Puerto Rican Bean Stew

I know this has nothing to do with my post, but I just had to tell you about what we had for dessert last night. Have you ever had Magic Shell ice cream topping? It's chocolate topping that hardens when you pour it over ice cream, forming a thin chocolate shell. I must admit, I've never bought a bottle, but I've had it. Well, lately I've become a huge fan of extra virgin coconut oil. It doesn't break down into trans fats at high temperatures, like many vegetable oils do. It's an amazing moisturizer for you skin, with the added bonus of smelling good enought to eat. It works wonders on rashes. Boosts your metabolism. Makes an amazing chocolate-coconut-banana smoothie. Okay, just google it already, because sister I am just breaking the surface here of all the good things that virgin coconut oil can do(note it's VIRGIN coconut oil, different from coconut oil which is NOT healthy). Well, to add to my list, I found a recipe for homemade magic shell ice cream topping using EVCO -or extra virgin coconut oil- because it is a liquid above 75 degrees, but it solidifies at 74 degrees and below. So last night we tried it. The recipe said to melt 1 part chocolate with 1 part oil, but I did 1 part oil to 2 parts chocolate. Melted them together over med-low heat in a saucepan, then poured it over Costco's fabulously delish vanilla bean ice cream. It was SO BLOOMIN' GOOD!! The chocolate hardened right up, and also gave it this decadent coconutty undercurrent that was completely over the moon. Bottom line, try it!

Soooooooo, back to the post! Hearty, rich, healthy, economic. Bean Stew. I had never had a soup like this until I moved here, and I love it. Easier than split pea, cheaper that beef stew, it's an ideal fall recipe to keep on hand. Sofrito is a Puerto Rican seasoning made with onions, garlic, green peppers, tomato sauce, along with a few other things, all blended together to make a kind of paste that is the base of Puerto Rican cuisine. My favorite store brand is Don Tono con Sazon(the refrigerated kind that's red, not green). You can probably find sofrito seasoning in the latin american cooking aisle of the grocery store, although it will be dried, not a paste. If you can't find it, just finely chop and saute the basic ingredients mentioned before, and add in a can of V8: it's comparable.

Puerto Rican Bean Stew

2 cans pink beans
1 big spoonful sofrito base
lunchmeat ham, cut in shreds
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 baking potato, prepared same way
1 large chunk calabeza(or any squash with firm, orange flesh), prepared same way
cilantro, chopped

Drizzle some olive oil into a hot soup pot, and add in sofrito base and ham. Saute for a few minutes. Add in both cans of beans(undrained) and 1 can of water, along with the potatoes and squash. Simmer until squash is broken down enough that it is thickening the stew, probably no more than 30 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper, then remove from heat and add in cilantro. Serve with rice.

Mom Tate's Chili with Mom Dunn's Cornbread

So what would make a non-fan of chili post a chili recipe? My mom's chili. Growing up, I didn't know that there was food that didn't taste good until I ate outside of my mom's kitchen. It didn't matter what my mom was serving up, it didn't go on our table unless it tasted good. I'm not sure why, but I've never enjoyed eating chili until I visted my parents this past summer. And my mom made chili. Now, when she first served it up, I asked her, "When did you start making this?" because I didn't remember ever eating chili from my mom before. "What, this? I've always made this." Yeah, right. I know if you'd made this chili before, mom, I'd eat chili more. Either way, I'm glad she was willing to tell me how she threw this together. I just added some stuff of my own.

Chili

1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes(preferably with green chiles)
1 can tomato sauce(same size as diced tomatoes)
3 cans assorted beans, drained(I had black, pinto and navy)
tabasco, about 5 dashes
sugar or molasses or ketchup
garlic
oregano, about 3 tsp
cumin, about a tsp
worcestershire sauce, about 5 glugs
allspice, a few shakes
salt and pepper

Add ground beef, onion, salt, pepper, allspice, and garlic powder to pot. Brown meat. When good and brown, add remaining ingredients. If you want it soupier, add another can of tomatoes. Add the salt and pepper and sweetener to taste. Simmer down about 15-20 min.

Ok, so this cornbread is so luscious, I feel guilty not posting it under desserts. Its moist, dense, and mouthwateringly sweet-the perfect foil for a hot spicy bowl of chili. Actually, the perfect foil for a big bowl of creamy honey-butter and a tall glass of ice cold milk. Jeanie, this is one of my favorite things to eat!

Cornbread

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat in cornmeal, flour and milk. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. CAUTION-DON'T OVERBAKE!!! Bake just until center doesn't jiggle when you shake the pan; the cornbread won't necessarily be browned except on very edges.

Corn Bread

Green Chile Beef Stew

I have loved every place I've lived. And for every place I've called home, there is food indelibly entwined with my memories: hot apple dumplings at the autumnal Feast of the Hunter's Moon in Indiana; Mexican food from diverse dives and restaurants in Southern California; tostones, beans and rice, and mofongo here in Puerto Rico; and in New Mexico, chiles. Green chiles being roasted whole in huge oil-drum roasters. Red chile ristras hanging from pueblo-style homes. On every New Mexican cuisine menu: posole, adobo, and green chile stew. Of course, the meal came with a basket of sopapillas. Here's my easy pantry version of the stew, along with the sopapillas that you have to eat with honey butter.

Stew:
4 12-oz cans beef chunks in broth
2 10-oz cans green chile sauce(can be traditional chile verde or green enchilada sauce)
1 onion, diced
1 can white beans(I had navy beans),drained
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cups frozen corn or 1 drained can corn
1 large tomato, diced, or 1/2-1 cup salsa
garlic, sugar, salt, pepper to taste

Drizzle hot pot with canola oil; add onion and saute a few minutes. If using fresh chopped garlic, add in at the end and saute just until you smell it. Add in everything else except the corn. Simmer until carrots are tender. Add in corn and turn off heat. Cover and let sit about 10 minutes.

Sopapillas:
2 cups unbleached flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs shortening
1 cup buttermilk
oil or shortening(I used a mix) for deep-frying

In a bowl, sift or whisk together flour, bading powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the shortening and cut in using forks or pastry blender, until it forms particles the size of small peas. Add the buttermilk, and stir until dough comes together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth, 10-15 times. Roll dough out into a square shape that's about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into desired number of squares(I cut 9). Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest 30 minutes. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a heavy pan. Fry 2 or 3 squares at a time. Sopapillas should puff up. Turn when frying side is light golden brown. Remove when golden on other side. Keep sopapillas on a plate in warm oven while you finish frying the rest. For honey butter, combine 1 stick softened butter with at least an equal part of honey. Mix well.