Recipe: el tazon de rojo con carne

Wonderfully pristine snowfall this morning veiled the world in an innocent white that sparkled among the faded morning glow. I had one thought in mind el tazon de rojo con carne to warm up with from the moment the shovel came out to dig myself and my neighbor out to I got into the city to find everything sloppy slushy and gray and through my coming home reading summer passages for Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider.

The traditional southwestern ‘bowl of red’ is an oft’ alcohol fueled argument of elitist chefs. I myself only have one el tazon de rojo con carne idea but about one-hundred-and-one other chili recipes I could turn to. But this a larger than life smaller than my kitchen flavor and the in simple, earthy ideas is always a great thowback to come to. My short study in chili actually led me to learn a bunch of interesting idea, like, the original chili was simply a ’stew’ that was based in the flesh of chilis, and that truly authentic chili was purely veggie dish. Over time, and Texas (I suppose), con carne (with meat) was introduced and that chuck was saddle softened (pounded to hell from riding, not ground). After that, chili became a hugely regional affair with each-and-every place plating their own unique one, right through Cinci’s bowl that almost resembles an oddly-contrived bolognese conception that might only even use just ‘red pepper flakes.’

Anyway, as the snow begins to cover the ledge in front of my kitchen window this evening I am charring some red peppers just for this affair, that includes the more than typical tomato, ground beef, kidney bean variety that your mom probably made. For any version of el tazon de rojo con carne needs to start with something red… and with that most evil of holidays based in red, let’s make it a damned spicy one!

cubed beef
Serrano chilis (red, no doubt!)
red Habanero chili (as necessary to taste)
red bell pepper
vadalia onion
celery
garlic cloves
beef stock
beer (pref. an American style amber lager)
cilantro
ancho chili power
cumin
paprika
black pepper

There’s a trick to working with fresh peppers that is rarely given up in recipes, so I’ll attempt to lay it out here… if you have gas or oil for your stove (or access to any other open flame) this works better… char your peppers (the Bell, Serrano, Habanero) till the skins are blackened and bubbled from the flesh. Remove from the heat and immediately place in a bag to steam. After a few minutes, you should be able to peel of the skin with ease and remove the inside seeds and ‘white mess.” Trust me, the charring sounds like a pain in the you know what, it’s worth it and only a few minutes out of your time. Similarly, for a really smokey taste you can char the onion and other veggies before chopping too.

Char and coarsely chop the flesh of your peppers and coarsely chop the onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery
Combine the veggie above in a stockpot with a small amount of oil
Allow the veggies flavors to begin to meld and soften over low heat
Coat the beef in a mixture of chili power, black pepper, paprika.
Shift the veggies to one side of the stockpot and begin to add the meat (biggest chucks first) and allow them to begin to brown.
As the meat browns mix it into the veggies and then continue adding meat until all is cooked most of the way through
After browning occurs add stock and beer mixture (usually works well 1:1
Season with additional chili powder, cumin, black pepper, paprika and bay leaf.
Bring liquid up to a complete boil and than back it down to a simmer
Add beer to the mixture as liquid becomes necessary, always working toward a thick, hearty stew-like consistency and keeping the meat mostly covered.
Cooking time can be a quick and dirty 30 minutes or, for better flavor a full day affair

If you need Masa harina is like Mexican cornmeal, a coarse flour made from lime-soaked corn, and can be used to help thicken the dish. Typically, the earlier you use it the better, and it will be less gritty as it combines with the liquid.

My favorite personal way to enjoy the el tazon de rojo con carne is to pour it over a piece of nice corn bread and topped with a goat cheese (A Queso manchego would be good, but Montery jack is the preferred substitute).

If you don’t have a corn bread recipe there are a lot out there, I’m not a baker myself so the one I have is pretty lame (and probably embarrassing to anyone who actually knows how to make it). I do use roasted poblano peppers in mine though.

RECIPE: One, two, fisherman’s stews

Boiled on timbers and stirred with a broom”……So, The Doormouse and I have talked Paella recipe’s a few times, and he’s got a great grasp, ok a firm hold on the dish, as for me I’m a big fan of wingin’ things sometimes, this is by no means a paella, but it is what I call a “fisherman’s stew” it came out pretty tasty so I thought I’d share it with you all….I had a few smaller portions of various sea creatures leftover, so I decided to make one bigger portion out of them all, here’s what transpired….

FISHERMAN’S STEW

1 small yellow onion

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

6 stalks of celery

1lb baby carrots

3 medium tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1 can okra (fresh is better & ideal)

1 small can baby clams

1lb 16/20 shrimp

2 4oz pollock loins

2 4oz white fish fillets(I used capensis)

white wine

dark roux*

Chop all your veggies with the exception of the baby carrots, saute in some olive oil with your garlic, now here’s where I get a little random, I just season with out thinking sometimes after years of doing it you learn to just add the shit you think something needs, so I give you this advice start with a little taste and re-add if needed…..anyhow, add some thyme, old bay seasoning, rosemary, sage, crushed red chilies, cracked black peper, and a couple bay leaves give your veggies a good few minutes in the oil, then deglaze with your white wine once your pan is deglazed drop your shrimp in, once they start to turn red, add a little veggie stock, bring to a boil and thicken slightly with the dark roux, then lay your fillets on top of the concoction, and cover and let them steam. Serve with some nice steamed rice or potatoes, some fresh bread and you got yourself some good grubbin’….

*dark roux — equal parts butter and flour cooked until just before the burning point, if you haven’t done this before cook over low to medium heat and pay attention once it starts to brown it goes quick, take it to the point that it smells like burnt popcorn and you’re good to go…

If you want the goods for fisherman’s stew hit up the Doormouse for his paella recipe……

And Big Rob, here’s “a” paella recipe I worked on over the summer. I actually call it casserole poisson a l’acadia because it’s not a true Iberian Paella

I love a lot of fish dishes and this is a mish-mosh of some of my faves, building off the traditional idea of the Portuguese Paella that I hold oh so dear to my heart. One note for those who only had thedish in Spanish-American resturants, the true dish is about the freshness of the seafood and the use of the pan and less necessarily about the dish itself. I have a very nice pan that only is used for a select few meals specifically given as a gift to make this recipe, of which today’s meal was done as a celebration.

Despite my remark earlier about the dish’s forte being in the freshness of the fish, several trips to several stores over the week did not provide all the preferences I would have hoped. I’m not going to give up the shortcuts, but I highly suggest you look for some fresh fish and match spices to them in a meal like this. It’ll be worth the effort.

This dish I named this way because I could. By strict definition creole is white French (of Canadian decent, usually Acadia, but also via modern Quebec) mixed with Iberian (predominantly Spanish although some Portuguese or, of course, French Iberian) -or- French (any origin) mixed with Carribean Islander (typically Haitian, but which, by traditional creole standard usually being mixed with an Iberian, usually Spanish in general, and originated as a French man with a Carribean woman of “color,” though, after the first generation the distinction becomes lost). White creole is rare form these days even among those who study creole heritage, yet oddly enough, by definition being French Canadian and Portuguese would make me, yes, creole. How’s that for a fun stretch??

The crux of the meal is built on the trinity. A throw to the underlying christian heritage holding the region’s will. Where traditional French cooking depends heavily on the mariquois the carrot is replaced as an aromatic in the early steps. The important part of finishing is the high heat on the rice, (it has a special name I cannot recall)

Vadalia Onion
Celery
Poblano pepper
Anaheim pepper
garlic
brown rice
olive oil
prawns (crayfish)
little neck clams
oysters
blue crab (backfin crab)
andouile sausage
bay leaf
rosemary
paprika
coriander
black pepper corns
bourbon
stock (fish, veggie or pork will work, I prefer veggie)
tarragon
kale leafs
extra large skillet, or paella pan

Char both the peppers under the broiler than sweat the charred skins off and dice the flesh
Dice the onion, garlic, celery
place all in the pan with a bit of oil along with the pepper corns and sweat them out
add the chicken brown the thighs and allow to begin to brown
if you prefer add the sausage and all to brown, but remove before adding rice
add the rice and saute until the kernels become translucent
add the bourbon and burn it off over a low flame
add the stock and bring it to a simmer
add the bay leaf, paprika, rosemary and coriander
allow rice to simmer to 25-30 minutes
add the fish based on cooking times, typically crustaceans in their native shells uncracked will take longer than mollusks, and any fish out of its shell (such as gulf shrimp or bay scallops) will take the least time
make sure the last bit of liquid is evaporated or absorbed
cover the last fish with tarragon and kale leaves and bring the heat up to high
allow the bottom rice to begin to crisp along the bottom of the pan and bring up some of the smokey charred flavor

serve family style with the casserole
or for single servings, line the bowl with the steamed kale, then, bring up the bottom of the pan in the serving bowl with rice and a balance of the fish and meat

RECIPE: crowded soup

When I (eric doormouse) was younger I always heard stories about the infamous crowded soup my grandmother used to make. She would collect the leftovers from the week (which is difficult to believe there would be any, considering my uncles and grandfather) and put them in a stock pot and make a big soup out of them so as to see nothing go to waste. It hardly requires a recipe when you think about it, so long as most of the leftovers make some kind of culinary sense with one another and could be construed as soup-worthy.

Although this is not exactly my grandmother’s recipe for a Crowded Sunday Soup, this is one of those recipes that changes a little bit every time I make it based on what veggies I have hanging around the place. In this case, it was time to use up a number of base veggies and the last bit of homemade stock I had left. This is the gist of what I used. The okra, a traditional African and later Mississippi Delta veggie that acts as a wonderful thickener for meals. Typically, I cook with the trinity (in Delta cooking the combo of onion, celery and bell pepper is a replacement for the more traditional miraquois of onion, celery and carrot) but in this case I combine a number of aeromatics to create the base flavor and build up from there. Once the base flavors are in and the stock is settled, the rest of the veggies are just a suggestion…

Also, I used leftover sugar ham in the dish, because pork typically makes everything better, however, eliminating it makes it a very nice vegitarian dish. I also actually made this in a crock pot on low after a quick saute of the base veggies, but the recipe is written the way I would do it over long cook in a heavy stock pot.

coarsly diced:
onion
bell pepper
anaheim pepper
celery
carrot
garlic
okra

sugar cured ham

shredded dark leafy greens (spinach, kale, mustard leaf, collard green, chicory, chard, etc.)
corn (frozen or cut fresh from the cob raw)
tomato (diced / sliced / crushed, fresh is best, though canned can work too)
squash (yellow summer, butternut, zucchini, etc.)
beans (red kidney, red pinto, black, black eyed pea, Cannellini, blue navy, etc. NOTE there is a difference in cooking using canned, frozen & dried!)
lentels (if you use ANY lentels you NEED to ensure there is enough extra liquid for the lentels since most are dried)

Stock (I prefer homemade veggie, but chicken or pork could work too)
water
olive oil
bay leaf
dried rosemary
tarragon
parsley
black pepper
paprika
Stock Pot

add a small amount of oil to the stock pot over medium heat
add the coarsly chopped veggies (peppers, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, okra) and simmer over medium heat so the veggies soften and the flavors begin to meld
add the dired rosemary and make sure to keep the veggies evenly cooking, do not allow them to over-carmalize as they saute

add the pork and allow it to meld with the rest of the flavors as you saute

add the stock and water, 2:1 ratio stock to water and allow to come to a simmer covered with the bay, black pepper, paprika and tarragon (dried, if fresh only add at the end or it’ll end up mushy grey leaves and taste like nothing)

after those flavors set, add the dark leafy greens, tomato, the lentils and re-season as necessary and allow to simmer

after those flavors set and the greens wilt and lentils become moist add the other veggies and allow to simmer, reseason (with the black pepper, paprika and tarragon etc) as neccessary. do not overcook the last group of veggies, as they will reduce to mush if you do

serve warm… sometimes, i like it with some flat leaf parsley and a hard cheese like parmeseano reggiano or pecorino romano grated on top