New World Skillet (Cheap Eats)

Around the beginning of the recession, our grocery store started featuring $15 dinner specials. Buy these 4 items totaling under $15 and you have dinner for four. Of course like any cheapskate worth the label, I scoff at that. I can make dinner for four for $5 without breaking a sweat! (leaves more in the checking account for splurging on the $50 dinners.)

The following dish is improvised, mostly pantry-based, and cheap as heck if the squash is on sale. It’s also fast and simple to throw together after work. I called it New World Skillet because most of the ingredients (corn, squash, tomatoes) are native to the Americas. An interesting name encourages kids to give it a try (or at least provides some dinner conversation). We served over rice, but it could also be a burrito or enchilada filling. Actually, I had the leftovers for breakfast and that was pretty yummy too.

New World Skillet

1 tsp. vegetable oil

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into about ½ inch dice

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (if you don’t rinse, everything turns gray, ick.)

28-oz can diced tomatoes

Chili powder, about 1 tsp or to taste

Oregano, about ½ tsp

Cumin, about ½ tsp or to taste

Tabasco sauce or similar, to taste (2 shakes is good for my kids.)

(optional) red pepper flakes, for adult diners, about ¼ tsp.

Salt and pepper

Heat oil in large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium or med-low heat. Add squash and sauté about 3-4 minutes. Add onion, chili powder, oregano, cumin and oregano. Cook a couple of minutes more and add garlic. Continue to cook until squash is soft. Add corn, reserving the liquid to add moisture to skillet if needed, beans, and tomatoes. Add optional red pepper flakes. Cover and cook about 10 minutes until flavors are blended. Taste and add Tabasco, salt and pepper. Cook another few minutes to blend flavors.

Serve over rice or with corn tortillas. Kids may want to add sour cream.

Serves 4.

The Ralph Sisters’ Fabulous Sausage Bread

The shout-out

Earlier this month our after-school care staff from Hephzibah hosted their fall potluck. It’s a great chance to get to meet some of the parents of the kids our kids see after school, to share wonderful food, and for the kids to use their craft time making the mini-gym look wonderful with handmade decorations, banners, and table covers. I love our Hephzibah staff – Melissa and Linda know my boys as well as any other adult in their lives after 6 years. We are so lucky to have all of these creative and energetic women and men in our kids’ lives.

The main event

I usually bring a vegetarian entrée or dessert. But this year we wanted to dazzle the crowd with one of the best potluck dishes I’ve ever had, my friend Lynn’s Sausage Bread. It’s addictively delicious, and predictably the two loaves we brought vanished with only bread-y scraps left behind. Tom volunteered to bake when my work schedule got hectic. My husband is the best.

Lynn gave me the recipe years ago, and I came across my slightly-battered printed copy recently. It’s called the Ralph Sisters' Sausage Bread and I haven’t asked her about these mysterious relatives because I like to imagine them as slightly-eccentric, slightly-whimsical ladies of a certain age who like a good time and never count calories.

Marginalia

I reproduce the recipe below as I received it, with Lynn’s notes (in blue.) An online friend who sadly died a few years ago, Maria G., added her own notes (in green). Tom's/my notes are in red. I love the way each cook brings their own thoughts and twists to a recipe. I have recipes with my grandmother or my great-aunt Verna’s or my mother-in-laws extra notes on them, and I notice as I flip through some of my cookbooks that I’m adding my own food marginalia that some day my kids may read. (Halve that waffle recipe. Add extra water to the dahl.)

The star of the show

With Lynn’s permission, the best (meat-containing category) appetizer/snack for buffet or potluck. You won’t have leftovers (but please don’t calculate the calories!)

The Ralph Sisters' Fabulous Sausage Bread 

Mix the following together in a HUGE bowl--add enough eggs to make the mix hold together:

2-1/2 lb Italian sausage, cooked thoroughly and chopped (Lynn - I put it through the food processor for a few pulses--also, portion note: I've made this with 3/4 to 1/2 this amount, with good results--you might want to play with it.) Tom yes, definitely reduce the sausage amount.
3-4 eggs
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 lb shredded mozzarella (Lynn - see note above about sausage portion--you can easily make this with less cheese)
handful of parsley, chopped fine 

Make according to package directions, then split in half to rise in greased bowls: One package of bread mix

(Lynn: Note: the original recipe calls for Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix, which IMO is difficult to find in stores and makes a flatter loaf, but the Ralph sisters swear by it. I prefer a white bread mix originally made for bread machine, but made according to the "conventional oven" instructions on the side of the box. Again, you can experiment with this, either using your favorite bread recipe, some exotic box mix, or even premade bread dough from the grocer's case.) 

Tom – we used bread dough/pizza dough rounds from Tony’s Super Store, for local readers (you can also buy them at Turano bakery or Trader Joe’s.)

After dough has risen, roll each ball out in a large rectangle (about the size and shape of your average cutting board), taking care not to roll it out so thin the dough gets holes in it.

Then cover each rectangle (leaving about 1/4-inch or less margin not covered) with 1/2 sausage mixture.

Roll the sausage covered dough, starting at the short end of the rectangle like a jelly roll, and seal ends by moistening them, pinching them together and folding them under, then cover LOOSELY with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes; Allow to bake unwrapped an additional 15 minutes, or until a nice golden brown. Slice and serve!

Tom - Good with dijon mustard!



Maria - I used Williams-Sonoma Parmesan and Tomato Basil bread mix. In making the sausage, I seasoned it with much finely diced onion, pressed garlic, aniseed, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper (to taste.) 

Chili Night (Big Molar-style Texas Chili)

It was a dark and windy October night, perfect for chili, when we gathered for the long-awaited chili cookoff. 

Mmm, Steam-ay

The moment of truth for the tales of neighborly chili prowess had arrived.

L and T made a mouth-watering white chicken chili

J and W made a Spanish-seasoned chili with hamburger and fresh garden peppers. Can chili taste like a garden? Yeah, MMM.

Apologies for lame photography - we were eager to get to the eating portion of the evening

Tom made his Texas Big Molar style beef chili and Big Molar-inspired beans. 

They were all fantastic. I hope to bring the other recipes for future posts, but here’s our chili contribution. This is a great combination chili if you have a vegetarian to serve – the meat-eaters can mix the beans and meat. Our kids just have the beans over rice. 

Big Molar – style Beef Chili

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

2 pounds chuck roast, cut into smallish pieces

1 (14-ounce) can beef broth

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon granulated onion

5 tablespoons chili powder, divided

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic (or 3 cloves fresh minced)

Salt to taste

Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned; drain fat (save for beans if desired.) Transfer the meat to a 5-quart stockpot or dutch oven. Cover with 1 inch or so of water. Heat to a boil and cook 30 minutes.

Add broth and tomato sauce, cook over medium-high heat until thickened, about 30 min. Stir in seasonings except garlic and salt. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook 30 min. Add garlic and salt and cook 30 minutes more.

Big Molar Inspired Beans

2 tablespoons olive oil or rendered fat from the beef, above

1 medium chopped onion

1 chopped bell pepper

1 can mild or hot green chiles

Tsp. paprika

2 tsp. granulated onion

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 tsp black pepper

4 cloves minced garlic

2 cans red kidney beans, drained (or equivalent dried beans that have been soaked and cooked)

8 oz can tomato sauce

Heat cast iron skillet over low heat. Add oil or rendered beef fat, about 2 Tablespoons. Add chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft. Add green chiles. Add spices except for the garlic. Cook for a few minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Add minced garlic and red kidney beans, tomato sauce, and about ½ cup water or vegetable broth. Cook over low heat, covered, for about an hour.

Tonight we’re gathering again for soup and bread night. We’re cooking borscht and peach cobbler as I type. Mmm. Hate the shorter days of fall, but I do love the food. (recipes later! Off to the oven)