{ r e c i p e s }: April 2008

4.28.2008

emilie's beef tamale casserole

i've been dying to try a pioneer woman-style recipe post. now that i have my camera back, there's no time like the present! this is a recipe i got from my friend emilie and i have to say, it is so good. you really should try it sometime.

sorry about the dim pictures, we had two lights burn out in the kitchen and the flash makes things look weird.

i'm also sorry about the number of pictures. things got a little out of control. i was just so excited to be taking pictures again.

for your info, i doubled the recipe because i was taking dinner to a friend and wanted one for myself. the beauty is, when you double it, you get THREE, so now there's one in my freezer too.

let's get started. brown 1 lb. of ground beef with one chopped onion in a large saucepot.

after it's browned and drained, add 1 tbsp. garlic and cook for two minutes.

now you add lots of stuff. i have two of everything but you only need one:
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
1 small can of diced green chiles.
mmm, green chile. i recommend hatch. wal-mart didn't have it today so i had to settle for old el paso. it's just not the same. try not to notice the drip on the countertop from the tomato jar. i forgot to clean up before i took this picture.

next comes chopped cilantro. i don't love cilantro so i don't use very much. for my double recipe i used less than half of what is pictured here. even if you don't like it, i recommend you add it. it really adds to the taste of this yummy casserole.

1 cup of frozen corn

the juice of one lime (i squeezed this puppy like crazy and barely got any juice, so it might be good to have some already-squeezed juice on hand). the lime juice gives it a kick that is deLISH.
can you see my broken thumbnail in this picture? it's been snagging on my clothes all day. it kills.

1 packet of taco seasoning,

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed,

stir it all together and it should look something like this:

make sure you have your pans ready. i use the throw-away ones when i take food to people, then i don't have to worry about getting them back. i also use them for freezing things so i'm not out a pan when i need it.

now add the mixture to your pan by the cupful until it's almost to the top. smooth it out with the bottom of your measuring cup so it's mostly even.
ignore the manhands.

that explanation wasn't descriptive enough, so here's a picture of the smoothed-out casserole:

after it's all smoothed out, add cheese. i use the pre-grated kind 'cause it's faster, but you can grate your own if you're so inclined. add lots. cheese = yum.

see? lots.

now you have to make the cornbread topping. mmmm, cornbread. you just need one box if you're doing the single recipe, but if you're doubling it (and making three casseroles), you'll need three boxes. two isn't quite enough, and three is too much, so there is a little bit of waste. i guess you could make muffins or something. i just dumped mine out. don't badger me about starving children in africa. i know. i cannot send those children a little bit of cornbread and we wouldn't have eaten the muffins, so there.

first, pour the mix in the bowl. no picture of that, sorry...you'll just have to imagine what that looks like.
then add an egg.

try not to do this in the process.

then add 1/3 cup of milk.

mix together and pour on top of the cheese.

smooth it out with a spoon,

and try not to drip it over the edge, like mine is about to do in this picture.

now get some foil, and write the contents and cooking instructions with a sharpie. i like the clicker kind, but i'll let you decide which sharpie to use.

then turn it over, spray it with pam,

and cover your freezer-casserole, instructions-side-up.

then bake the non-freezer version at 375* for 30-40 minutes, or until cornbread is browned and filling is bubbly. word to the wise: you may want to put a layer of foil underneath, or else it could drip onto your newly cleaned oven.

this picture was taken about 7 hours after i made it (it's the left-over plate) so it's cold and doesn't look nearly as delicious as it should. but of course, i forgot to take a picture of the finished product when it was still hot. i had visions of green chile and cornbread dancing in my head.

so there you have it. try it, you won't regret it!

BEEF TAMALE CASSEROLE

(an emilie ahern original)

1-1&1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 small can tomato paste
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 small can green chilis
1 c. frozen corn
juice from 1 lime
fresh cilantro

8 oz. shredded cheese
1 box jiffy corn bread mix

- In large pot, brown beef with chopped onions. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add all other ingredients through cilantro. Mix well.
- Pour into 8x8 pan. Top with shredded cheese.
- Make cornbread according to package directions. Spread onto top of casserole.
- Bake at 375 uncovered for 35-45 minutes or until cornbread is browned and filling is bubbly.

OR cover tightly with foil and freeze.

- To cook from frozen uncover and let sit at room temp for 30 minutes. Then cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until cornbread is browned and filling is bubbly.

carma's chicken fried steak

okay, this is one of my very favorite dinners. it's probably horrible for you and it's definitely not for you vegetarians out there, but it is delicious, so i make it as often as my arteries allow. here is my original written-down recipe:

it's in my old BYU Franklin planner that i thought i had to have when i was a freshman, spent $90 on (the most expensive thing i had ever bought up to that point)...and the only thing i ever really used it for was writing down recipes. so it still comes in handy now and then, because if i can't find one of my mom's recipes, it's almost guaranteed to be in here. i would call around 4:00 or 5:00 and she always knew to get ready to give me a recipe. the trouble with my mom's recipes, though, is that they're sort of inexact. she's like, "add some of this" and i go "how much is some?" "oh, i don't know, just a little bit." oh. thanks. that's very helpful. so mom's recipes come with a little bit of trial and error. that said, let's get started.

you'll need four cube steaks (or however many you want, you can make a million of them, but that would be too many for my family), some flour, milk, butter, oil, saltine crackers, and...peanut butter? what's that doing in this picture? i have no idea. you don't need peanut butter.

my mom's recipe says to add 1/4 cup of oil and 3 tbsp. of butter to a pan. i don't know why you need both, but apparently you do. so put that in a pan on medium heat. while the butter is melting and the oil is getting hot...

crush half a tube of saltine crackers in a ziploc bag...

line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray well with pam (don't forget this step, you will regret it later)...

now get everything ready. pour milk into a pie pan (or anything, it doesn't matter), put some flour on waxed paper, pour your crushed crackers on another piece of waxed paper, and make sure they're close to your pan.

then take a steak, dip it in milk,

dip it in flour,
(NOTE: just a little bit of flour. if you get it too flour-y, the crackers won't stick. apparently the milk helps the flour stick and the flour helps the crackers stick, but if you get too much flour on it, the crackers just fall off and then you have no breading.)

then smash in the crackers. really smash those suckers in, you want lots of crackers because that equates to lots of breading, and breading is always delish. i just had a thought. would bread crumbs be easier than crackers? perhaps. i might try that sometime.

really smash those crumbs in, coat it really well.

then make sure to wash your hands, you'll need it.

then put the steak in the pan and brown each side. you only want to flip them once or you'll lose your breading (and i can't say it enough, you WANT the breading on these babies). brown them really well. i put all four in at the same time and brown them at once. i also add salt and pepper at this stage.

sometimes the steaks fall apart, especially at the milk stage. see the one at the bottom of this picture? doesn't matter. it'll still be delicious. also, sometimes the steaks are huge, so it's really easier if you cut them in half. that way you have more and it's not as hard to deal with.

flip those puppies over to brown the other side, but be careful. with that much grease it can get splashy.

mmmm...these aren't quite browned enough, but i already flipped them so it's too late. oh well, they were still good.

after they're all browned, transfer them to the foil-lined pan.

and as disgusting as it may sound, don't wash your pan. you need all this yummy oily crumby goodness for gravy later.

cover your steaks with foil (i just do a really huge piece and fold it over) and put it in a 300* oven for 45 minutes.

after 45 minutes in the 300* oven, remove the foil lid and turn the oven up to 350* for 15 more minutes. this gets the breading nice and crispy.

while your steaks are cooking, chop up some potatoes for mashed potatoes. here i've left the skins on. i'd like to say that it's because dave really loves mashed potatoes with skins, but sadly, this time, it was simply because i was lazy. i haven't made mashed potatoes like this in, oh 5 years or so.

boil them for about 30 minutes, until they're soft. then pour out the water, and put in a mixing bowl (i used to make mashed potatoes right in my pots and pans. what was i thinking?).

mix with a hand mixer with milk, butter, and salt & pepper to taste.

now for the gravy. on this particular day, i had never had so much gravy in the history of chicken-fried steak making. i must have had lots of oil that day. about 5 minutes before your steaks are done, turn the stove on and get your oil hot again. then you add 2-3 tbsp. flour to the hot oil.