Taco Time

Mexican food is a definite staple in my diet. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if you did a chemical analysis, my body would be made up of water (well, maybe coffee?), corn from all those tortillas, rice and wine. (And I'd be scared to know which of those would be at the top of the ingredient list...) But I do eat Mexican food a lot. A LOT. Like today for lunch. These tacos used up some leftover steak and come together in a snap. You pretty much can't go wrong with tender meat folded into a cheesy corn tortilla and topped with cilantro and onions. These would make a fantastic quick supper too.

Steak Tacos

serves 2

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Chop up enough leftover steak to make one cup. Saute, in a bit of oil if the meat is very lean, until steak is just heated and a bit browned. Meanwhile heat some oil (1 t) in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When hot, add a corn tortilla and cook for about 30 seconds, or until it begins to become the slightest bit crisp. Flip over and sprinkle on some grated cheese and 1/4 C meat. Carefully fold the tortilla in half and cook on each side for about 30 seconds or until just crisp and golden brown. Remove from heat and repeat with 3 more tortillas. Sprinkle on some chopped green onions and cilantro, and some hot jalapeno sauce....and EAT!!

Under Pressure

Time passes so quickly these days...especially the weekends. And it is always on those days that fly by that I have planned a meal that requires much cooking, not necessarily prep time, but hours in the oven or on the cook top. Before I know it, I've missed the window and it is 5 o'clock, too late to start a slow braise, unless we want to eat after nine.

Such was the case on Saturday evening. The daylight hours had somehow raced by me, my brain addled from so much sun and record breaking heat. So when my belly began to remind me that mealtime was fast approaching, I was disappointed to see that I wouldn't have time to make the short ribs that I had planned. That is, unless I used my pressure cooker....where was that darn thing anyway?

After digging through all my cabinets, my overflow pantry in the garage, and phoning my mom to accuse her of stealing it (she uses her OLD one all the time for cooking artichokes), I finally found it on top of my garage freezer, because evidently that is where my extra cookware goes (hear the sarcasm in my voice?). That was a good place for it, at least according to my adorable husband who is my esteemed dish washer and dish putter awayer.

Anyway, I revamped my recipe for the pressure cooker, which cooks food under very high pressure, thus reducing the cooking time by drastic amounts. Honestly, the pressure cooker kind of scares me, and I can actually feel my pulse rising as it starts to rattle and hiss. I am always afraid that it will suddenly burst open, spraying me with scalding juices and splattering my kitchen with a disastrous mess. So I don't use it nearly as often as I should. However, I have found that it is a miracle machine, worth every penny, and I really need to just get over my fear (and perhaps store it in a more accessible place).

If you don't have a pressure cooker, the short ribs can be cooked in a medium hot oven for about 2-3 hours, or until meat is falling off the bone. But if you do, your dinner will be done in less than an hour, start to finish. We served these with creme fraiche mashed potatoes with chives (yum) and sauteed tri-color carrots.

Pressure Cooker Short Ribs

serves 3-4

6, 4 inch short ribs

1/2 C flour and salt and pepper

4 oz. pancetta, cubed

10 cloves garlic, peeled

12 cipollini onions, peeled and halved if large

3 sprigs rosemary, leaves chopped fine (about 1 T)

1 t dried thyme

2 strips of orange peel

2 C beef broth

1 1/2 C diced tomatoes in juice

1 1/2 C red wine

olive oil

Drizzle olive oil in bottom of pressure cooker (or large dutch oven) and heat to medium high. Dredge short ribs in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and brown in batches on all sides in pan. Remove to a plate. Wipe out excess oil and flour from pan. Drizzle in a bit more olive oil and toss in pancetta cubes, stirring until fat begins to render out. Add garlic cloves and onions and stir frequently until they begin to turn golden. Return ribs to pot, along with rosemary, thyme, orange peel, diced tomatoes, beef broth and wine. Cover tightly with lid and bring to high pressure. Reduce heat, while still maintaining high pressure, and cook for about 40 minutes or until meat is tender and falling off the bone. If you aren't using a pressure cooker, bring mixture to a boil, cover then bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 2-3 hours, or until meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Really Retro

Sometimes I crave a little comfort food, something that my mom used to make, and her mom too. But because for much of my adulthood I have shied away from meat, beef specifically, I was always a bit reluctant to make this dish, which is so very beefy. But as Lucinda Scala Quinn (a chef who works with Martha Stewart) put it, if you have boys, you need to make friends with ground beef. And so it seems that I have finally surrendered to this quite delicious, if very occasional meal. And it's true, my boys do love ground beef, husband included.

This recipe is from the 50s. I chatted with my 90 year old nana today about it, and she said that she used to make it for my mom and her brother. And because the dish was so good, soon all her friends were requesting the recipe for their families. She wasn't sure what cookbook she got it from, and I guess it doesn't really matter now. It is a kid tested and approved meal, and grown-ups think it is pretty great too. We always serve it with rice, because it makes a lot of delectable, salty gravy. But I think it would be fantastic over mashed potatoes too. I often double the recipe so we have some left over. And don't even think of substituting ground turkey for the beef!

Parmesan Meatballs

meatballs:

1 pound ground beef (I use lean)

1 T diced dried onion (in the spice section)

1/2 C fresh bread crumbs

1/2 C parmesan cheese

1/2 C milk

1 egg

gravy:

1/4 C flour

1 can consomme (beef broth with gelatin added...Campbells makes this)

1/2 C milk

1/2 C white wine (something you would drink)

Combine ingredients for meatballs and mix well with your hands. Form into smallish meat balls (about the size of golf balls) and fry in 2 T melted butter over medium high heat in a large skillet. Brown quickly on all sides, cooking them in batches if necessary. Remove meatballs from pan and whisk 1/4 C flour into the remaining fat (if there is none left, add a couple more tablespoons of butter). Slowly whisk in consomme, until mixture is smooth. Stir in milk and wine and bring to a boil. Return meatballs to pan and simmer, covered for 20 minutes over low heat.

Sunday Supper on Monday Night

I like to know what I am going to have for dinner early in the day, so I can think about it, look forward to it, and get hungry for it. But the problem with that is that sometimes it doesn't work out the way I'd hoped and then I'm disappointed and unable to get hungry for anything else. This is exactly what happened to me yesterday. After spending the afternoon at the movies and then the park, when we returned home at around 5 p.m. I was planning on whipping up a beef stew. Unfortunately, I had anticipated only 2 hours of cooking time, not the four allotted by the recipe, and so I had to make adjustments in the menu...which was rapidly shaping up to be leftovers (yuck) or takeout. We ended up throwing together a mish-mash of leftovers from the fridge and got some takeout for me, because I was in no mood for leftovers...and we did not quite have the happy Sunday supper that I'd envisioned. Oh well, such is life.

So we will have the stew tonight, another rushed meal due to the soccer season that refuses to die. But the good news is that this stew is really fast to throw together, mostly because the meat does not require browning. Although I am highly suspicious that the stew might suffer in flavor because of that, Jamie Oliver (whose recipe it is) swears that this is not so..he even made it each way to make sure. Another great thing about this meal is that it can sit in a warm oven after it has finished cooking, waiting patiently until we are ready to eat it. Perhaps it's fate that we are having this on a weeknight. After all, it is only midday and I am finished cooking dinner! All I have to do now is heat up some rolls and toss a quick salad.

This delicious looking one-pot meal, contains so many interesting "veg" as the Brits like to call it; butternut squash, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes, which I have never prepared or eaten as far as I know, but are the roots of a type of sunflower that do indeed taste like artichoke). It also contains a good amount of wine and fresh sage and is topped with a gremolata (freshly chopped garlic, parsley and lemon peel) after it is scooped into the serving bowls. The beauty of stew in general is that it uses what ingredients are at hand, can take a fair amount of fiddling to accommodate tastes, and can be as simple or elaborate as you desire and based on what is available seasonally.

Hearty Beef Stew

serves 4-6

1 onion, chopped

handful fresh sage leaves

olive oil & butter

4 carrots, peeled and halved

2 parsnips, peeled and quartered

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped

3 sunchokes, peeled and halved

1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and quartered

2 pounds beef chuck or other stewing beef, cut into 2 inch chunks

2 handfuls of flour, salt and pepper

2 T tomato puree

1/2 bottle of red wine

1 1/4 C beef or vegetable stock

1 garlic clove

handful parsley

zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Drizzle olive oil and toss a pat of butter in large Dutch oven and saute onion and sage over medium low heat until soft. Toss beef with seasoned flour in a zip top bag. Add to pot along with the vegetables, tomato puree, wine and stock. Gently stir to combine. Bring to a boil and place into the oven to bake for 3-4 hours. Meat should be soft and falling apart. Stew can be kept warm in a 225 degree oven until ready to eat. Serve with crusty bread and a simple salad. Scoop into bowls and sprinkle on finely minced garlic, parsley and lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.

Comfort Me

I come from a line of good cooks. My mother is an excellent cook, as was her mother. I have so many memories from childhood of hanging out in the kitchen with my mom as she whipped together fantastic meals from scratch. I would brag about her abilities to my friends and everyone loved to come over to our house for dinner. She was and still is known as being a "gourmet" cook in her circle of friends, and is always excited to try new recipes (and we are equally excited to taste them). She was known in our small town as cooking somewhat exotic foods like curry, and stir-fried vegetables (yes, the town was VERY small). I also had the good fortune of living with my mother-in-law to be when my husband and I were engaged. She is a fantastic cook as well, and introduced me to even more favorites from their family traditions.

So between these two women, whom I consider to be very strong influences in both my love for cooking, and the style in which I do cook, I compiled quite a repertoire of recipes that I would now consider comfort foods. Many recipes are not "traditional mac-and-cheesy" kinds of comfort foods, but they remind me of "home" and the mothers that I love and admire very much, and that is comfort enough for me. These take me back to my roots and make me smile at fond memories of dinner banter and good times with family and friends.

The weather has finally turned here, and it feels like autumn, especially since we have turned back the clocks and night comes sooner. It was the perfect day to make stew. It is a rare occasion that we even have beef, as it is very difficult to find grass fed, local meat, and when I can, it is very expensive. But tonight we splurged in celebration of the cooler weather. This recipe is one I grew up with and is made special by the addition of mild curry powder, just a touch, so that even those who say they don't like curry will probably not even notice it is there. But the curry lends a warmth and depth of flavor that is perfect on a cold night. Serve this tender, flavorful stew over rice, or with crusty bread. We also had an arugula salad with red onion slices and cave aged blue cheese.

Beef Stew Oriental

1 flank steak (1 large or 2 small)

1/3 C flour

salt and pepper

4 C beef stock

1 onion sliced into rings

1 t dried thyme leaves

1 t mild curry powder

Preheat oven to 375°.

Slice flank steak thinly across the grain and place in plastic bag with flour, salt and pepper. Shake to coat meat. Warm a couple of tablespoons of oil in large dutch oven and brown meat, in two batches if necessary. Add thyme, curry, onion and stock and bring to a boil. Cover and bake for 1 hour.