Chili (Bim's)

 The secret ingredient is chocolate, which sounds funny, but it is a small amount and does not overwhelm. No one will know it is there if you don't tell them but it really adds a depth to the dish. 

Small amount bacon fat (or oil)

Medium onion, diced

1 lb. ground beef (can substitute chicken, etc.)

14 oz. can diced tomatoes

3 oz. tomato paste

1 can kidney beans

1 small can corn (optional)

1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste, chili powder (about 1 T.), cumin (about 1/2 t.), 1 bay leaf (remove before serving), red chili flakes to taste, a few dashes of Tabasco if desired

For garnish: A small amount of sharp cheddar cheese, grated; some fresh chives, chopped

On the side: A small amount of sour cream

Melt bacon fat in large frying pan, add the onion, and saute. Add the ground beef and cook until brown. Drain grease from pan. Add the tomatoes, paste, kidney beans, chocolate and spices. Bring to boil, then lower heat and let simmer, partially covered, for about 1 hour. 

Serve garnished with cheese and chives. Serve sour cream on the side. 

Bim's Beef Stew

8 oz Pearl onions
2 lb Beef, cubed small
Flour
3-4 T Fat (bacon fat, butter, etc.)
4 Carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces (may also add parsnips, turnips, etc., as your prefer)
8-12 Very small potatoes
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
1 Bay leaf
Water (can use half water/half stock or 3 parts water/1 part red wine or some combination of the three)
Butter/flour, kneaded together
Fresh parsley, chopped

Boil water in small saucepan and add onions. Boil for one minute, remove to bowl of ice water to stop cooking. When cool, peel by pinching at stem end and set aside. Flour the beef cubes thoroughly. Melt fat in pot. Sear beef cubes in hot fat on all sides. When browned, add onions and lightly brown. Add carrots (and other vegetables if you use them) and potatoes, and cover with water/stock/wine until just covered. Stir in salt,pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer (just barely uncovered) for 60 minutes or until meat and vegetables are very tender. Thicken with pea-sized balls of kneaded flour/butter until desired thickness has been reached. Correct the seasoning. Serve in bowl and sprinkle parsley on top.

Pot Roast

I got the recipe for this pot roast marinade out of the St. Louis Post Dispatch years ago. 

Mix together 4 C water, 2 C vinegar (I use cider vinegar), 2 bay leaves, 12 whole cloves, 12 whole peppercorns, 1 T salt, 1 T brown sugar. Pour over pot roast (approx 4 lb rump roast, chuck roast, etc.) and let marinate overnight.

Lift meat out of marinade, setting the liquid aside. Dredge the meat with flour, and brown in hot fat in a heavy pot. Strain the marinade liquid and add 2 C of it back to the pot with the meat. Cover and bring to boil, then turn down heat and slowly simmer for 2 hours. Add vegetables: 1-2 onions (sliced), carrots (1-2 per person, peeled and sliced), potatoes (1/2-1 per person, peeled and quartered). Continue simmering until meat and vegetables are tender, approximately another 2 hours.

Beef Brisket

This recipe is from Katherine Tucker, Janelle Dinwiddie's mother. It is easy and good -- especially for a crowd. (Each pound serves 1 1/2 people.)

Trim fat off brisket. Cover with celery slat, garlic salt, salt, and pepper. Add 2 oz. liquid smoke. Let marinate overnight. Cover tightly foil. Cook at 300 degrees for 4-5 hours. Slice on the diagonal.

Shepherd's Pie (Bim's)

Melt 2 T. butter in large fry pan. Add 1/2 C. coarsely chopped onion, 1/2 C. chopped celery, 1 C. sliced carrots, 1 C. sliced rutabaga, squash or parsnips - whatever is in season or you have in the house. Saute the vegetables until soft. Add 2 T. butter and 2 T. flour to pan and stir. Add 1 C. liquid, either broth, milk, or a combination. You can include white wine if you have some open. Stir and let simmer on low to thicken sauce. Add 1 t. dry mustard and salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate pan brown 1 lb. lean ground beef. Strain and add to vegetables. Taste for seasoning.

In a separate pot boil potatoes  (about 4, depending on the size and on how much mashed potatoes you like) in salted water. When soft, strain and mash with butter and milk.

Add meat and vegetable mixture to medium size baking dish. Cover with mashed potatoes. Brush top of potatoes with melted butter. Cook in 400 degree oven until lightly browned on top.

Corned Beef Dinner (Bim's)

I used to make this every year around St. Patrick's Day for Dad. 

Corned beef: The corned beef cooks down, so allow 1 pound per person minimum, more if you plan to have enough leftovers to make corned beef hash and eggs for the next day's breakfast or dinner. Rinse your corned beef under running water to remove surface brine. Transfer to large pot and cover with water. Add a small handful of pickling spice. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and let simmer, until a fork penetrates easily. It can take up to an hour per pound.

The vegetables: In the meantime, cook the potatoes (1 per person, pared and quartered) in a separate pot. Cover them with water, add salt, bring to the boil, lower heat, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until soft when tested with fork. Also, in another pot cook pearl onions in boiling water. When soft, remove from water, let cool and peel.

When the beef is done, remove from pot and let sit on a wooden board covered with foil (to keep warm) while you make the vegetables. Bring the stock to boil and add: Carrots (1 per person, peeled and sliced) and parsnips (1 per person, peeled and sliced). Simmer for about 15 minutes, until fork penetrates easily. Remove from stock with slotted spoon. Add to stock 1 head cabbage, cut into small wedges, and simmer for about 15 minutes. When cabbage is done, add back the other vegetables and potatoes to the warm stock, turn off the heat, and cover the pot, to keep everything warm while you slice the beef.

When all is done, slice the meat diagonally across the grain. Place on large platter. Place potatoes and vegetables on the same platter. Brush melted butter over the potatoes and sprinkle chopped parsley over all.

Horseradish sauce: Prepare a white sauce by melting 2 T. butter, and whisking in 2 T. flour. Add 1 C. milk, whisk and let simmer for a few minutes to thicken. Remove from heat and add 3 T. horseradish, 1T. heavy cream, 1 t. sugar, 1 t. dry mustard, 1 T. vinegar.

Leftovers -- Corned beef hash and eggs: After dinner, chop everything coarsely and stir together to make a hash. The next day, fry the hash in a little butter until warm. Serve with eggs, toast, and reheated horseradish sauce.

Corned Beef with Irish Flag Vegetables

I tried this recipe for Corned Beef & Vegetables this St. Patrick's Day. There are no amounts for the vegetables -- just make enough for the people you are serving. The more vegetables you have, the bigger the platter you will need to make the Irish flag.

Corned beef brisket (about 5 lbs.)
Boiling water
1 Tbsp mixed pickling spices (or use the little packet that comes with the meat)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup prepared mustard
1 head cabbage, cored and cut into 6 wedges
Potatoes, peeled and cut in half (or quartered if very large)
Baby carrots
Melted butter (enough to pour on carrots and potatoes)
Chopped parsley
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 325. Place the corned beef in a large roasting pan and sprinkle with pickling spices. Pour enough boiling water into the pan to cover the meat. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake for two hours or until tender when pierced with a large fork. Remove from oven and allow meat to cool in cooking liquid. (Meat can be cooked to this point the day before and kept in cooking liquid in refrigerator).

About 1 hour before serving, drain the beef and reserve the cooking liquid. Place the beef  back into the pan and bake for 30 minutes at 325. Combine the mustard and brown sugar in small bowl. Pour over meat and continue to bake for 30 more minutes or until meat is nicely glazed. Remove from oven and slice thinly across the grain.

Meanwhile while meat is cooking, put potatoes in a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and boil potatoes for 20-30 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. In a separate pot, bring reserved cooking liquid to a boil. Place cabbage and carrots in cooking liquid and add enough boiling water to cover vegetables. Boil vegetables for 20-30 minutes or until tender.

Drain potatoes and vegetables. On a large rectangular platter, arrange vegetables in three vertical rows with cabbage on one side, potatoes in the middle and carrots on the other side, resembling the Irish flag. Pour melted butter over carrots and potatoes. Sprinkle entire platter with chopped parsley and salt and pepper.

Mom's Meatloaf

To avoid fights at the table, Mom laid the bacon diagonally across the meatloaf, so that each slice had some bacon.

3 lbs. ground meat
2 tbsp. minced onion
3 eggs
2 tsp. each salt & pepper
3 slices milk bread*
1/2 c. ketchup
1 tbsp. mustard

FOR TOP:
Bacon
Tomato Sauce (or ketchup)
Oregano

Mix meatloaf ingredients lightly but thoroughly. Form loaf and place in roasting pan. Add toppers. Bake at 400° for 1 hour.

*Soak bread in milk, squeeze out and discard excess milk.

Rindsgulasch (Beef Goulash)

Lisa Joy writes:

"When I was growing up, my mother served us what she called ‘goulash’. It was a mixture of hamburger, macaroni and some tomatoey sauce all grouped together in what was, no offense to my mother who is quite a good cook, one of my least favorite dishes. Many people I know had similar experiences with goulash growing up. So when I arrived in Austria I was surprised and slightly horrified to realize that goulash is about as common as Wiener Schnitzel. Until I tasted real gulasch, that is. Gulasch in Austria is a stew flavored with paprika. I’ve read that really, sauteed onions, with paprika added once the pot has been removed from heat, is the base of gulasch, and you can pretty much add anything after that; although I would stay away from hamburger and macaroni, thank you very much.

The recipe below is pretty basic and gets you a cross between a very thick stew, and beef with a paprika gravy. If you ordered gulasch in a restaurant, you’d get something similar to this, probably with knödel (bread dumplings) on the side. Add more stock or water, with bite-sized potatoes thrown in at the end until they are tender, and you get gulaschsuppe (goulash soup, pictured), great served with crusty bread. Instead of sauteing onions in butter, fry onions with some bacon, substitute two lbs of potatoes for 2 lbs of beef (and only cook until potatoes are tender) and throw in a few sliced smoked sausages towards the end of cooking time, and you have Kartoffelgulasch (potato goulash). Take the recipe below, and to each serving add a fried egg, a sausage and a sweet and sour pickle, and you get Viennese gulasch. It’s fun to experiment. If possible, use Hungarian paprika. And if you like spicy things, and can find it, use sharf (sharp or spicy) paprika. This will make the goulash ‘sing’."

Use cheap beef with this. You really want tough meat, because it thickens the gravy as it breaks down with the long cooking time.

2 lbs. stew beef, cut into pieces

1 ½ lbs. onions, chopped

2 T melted butter or olive oil

1 T paprika (I use more, but most recipes call for this. If using American paprika, I think you’d probably have to add quite a bit more.)

1 T tomato paste

Dash cider vinegar

1 ½ - 2 cups water or beef stock

1 T goulash spice mix (garlic, marjoram and caraway seeds)

Salt

Finely diced potatoes, if needed

Heat butter or oil in a large pot and saute onions until tender. Add beef and brown. Remove from heat and stir in paprika – do NOT fry the paprika. Stir in tomato paste and vinegar. Add water, return to heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 -3 hours, until beef is tender and gravy is thickened, adding more water or stock as needed. If gravy is too thin, add some very finely chopped potatoes and cook until thickened.

Brisket

1 piece of beef brisket, any size

2 small onions, sliced into thin rounds

2 cups ketchup

2 pkgs. dry onion soup mix

6 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp garlic powder

Heat oven to 325. Mix together ketchup, onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and garlic powder. Put brisket in roasting pan just large enough to hold it. Lay sliced onions on top of meat and pour sauce over brisket and onions. Cook 4 hours.

Remove meat from pan, scraping onions and any sauce on top of meat back into the pan. Using large spoon or potato masher, mush the onions and sauce together, mixing sauce as you go. Slice meat and pour sauce over the meat prior to serving.

Meatloaf with Cheese

This is super easy and always a hit!

2 pounds ground beef (or ground turkey if you prefer)

1 cup oatmeal

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 pound dry mozzarella, diced into small cubes

1 1/2 tsps garlic salt (or slightly more if you prefer)

Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Form into loaf. Bake in 400 oven for 45-60 minutes.

Neat Annie's Sloppy Joe

The Sloppy Joe Challenge continues: here we have Annie's submission. She uses organic ingredients where possible. Anyone else (except Jimmy) want to jump in?

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
Red peppers, green peppers, yellow peppers, orange peppers (or any variety thereof), seeded and chopped - I am my mother's daughter - cook more by sight than by measuring - probably a total of 2 cups
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried marjoram
2 lbs ground beef (can substitute turkey, etc.) - if use a leaner meat, no need to drain fat off after cooking; if using a fattier meat, should drain excess fat after cooking beef
2 15-oz cans crushed tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste
4-5 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp yellow mustard
1/4 cup water
Kosher salt, ground pepper


In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until nearly transparent. Add celery and peppers. Cook another 10 minutes. Add garlic, marjoram and cook another 5 -10 minutes. Remove vegetables from pan and set aside.

Add meat to pan and cook about 5 - 10 minutes. Do not fully cook the meat, just enough to a gray color. If necessary, drain off excess fat. Add vegetable mixture to meat, along with crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Can serve traditionally over toasted hamburger buns but I like to serve over boiled red potatoes. My not-quite-as-health-conscious husband prefers to serve over Ore Ida 'Tater Tots.

I also like my Joes pretty tangy. The recipe above is not super tangy. I like to put a little bit of extra Worcestershire and vinegar on my personal helping, to give it some zest.

Sloppy John's Sloppy Joe

I hate to admit we usually use the canned stuff, but since Annie asked for a real one, I came up with this. Don't worry, I tried it out for dinner before posting.

1 lb. hamburger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
6 oz. can tomato paste and two paste cans water
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbs. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat with the garlic, onion and pepper. Stir in paste, water and spices. Simmer over medium heat until thickened down, about 20-25 minutes.

Sunday Pasta Dinner

This isn't really a recipe, but more a roadmap for our typical Sunday pasta dinner. All together, you can easily serve 12 people with this meal. Use your favorite version of each recipe from the website (Jimmy's bracciole? Johnny's gravy? Mom's meatballs?). For the meatballs and sausage, use amounts according to what your guests prefer (my kids love meatballs, so I make 3 pounds of meatballs and 2 pounds of sausage). Add a large salad or a nicely sauteed vegetable (brocolli or spinach work well) and some good Italian bread and you're all set!

Gravy (aka Tomato Sauce) - a recipe made with 4, 28-ounce cans of tomatoes is enough

1 recipe of bracciole

2 or 3 pounds of meatballs

2 or 3 pounds of Italian sausage

2 pounds of your favorite pasta (I like rigatoni)

Prepare the bracciole and meatballs according to their recipes, up to the point where you have browned them all. Brown the sausage over medium heat.

After you've made the gravy and brought it to a simmer, add the browned bracciole. Continue simmering the bracciole for about an hour and then add the browned sausage. Let the sausage and bracciole simmer for another half hour and then add the browned meatballs. Simmer for another 1.5 hours so that the bracciole have been simmering in the gravy for a total of 3 hours. If necessary, add hot water to the gravy as the meats simmer to keep the meats submerged.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package so that the pasta and meats are finished cooking at about the same time. Drain the pasta.

Transfer the meats to a large platter and spoon some gravy over the pieces. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl and spoon some gravy over and toss. Sprinkle the pasta with parmesan cheese. Put extra gravy and parmesan on the table. Serve.

Bracciole (Jimmy Style)

Johnny posted bracciole the way mom used to make it I think. I use a different version. In New Jersey, I can buy "Beef for Bracciole" right in the grocery store, which is just bottom round cut very thinly. I don't remember seeing it packaged like this in the mid-west. "Sandwich Steaks" are a good substitute.

I typically make Bracciole as part of our "Sunday Pasta Dinner". I posted that recipe (if you can call it a recipe) separately.

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups unseasonsed cubed bread stuffing (or you can cut up day-old bread)

2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped up

1/4 cup grated parmesan chese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup raisins

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 large slices of Beef for Bracciole

12 slices prosciutto (imported works best)

1/4 pound provolone cheese

Olive oil

Spread the pine nuts on a cookie sheet and place into a pre-heated 325 oven. Cook for 6-7 minutes, until they are lightly browned, shaking the pan once or twice during cooking.

Pour the bread cubes into a bowl and pour the milk over them. Let them soak until the bread is a soft "stuffing" consistency (about 1/2 hour). Drain the bread, squeezing out the excess milk. Put the drained bread in a large bowl. Add the chopped eggs, parmesan, parsley, pine nuts, raisins, and garlic and mix to make a stuffing. Set aside.

Cut the provolne cheese into 12 small sticks, about 1 1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch squared. Cut each of the beef slices cross-wise into two portions each, so you have 12 portions of beef. Lay the twelve portions of beef on a cutting board. If necessary, pound the beef to an even thickness around 1/4 inch.

Working with the short side of each piece toward you, lay a piece of prosciutto on each piece of beef (you can fold or "crinkle" up the prosciutto so it fits). Spread some stuffing mix along the edge of each piece facing you (leave a little border on the top and the sides so it is easier to roll). Put one of the provolne pieces on top of the stuffing mix. Fold the top and side borders over stuffing and then roll the meat into a tight roll. Secure with toothpicks.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pan. Place as many of the bracciole as fit comfortably (don't crowd!) and brown them until nicely browned on all sides. This will take about 8 - 10 minutes per batch. Remove the pieces to a plate and continue with uncooked braccioles as necessary.

Simmer the browned braccioles in tomato sauce (gravy) for approximately 3 hours.

Bracciole

Amounts of each ingredient will depend upon the number of servings you need.

Round steaks, cut 1/4" thick
Pancetta, chopped
Provolone, grated
Salt, pepper, garlic
Tomato sauce (or wine/stock)

Pound steaks and cut each in half. Mix pancetta, provolone, salt, pepper and garlic. Stuff each steak piece with mixture. Roll and secure with toothpicks. Brown outsides of meat rolls. Cook them in tomato sauce, simmering for 30 minutes or so.

Manicotti

This recipe includes either meat sauce or marinara sauce.

12 eggs
2 1/4 c. milk
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt

Beat all together to form crepe-like batter. Cook on griddle, pouring about 1/4 cup of batter to form a circle. Remove when cooked--do not turn, do not let it brown. Repeat until all are done and let all cool.

FILLING:
3 lb. ricotta
4 eggs, beaten
1 c. grated cheese
1 tbsp. parsley
Salt & pepper
1/2 lb. cubed mozzarella (optional)

Mix all filling ingredients. Place about 1 tbsp. or more in center of each crepe. Fold over. Place side-by-side in baking pan, seam side up. Pour meat sauce or marinara sauce over all. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil.

Bake in 400° oven for 30-40 minutes until filling is cooked.

Stuffed Flank Steak

Mom made this for me whenever I came home from college. Unlike Jimmy's Cheesy Potato Casserole experience, this really was a favorite of mine. Annie's too I think. Now my Joey requests it as his birthday meal some years.

1 flank steak
Your favorite Italian dressing marinade
Stuffing:
1 cup (or more, according to your preference) Pepperidge Farm bread crumbs, herb flavored
1 stalk celery

Cut a "pocket" in the flank steak; you will be cutting it so that it looks like a piece of pita bread. Marinate the meat for several hours. Prepare the stuffing according to package directions. Puree the celery in the blender or food processor and add it to the stuffing. Place the stuffing in the meat pocket. Either cook it on the grill, or, in the winter, broil it, approximately 10 minutes per side, or to taste. Should be somewhat rare. Slice on the diagonal. Easy, but good!

Swiss Steak (Sandi & Mom Pat's)

There's really nothing special (or really Swiss?) about Swiss Steak, but this may be the only recipe I contribute. Cooking in my family was quite different from the Scavones! With my German, English and Dutch heritage, few spices were used in my childhood. And my mom got her recipes from Family Circle and Woman's Day. This is probably one of those, and I've made it ever since college because it tenderizes the toughest hunk of beef you can find. ~~Sandi

2 lb chuck steak (or any cheap cut of beef)
1 pkg onion soup mix
1/2 lb mushrooms, halved
1/2 green pepper, cut in rings
16 oz can whole tomatoes, drained (reserve 1/2 c. juice)
1 tbsp. steak sauce

Line a large pan with greased tin foil. Arrange the steak in center. Sprinkle soup mix and mushrooms over the meat. Garnish with pepper rings and tomatoes.

Mix reserved juice with steak sauce and pour over the meat. Seal with a top layer of foil and bake at 375° for 2 hours.

Throw in some quartered potatoes if you want a complete one-dish meal.

Meatballs (Mom's)

Johnny posted his version, so I thought I would post Mom's recipe. I have this recipe in her own handwriting which she gave me when I asked her how to make them. This is exactly how she wrote it.

1 lb. chopped meat

1 egg

1 slice bread - wet and squeezed dry

1 tsp salt

pepper

1 1/2 tbsp grated cheese

1/2 grated fresh onion (or use 1/2 tbsp minced onion)

1 clove garlic (or use 1/4 tsp minced garlic)

Mix together. Make meatballs. Fry and cook in sauce.