The Houndstooth Gourmet

Cookthink is a great recipe website and blog where you can retrieve recipes based upon what you have on hand, what meal you are making, and even what mood you’re in. They began the Root Source Challenge several weeks ago. Each challenge is based on a specific ingredient, which you use or feature in a recipe. This week’s Root Source Challenge is orzo.

Orzo is a small pasta which means “barley” in Italian. It is often used in soups and can be used for making a risotto.

For this challenge, I wanted to incorporate orzo into a recipe in an unusual manner. What first came to mind was timpano-you know, like from the movie Big Night. Timpano uses rigatoni or ziti along with many other ingredients to create layers within baked dough.

It seemed a bit daunting.

So, I thought “hey, what about stromboli?” Instead of traditional Italian stuffing, I could use ingredients more reminiscent of Greece and the Mediteranean region in general. Hence, “Mediterranean Stromboli”. Layers of seasoned ground beef with onions, orzo with spinach, Manchego cheese, roasted red bell peppers and kalamata olives are combined to put a twist on the traditional pizza shop turnover. However, I served it with the traditional marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

The result was delicious and well worth the effort, especially since the recipe makes 2- 12 inch stromboli. The orzo added an unexpected creaminess to the stromboli.  Mediterranean Stromboli would make a great snack or appetizer and would work well in a buffet. Most of all, I wish I had thought of this for the Superbowl.

Mediterranean Stromboli

makes 16-18 servings

Ingredients

for the dough

• 1 1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F.)
• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3-31/2 cups All Purpose flour

for the filling

• 1 lb. ground beef (80/20 mix)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup orzo, cooked according to package directions
• 1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 8 oz. Manchego cheese, roughly shredded
• 4 roasted red bell peppers, skins peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch strips ( I used jarred fire roasted peppers)
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (1 egg for orzo and spinach mixture, and 1 egg for brushing the dough before baking)
• 1 Tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce for dipping on the side (optional)

Directions

Add 1/4 cup warm water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer. Stir, then allow to sit for 5 minutes until it gets foamy. Add the remaining water, olive oil and salt. Using a dough hook, turn mixer on low to medium low speed. Gradually add in 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the flour and mix until smooth. Add an additional cup of flour and continue to mix dough until it begins to pull away from the sides.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead dough for 10 minutes, using additional flour as needed to stop sticking.

Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a dish towel. Allow the dough to rise for approximately one hour in a warm place. The dough should double in size.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

While the dough is rising, cook orzo according to package directions and combine it with the spinach. Once the mixture is cooled, add one egg and stir to incorporate.

For the meat and onions, place a skillet over medium high heat and add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet. Add onions and cook for approximately 5 minutes until transluscent. Do not brown. Add meat and begin to brown. Chop the meat with a flat wooden spatula to get it to separate into small pieces. Add garlic powder, oregano, marjoram and cinnamon. Once browned, check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Punch down the dough and transfer it onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half. Roll each half into a 10 inch x 12 inch rectangle. Layer half of fillings evenly over dough; meat and onion mixture, orzo and spinach mixture, manchego cheese, peppers and olives. Leave about 1 inch of the dough’s edge uncovered.

Carefully begin to roll the dough and stuffing. Towards the end of rolling, tuck in the edges and fold them under the bottom seam. Repeat with other half of dough. Transfer stromboli to a greased or silicone lined baking sheet. Cut slits on top of dough approximately 2-3 inches apart, depending on how big you wish to make each serving.

Brush egg wash over dough, avoiding the slits. Place baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Turn the baking sheet half way through cooking for even heating.

Allow stromboli to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into serving pieces.

Optional-serve stromboli with a side of your favorite marinara sauce, warmed, for dipping.

*Cookthink holds a weekly Root Source Challenge where winning recipes get published on their site and a prize is awarded to the winner.

Tags: cheese, Recipe, pasta, beef by Ramona
6 Comments »

Nothing satisfies like a hearty soup. As you may know, I think soup ought to be a food group. It’s comforting and can be very nutritious. This borscht is packed with goodness including carrots, peppers, beets, onions, cabbage, potatoes and of course, small bite-size chunks of beef. This recipe makes a lot of soup which can feed an army, or be frozen to sustain you well into the new year. It also reheats beautifully.

Best beef borscht is perfect to make on a cold weekend day, allowing it to simmer over the course of a couple hours to get the potatoes soft and have the beef become “melt in your mouth” tender. It’s best to practice your mis en place skills too, because once you’ve chopped and prepped all of the ingredients, it comes together very quickly and you can then sit back and enjoy the aromas as they fill your home.

Best Beef Borscht

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-2 1/2 lbs. beef for stew, cut into bite-sized pieces
3-32 oz. cans/boxes beef broth
32 oz. water
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 medium beets, peeled and cubed
2 large carrots, diced
1 rib celery, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 green pepper, diced
1 lb. saurerkraut (can or bag) drained
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, juice included
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds (optional)

Sour cream and dill for garnish

Directions:

Salt and pepper beef. In heavy bottom pan, heat vegetable oil until the first wisp of smoke rises. Add beef cubes in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan and cause the beef to steam. Brown quickly on all sides and transfer to a bowl. Once beef is removed from pan, add onions, celery, peppers and carrots. Stir to combine and sautee for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Add vegetables to bowl with beef.

Increase heat under pan and deglaze pan with 1 cup of the water.
Transfer beef, vegetables and deglazing liquid to large stock pot. Add remaining water, beef broth, tomatoes, beets and sauerkraut. Stir to combine.

Add in red wine vinegar, honey, thyme, brown sugar and caraway seeds (optional). Add about a Tbsp. of salt and several grinds of fresh cracked black pepper. Bring soup to a strong simmer, then lower to slow simmer and cover. Simmer for 2 hours or until beef is very tender. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and dill,  your favorite bread (preferably slathered with a bit of butter!)

*Weekend Herb Blogging is a fun weekly event sponsored by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. This week’s WHB is being hosted by Simona from Briciole.

Tags: soup, Recipe, beef by Ramona
8 Comments »

Stuffed cabbage is a dish associated with Eastern European and Asian cultures. It usually consists of cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture of meat and grains, such as rice. Growing up in a Polish household, we called these golabki (little pigeons) pronounced ga-WOOM-key. Green leaf cabbage is stuffed with ground meat, either beef or a mixture of beef/pork/veal, and cooked with white rice which is seasoned with salt and pepper. The tomato based sauce can include tomato juice, sauce, puree, soup or even ketchup.

I have always loved golabki, even though as a kid I would peel the cabbage off and shove it to the side, hoping no one would notice (my Nana did). Now I embrace the cabbage and enjoy it as much as I do the meat filling.

Over the years since I have taken over making this dish for my family, my recipe has evolved as a mingling of me, my mom and Martha Stewart.

Unlike my mother and most other people,hey,mheyI do not cut the rib/vein out of the cabbage because I feel I can roll a perfect golabki with the cabbage leaf intact. To make sure that the cabbage, even the rib is tender, I braise the golabki low and slow.

My mother always used a combination of condensed tomato soup and ketchup for the sauce. I have tried changing this up with tomato puree and tomato juice etc. but I’ve decided the flavor of the original sauce suits me the best and is most evocative of my childhood memories of this dish. By the time the dish braises in the oven, the sauce tastes of the meat, vegetables and cabbage. It’s sum is more than the parts, so to speak.

Martha Stewart uses her mother’s recipe for stuffed cabbage. Being Polish, Mrs. Koystyra’s recipe closely resembles my grandmothers, except it has more flavor in the meat, with onion, garlic and green peppers.

Thanks to all of my influenes in developing this dish, I’ve come up with  my favorite version of stuffed cabbage. I hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients;

1 can condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup ketchup

1 large head green cabbage

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef or meatloaf mix- ground beef, pork and veal

1 medium onion, fine diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped in food processor or grated

1 cup white rice, cooked

2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

2-3 strips uncooked bacon

Directions:

For the cabbage

Core cabbage and place head in gently boiling water. Using tongs, remove leaves gently as they become loose and start to give. Transfer to collander to drain.

For the filling

Cook rice according to package directions. In pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and green bell pepper to pan. Sautee until softened but do not brown. Transfer to bowl to cool.

In a separate bowl, add meat mixture. Add eggs, rice and cooled vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Gently combine but do not over work the meat. In a small heated pan, cook a small patty of the meat mixture and taste for seasoning. This step is very important as you will not be able to adjust the seasoning of the filling once it is stuffed in the cabbage.

Once you are satisfied with the seasoning, you are ready to assemble. First, spread a small amount of tomatoe soup in the bottom of a baking pan. Take a cabbage leaf and place a small handfull of the meat mixture at the base of the leaf. Roll like a fajita and place cabbage roll seam down in the pan. Repeat until you have rolled all of your meat mix.

Spread the remaining tomato soup evenly over the top of the cabbage rolls, followed by the ketchup. Add 2-3 strips of uncooked bacon over top of rolls (optional). Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake in on the middle rack of  a preheated 300 degree oven. Braise for 2 1/2-3 hours, basting the rolls with the sauce occasionally.

Remove from oven and allow cabbage rolls to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

*This recipe has been entered into Habeas Brulee’s food blogging event “A Recipe From The Crease Of My Right Eye”

Tags: veal, cabbage, tomatoes, Recipe, pork, beef by Ramona
3 Comments »

Hard Times Cafe is a casual and fun restaurant in Alexandria, VA and has over a dozen outposts throughout Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. It’s a chili parlor with other good food that’s bad for you, like burgers, ribs and wings. I first tried their chili 10 years ago when visiting  friends in Alexandria. They told me to boil some spaghetti while they went out to pick up the chili. What?

You see, I had never heard of chili mac. Chili mac, for the unitiated out there among you, is chile over spaghetti. Now, forget about what constitutes “real” chili, whether beans should be banned or visible vegetables are verboten. This ain’t about what kind of chili you like or is from your “neck of the woods”. It’s about taking that favorite chili and piling it on top of spaghetti. Topping such as cheese and diced onion are good too. Whatever you like, you put it on. For me, it’s shredded cheese, sour cream and chives. I can do without the chives really, but the cheese and sour cream are a must. In fact, when I made this last Sunday, we had to make a stop at our closest market just to pick up some sour cream. It’s essential in the Houndstooth household.

One of the best things about chili mac is the tasty mess that it turns into as all the ingredients get mixed. It actually improves as you eat it!

If you are in the area, do take a hand from the Hard Times Cafe chili mix by stopping in and buying some mix. Or, order it from their store. You’ll be glad you did! I go for the Cinncinati style mix which has slight heat and permeates the meat with cinnamon. Plus, it’s so damn easy to make. No chopping, no cutting. I just brown the meat, open a couple cans of beans and a can of tomato puree. Then, it can simmer on the stove and fill the house with wonderful smells.

There is a recipe on the back but of course I ignore it and make it my way (for one, it calls for boiling the meat. Uh,no). Here’s what I do:

Ingredients:

2 lb. ground beef (I use 80/20 mix)

2 cans beans, such as kidney or pinto

1 large can tomato  puree

1/2 cup water

1 box Hard Times Cafe chili mix

Directions:

Brown meat in heavy bottom pan. Drain grease if you want.  Pour chili mix over meat and add water. Stir to evenly coat. Add beans and tomato puree. Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, covered. Stir every 5 minutes. Serve over spaghetti and add your choice of toppings.

* Presto Pasta Night is a weekly blogging even held by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.

Tags: Hound Picks, Alexandria, Chili, Virginia, Restaurants, pasta, Recipe, beef by Ramona
6 Comments »

I’ve been making meatballs for like I don’t know…ever. When I was dating my husband Frank, he made for me and a few friends his grandmother’s meatballs. Come to think of it, I do believe that was the last time he cooked for me! Well, I was impressed and after we were married, we combined our cookbooks and loose recipes together. Handwritten on an index card was the meatball recipe, passed down from his grandmother to his mother and then to me.
Frank’s Italian grandmother took her cooking seriously. Her recipes were taught my my mother in law personally so her son would not miss her cooking. While not in person, I learned from her meatball recipe what makes the meatball turn out tender and savory. First, use fresh bread crumbs and milk/cream. No dried pre-made bread crumbs from a container. Next, use garlic salt. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about garlic salt whose flavor surpasses powdered garlic and salt. Perhaps it’s the blend whereby the ratio of garlic to salt is just perfect. All I know is that it works.
Here’s my recipe, inspired by grandmom, and made my own. They are tender, moist and delicious. Makes about 28 meatballs.
Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs ground beef, 80/20 lean to fat ratio
1 tbsp. each:
dried basil
dried onion flakes
dried marjoram
dried oregano
dried shallot flakes (optional)

pinch cinnamon
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (I used white bread with crusts, about 4-5 slices)
1/2 cups each:
half and half
milk
water

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs gently beaten
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place ground beef in large mixing bowl. Add herbs, cinnamon, bread crumbs, Parmesan, eggs, parsley, half and half, milk and water. Gently combine. Do not overwork meat. Add salt and pepper. Mix throughout meat.

Into a heated pan, cook a small patty of the meatball mixture to test for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Gently hand roll golf ball sized meatballs and place onto an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Treat surface with non-stick spray. Place meatballs at least one inch apart.

Place baking sheet( I used 2 half sheet pans)on racks set in the middle of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotates sheets upper rack to bottom rack and vice versa. Bake and additional 15 minutes. The meatballs should be golden brown.

Transfer meatballs into gently simmering marinara on stove top. Cover and continue to simmer on low for 30 minutes to an hour.

While meatballs are simmering, cook pasta according to directions. Drain pasta and portion into bowls. Top with meatballs, marinara, grated Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Mangia!

Tags: presto pasta night, tomatoes, Recipe, pasta, beef by Ramona
2 Comments »