There was a really. good. sale. on “beef stew meat” (pre-cut chunks of bottom round roast) recently, and having blown through our standard slow-cooker fare, I tossed together a new one, which has been simmering away (and making me very, very hungry) all day. As you can see in the picture below, the tomato paste likes to burn and stick to the sides of the crock pot – if you’re not like me (I happen to like burnt buts), you may want to scrape the sides down with a spatula every so often.

Slow-Cooker Beef Goulash*

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds bottom round roast, cut into chunks
• 12 ounces tomato paste
• 1/4 cup dried minced onion (use fresh if you have it; I didn’t)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 5 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Toss everything except the vinegar in your slow cooker, and stir to combine. Cook on low for 5-7 hours, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir in vinegar. Serve over buttered egg noodles with plenty of sour cream.

*Yes, I’m perfectly aware this isn’t a traditional goulash, but “Slow-Cooker Beef Fauxlash” sounded silly.

Meredith says that curry is somewhat of a mystery to her.

I was browning some chicken with an uncertain future tonight, and asked her how she’d like it. Lemon pepper? Garlic? Sauced? We decided on curry, and I showed her a simple, basic curry, full of deep, smoky flavor and the tang of tomato sauce, made from pantry items.

Quick Tomato Curry

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken drumsticks
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup curry powder*
• 4 cups tomato sauce

Melt the butter in a dutch oven or heavy stock pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned. Add curry powder; stir to coat. Cook until highly fragrant. Add tomato sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 1 hour or until chicken is fully cooked and tender and sauce has reduced. Serve over rice or cous cous; garnish with yogurt if desired.

*I use my own mild homemade curry powder. There are plenty of recipes on the internet for mild to hotter varieties. Whether you use your own or a store-bought variety, I’d recommend tailoring the quantity to your taste.

Tip: If you prefer to use store-bought curry, seek out your local ethnic market, where you can find fresher, less expensive curry powder than what you’ll find in your supermarket’s spice rack.

I’m not going to spoil this one with a lot of preamble. Try it – it’s really, really good.

Tomato Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs chicken parts (bone-in, skin-on)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup dried minced onions
• 1/4 cup garlic paste
• 1/4 cup dried basil
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons ground rosemary
• 5 1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups rice

Brown the chicken pieces in the oil in a cast iron dutch oven. (If you’re using skinless chicken, you may need to add additional oil or butter.) Remove from pan and set aside to cool. When meat has cooled, remove meat from bones and return meat to pan. (Now would be a good time to package up those bones for some future chicken stock.) Place over medium heat and stir in onion, garlic,  and herbs. Cook until chicken begins to brown. Add stock, tomato sauce, and rice; stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary, for 45-50 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

The end result yields an insane amount of chicken-rice…stuff that freezes well and tastes damn good.

I’m a bit under the weather this week, so I’m naturally seeking out comfort foods and easy throw-together meals. This is a bit like the Greek classic moussaka, minus the eggplant; it’s savory, creamy, satisfying, and filling.

Be sure to use plain tomato sauce and not spaghetti sauce — the added Italian seasonings aren’t necessary here. The breadcrumbs thicken the sauce and sop up any grease from the beef.

Greek-Style Beef and Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds white potatoes
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 cup plain yogurt (homemade if available)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel potatoes and slice into 1/8″ thick rounds. In a small bowl, whisk eggs until well-blended and stir in yogurt. Set yogurt and potatoes aside.

In a nonstick skillet set over medium heat, brown beef, onions, and garlic. Add salt, potatoes and tomato sauce and cook 10 minutes or until edges of potatoes become translucent. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and stir to combine. Pour into a baking dish and top with yogurt mixture. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Bake at 350° F for 90 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Serves 4-6.

It may not have the greatest of names or be the heat-laden stew that some people enjoy as chili, but this recipe is a staple around these parts. A reader on one of our other blogs asked me for this recipe; it was then that I discovered that I hadn’t posted it here. For shame. So here, in all its glory, is my own personal kick-ass chili recipe.

A few notes: yes, there is chocolate (well, cocoa) in my chili. It tastes good, I swear. Do not try to use a crappy beer for this. If you’re in the northeastern US, don’t use anything less than Yuengling. If you’re elsewhere…use something you couldn’t afford in college and you should be fine. Finally, this recipe is very filling and makes a very large batch. Break it down into small containers and freeze it – it’s great to re-heat on a chilly night.

Dani’s Kick-Ass Chili con Carne

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds ground beef
• 28 ounces canned diced or crushed tomatoes with garlic
• 28 ounces canned diced or crushed tomatoes, plain
• 1 large onion, diced
• 12 ounces tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• Oregano, chili powder, cumin, and garlic to taste
• 1 pound cremini (“baby bella”) mushrooms, rough chop
• 2 cups beef broth
• 10-12 ounces good quality beer

Brown the beef with the onions and mushrooms. (Add butter or oil if your meat is too lean.) Combine all ingredients in large stockpot and cook over low heat for at least 2 hours or until reduced to desired consistency. Serve over your favorite starch (we like rice or cornbread) and with your favorite toppings.

This is a guest chef post from Kate of Om Shanti Handcrafts; you can find her original post of this recipe, along with adorable pictures of her cats, at her blog. She also makes spectacular lip balms, bath salts, jewelry, and other pretty and/or pleasantly-scented things – I encourage you to visit her Etsy shop (her tangerine vanilla lip balm is to die for!)

Many thanks to Alys for the original recipe and to Kate for her moderations, and for allowing me to post this here. This is an excellent example of how recipes evolve as they pass from person to person. Kate’s comments are in italics below.

Alys’s Tomato Bread Soup

• 1 lb. Italian sausage links (I’ve also used loose sausage just fine)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 or 6 cloves garlic, sliced or minced (though it’s hard to have too much)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp basil
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• other herbs as desired (oregano, marjoram, thyme, savory…)
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• 2 or 3 14-1/2 oz cans diced tomatoes (or cut up fresh if you’ve got em)
• 1 48 oz can chicken broth (or from scratch — easy and AWESOME)
• 1 tbsp dry sherry or wine
• 1/2 tsp salt or bouillion (I use this only if I’m using my own chicken broth — otherwise there’s already plenty of salt)
• dash pepper
• 1 loaf bread (a good, sturdy loaf of Italian or French — bread with some heft!) (I’ve used Philly soft pretzels with awesome results)
• shredded parmesan cheese

Note that all measurements are approximate, and should be adjusted to taste.

Cook sausages at least halfway done, allow to cool enough to handle, and slice.

Meanwhile, sauté onions in olive oil for a couple minutes, add garlic and sauté a little longer, until garlic is done.

Before garlic turns brown, stir in herbs and tomato paste. Add diced tomatoes, sliced sausages, broth, and wine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, and simmer until the sausage is done through.

While soup simmers, tear or cut the bread into crouton-sized pieces.

Place a handful of bread into each bowl, ladle soup over, and garnish with parmesan. Add a drizzle of good, fruity olive oil and/ or freshly ground pepper if you like.

I can only imagine that my use of ketchup in this recipe might offend (or at the very least confuse) anyone not accustomed to the vinegar-laden dishes of the Pennsylvania Dutch. I’ll even state for the record that I put ketchup on my eggs, on my toast, and even put it on steak when I was young (sorry, Dad.) I’ve had some great meatloaf in my time — my mother-out-law’s is killer — but this dish of ketchup-laden decadence will always be my favorite. How can you top the gooey tomatoey brown sugar topping?

Meatloaf

For meatloaf:

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

For topping:

• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup

Combine all meatloaf ingredients in large bowl and toss with fingers until well-combined. Press mixture into standard loaf pan and bake at 350° F for one hour.

Place brown sugar in small bowl and break apart any lumps. Add ketchup and stir briskly with fork until mixture is thick and homogenous. About halfway though cooking, spread topping on top of meatloaf.

Serves 6-8.

I am a language fan, and subscribe to at least 3 “word a day” newsletters.  Today’s Wordsmith message contained this gem:

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.

-Alice May Brock, author (b. 1941)

Happy Friday!

It’s a bit off-season to find properly fresh tomatoes, but don’t let that stop you from serving up some homemade salsa. Roasting adds a deeper, sweeter flavor to canned tomatoes, and the lime brightens things up. Perfect for Monday Night Football!

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

• Two 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 2 dried chipotle peppers, rehydrated and coarsely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 lime, halved
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Drain tomatoes and spread thinly in a roasting dish or deep-sided sheet pan. Bake at 450 for 30-40 minutes or until sugars begin to caramelize. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine cooled tomatoes and remaining ingredients, stirring until well-combined. Add 1/3 of mixture to blender or food processor and process until smooth but slightly chunky. Return to bowl and stir into other ingredients. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Serves 4-6.

Image by Micah Taylor.

Tomato and Onion Tart

Ingredients:

• 3 large onions, sliced thin
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed per package instructions
• 3/4 lb shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 3/4 lb plum tomatoes, cut into thin rounds
• 3/4 lb orange or yellow tomatoes, cut into thin rounds
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh basil leaves for garnish

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and begin to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to temperature recommended by puff pastry manufacturer. Lay pastry sheet on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and dock the center of the sheet, leaving a 1″ border around the outer edge. (The undocked border will rise and form a crust.)

Spread onion mixture over docked area of pastry, avoiding undocked edges. Top onions with cheese. Arrange tomato slices on top, alternating colors to form a pattern. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake per pastry instructions. Cool before slicing into rectangles, and serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with basil leaves.

Serves 12-16 as an appetizer, or 3-4 as a main course.