Cabbage Rolls

Yum! Warm and comforting--stuffed cabbage rolls: a mixture of beef, rice, onions, tomato paste, and allspice rolled into steamed cabbage leaves and simmered in tomato sauce. So easy and fun to put together and so satisfying! Thanks to the wonderful blog, Smitten Kitchen, for the idea to make these again. My husband's mom makes a variation of these "piggies," as she calls them, in the winter and lets them stew all day in the crock pot. Enjoy! Continue for recipe.



Cabbage Rolls

1 head of cabbage
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup uncooked rice
1/2 onion
2-3 T tomato paste
pinch of allspice
pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper
your favorite tomato sauce

Steam cabbage in boiling water until leaves are soft.
Saute diced onion in large saucepan until translucent.
Mix beef, rice, onion, tomato paste and spices in bowl (you can dice and add some of the leftover cabbage to this mixture.)
Remove cabbage leaves and cut out center vein.
Place a dollop of beef mixture in the cabbage leaf and roll like a burrito. (You should get 2 rolls per leaf.)
Place rolls in saucepan that you cooked the onions in. Cover with tomato sauce.
Simmer gently for about 1 hour.

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Souper Soup/Goolash

My mom makes this "kitchen sink" type soup often. It's a great way to use ingredients in your pantry and yields a very hearty and satisfying meal. Pair with a green salad and you have a nice wintertime meal--with plenty of leftovers that are even better on the second day. Thanks mom! Continue for recipe.

Souper Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1.5 celery stalks, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
2-3 potatoes, chopped
1 can pinto or red beans (I usually leave this out)
1 can green beans
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 qt. water
3-5 beef bouillon cubes
1-1.5 cup noodles (I like spiral noodles)
parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Brown meat, onion, garlic, and celery together. Drain. Add rest of ingredients, except noodles. Cover and simmer until potatoes are nearly soft -- about one hour. Add noodles and cook until done -- approxiumately 20 more minutes. Even better on day two!

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Tamale Pie

Comfort food--ummm. Today I wanted something filling and easy that would make enough for leftovers and decided on this Tamale Pie. It's been awhile since we've had this and it was nice to revisit an old favorite.

This "pie" is made with ground beef, tomatoes, green pepper, spices, salsa, and whatever else you want to throw in. Today I felt like corn but sometimes I add beans too. This mixture is topped with a thick layer of cornbread that is great to sop up the juices of the filling. I like to break up my cornbread and mix it all together on my plate. The sweetness of the cornbread is really nice with the spiciness of the filling. Of course, you can use a cornbread box mix to top this as well, but I find it just as easy to make up my own and it's tastier. You can also add spices or chiles to the cornbread, (really good with cilantro), but it's great without any additions. Serve with a salad, and you have a complete meal! Continue for Tamale Pie recipe.

Tamale Pie

1/2 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 lb. ground beef
1 t coriander
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1/2-1 cup salsa
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 14oz can corn
1 T Mexican hot sauce or several dashes of Tabasco
salt to taste

1 cup flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 generous T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2/3 c milk
1 1/2 T butter, melted
1 egg
cilantro (optional)

Heat large skillet to medium high. Add onions, green peppers, and beef. Cook, breaking up the beef with spoon, until meat is fully cooked and vegetables are soft.
Stir in spices.
Add salsa, tomatoes, corn, and hot sauce.
Taste and salt, adjusting hot sauce if needed.
Preheat oven to 350.
Pour beef mixture into a 3 quart baking dish.

For cornbread topping:
Mix flour through salt in medium bowl.
In measuring cup, mix milk, egg, and butter.
Add milk mixture to flour and stir until just barely combined.
Add cilantro, if using.
Drop spoonfuls of batter onto beef mixture.

Bake for about 35 min, or until cornbread is done.

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Green Chile Beef Stew

Hatch green chiles are here! These New Mexican chiles cause quite a stir at our local grocery stores when they're in season. They're only at our Houston stores several weeks and so it's a good time to stock up. It's nice to use fresh chiles instead of canned. They have a very nice flavor and are perfect for enchiladas, stews, beans, fajitas, cornbread, salsa, cheese bread...well, they're just great chiles. I usually buy the mild variety and buy them freshly roasted. Yum! This makes them so easy to use. And the roasted chiles can be frozen for use throughout the year. Today I made a simple stew using the chiles, beef, and potatoes. Continue for Green Chile Beef Stew recipe.

Green Chile Beef Stew

1 1/2 lb. lean stew meat, cut into cubes
1/2 medium onion, chopped
6 cups water
4 cloves minced garlic
8-10 roasted, peeled, and diced New Mexico green chiles (such as Hatch)
1 1/2 large Russet potatoes (or potato of your choice), cubed
1/4 t cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Crockpot Method:
Coat meat with flour; sprinkle generously with salt and a bit of pepper.
Add all ingredients to crockpot and cook on high 8-10 hours or until potatoes are tender.

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Chicken Fried Steak

There is really no good way to make chicken fried steak look appetizing! I have to admit, I am definitely not a fan of this breaded and fried steak. But I had some beef cutlets and thought that I would branch out and try something new. This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen and if you like chicken fried steak, it's probably a good method. The steak is dredged through flour, then a mixture of buttermilk and egg, and then re-dipped into seasoned flour. The resulting crust is thick enough to stand up to the onion gravy and turns a nice golden brown when it's fried. It did slide off of the steak when cut though. Something different for dinner, although I don't think I'll make it again.

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