Okay, this dish really doesn’t have a name…Bessie, my mom, just called it “Mrs. Johnson” and the name stuck.  Mrs. Johnson is actually the former American first lady, Lady Bird Johnson.  My mom found this recipe in some American magazine in the 60’s and turned it into her own.  It has very few ingredients, is simple to make and kids always love it.  And so, it’s become one of the family’s favorite recipes….

Lady Bird, like her husband Lyndon B., is from the great state of Texas which is known for their barbecues.  This recipe was shared in some American magazine my mother got a hold of back in the 60’s.  She tried it, made a few changes and it’s not really the same recipe she found in that magazine.  For one, I don’t think the Americans ever heard of banana catsup back then!

I’m sure the original recipe called for some tomato ketchup and some sweetener like brown sugar, molasses or something.  But my mom just went ahead and used banana ketchup…and the resulting dish is something you’d think was a complicated recipe.

The recipe is as simple as marinating some good beef brisket in plenty of Worcestershire sauce and banana ketchup.  There’s enough heat, sweet and salt in these two ingredients that you won’t need much else.   After sitting overnight in your refrigerator, just place it in your pot or pressure cooker and let it cook till tender.  Thicken the sauce a little by allowing it to simmer without the lid.

Serve over hot rice and some vegetables like peas, corn or carrots.

And before you get started on the first spoonful, just remember….the simplest things and recipes will sometimes prove to be the best!

Here’s a sorry attempt at plating a dish of beef caldereta.  Do you think I overdid it?  I really wasn’t going to post about this but decided I would at the last minute because of the attractively-colored vegetables.  This caldereta is missing a few key ingredients (which I’ll include in the recipe anyway) which is why I wasn’t originally going to inlcude it in the blog. 

Caldereta is a beef dish Filipinos like to serve at fiesta time.  Beef is the most common meat used.  There’s also a spicier goat caldereta that drinkers prefer.  The chicken caldereta is sweeter because of the addition of pickle relish.  For special occasions, a lot of Filipinos in the provinces would slaughter a cow, a pig, some chickens and maybe a goat for an open-to-everyone kind of feast.  The animals would be slaughtered with an open fire close by.  A huge cauldron of boiling water sitting over some large rocks or hollow blocks is always ready and required.  The men will do the slaughtering and dividing of the meat while the women prepared the rest of the ingredients.  Certain cuts go with certain dishes.  Caldereta  required mostly bones, with some meat still clinging to it. 

My parents once told us the secret to good, old-fahioned Filipino/Spanish recipes is in the marinating.  They preferred marinating meats overnight in the refrigerator.  I used to be very particular about this step because I do think it makes a difference in the final dish.  But for something like this everyday mock caldereta, I made do with marinating for a couple of hours.

As I said, this recipe will include the ingredients and steps I left out for one reason or another.

Beef Caldereta

2 lbs. lean beef chuck (bony cuts are traditionally used) cut in 3-inch chunks

1 chorizo de Bilbao link, sliced thin

3 large tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 small can tomato sauce (I ommitted this because I wanted a thinner sauce)

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. salt

a few black peppercorns

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator or do as I did and marinate for a couple of hours.

1-2 tbsps. light olive oil

2 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut in about the same size as the beef

1 c. beef broth/water

1 large carrot cut in 2-in. pieces or a few pieces baby carrots

15-20 pcs. olives

1-3 siling labuyo (hot bird peppers) or 1 tsp. Tabasco

1 large bell pepper (red or green is fine)

1/2 c. frozen green peas

salt and pepper to taste

Optional:  1/4 cup grated cheese and 5 tbsps. Reno liver spread

In a large stock pot over medium-high, heat a tablespoon or two light olive oil (don’t use extra virgin, it burns easily) and fry your potatoes until light brown.  Set aside.  Then add a few pieces of meat to the hot oil, making sure there are no onions, garlic or tomato pieces sticking to the pieces because they’ll just burn and turn bitte.  You definitely want to avoid that.  Brown on all sides.  You may have to do this in batches to get good browning that’s essential to a rich sauce.  Set aside with the potatoes.

In the same pot, pour in your marinade, the browned meat, the chili, the olives and a cup of beef broth or plain water.  Bring to a boil, cover and allow to simmer until meat is tender.  Watch the water and your heat so it doesn’t scorch.  It took 2 hours in my case for the beef to tenderize to my liking. 

You can also use a pressure cooker, in which case I suggest 20 minutes over medium heat once it comes to the boil.  Then turn off heat and allow the pressure to subside naturally before opening the cooker.

After the meat is tender, add the potatoes and carrots and simmer about 10 minutes or until carrots are almost tender. 

At this point, if you want to put some cheese and liver spread to thicken your sauce and give it that distinct caldereta flavor, ladle about 6  tablespoonfuls of the cooking liquid into a bowl.  If there’s very little liquid, add about half a cup of water before you do this.  Into this liquid, mix in about 1/4 cup of grated cheese (sharp cheddar, queso de bola or parmesan will do) and about 5 tbsps. of liver spread.  Mix this well and add to your boiling caldereta and give it a gentle stir.

Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook tilll tender.  Adjust seasonings.  Pour in about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the dish before serving.

This is another beef dish that’s pretty common in the Philippines.  We call it Bistek, a play on the Western ”beef steak”.  The Philippine version uses thin sirloin cuts of beef if your monthly budget permits but you can use the cheaper cuts, pounded to make it more tender.  The marinating will tenderize the meat considerably.  The marinade is a simple  calamansi juice, soy sauce and black pepper.  You can also use this marinade for pork chops and butterfly-cut milkfish.

Bistek is always served at my parent’s house with fried potatoes and browned onion rings.  I like to serve my Bistek with the onions and some veggies like bell peppers or in this case, peppers and zucchini.  Of course, you will need a serving of rice…it just goes so well with the soy-calamansi combination.This is a  simple dish to prepare and cook.  Filipinos like their marinade strongly flavored with a good balance of the salty to the sour that piques  the tongue just the right way. We call that “kagat” and if you got it just right, it’s then “kagat na kagat”.

After marinating overnight in the refrigerator, heat up a heavy skillet and add a tablespoon of oil.  Brown your onion slices and set aside. If including potatoes, slice them thin and fry till golden. 

In the same skillet, remove most of the oil and add your meat pieces and quickly stir fry a few pieces at a time.  If the juices run out before the next batch, remove it to your serving plate.   If you want to include veggies, stir-fry your veggies in the same skillet after the meat, this way, they will pick up a lot of flavors from the meat.   

When all the meat and veggies are  done, pour in your remaining marinade and give it a quick boil.  Pour this over the meat, onions and potatoes/veggies and serve with hot rice. 

I’ve tried several recipes of meatloaf but was always taken by the one Cracker Barrel serves (on Tuesdays if I’m not mistaken).  I did a search on the internet some years back and found a recipe based on that. My recipe has evolved from that however…I made a few changes that suited our tastes more.

Spouse loves this…he can actually eat one loaf all by himself if I let him.  The thing with meatloaf is, the leftovers are even better served cold, as a sandwich. I’ll serve it first with some vegetables like brussels sprouts (maybe with a honey mustard glaze) and potatoes.  I always make sure there’s still half a loaf for sandwiches.

Mix the following ingredients in a bowl:

1 lb. ground beef

3 oz. chopped onion

1 small diced green pepper

1 egg

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. dry mustard (or more, I like this)

4 slices day-old dried bread, torn in small pieces

1/2 c. (more or less) milk

1 tsp. salt (more or less, depending on taste)

1/4 tsp. fresh-cracked black pepper

ketchup/barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Mix all ingredients lightly with your hands.  Shape into a loaf on a foil-lined baking dish or cookie sheet.   Brush top and sides with a mix of ketchup and barbecue sauce.

Bake for about an hour or until internal temperature reaches 160F. 

This recipe is from the late Juliia Child.  It’s one of the classic French dishes she featured on her first cooking show on PBS, The French Chef.  If I’m not mistaken, this was the first she actually featured on that show produced by Russell Morash, the same producer who today, gives PBS audiences “This Old House”, “Ask This Old House” and “Find!”

I’ve had it before in restaurants but never cooked it at home.  It’s not so difficult.  The resulting dish is good enough to surprise you and make you wonder if you cooked it yourself.  And the leftovers are just excellent.  The success of this dish, will depend on the wine you use in my opinion.  I am currently using a Merlot for cooking and like its smoky flavor. 

Recipe to follow, soon as I recover from this cold I picked up….

My apologies for posting this so late.  I’ve been busy with so many things and that’s why I got the bad cold in the first place!

This recipe is from the 40th Anniversary Edition of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, authored by the late Julia Child and co-written with Luisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.  It’s suggested you serve this with boiled potaoes, buttered noodles or steamed rice.  She also suggest buttered peas as a vegetable side dish. 

6-oz. chunk of bacon, cut in sticks 1/4 x 1.5 in.

1.5 qts. water

1 tbsp. olive oil

3 lbs. lean stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes

1 sliced carrot

1 sliced onion

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 tbsp. flour

3 c. of a full-bodied, young red wine such as Chianti (I used a smoky Merlot)

2 to 3 c. brown beef stock or beef bouillon

1 tbsp. tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

1/2 tsp. thyme

a crumbled bay leaf

the blanched bacon rind

18 t 24 small white onions braised in stock (I served this separately with the buttered peas)

1 lb. quartered fresh mushrooms in butter

Preheat oven to 450F.  In a 9-10 inch deep fireproof casserole or heavy-bottomed pan, saute the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown slightly.  Remove to a side dish.

Dry the beef in paper towels.  Saute in the hot casserole, a few pieces at a time so it browns nicely on all sides.  Set aside with the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables.  Pour out the sauteing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the pot and toss with the salt and pepper.  Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour.  Set casserole uncovered in middle position of oven for about 4 minutes.  (Careful with the hot pan!)Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more.  This step ensures the meat is coated with a light crust.  Remove casserole and turn down heat to 325F. 

Stir in the wine, and enough stock so the meat is barely covered.  Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and the bacon rind if you have it.  Bring to simmer on the stove.  Then cover your casserole or pan (use foil if your lid is not oven-proof) and set in lower third rack of your oven.  Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2.5-3 hours.   My pot was very efficient and 300F was just right.  The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.  Set them aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.  Wash out the casserole and returnthe beef and bacon into it.  Distribute the cooked onions and mushroom.  NOTE:  I only put in the mushrooms and served the onions mixed with buttered peas. 

Skim fat off the sauce.  Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises.  You should have about 2.5 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.  If it’s too thin, boil it down rapidly.  If too thick, mix in a few tablesppons stock or even water.  Taste for seasoning.  I added more salt, pepper and thyme – love thyme!  Serve with potatoes, noodles or rice.

This recipe serves 6.

Forgive this photo of my half-eaten dinner, I originally had no intention of making this dinner a blog entry.  I was just happily chomping away when it hit me – this steak was perfectly cooked! 

Why is it perfect?  Look closely, there’s only a little run-off from the meat itself.  The juices stayed in the meat because it had time to rest before serving, the center is perfectly and evenly pink.  What you can’t tell from the photo is how tender the meat was, and what a grear flavor the excellent brush-on steak sauce gave. 

Unlike the last steaks I posted about here and here, this one was just right.  The meat was a couple of  1-inch boneless top loin cuts weighing about half a pound each.  I got it from the Peterson AFB Commissary.  I believe they get their meat locally but can’t be sure.  This wasn’t anything special really.  I left it in the refrigerator a couple of days.  Then about an hour before cooking it, I took it out and let it come to room temperature.  But here’s the difference, I put  a light sprinkle of meat tenderizer and freshly ground black pepper on both sides and left it sitting on a plate in the kitchen.  

Meat tenderizer does exactly the same thing as aging a steak. Aging beef changes the fibers and collagen which is caused by enzymes in the meat.  The difference is the time.  Instead of aging it in an environment of about 35F temperature for 21 days, it will only take minutes with a meat tenderizer.

I was determined to have the steaks at room teperature prior to cooking this time around and waited about an hour before that happened.  In that time, the tenederizer did a great job with this grocery store piece of meat.  The steak came out like it was aged at Johnny’s Cafe in Omaha.  So deliciously tender, I call it the best steak that’s ever come out of my kitchen. 

Now for the cooking…

I put a heavy-bottomed 10-inch skillet on high heat and brushed some light olive oil throughout the bottom and the sides.  I let that come to almost smoking.  Then I put in the first steak and waited half a minute before putting in the next piece of meat.  The two pieces fit perfectly in my pan.  At this point, I brought the heat to about medium high because my pan was getting too hot.  I then loosened each cut with a steel spatula so I could move the steaks around and make sure it was going to get evenly browned.  I cooked each side for 3 minutes – no more –  and turned it only once. 

After turning it, I then brushed some Andria’s Steak Sauce (thank goodness we bought several bottles last time we were there) over the steaks.  After the last 3 minutes were done, I put the whole pan in the hot oven.  I’d read somewhere that for a 1-inch steak, the perfect time in the oven is about 10 minutes but was disappointed in the past.  This time I went for 8 minutes.  After half that time, I took out the pan and again brushed steak sauce over it.  Then back to the oven it went for the remaining 4 minutes…this time closer to the heating element at the top.

I  started my zucchini when I first put the steaks in the oven.  It was just stir-fried, then steamed with a bit of water in the pan.  But it wasn’t ready when the steaks were.  So I put the steaks on a plate and left it on the counter, waiting for the veggies.  The meat had time to REST before it was served.  This short wait guaranteed a very juicy steak because the juices don’t run off like they would if it were cut before it was rested.  This was a mistake I’d always made in the past.

Since there was so much brown bits and drippings in the pan, I decided to transfer the veggies and cooked it a few more minutes in the pan juices.  Ohhhh, it was just perfect.  The steaks were tender with the meat juicy and the steak sauce gave it a flavor that was just excellent.

Summer IS almost gone, isn’t it?  Gosh, time has gone by sooo fast… It was cool enough for a beef stew yesterday and I even put on some  socks later in the evening because it was getting too cold for my toes….errr, I mean my taste.  Yes, I do believe autumn is not so far away.

A stew always reminds me of that romantically funny O.Henry short story, The Third Ingredient.  That story made such an impression on my young mind that I just cannot start a stew and not think of that author.  Here’s a link to the story, please read it and you’ll understand why I have a romanticized view  of stew.

This particular recipe is based on my mom’s own recipe that she taught us all.  I made a few changes to go with my taste and will make note of it in the recipe so you can decide which you prefer.

BEEF STEW

1 lb. lean beef brisket or similar cut, cut in 1.5-in. squares (mom used short ribs with all the fat)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tbsp. olive oil (mom used all butter)

2 tbsps. butter or Olivio margarine

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 small onion, peeled and diced

1 c. water

2 tbsps. tomato paste

2 tbsps. Worcestershire sauce (mom used soy sauce)

1 large russet potato, cut in 2-in. chunks

1 sweet bell pepper, diced

1/2 c. frozen peas

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of thyme (mom omitted)

Wipe your beef brisket with a paper towel before cutting.  In a bowl, mix the salt, pepper and flour.  Dredge the beef in this mixture.

In a stew pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil and margarine and heat to bubbly.  Add the beef, shaking off the excess flour before putting them in.  Cook on all sides to get a good browning. 

Put in the celery, carrots and onion into the same bowl and shake so the excess flour covers the vegetables.  Put this all into the stew pot when the meat browns.  Stir and cook for about 5 minutes.  Season as you go.

Now add the water, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and the thyme.  Bring to a boil and simmer until meat is tender about 30 minutes. 

Add the potatoes and cook till tender, about 20 minutes.  Add the bell peppers and peas and cook until the peppers are crisp-tender.  Adjust seasonings and serve hot.