Southwestern Rub

This post is a little different from others in the past, because it is for a rub (mixture of seasonings) which can be added to chicken, pork or beef.  I primarily use it on chicken, but wanted you to know you have options!

I found this rub in a magazine containing recipes for marinades, rubs and sauces which was being sold at the check-out stand in the market.  I always grill the meat I rub it on, so this seasoning combination is perfect to use in hot weather, when I don't want to heat my kitchen by using the oven.  This rub gets mostly 8's on the Melnarik rating scale.

In a small bowl, I begin by mixing all of the dry ingredients (chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper).

Then, I add the vegetable oil and diced garlic, mixing until thoroughly combined.

I rub this mixture on both sides of my chicken breasts, cover them with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  They should not be refrigerated any longer than 24 hours.

I grilled the chicken over medium heat for about 25 minutes, turning the chicken once during the cooking time.  That's all there is to it!  In order to keep the Southwestern flavor theme going with this meal, I made it this time with a Southwestern Caesar Salad and some Mission Baked Beans as side dishes.  Enjoy!

Southwestern Rub

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

Mix all ingredients.

Spread rub evenly on 1 pound boneless meat (chicken, pork, beef) or 2 ½ pounds ½-inch thick pork chops.  Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes but no longer than 24 hours.  Grill meat as desired.

Beef and Bean Casserole

This is a dish that anyone would love, even kids.  Not only that, but it's got to be one of the most simple casseroles to prepare!

This is a well-loved recipe that my mom made for our family from the time I was a little girl.  We would request that she make this meal often.  This is one of many recipes she gave to me when I got married and my family loves it too!  This dish gets all 9's on the Melnarik rating scale!

I begin by placing the ground beef in a large saucepan and cooking it over high heat.  I break up the meat as it cooks until it is no longer pink, then I drain off the fat.

To the beef, I add the salt, beans, brown sugar, and onion.  When I open the can of beans, there is that little cube of mostly fat (it's the pork part of the pork and beans) on the top.  I always remove it, so I'm not adding extra fat, before adding the beans to the dish.  I stir these ingredients to combine them thoroughly.

Then I stir in the barbecue sauce and heat until bubbly.  I aways use K.C. Masterpiece brand barbecue sauce.

I transfer the hot mixture to a 2 quart baking dish.  After removing the biscuits from the can, I cut them in half and arrange them in an eye appealing pattern on top of the beef mixture.  I then put the dish in the oven to bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.

I then remove the dish from the oven, sprinkle the cheese evenly over the biscuits and return it to the oven for an additional 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

It doesn't get much simpler than that!  This recipe serves four people, so if you have hearty eaters or more than four to feed, I suggest doubling the recipe as my mom did and bake it in a 9- x 13-inch baking dish.  Every time I make this casserole, it takes me back to when I was a little girl!  Enjoy!

Beef and Bean Casserole

1 pound ground beef

1 teaspoon salt

1 (15 oz.) pork & beans

¾ cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon instant minced onion

1 can (7.5 oz.) biscuits

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375°F.  In a skillet, cook ground beef until no longer pink; drain.  Stir in salt, beans, barbeque sauce, brown sugar, and onion; heat till bubbly.  Transfer to a 2 qt. baking dish.  Remove biscuits from can and cut in half to form half circles.  Place on top of beef mixture.  Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.  Sprinkle cheese on top of biscuits; return to oven for an additional 5 minutes to melt cheese.

Yield:  4 servings

Shredded Beef Nachos (Crock Pot)

This is a great dish to serve a bunch of hungry teenagers; I know from experience.  It's also great for those times when I know I'll be gone all day and won't have much time to prepare a meal, plus everyone seems to be eating at different times.  I usually serve it as a meal and the leftovers are used by my boys as a snack later in the week.

I think boys like almost anything that can be eaten with their fingers!  That and the crunch of the chips makes this a winner with my guys.  I found this recipe in slow cooker recipe book at the check out counter in the market and I love that there is so little work involved in preparing this dish.  That made it a perfect choice during the busy holidays!  My guys give this recipe 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.

After trimming the chuck roast of any extra fat around the outside, I place it in a cool crock pot.  Tip:  Only hot foods should be placed in a heated crock pot, cold or room temperature foods should be placed in a cool crock pot before cooking.

I added the minced garlic to the top of the roast and distributed it as evenly as possible.

In a small bowl, I combined the taco seasoning mix and brown sugar.  I always use dark brown sugar unless a recipe specifies otherwise.

This mixture was then sprinkled over the beef.  I covered the crock pot and cooked it on low for 8 hours.  If time is an issue, it can also be cooked on high for 4 - 5 hours.

Once fully cooked, the roast had shrunk a bit and there was a flavorful sauce at the bottom of the pot.

The meat was so tender, I had to remove it from the crock pot in sections.  I placed it on a cutting board and shredded it using 2 forks, discarding any fat.

The shredded beef was returned to the crock pot and mixed in with the juices.  That's all it took and it was ready to serve.  This is how we assemble our nachos:

We place tortilla chips on a microwave safe plate and, using a slotted spoon, top them with some of the shredded beef (left).

We top the beef with a pre-shredded Mexican cheese blend -Monterey Jack and cheddar (right).

We put the plate in the microwave for 1 minute on high to melt the cheese (left).


Then we add any desired toppings such as salsa, sour cream, cilantro,
green onions, and/or fresh tomatoes (right).

These nachos can be served as a snack or as a meal.  Any way you serve them, they're sure to be a hit!  Enjoy!

Shredded Beef Nachos

Nachos

1 (3 lb.) boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pkg. Taco seasoning mix

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Tortilla chips

Suggested Toppings:

Cheddar/Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Sour cream

Salsa

Green onion

Olives

Cilantro

Diced tomatoes

Place beef roast in a 3 ½ or 4 quart slow cooker.   Distribute garlic evenly over beef.  In a small bowl, mix together taco seasoning and brown sugar; sprinkle over roast.  Cover and cook on low 8 – 9 hours.

Before serving, place topping ingredients in individual serving dishes.  Remove beef from slow cooker; place on a large plate or cutting board.  Shred beef with 2 forks; return to slow cooker and mix well.

To serve, have guests place chips on serving plates; using tongs or a slotted spoon top chips with shredded beef.  Top the beef with cheese and any other desired toppings.

Beef mixture can be held on low setting for up to 2 hours.

Beef Pot Pie

Pot pies are considered comfort food to most people and this beef pot pie is no exception.  This is a deep-dish pie full of beef and mixed veggies inside a flaky crust.  This dish can be put together in less than 15 minutes and 45 minutes later it comes out of the oven piping hot and ready to eat!

I found this recipe in a Fix & Forget recipe book I found near the cash register in the market.  From the first time I made this pie, it has been a favorite of my guys.  In fact, it was the first dish to ever get all 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.  Because of the simplicity of putting this dish together, I make it several times during the colder months each year.

Before I do anything, I take the pie crusts out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 425°F.  This dish is so simple that cutting the beef into squares is the most difficult step in the process, and that's nothing!  The key here is to get the deli to cut the meat 1/8-inch thick.  Any thinner than that and it just doesn't work well in this pie.  I make my squares about 3/4-inch.

In a large saucepan, I usually combine the gravy and cornstarch first, whisking them together until smooth.  Then I add the beef and stir until the beef is coated in the gravy.  In this case, you can see I got ahead of myself.  It was difficult to get the cornstarch mixed in this way, so do what I said, not what I did!  I turn the heat to medium-high and begin heating the ingredients.

Then, I add the frozen mixed vegetables.  They do not need to be defrosted, as they defrost in the hot pan!  I stir them in, mixing thoroughly.  

Next, I add the sliced mushrooms from a jar and the Worcestershire sauce, again mixing to completely combine.  I stir this mixture every once in a while as I prepare the pie plate.

I have found that if I take the box of pie crust out of the refrigerator before I begin cutting the beef, it's the perfect temperature for easy handling once everything is heating in the saucepan.  The box contains two crusts that are rolled up and ready to use.  Using a deep dish pie plate (a regular one won't hold the amount of filling this recipe makes), I unroll one pie crust over the top of the pie plate.

Using my fingers, I gently ease the crust down into the bottom of the plate, making sure it's against the bottom and sides of the dish.  If you don't make sure the crust is totally against the dish all around, when you add the filling, the crust is likely to tear and the gravy will get between the crust and the plate during cooking.  Not only would this be messy, but it would take some of the moisture away from the pie and make the crust soggy in that area.

I then transfer the hot meat and veggie mixture directly from the saucepan into the bottom pie crust.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but it pretty much fills the shell up to the top!

Taking the second crust, I unroll it over the top of the dish. The crust hangs over the side of the pie plate at this point.  Trust me, that's a good thing.

The next step is to fold the top crust underneath the bottom crust to "catch" in in the middle.  Think of a sandwich where the top crust is like the bread with the bottom crust being the filling between the two slices of bread.  So the edge of the bottom crust no longer touches the pie plate, the edge of the top crust  touches it instead.  I hope I've made that easy to understand!

Sealing the edges is the next step.  This will keep the contents from oozing out the sides while baking.  My mom always used a fork and I've followed in her footsteps.  It's the fastest way to seal two pie crusts together.  It's not pretty and when I asked her why she didn't do a fancy flute or something prettier, she told me that this way people always knew it was a home-made pie!  That worked for me.

Cutting slits in the pie to let steam escape is another important step. Again, fancy cookie cutters can be used, but this is faster and meets the objective, so this is what I do.  My guys would rather not wait for a fancy looking pot pie that they are going to make disappear in no time flat!

I'm sure there is a scientific explanation for why the edge of the crust always get's browned more quickly than the rest of the pie, but I don't know what it is.  I only know that it's best to cover the edges with a pie ring (pictured above) or some aluminum foil.    Then into the oven it goes for about 45 minutes, which seems more like an eternity to my boys!

When it comes out of the oven it is a beautiful golden brown and piping hot.  I usually wait a few minutes to cut into it because it's too hot to eat.

I cut the pie into wedges for serving.  This a delicious way to get a variety of vegetables into the mouths of picky eaters!  Enjoy!

Beef Pot Pie

1 (15 oz.) pkg. Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts

1 (12 oz.) jar beef gravy

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 pound sliced cooked roast beef (from deli) cut 1/8-inch thick, cubed

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 (4.5 oz.) jar sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Heat oven to 425°F.  In a large saucepan, combine gravy and cornstarch; blend well.  Add roast beef, frozen mixed vegetables, mushrooms, and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook over medium-high heat until bubbly.  In the meantime, line deep dish pie plate with 1 pie crust.  Pour beef and vegetable mixture into crust-lined pie dish.  Top with second crust; seal edges and cut slits to allow steam to escape.  Cover edges of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.  Bake at 425°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  

Crock Pot Fajitas

Besides craving a particular dish, there are two good reasons I use when I choose to make dinner in a crock pot: to keep the kitchen from getting hot in the summer and when I have plans where I won't have time to put a meal together when I get home.  When my boys were younger and had sports practice after school, having dinner ready in the crock pot when we got home was the best thing ever.

I found this recipe on an ad in the newspaper for Hunt's Diced Tomatoes.  The fajitas were to be baked in the oven, but I converted the recipe to work in the crock pot one day and have never made the dish in the oven again.  The vegetables are not as crisp tender as when cooked the traditional way, but the flavor more than makes up for that.  

 The spices and oils are placed directly in the crock pot and mixed together.

Then the flank steak is cut into very thin slices.

The meat is placed in the crock pot and tossed until all of the pieces are coated with the spices.

Then the vegetables get sliced into thin strips.  To get onion strips, I cut the onion in half and then cut each half into thin strips and separate the pieces into individual pieces.

The pepper strips and onions get placed on top of the beef.

The last layer is the canned tomatoes with green chilies.  At this point, the lid could be put on top and the crock pot turned on to low for 5 hours.  Or, if the preparation is done much earlier than needed, the removable crock can be covered with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator until ready to cook.  When I do this, I add an extra 15 minutes to the cooking time to bring the pot up to temperature from having been in the refrigerator.  I pull the crock out of the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap, put the lid on and turn it on and let it go.

When the dish is done and you lift the lid, you'll see that the mixture has cooked down quite a bit.  One of the keys to cooking in a crock pot is to not lift the lid until the dish is completely done (unless the recipe calls for adding an ingredient shortly before the end of cooking time) because it greatly reduces the temperature inside the crock which takes a long time to come back up to the cooking temperature.

  

Before serving, I mix the beef and vegetables together.  Cooking in a crock pot keeps everything very moist, therefore there are a lot of juices in this dish, so I use tongs to transfer the fajita meat mixture to a warmed tortilla for eating.

Sour cream and/or guacamole can be added at this point, but we like the flavor so much as is, that we never add anything to our fajitas.  Enjoy!

Crock Pot Fajitas

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 teaspoons chili powder

4 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

2 pounds flank steak

2 cans (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies

2 small green bell peppers

2 small red bell peppers

1 large brown onion

Flour tortillas

In a 4 - 5 qt. crock pot, mix together oil and spices.  Thinly slice beef across the grain into thin strips; add to crock pot and toss until all pieces are coated in spice mixture.  Cut peppers and onions into thin strips.  Place on top of steak.  Add canned tomatoes.  Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.  Mix all ingredients in crock pot; serve in tortillas.