Tag Archives: beef

Hooves Recipes

Tamale Pie

Published by:

Ever have a week that you wish you could start over? I desperately want to go back to last Monday morning, before I had to make the decision to start my mother on hospice care.

The 14 year battle with lung cancer is coming to its conclusion. It is not over yet, but there comes a time when even the bravest and strongest warriors must lay down their arms, and surrender.

I am going to do my best to keep up with posting here, but forgive me if the post is just a photograph or a previously posted recipe. Some of early posts were seen by about three people total, so hopefully they’ll be “new to you.”

This recipe is one of my mother’s favorite. I remember her making this tamale pie all the time when I was a kid. I would steal the black olives and stick them on my fingers, then eat them one by one. I’ve already shared that joy with my daughter, since your fingers don’t fit into the olives once you grow up.

This recipe for tamale pie is a little different than others, in that you do not make a cornbread batter to spread on top. You just sprinkle the cornmeal over the juicy, spiced meat, which then absorbs all that flavor.

Recipe: Tamale Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 cans (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with 1/2 can water
  • 1 cup black olives, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups corn meal, divided
  • 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Over medium high flame, heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
  3. Add the onion and red pepper to the pan, stirring occasionally, cook 3-5 minutes, until vegetables are softened.
  4. Add the garlic, cook about 1 minute, until fragrant.
  5. Add the ground beef, chili powder, salt, and cumin to the pan, stirring to mix well.
  6. Brown the beef, then add the tomatoes and half can of water, and the olives.
  7. Spoon about half the ground beef mixture into a large, deep casserole.
  8. Sprinkle half of the cornmeal evenly over the ground beef.
  9. Top the cornmeal with the remaining ground beef, then sprinkle the the remaining cornmeal over the top.
  10. Spread the cheese evenly over the entire top of the cornmeal.
  11. Bake the tamale pie for 45-50 minutes.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Cooking time: 45 minute(s)

Hooves Recipes

Slow Cooker Caribbean Oxtails

Published by:

caribbean oxtails-bowl

I love oxtails. Considering I seem to always be late to everything these days, loving the tail end of a cow makes perfect sense.

One of my earliest posts (complete with really bad photography) is a basic braised oxtail recipe.  It has also become one of my most popular posts, as a lot of people apparently have no idea how to make oxtails! My favorite oxtail recipe used to be Mexican Spiced Oxtails (also with really bad photography.) But there is a new kid on the block, and she’s a bad motha. . . shut yo mouth! (sorry, started channeling Isaac Hayes for a minute)

When I lived in Brooklyn I ate food from the Caribbean all the time. Seriously, I would cook all day in the test kitchen and the last thing I wanted to do was come home and cook! I would stop by my favorite Jamaican, Trinidadian or Guyanese joints for roti, brown stew chicken, curried goat, beef patties and other tasty treats.

In an attempt to recreate the flavors of my Brooklyn neighborhood, I made these Caribbean style oxtails. I cannot say this is an authentic recipe just like they make on the islands, but it is good!

I used a dried crushed habanero, which added a good amount of spice to the oxtails. You can use fresh scotch bonnet peppers, fresh habanero peppers, or a dried variation of either. You can also use crushed red pepper flakes, but you will need to add more than 1/4 teaspoon to get the same amount of fruity heat.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Caribbean Oxtails

Summary: Slow cooked Caribbean spiced oxtails become fall off of the bone tender and succulent.

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch scallions, chopped
  • 6 large cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed habanero pepper
  • 4 pounds oxtails
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 6 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 cups chicken broth or water

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, mix the scallions, garlic, ginger, allspice, salt and habanero pepper together.
  2. Rub the spice mix all over the oxtails, marinate for at least one hour to overnight.
  3. Place the sliced onion on the bottom of the slow cooker.
  4. Place the thyme sprigs on top, then the oxtails.
  5. Pour the broth over the oxtails, cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
  6. When the oxtails are cooked, remove them from the slow cooker.
  7. Remove the thyme stems from the liquid.
  8. With a blender or food processor, carefully puree the sauce, then return it to the slow cooker, or pour it into a serving dish.
  9. Return the oxtails to the sauce.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 6 hour(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

 

 

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

Hooves Recipes

Spicy Slow Cooker Short Rib Tacos

Published by:

 

I love tacos.  Not the “Americanized” version with the hard shell, lettuce and cheese. I like a 4 inch corn tortilla filled only with some sort of succulent meat. Usually you’ll find optional condiments like onions, cilantro and salsa to put on top. That is the kind of taco you used to get only from a taco truck or authentic Mexican joint. Notice I said joint, not restaurant? Just like I only eat BBQ from a BBQ joint, not a restaurant. Restaurants will try to fancy things up, while a joint will bring them back down to bare-boned goodness.

I do confess my first tacos while growing up were ground beef seasoned with a packet of Lawry’s taco seasoning. Mom would then soften some corn tortillas by frying them in oil. In went the meat, then on went the shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce and maybe some chopped tomato. Not quite authentic, but they were good! As I got older, we would make late night taco truck runs after a night out on the town. The trucks would have their designated spot to park, and all the bar and nightclub patrons would wander up at 2 AM to balance the amount of alcohol in their bellies with some tacos. Some trucks offered such exotic (to me) fare such as brains and tripe! No matter how drunk hungry I was . . . I stuck with carnitas, carne asada and chicken.

Tortillas lend themselves to being filled with all sorts of meats, seafood and vegetables. In Mexico, what state you are from will often determine what you put in your tortillas. A while back I had braised some short ribs, and made tacos with some of the leftovers. As I was eating them I thought they would be a great item for the blog. But, of course we ate them all up before I could get a picture! That turned out to be OK, because this made me develop a spice mixture to marinate the ribs in, which made these tacos even better than the first batch. And I still had to protect the meat from my family, so I could take a picture! Oh all right, I had to protect the meat from ME, because I kept nibbling on the tacos while I was trying to take my pictures!

 


print recipe

Spicy Slow Cooker Short Rib Tacos
by Cheryl D Lee February-28-2012
Succulent, spicy beef short ribs cooked slowly until the meat melts in your mouth, tucked into a soft corn tortilla. What’s not to love?
Ingredients
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground oregano, preferably Mexican
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
  • 2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
  • 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 inch corn tortillas
  • fresh cilantro leaves
  • diced sweet onion
Instructions

In a small bowl mix all the spices together. Rub the spice mixture into the sort ribs, being sure to cover every surface. Let the ribs marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Place the sliced onions in a layer on the bottom of the slow cooker. Put the short ribs on to of the onions.

Cover and set your slow cooker to low. Cook the short ribs for 8 hours, or until tender and falling apart.

With two forks, shred the meat in the slow cook. Stir the shredded meat together with the meat juices and onions.

Over a gas burner on the stove, soften the tortillas just until the begin to puff slightly. Fill each tortilla with some meat. Top with a sprinkle of onion and some cilantro leaves.

 

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 8 hour Total time: 8 hour 15 mins Yield: 3 – 4 cups shredded meat

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

Related Posts with Thumbnails