Home Made Taco Seasoning Mix

Another web recipe mash-up. Taco mix not in the pouch. I have never been a big fan of the taco seasoning packets. The taste ends up too processed and the taco meat too runny. This recipe you can play with to taste how you like it, and in its native form, tastes pretty good. In the 2 times I have made it so far, I have not been precise with the measurements, and skipped the onion powder since I didn't have any on hand. Sautéed onions with the ground beef seems like a better way.

Beer and tacos are natural buddies, and 1554 Enlightened Black Ale by New Belgium (of Fat Tire fame) went down good.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Add 2 -3 TBS of mix to 1lb of cooked ground beef. (Extra seasoning can be stored in an airtight container. )
2. After meat is seasoned, add 2 tsp cornstarch to 2/3 cup of water and add to meat and seasoning mixture.

Nicole's Birthday Dinner

Per Nicole's request, for her Birthday dinner, we had steak risotto and individual chocolate souffles with mint infused custard sauce. The chocolate souffles were ones that I had made a number of years ago after attending a Jerry Traunfeld cooking class (of Herbfarm fame). They are really quite amazing but require an organized approach and result in a lot of dirty dishes. If made at the same time as the accompanying custard sauce (which you pour into them when you eat them) it is a lot going on. Michelle did the souffles tonight (and did a outstanding job) while I did the custard sauce which made things much more manageable, though we were at times competing for stove top and dishes. You can make the custard sauce 1-5 days ahead which might be a good idea.

 

The risotto I have made numerous times and used Julia Child's "no stir" technique, which I always use now. This is outlined in her The Way to Cook book, but really is just the classic method, but with no stirring and the lid on.

 

Beef Risotto with Steak

 

Serve risotto on hot plates when done, don't let it sit and get gluey. If timing is off, add more broth before it sticks.

 

Use a heavy pot like Le Creuset

• Mince 1 large shallot and saute in butter and/or olive oil until translucent
• Add 1 cup of risotto (arborio) rice and saute with onion for a few minutes
• Add 1/4 cup dry white wine or vermouth until cooked down
• Add a little less than 1 quart hot (simmering) beef broth and stir well, cover pot and low simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Reserve remaining broth to finish at end
• When almost done to proper risotto consistency (spreads when spooned on a plate) add the mushrooms, beef, seasoning (salt, pepper, and rosemary if you want), plus about 1/2 cup grated parmeson and the reserved broth. Stir, and simmer until correct consistency.

Beef

• About 3/4 lb steak or more cubed into 1" cubes (they will shrink to bite size). Tender steak that will stand up to the risotto process. I use tri-tip or new york or rib eye.
• Spread on a foil covered baking pan with separation between pieces.
• Season well with salt and pepper
• Place under hot broiler until browned
• Let stand until ready to be added to risotto above, use juices in mushrooms below

Mushrooms

• Saute sliced cremini mushrooms in medium hot pan with butter and/or olive oil. Do in batches if your pan is not big enough for all mushrooms to fit in single layer with a little space. Pan should be hot so shrooms brown and not stew.
• When lightly browned, add about 1/4 cup or more red wine and let reduce for about 5 minutes.
• Add beef juices from above and a little of the reserved beef broth and reduce for another about 5 minutes. Time so that the mushrooms and resulting sauce are just done when it is time to add them to the risotto.

Green Beans

 

I was out of burners tonight when making the risotto since I had mushrooms, broth and the risotto all going. So I decided to bake the green beans. They took longer than I had figured, and probably would have been better prepared in a butter saute/steam frying pan.

• Fresh cut and trimmed green beans
• Half to 3/4 onion, chopped, sauted in butter and/or olive oil
• 1/4 cup chicken broth +/-
• Seasoning (salt and pepper, italian or other seasoning of choice

I put everything in a covered casserole and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes until beans are done. Could have used some butter, or bacon, or something but were pretty good. If had been done in a pan, I would have reduced the broth at the end.

 

Chocolate Souffle (from the Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld c 2000)

• Prepare 6 (6 oz) straight sided ramekins with soft butter bottom and insides completely. Use fine sugar then to coat buttered interiors.
• Melt 10oz of high quality bittersweet chocolate (like sharfenberger) that has been broken or chopped coarsly with 4 tablespoons of unsalted buter in a bowl or small pot over boiling water.
• Beat 6 egg whites (yolks get used in custard sauce below) until they begin to rise then add 1/2 cup fine or superfine sugar until you get sagging peaks. Don't overbeat.
• Fold 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate in a bowl until smooth and completely incorporated. Then gently fold in the rest until just no streaks of white remain.
• Pour the resulting stiff mixture into the prepared ramekins making sure to not get any drips on the sides of the dishes until about 1/4 from the top. (If the souffle bakes onto any unbuttered surface at the top of the dish it will stick and prevent it from rising straight up)
• Bake souffles in a preheated 400 degree oven in a water bath (like creme broule) for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until the souffles have risen about an inch. In the space of 1 minute you can go from perfect to a bit burned on top so watch them carefully at the end.

Serve immediately with the custard sauce below. To eat, poke a hole in the top, pour in the sauce and enjoy!

 

Infused Custard Sauce (from the Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld c 2000)

 

Infuse 2 cups of whole milk with fresh herb of choice like mint, fresh bay, rosemary, etc. by bringing milk just to a boil, adding the fresh herbs (about 3-4 tablespoons of mint leaves for example), pushing them down and covering the pot and removing from heat. Let stand covered for 30 minutes.

• Heat 6 lightly beaten egg yolks in a bowl over boiling water until about 90 - 100 degrees.
• Meanwhile, strain infused milk, mix in 1/2 cup sugar, and reheat on medium until just boiling.
• When just boiling, remove from heat and whisk into the heated egg yolks by pouring the milk mixture into the yolks slowly while whisking constantly but gently.
• Continue to stir the sauce for about 30 seconds. Sauce should come up to 175 - 180 degrees. (If for some reason the sauce doesn't thicken and come up temp, heat over boiling water. Don't heat sauce above 180 degrees unless you want scrambled eggs.)

Souffle mix

going into the oven before adding water to the pan

 

 

 

a little overdone

Prepare to eat!

Home Made Pizza

I wanted to be able to make a scratch pizza sauce for not much more work than opening a jar of Ragu, but have it taste like it didn't come out of a jar, or even better, have it taste like I wanted it to. This is consistent with a recent theme I am on of eliminating as many processed foods as possible.

So, I did the requisite research and voila, the recipe below.

For crust, we used Wendy's recent crust recipe, which I like, but halved it for a single pizza. Jeannine would like it a little thicker, so next time we might vary quantities. One day I will "par-bake" the crust before putting on the sauce to see if it avoids the little bit of "soggy bottom" that usually occurs.

This sauce recipe intrigued me since you really only need a can of tomato paste and your spice cabinet at its simplist. Tomato paste usually doesn't have any other ingredients than tomatos. If you have fresh spices, all the better.

Wine of the night: Kamiak 2007 Rock Lake Red blend. The old Kamiak stocks are being depleted and this is their new blend. I think I like it a little better than the old stuff which was good. $10+ reliable red blend that has no bad habits.

Crust (Wendy's recipe makes two pizzas):

Combine 1cup warm water, 1/4 tsp sugar, and 1 package dry yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Combine 2-3/4 cups flour and 1 tsp salt. Then mix with 1-1/2 TB olive oil and yeast mixture. Add flour as needed until mixture is smooth and not tacky when squeezed. Kneed dough 4-5 times.

Put dough lump smooth side up in medium bowl that has been brushed or sprayed with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warmed (off) oven for about 40 minutes or until doubled.

Remove from oven, punch down, divide in two and let rest for about 10 minutes before stretching dough into pans.

Sauce

(1) 6 oz can of tomato paste
(2) cans of water
2+ TB minced onion
2 minced garlic cloves or equivalent of pre-minced
2+ TB Italian seasoning to taste or equivalent of Oregeno, Rosemary, Basil
Dash of red pepper flakes
½ tsp pepper
Dash of red pepper flakes
½ tsp basalmic vinegar
½ tsp sugar + to taste
½ TB butter
3 TB grated parmesan

Saute on low minced onion in olive oil, add garlic at end
Add all other ingredients except parmesan and simmer to combine flavors
Turn off heat and add grated parmesan. Let cool before putting on dough.
(optionally added a little anchovie paste to sauce)

Chicken Pot Pie

Jeannine has always raved about Honey Bear Bakery's Chicken Pot Pie in Lake Forest Park's Third Place.  We finally decided that their secret ingredient was curry.  So, using my usual method of looking at a bunch of different recipes in cook books and online, then combining what I liked, I came up with the following recipe below.  I don't do pastry or dough.  So Jeannine made her famous pie crust to go on top, which is one of the best parts of Chicken Pot Pie

My rating, 8-9 out of 10.  Flavor was nice and refined, didn't have that "Hungry Man" canned flavor.  Cooking process was a little more work than preferred, but not too bad.  Cost, pretty minimal.

Wine of the night: Jade Mountain Red Table Wine 2007. Around $10 from Cost Plus.  Jade Mountain made a fabulous Syrah for around $10 that sold out quickly.  Everyone I know who had some wishes they could get more.  This blend isn't as good as the Syrah, but it is an ok red table wine for that price. I have had better at this price point, but I would buy again. 

Chicken Pot Pie
January 27, 2010
Arne Berger

Makes 4 servings

Filling Ingredients:

1 lb +/- of boneless skinless chicken breast cubed

Vegetables diced to similar size ~3/8
• Potatoes (3 small white peeled – not Yukon gold)
• Parsnip (1 medium peeled) {optional, sub more potatoes}
• Carrots (about half as much as combined potatoes and parsnip after dice)
• Frozen peas (a little less than carrots. Add at very end)
• 1 small/med yellow onion chopped and sautéed in same pot after meat in olive oil for about 5 minutes

23 oz good quality chicken broth (Swansons or home made)

Mix following spices in rough quantities in small bowl or ramekin. Adjust quantities as necessary/desired.
• Celery salt ¼ tsp
• Garlic Powder ¼ tsp
• Poultry seasoning ¼ tsp
• Salt and Pepper ½ tsp each
• Curry powder ½ tsp +/- to taste
• Cayenne pepper - dash
• Parsley 1 TBS – add at end

Directions:
Heat broth in a pot to a simmer/low boil and add carrots and parsnip. Low boil about 15 minutes and then add potatoes. Cook until vegetables are almost done. Add browned chicken and sautéed onions. Finish cooking until vegetables are soft and chicken is cooked through. Don’t overcook the chicken. {Note: cooking this way reduces the broth and also flavors the vegetables}

Meanwhile, lightly season cubed chicken with salt and pepper and brown in a heavy pot in olive oil on med/med-high heat (chicken will not be cooked all the way through) set aside. Sautee onions in pot after chicken on med-low heat.

Make a roux in the same heavy pot used for the chicken and onions with about 2-3 TBs of butter and flour each. When roux is ready, strain vegetable/chicken mixture reserving solids. Add hot strained broth slowly to roux constantly stirring to form a gravy. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 tbs cornstarch and about ¾ cup cream or milk. Add to simmering gravy until desired thickness.

At this point, add spice mixture to gravy a little at a time to taste, stirring and tasting until well seasoned (seasoning is for both gravy and vegetable/chicken mixture so it should be pretty heavily seasoned)

Add reserved chicken and vegetables and also frozen peas. Mix and keep on low heat until thoroughly warmed. Add to prepared baking dishes and top with pie crust of choice. Bake until crust is browned and filling is hot.

First Post

Figured I would use a blog to record successful (and maybe not so successful) adventures in cooking and mini-wine reviews.  My current priorities that will color my blogs are:  Wine in the sub $20 range that is decent (sub $10 good stuff is the holy grail). Recipes are ones that contain a minimum of processed foods, are relatively inexpensive, readily available, and not process intensive.  (i.e no aspics, no 2 day reduction sauces, no mongolian Yak livers, etc.)

Let the games begin.

Update 2023> After 13 years, our tastes in wine have changed significantly as well as inflation, so this blog is now just food, no wine.