Recipe Advent Calendar - Day 14 - Mexican Meat Mix and Chimichangas

Any missionary who has served in Mount Airy has been served Chimichangas at least once.  It's a favorite recipe of many of them and I've been asked for the recipe many times over the years.  The Mexican Meat Mix recipe came from the Make-a-Mix Cookbook, which sadly is no longer in print.  I don't put as much salt as they call for in their recipe, but otherwise it's mostly the same. Just know that amounts in this recipe are pretty fluid.  Sometimes I'll have 5 lbs of roasts, sometimes up to 7 lbs.  I just add things as needed to make it look and taste right.

Mexican Meat Mix
Makes about 9 cups of mix that can be used for Chimichangas, Enchiladas, Tacos or Burritos.  We even like it on salad.

5 lbs. beef roasts or a combination of beef and pork roasts, which is what I use.
3 Tbsp.vegetable shortening
3 onions, chopped
1 4-oz. can chopped green Ortega chilies
2 7-oz. jars mild salsa (the recipe really calls for green chili salsa, but I like the flavor of the mild red kind better)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (this varies, sometimes I add a lot, or a couple of cloves of minced garlic)
4 Tbsp flour
2 or 3 tsp salt (the recipe calls for 4 tsp, but that's too much)
1 tsp ground cumin
juice from the roasts

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Place roasts in a large roasting pan or Dutch oven.  Do not add salt or water.  Cover with a tight lid and roast about 12 hours, until well done.  You can also cook the meat in a pressure cooker with 1 cup water for 35-40 minutes, but it doesn't get the great flavors.  Drain meats, retaining the juice.  Cool meat, then remove bones and fat.  Shred meat and set aside.  Melt shortening in a large skillet (I just usually use corn oil), add onions and green chilies, and garlic if using fresh.  Sauté one minute.  Add salsa, garlic powder, flour, salt and cumin.  Cook one minute over medium low heat.  Stir in reserved meat juices and shredded meat.  Cook 5 minutes until thickened.  Cool.  Put about 3 cups of mix each into 3 1-qt. freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top.  Seal and label containers.  Freeze.  Use within 6 months.  I am usually making so many of these at one time that I don't have any mix to freeze.

Chimichangas
From the Make-a-Mix Cookbook
Makes 6 chimichangas

6 large flour tortillas
3 cups Mexican Meat Mix, thawed
Vegetable oil for frying
shredded lettuce
1 7 oz. jar of green chili salsa or mild red salsa
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup guacamole
1/2 pint sour cream

Warm the tortillas in a low oven for about 5 minutes (or microwave for about 30 seconds).  Heat the Mexican Meat Mix in a small saucepan or skillet if not using immediately after making.  Heat 1-inch deep oil in Dutch oven or deep skillet, deep fryers work well, too.  Lay a tortilla down and spread about 1/2 cup of meat mix down the center of the tortilla.  Fold up the bottom edge over the filling.  Do the same with the top edge.  Fold the left edge across the meat mix, then roll toward the other side and secure with a toothpick.  Fry in hot oil about 2 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.  Drain on paper towels.  Serve hot over shredded lettuce and top with salsa, tomatoes, guacamole and sour cream.

Recipe Advent Calendar - Day 12 and 13 - Cornish Pasties

Weird.  I didn't realize until just now that I'd never posted anything yesterday.  I'd given Bob my cookbook so he could make rolls for our Christmas party yesterday (and yes, that man can cook!) :) and never took it back, so it didn't even occur to me that I'd missed it.

So... I wanted to post something good for the weekend days.  Cornish Pasties are one of my favorite things from when we lived in England.  For those of you who have never been to England, these are not pronounced PASTRIES.  You say it like Fast, or Nasty, I suppose.  Pasty.  Not like made of paste, either.  That's a completely different thing!

Pasties are meat pies with a shortcrust pastry on the outside and they are filled with all kinds of yummy fillings and you hold them in your hand while you eat them.  My favorite is the actual Cornish type with potato, onion and steak, so that's what I'm posting here, but you can fill them with most anything savory.

Originally, pasties were from Cornwall in southern England.  The miners would take them for their lunches and they had a savory filling in one side and a sweet filling in the other side.  The edges were crimped with a rolled edge and since the miners had arsenic on their hands from the mine, they would hold this edge while they ate the pie, then they would throw out the edge for the ghosts (or knockers) that they believed were in the mines.

If you're lucky enough to live in parts of Arizona or in Las Vegas, Nevada, you can even go to the Cornish Pasty Company here in the states.  There are probably others, but that's the one I know about. Enjoy! (And watch out for the knockers! )

Cornish Pasties

Shortcrust pastry:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp solid shortening
3 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
1 cup (8 oz.) finely sliced potato (sometimes I cut it into small cubes but that's not traditional)
1 cup (8 oz.) finely sliced onion and/or turnip
1 cup (8 oz.) sliced or cubed beef steak or chuck roast
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten

Blend flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until the mixture is the size of small peas.  Gradually sprinkle water over the mixture, blending well with a fork.  Roll pastry into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill for one hour.  Roll out the pastry and divide it into two large or four small rounds.  Pile sliced veggies on one half of each pastry, but leave an open edge all the way around. Top with small pieces of beef.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place a few potato pieces on top of the beef to keep it from drying out.  Dampen the edges of the pastry with water and fold the open side over the side with the filling, to make a half-circle.  Crimp the edges of the pastry, like a pie crust, or even pressing down with a fork, although that's not the traditional way.  Make a small slit in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape and brush the tops and edges with beaten egg.  Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  Then reduce heat and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes more.

Recipe Advent Calendar - Day 11 - Beef Stroganoff

At one point or another, my three oldest sons have been living away from home and have called for the recipe for Beef Stroganoff.  I have always used the old, red Betty Crocker Cookbook recipe but (of course) with changes.  LOL  I didn't really realize how often I change recipes to suit myself until I started writing this!

So, this is my version of Beef Stroganoff via Betty Crocker.

Beef Stroganoff 
Serves 6, supposedly

1 1/2 lbs. beef for stew, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 Tbsp butter
1 clove of garlic, minced or equivalent from a jar or dried
1 1/2 cups beef broth or bouillon dissolved in water
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp salt
1 med. onion, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced, if desired
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup sour cream
3-4 cups hot, buttered egg noodles
1 Tbsp butter

Cut up the beef.  It's easiest to cut if it's partially frozen.  Heat dutch oven or large, deep skillet on medium heat and add 2 Tbsp butter.  Stir beef in butter until browned on all sides.  It works best if you cook a small amount at a time, then remove it from the pan, then add it all back in when it's all browned.  Reserve 1/3 cup of the bouillon.  Stir the remaining bouillon, ketchup, garlic and salt into the skillet.  Heat to boiling then reduce heat.  Cover and simmer until beef is tender, usually about an hour.

Stir in onions and mushrooms, if desired. Whisk 3 Tbsp flour into the reserved bouillon and gradually add it to the beef mixture.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute on reduced heat.  Stir in sour cream.  Heat through.

Cook noodles per package directions and drain. Toss with 1 Tbsp of butter.

Serve stroganoff over hot, buttered noodles.