• Carne Guisada (Latin Beef Stew) (skinnytaste.com)

Wickedly Wild Taco Soup

Creating a recipe is a bit of a crap shoot.

I kept seeing taco soup recipes on JustaPinch and when I looked at them, well I liked the concept, but most seemed rather boring. And so I didn’t try any, but I kept thinking about it.

After a while I figured I had the basics, and then started thinking of what I might like to add.

Which I did. (dried chiles)

Then I added a bit of stuff I just happened to have opened and on hand.

And I did that. (V-8 juice)

And when I had it all together, I was a bit worried, because it looked a lot like chili.

But, when we ate it, oh my, but it was simple mindblowingly wonderful. At least to us. This is kept soupy by having enough liquid and no thickeners such as tomato paste or masa. And we can’t wait to have more as left-overs!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 lb each, ground beef and chorizo sausage
• 1 lg onion, diced
• 1 c celery, diced
• 2 jalapeños, seeded (optional) and diced
• 2 dried chiles such as New Mexican or Anchos (seeded and placed in a bowl with 1 c hot water for 30 min)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28 oz c of diced tomatoes
• 1 can black beans (or other you like), rinsed
• 1 c corn
• 1 tbsp adobo powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 qt V-8 juice
• 1/3 c chopped fresh cilantro
• 8 corn tortillas, cut into wedges
• salt as needed

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Brown the meat in a large soup pot. While it is cooking add the onion, celery, and jalapeño.
2. When the chiles have soaked for 30 minutes, remove and mince. Save the water.
3. When the meat is browned, add the garlic, chiles, and the chile soaking water.
4. Add the tomatoes, beans and corn and all the spices. Add the V-8 juice. (tomato juice would be fine)
5. Bring to a simmer and simmer on low for a good two hours or as long as you wish.
6. Just before bringing to final heating, add the cilantro and stir in.
7. Take the tortilla wedges and fry until crisp in canola oil, drain on paper towelling, and place in a basket at the table.
8. Add sour cream, chopped scallions, and grated cheese as condiments if you wish.

Serves: 8-10

Related articles

• What Do You Call It? (smalltownworld.wordpress.com)
• Taco Soup – A soup that you can sink your teeth into (foodsqueeze.wordpress.com)

Autumn’s Bounty Squash Soup

I have been wanting to make some winter squash soup for a good while.

Finally, I found a recipe that rather intrigued me with its interesting ingredients.

The beauty of this one, is that you can leave out any offending ones like jalapeños, or cinnamon as you wish, and still come out with a great tasting soup.

Be warned, this recipe makes a ton of soup, literally, a ton! I’ll be putting it up in freezer bags for use throughout the remainder of the winter.

So when you think winter squash, start with a smaller one, and adjust the rest of the ingredients down a bit and you won’t have soup to feed an army.

And this is a chopping recipe. But the good news is that once you are done chopping, the soup carries on by itself. So start it early and then ignore it.

And I also found no need to thicken it at all, and I don’t like flour slurries so I switched it to a raw roux if you need to thicken. This recipe comes mostly intact from Rachel Weyerman, at JustaPinch.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 med, or smaller, butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 6 c chicken stock (if you want all veggies, then do a vegetable broth)
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 apple of your choice, peeled, seeded, cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 ribs of celery, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, seeded, and chopped, (I left some seeds in and it was quite warm, but nice)
• 1/8 c brown sugar (she used 1/4 and white) It provides a nice sweetness to set off the heat
• 1 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp oregano and basil (fresh if you can)
• 1 tsp each garlic powder, thyme, cinnamon
• 1 med. tomato diced
• 1 c heavy cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add everything except the tomato and cream to a large soup pot and simmer until everything is nice and soft. (I left it on for a couple of hours, though this is beyond what is needed). Use a potato masher to mush everything up nicely, and then use an immersion blender to puree it to the desired smoothness. I left it a bit chunky.
2. Add the tomato and simmer a bit longer (low simmer) about 20 minutes.
3. If you want to thicken this further, make a raw roux by blending with a fork equal amounts of soft butter and flour until combined. Add pieces and bring the soup to a boil and continue adding until it is as thick as you wish.
4. Add the cream, and just blend.

Serves: 10

Related articles

• Easy Banana Butternut Squash Soup Recipe (chiquitabananas.com)
• Butternut Squash, Apple and Sage Soup (pinecountryfeed.wordpress.com)
• Fall Harvest Soup (homeectech.wordpress.com)
• Butternut Squash Soup (battlingthebulgeonabudget.wordpress.com)
• A Reader Recipe: Buttercup Squash and Apple Soup (fitsugar.com)

Old World Hungarian Goulash

Think beef stew with pork instead.

Think Eastern Europe.

Think regional dish that everybody makes and everybody has their own family recipe.

Don’t think that this is what is called Goulash in the US, which seems to be ground meat, elbow macaroni and tomatoes. Nothing at all wrong with it, but a Hungarian would blanch.

This is authentic to the extent that it is a stew made with pork and root vegetables and doesn’t have tomatoes in it. The rest is my own innovation. So don’t hold be to anybody’s grandma’s grandma’s recipe that never heard of soy sauce let alone used it.

It’s a winter time meal that you start early and can pretty much ignore and let it simmer away.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs pork steak, trimmed of the big chunks of fat and diced
• 1 c flour
• 1 lg onion, chunked
• 1 c each of celery and carrots
• 2 lg potatoes diced
• 1 c parsnips, diced
• 3 tbsp good quality paprika
• 1 tbsp caraway seeds, chopped
• 1 tbsp each of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce
• 4 cups of beef broth
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp pepper
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pat dry the meat, salt and pepper liberally and dredge in the flour.
2. Brown in a cast iron pot in small batches with about 3 tbsp oil. Remove all to a bowl.
3. Add the onion, celery and carrot, and saute until just starting to soften.
4. Add back the meat, and everything except the potatoes, parsnips and parsley. Simmer for at least two hours or until the meat is tender.
5. Add the potatoes and parsnips and continue cooking until done (about 20 min more).
6. Serve with egg noodles and the parsley sprinkled on top.

Note: if the stew is not thick enough, mash together equal amounts of softened butter and flour and pinch off in pieces and add to the stew while bringing up to a boil. Stop add when thickened enough.

Can also serve with dumplings.

Serves: 6

Related articles

• Foodie Fridays: Eastern Bloc Party…. Hungarian Style (soulgourmet.wordpress.com)

True Blue Beef Stew

It’s a universal food, beef stew, or at least some kind of meat stew.

And in the US, there are regional differences as well. This is my version, which is pretty much normal. However, it is delicious if I do say so.

It has as much to do with the method as the ingredients here. There is a reason that it is calls for tougher cuts of meat.

I hope you enjoy it, and perhaps it will cause some tweaking to your own recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1/2″ dice
• 1/2 c flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1 qt more or less of beef stock (I use unsalted)
• 3 ribs celery, sliced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1 med onion, cut into twelve pieces
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, micro-planed
• 1 tsp thyme
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 med potatoes, diced
• 1 more medium onion, cut into twelve pieces
• a roux made of 3 tbsp each butter and flour
• 1 c frozen peas, defrosted

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

1. Put the oil in a large and heavy stew pot, and warm to medium.
2. Pat dry (with towelling) the meat (this actually is quite important). Then toss in the flour until coated.
3. Place in a single layer, and with some room in the pot, as many of the cubes of meat as you can fit. Brown on all sides, and then push to the side, and add more until you have them all in.
4. Once browned, add the  first onion, carrots, and celery, garlic and thyme. Add enough stock to cover.  Add the paste. Stir everything up,  cover, and reduce heat to a bare simmer and let go for three hours. I check about every 45 minutes or so, but as long as its covered it won’t dry.
5. About an hour before eating, add the potatoes and the second onion.  Add more stock to cover again. Continue simmering at a bit higher rate.
6. Meanwhile make your roux in a saute pan. Once combined, cook for about 3 minutes, and then set aside until a few minutes before eating.  Add half, and warm up the stew to a boil and see how this looks. If it is thick enough, then stop, or add the rest if it still needs thickening. Once you are finished here, taste for seasonings and add more salt and pepper if needed. Then add the peas. Stir in, and you are ready to eat.

Serves: 6

Serve with: nice crusty bread, on noodles, with dumplings, with buttermilk biscuits.

Related articles

• ☘ Market District | Beef & Guinness Stew ☘ (cookpendium.wordpress.com)
• Christmas Beef Stew (boxofpuzzlepieces.wordpress.com)
• imabonehead: Blissfully Delicious – Slow Cooker Guinness Beef Stew (blissfullydelicious.com)

Holy Trinity Jambalaya Stew

Oh, yeah, give me some Cajun.

This is one of those recipes that you can find everywhere, some more authentic than others. This makes no real attempt to be so, but goodness we loved it to death.

And because I don’t cook the rice IN the dish, you can make huge batches of this and freeze up meals for those wintry days when you are tired from fighting the elements and want a great meal in minutes.

Of course you can substitute other seafood for the shrimp, or add crawfish or fish if you wish. All should be added late in the game and just cooked. Sticking them in too early will result in rubbery tasteless crustaceans.

The same is true of the sausage. I buy cooked sausage and love the taste, so I don’t let it sit and cook out it’s flavor. Do as you wish about this. 

Okra is up to you. I like it. Some don’t.

Filé gumbo powder is not to be added during cooking, but only at the end. I use it as a table condiment and let folks sprinkle it on if they like it.

So get busy, and go Cajun!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 chicken thighs (or other chicken parts to equal about 2 – 4 c cooked)
• 5 tbsp canola oil, divided 2 and 3
• 1 1/2 lg sweet peppers (I used 1/2 of a red, green, and yellow)
• 1 med. onion, diced
• 3-4 ribs of celery diced
• 1 c of diced okra (optional)
• 1 tsp salt (adjust depending on whether you use salted tomatoes and stock)
• 2 tsp each black and cayenne pepper (again, adjust given what you want in heat)
• 3 cloves garlic, microplaned
• 2 15 oz cans of stewed tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups (at least) chicken stock
• 1 lb andouille sausage cut into chunks (or other sausage you like)
• 1/2 lb shrimp, cleaned
• 3 tbsp flour
• 4-5 scallions, chopped
• filé gumbo powder
• 2 c dry rice (for 4 cups cooked)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil and add the thighs, browning well and turning to brown the other side. Remove to a separate plate.
2. Add the trinity: onions, bell peppers and celery, reducing heat to medium and sauteing until fairly softened.
3. Add the seasonings, garlic and tomatoes, and bay leaves. Return the chicken to the pot, and cook on a simmer for about 30 minutes until the chicken is done.
4. Remove the chicken pieces to cool.
5. Make the roux: 3 tbsp canola oil and flour in a small pan. Cook while stirring often until it is a medium brown. Set aside.
6. You can cover the pot and let it all sit now until near dinner time. I typically cook what I can in the morning, and stop here.
7. When you are getting ready to eat, turn on the burner and begin reheating the jambalaya. Add your sausage now.
8. Remove the meat from the chicken bones, discard the skin, chop the meat or shred. Return it to the pot now too.
9. When its bubbling, add the roux in chunks and stir to thicken. When it’s all incorporated, then add the shrimp on top and cover for 5 minutes.
10. Serve! Over rice, with the chopped scallions and filé powder on the side

Serves: 6 easily

Related articles

• Shrimp & Andouille Jambalaya (eggandtwinkie.wordpress.com)
• Mardi Gras for Your Mouth: Jambalaya (winemeariver.com)
• Gulf Shrimp Jambalaya (cookingwithkatie.wordpress.com)

Salute the US Navy Bean Soup

This is about as basic as it gets.

The original US Senate Navy Bean soup. It’s not got a lot of stuff in it. It thrives on beans.

And so ham.

This is a perfect soup to go to after the holidays when ham has been the featured guest. The ham bone makes this great, and make sure it’s got a fair amount of ham still clinging to it. If you have no ham, then one or two smoked ham hocks will do.

There are three ways to deal with your beans. Soak over night. Pour boiling water over and let sit until about doubled in size, or use cold water and bring to a boil, cook two minutes and let set until beans have swelled up. In all cases cover the beans to two inches over the top.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 regular bag of navy beans (1 1/2 c)
• 1 ham bone, or 1-2 smoked ham hocks
• 1 lg onion, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, micro-planed
• 1 lg potato, diced
• 1/2 salt and pepper each

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Soak your beans by your preferred method. (I tend to let them soak overnight on the counter)
2. Drain, and refill with 7 c of water and the ham.
3. Simmer until beans are tender (about 1-1/4 – 1-1/2 hours)
4. Add the rest of the vegetables, and simmer until they are done, about 20-30 minutes
5. Mash some of the beans with a potato masher if you wish a creamier soup.

Serves: 6