Bridey likes to cook from scratch. But she’s learned that some dishes are improved by a mix of fresh and canned ingredients. Her version of Grandma Berrigan’s chili, for example, combines dry beans and canned, and also adds some canned chili to the pot.
Her recipe is very flexible and can be easily modified to suit any taste. Purists shouldn’t object to the bottled ketchup. It works extremely well.
1½ pounds dry beans, any variety (1½ pounds, altogether)
cold water to cover, plus 2 inches
1 pound ground beef
1 pound sausage (hot or mild, to your taste; Bridey likes sweet Italian)
1 pound beef (round or chuck), cut in small chunks, as for
stroganoff
1½ tablespoons olive oil
3 medium onions, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon marjoram or thyme
½ teaspoon cumin
6-ounce can tomato paste
2 cans cooked beans (any variety)
1 can chili con carne
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped, but not too fine
12 ounces tomato ketchup or to taste
3–4 tablespoons masa harina
Salt, to taste
Pepper flakes (added later, if more bite is wanted)
1 whole green pepper, diced
1 red onion, sliced thin
shredded cheese (cheddar, for example)
Start with 1½ pounds of dry beans. Bridey doesn’t mind the work, so she cooks several varieties: perhaps some pinto, some black (frijoles negros), some small red (frijoles rojos pequeños), a total equal to 1½ pounds, each to be cooked separately because they might require a different cooking time.
In separate pots (if you’re using more than one variety) soak overnight each variety of beans in cold water, according to the directions on the package.
Drain, rinse and cover (plus two inches) with cold water, each in its own pot. Simmer gently till almost done, about 30 minutes. Ideally, all the cooking water will be absorbed.
Remove and combine all beans in a single bowl.
In a large pot, over a medium to low heat, brown the pound of ground beef, mashing the meat with a fork to make it grainy.
Remove the ground beef to a plate.
In the big pot, brown the sausage in the juices of the ground beef.
Remove the sausage and add it to the plate with the ground beef.
In the big pot, brown the beef chunks.
Remove the beef and add to the plate with the ground beef and sausage.
In the big pot, add a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the onions until they begin to brown.
When the onions are half-cooked, add the minced garlic.
When onions begin to brown, sprinkle the paprika over the garlic and onion mixture and stir well.
Add marjoram (or thyme), black pepper and cumin.
Stir the tomato paste into the mixture.
Reduce the heat to low. Add all the meats and the bowl of beans, mix well and cook covered for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Add the canned beans, canned chili and cilantro, and mix well.
Continue cooking five more minutes.
Stir in the ketchup gradually, and keep tasting as you add.
Stir in the masa harina.
Add red pepper flakes to taste (the amount of bite is optional).
Continue cooking till the meat chunks are soft and the beans are cooked through, maybe 45 minutes. But keep checking.
Add diced green pepper and sliced red onion.
Simmer ten more minutes. Add salt to taste.
Top with the shredded cheese, stirring the cheese lightly into the surface of the chili.
Simmer just a minute or two, to let the cheese melt a little into the chili.
And serve—to loud acclaim!
Swedish Beef with capers, beets and egg yolks (Biff a la Lindström)
Parties at the Norquist home across the street always featured a magnificent smörgåsbord—a fabulous buffet array of Swedish delicacies—and Mrs. Norquist loved to have the children cook with her. Bridey and Mrs. Norquist’s youngest daughter, Pia, were only four years old and already best friends, and both girls loved to cook “like grown-ups.” Bridey remembers the day Mrs. Norquist pulled a couple of tall chairs over to the kitchen counter and taught the little girls how to mash and form the mixture that makes this delicious version of little Scandinavian hamburgers. Bridey felt so special, being allowed to prepare treats for the guests, and still believes this affectionate and homey environment was the beginning of her love of good cooking.
2 pounds ground beef (chuck or round, lean)
3 baking potatoes, boiled and mashed
3 egg yolks
¾ cup heavy cream or sour cream
3 pickled beets, diced
1 large onion, chopped fine
3 tablespoons capers, chopped
salt
white pepper or sweet paprika
3 tablespoons butter
Parsley sprigs
Mix the beef and mashed potatoes thoroughly together.
Beat the egg yolks and cream together lightly.
Stir the egg and cream mixture gradually into the beef and potatoes till well combined.
Add beets, onions and capers and mix well.
Season to taste with salt and white pepper (or sweet paprika).
Form into small, flat cakes and brown quickly in butter.
Place on a hot platter, garnished with sprigs of parsley.
Serve with fried potatoes (Swedish style, fried with a little sugar).
Beef Bourguignon (so French, so very French!)
Bridey knows that great cuisine comes from every corner of the earth, but she is convinced the French have something special. As she told Mack, you can’t have good cooking without something from France. One of her dreams is to someday spend many weeks wandering all over France, learning how that “something special” is achieved. Her recipe for beef bourguignon is one version; she knows there are others.
½ pound bacon, cut in small cubes
2 teaspoons olive oil (more if needed)
3 pounds stewing beef, cut in small cubes
1 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic minced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups full-bodied red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)
¼ teaspoon marjoram
¼ teaspoon thyme
1 dried bay leaf
2 cups beef bouillon or beef stock (canned is okay)
Preheat oven to 425°.
In a casserole (not glass!) or Dutch oven, on the stovetop, brown the bacon lightly.
Remove the bacon to a plate.
Pat the beef dry with a paper towel.
In the hot oil and bacon fat, brown the beef.
Remove the beef to the plate with the bacon.
Sauté onion lightly in the mixed oil and bacon fat.
When the onion is transparent, add the garlic and continue sautéing until onion is lightly browned.
Add all meat and mix together.
Sprinkle salt, pepper and flour over the meat and onion and toss thoroughly.
To coat and brown the meat, place the casserole in the oven and heat for 4 minutes.
Remove, stir all, scrape any brown bits loose from the casserole and stir into the meat. Return to oven for 4 more minutes.
Turn oven heat down to 325°.
Into 3 cups of a strong red wine, stir tomato paste, ¼ teaspoon marjoram, ¼ teaspoon thyme, 1 bay leaf, mix well and pour over meat. If more liquid is needed, add beef bouillon or beef stock to just cover the meat.
Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, then cover and return to the oven to simmer slowly 3 to 4 hours, or until beef is tender.
(Optional: flambé a small glass of cognac or brandy and add
to the meat just before serving.)
Serve with small buttered potatoes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joan Myra Bronston grew up in New York City, married her college sweetheart and went with him to Germany for a year while he was in the Army, where she worked as a telex operator and mail clerk. They then moved to Austria, where Joan spent five years teaching at an international school. She is the mother of three wonderful girls and the grandmother of a super-wonderful grandson. Joan was also a secretary, social investigator and psychiatric researcher before entering law school and eventually becoming a corporate attorney. In addition to her years in Europe, Joan has lived in Pittsburgh, Chicago and, for eighteen years, Salt Lake City. At last, she has closed the circle and returned to her first and most beloved—New York City.
eKENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
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Copyright © 2014 by J.M. Bronston
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
First Electronic Edition: April 2014
eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-265-8
eISBN-10: 1-60183-265-6
ISBN: 978-1-6018-3265-8
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