More On Simplifying

In my last blog post I offered a simple, well fairly simple, recipe for a delicious Beef Stroganoff. Every time I make this, now, I double it because it freezes well and we love it. This brings to mind some great advice that I am taking more and more - cook ahead and freeze.

I have a longtime acquaintance, Deborah Taylor Hough, who is an expert on an interesting subject, Once A Month Cooking. See the website on her books on the subject and some recipes at: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/ (She is also the author of, Frugal Living for Dummies
http://www.amazon.com/Deborah-Taylor-Hough/e/B001HCWZNA/ref=sr_tc_img_2_0

I have only a refrigerator top freezer. Though Deborah claims that, used effectively, even a freezer that size can hold two weeks of complete meals frozen ahead, I've only been using her cook ahead concepts for certain dishes like the Beef Stroganoff (recipe in the previous blog), a basic hamburger mixture she offers, certain Indian dishes I love so much I always double and a Mexican Black Bean Stew I make and love. I guess I'm using her concepts more and more.

From her I have learned to always keep on hand freezer quality, quart size Zip Lock bags and a black Sharpie pen. The bags are more expensive, but you are saving a lot by freezing ahead. For the Stroganoff we always keep our eyes out for a good buy on sirloin, I keep a couple of cans of consomme in the cupboard at all times, when I use tomato paste I freeze tablespoonfuls in snack size zip lock bags (cheap up the Dollar Store). I always have onions on hand so, when we get the sirloin, all I need are the fresh mushrooms. I even cook a whole bag of wide noodles ahead and freeze portions in Ziplocs. A double batch of the stroganoff and makes about six meals for us.

Deborah, on her website (link above) offers her recipe for a basic hamburger mixture (click on the word more… under the Make Ahead Ground Beef Mixture recipe description.) I make that as well. It makes for quick spaghetti sauce, pizza topping, or tons of other dishes, even a fancy slumgullion (I promise you will enjoy my earlier post titled SLUMGULLION, it has the recipe.)

As I've written before, my hobby is Indian cooking. I'm more fond of it and its unusual spices than Hank is. Dishes I love often involve an array of vegetables, not Hank's favorite food group. As Indian dishes are often very inexpensive to make and as I thoroughly enjoy concocting them, I often freeze portions to enjoy later and to share with friends. My unusual food gifts are always enjoyed offering another reason for cooking ahead and freezing.

I often make a yummy Mexican Black Bean Stew that is made with and a whole Chiptole pepper (I buy a can of them in sauce and freeze them individually.) It makes a large pot of soup that freezes well (in the freezer grade Ziplocs) and when reheated and topped with a dollop of sour cream makes for a delicious lunch. I'll share the recipe below.

The way I got started using Deborah's cook ahead and freeze concept was taking her advice about doubling recipes when you make something you really enjoy. So, if you're interest is piqued, get yourself some freezer grade Zip Lock bags and a Sharpie pen (for labeling the dish and noting when it was frozen) and double the next recipe that you make and enjoy. A side benefit to the cook ahead and freeze process is that it has caused me to clean out and organize my freezer space. Because of that, I am wasting much less food and I tend to use, more quickly, the dishes I've frozen ahead. You also get a great feeling for participating in the, now very popular, Simple Living Lifestyle. Isn't it great to know that something many of us have been doing all along is now called a lifestyle!



Mexican Black Bean Stew
2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (I use vegetable oil)
2 lg. onions, chopped
4 lg. cloves garlic, crushed
4 teaspoons Mexican seasoning
2 cups dried black beans, soaked (I use 2 - 14 ½ oz cans black beans, drained)
1 canned or dried chipotle pepper (I buy canned & freeze them individually)
1 49oz. can chicken broth (I use 4-14 ½ oz cans.)
2 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I use a 14 ½ o z can of diced tomatoes with the juice)
2/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped (more if desired)
lime juice and sour cream for garnish

1. Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion garlic, Mexican seasoning and sauté until onions are soft.

2. Add drained, soaked beans, Chipotle chili and stock or water to pot. (If using canned black beans add them with the corn, tomatoes and cilantro.) Bring to a boil. You will want to taste broth shortly into the boil as you might want to remove the Chipotle pepper when the right hotness is reached. Chipotle pepper can be put back in if desired as hotness mellows when vegetables are added.

3. Lower heat and simmer about 1/2 hour (or until beans are tender).

4. Add salt, corn, tomatoes, and cilantro.

5. Serve garnished with a squeeze of lime and dollop of sour cream.

Mexican Seasoning
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoons paprika
1 Tablespoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon salt

One Dish Wonder

I’m going to let you in on a secret. Well, it’s not too secret a secret but it was my strategy for saving face when in the dating scene. Yeah, OK, it was a few years ago. I’ve laughed for years saying that when I met a man I made sure he cooked before I dated him in case it got serious. I grew up eating good but basic dishes. The word cuisine wouldn’t have applied unless someone has lumped pot roasts, tuna casseroles, pork chops and gravy, hamburgers and beef stews together giving them their own category in the fancy food world. Though thriving on these good though basic dishes, for some reason I didn’t learn to cook. My mom cooked and once came in second on a statewide bread-baking contest. My Dad enjoyed cooking. As a widower he made killer huckleberry pies and was very popular with the ladies at senior center potlucks. My Grandmother, who lived in walking distance, loved to cook and I still savor the memories of brown beans and ham bone served with her amazing potato salad made creamy with an addition of thick cream. My cousin Donna, a sister to me, loved to cook. Each Easter she would make me bunny rolls, home-made rolls in the shape of bunnies. Donna was the first to introduce me to scalloped potatoes with cheese which, to me, was an amazingly sophisticated dish. The only cheese my mother ever allowed to touch a vegetable was the melting of cheese over a head of cauliflower.

Ok, back to my strategy of saving face for my lack of cooking skills. Meat was particularly challenging. I never bought expensive pieces of meat because I had no instincts whatsoever about cooking meat correctly. I suppose I should have taken a cooking class. (I did take a whole foods cooking class once, but that’s another story surrounding a temporary side step attempt to become vegetarian. Forgive me, it was the 1970’s). As a young single gal dating, there were times when my cooking skills or lack of would come up. What to do, what to do? I remember perusing the red and white Better Homes And Gardens Cookbook. I guess I was hoping for an epiphany. Page turning along in the meat section, I came across a recipe for Beef Stroganoff. Hm, I thought, it didn’t look too complicated. The ingredients stretched me a bit. I’d never used fresh mushrooms, consommé, or sour cream in a dish before. Guys generally liked meat dishes and it looked sort of like a “meat and gravy” dish with a kick, I thought. So, I set out to buy my first piece of sirloin steak and when the dish turned out amazingly good, I hit on something. I could become expert at this dish, and I did. It would turn out perfect every time. And, I never met a guy who wasn’t impressed and who didn’t think me a fabulous cook. Alas, the only trouble was I could only have them over for dinner once. So, I ended up with a guy who cooks, he seduced me with stuffed pork chops on the barbeque grill. I still make my Beef Stroganoff and it still comes out perfectly. It is, though, the only time my husband will let me get near the stove with steak of any kind.

Beef Stroganoff
adapted over many years from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients
2 lbs. beef sirloin sliced in ¼” strips
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 Tablespoons oil
1 large onion, chopped
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

4 Tablespoons butter
5 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 cans Campbell's Beef Consommé

Sour Cream to taste

Instructions
Slice beef and dredge in flour salt and garlic powder.
Brown quickly in oil.
Remove meat and brown onion and mushrooms for a few minutes.

Remove onions and mushrooms. Melt butter and flour mixing well into a roué. Stir in the tomato paste. Add consommé and cook till bubbly gravy consistency. Return meat, onions and mushrooms to pan, stirring into the sauce.

Stir in sour cream when ready to serve. Serve over wide noodles.

Modifications over the years:
I push the mushrooms and onions to the side of the pan and make the roué in the center.
I use Johnnies Seasoning instead of salt.
When sirloin is selling cheap I make a double batch cooling it and freezing it in Ziplocs before adding sour cream. It freezes well.
I cook and freeze wide noodles making for a quick fix dinner.

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