Category: Main Course

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DAD’S PASTITSIO

This recipe was contributed by Maria Tsagrinos in honor of her father.

Maria Tsagrinos' Dad

Meat Sauce Ingredients

  • ½ stick butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 lg. yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 sticks cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp. oregano
  • salt
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 1 carton basil
  • 2 lbs. ground beef
  • 1 pkg. sage pork sausage
  • 1 lg. can (1lb.) tomato sauce
  • 2 reg. cans sliced, stewed tomatoes, Italian Style
  • ½ clove nutmeg, grated
  • 2-3 bay leaves

Preparation: Meat Sauce

  • Mix red wine and tomato paste in a small bowl or cup, set aside.
  • In large saucepan, heat oil/butter.
  • Add onions, sauté until translucent.
  • Add garlic, oregano, meat, and salt to taste. Brown the meat, slowly adding small portions of the **tomato paste/wine mixture throughout browning process.
  • **Add SLOWLY so as not to cool temperature of browning ingredients drastically.
  • Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chopped basil, bay leaves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Turn down heat, and let sauce simmer for one hour.

Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • ½ cup and 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 qt. whole milk, room temperature
  • 1 pinch fresh nutmeg
  • salt, pepper to taste
  • 1 cup grated parmesan

Bechamel Preparation:

  • In saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.
  • Add flour, whisk until smooth (about 2 minutes).
  • While stirring continuously, add milk **gradually until all gone.
  • Whisk well until smooth.
  • Simmer until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 10 mins.)
  • Remove from heat.
  • Stir in nutmeg, cheese, salt, and pepper.

Preparing Pastitsio

Additional Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. penne
  • 1 ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan or kefalotiri
  • 1 Pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg (optional)
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the pasta. Cook until slightly underdone, remove, drain, toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 350 F.
  • In an 11x15x3-inch baking pan, add 1/2 the pasta for the first layer and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Add the meat sauce evenly over the pasta, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Add the remaining pasta on top. Carefully pour the béchamel evenly over the top.
  • Bake at 350F (160C) for 30 minutes, then sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of grated cheese and nutmeg / cinnamon (optional) on top, and continue to bake for another 15 to 30 minutes until the sauce rises and turns golden brown.
  • Remove from oven, cool for 20 minutes. Cut, and serve.

 

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Apple Barbecue Sauce-Basted Smoked Chicken Recipe

Lashings of glossy, sticky, sweet apple barbecue sauce sets this smoked chicken apart.

Chef’s Note: This recipe will need to be started the day before serving. You will need a barbecue with a lid or a smoker for this recipe.
Servings: 4
Total: 24 hours

Ingredients – brine

  • 3 tablespoons cooking salt
  • 3 tablespoons garlic salt (I skipped this and used 5 fresh garlic cloves)

Ingredients – chicken, rub and sauce

  • 1 (1.4 kilogram) chicken, spatchcocked (I left mine whole and cooked it on a vertical stand)
  • 1 bag natural charcoal
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt (this is too much, 1 tsp. is plenty as the chicken has been brined. Salt-sensitive might leave it out of the rub completely)
  • 250 ml (1 cup) apple juice (substitute apple sauce otherwise WAY too runny and unuseful)
  • 250 ml (1 cup) barbecue sauce
  • 100 grams unsalted butter, melted (skipped completely, this is insane to add IMO)
  • 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs.) wood chips or chunks (apple wood, ironbark or hickory), soaked in water for 1 hour

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan, combine the cooking salt and garlic salt with 4 liters of water and bring to the boil. Dissolve the salts, then remove from heat and cool completely before adding the chicken to the brine. Refrigerate overnight.
  2. The next day, remove the chicken from the brine, pat dry and refrigerate, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours to dry the skin. (In my opinion this is unnecessary especially for a BBQ’d bird as the sauce wipes out all crispiness)
  3. Add some charcoal to the barbecue and light with firelighters – the coals will need to be red hot before adding any wood chips.
  4. Meanwhile, combine the paprika, pepper, and kosher salt in a small bowl. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and generously season with the paprika mix. Set aside for 30 minutes while the charcoal comes up to
    temperature.
  5. Whisk the apple juice, barbecue sauce, and melted butter in a bowl and set aside.
  6. Add a handful of wood chips to the hot coals. Place the chicken in the barbecue or smoker and cover with the lid. Keep adding charcoal and wood chips as needed – but don’t open the lid unnecessarily – to maintain the smoke and a temperature of about 155°C (311° Fahrenheit).
  7. Brush the apple barbecue sauce on the chicken after 1 hour, and again after 1-1/2 hours. By this stage, the chicken should be almost ready – if you have a probe thermometer, you’re looking for an internal temperature of 75°C (165° Fahrenheit).
  8. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the barbecue and brush one last time.
  9. Wrap the chicken in foil and rest for 30 minutes before serving.
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Tamale Pie

Tamale Pie
Tamale Pie

This is a recipe we grew up with as kids. Our Mom, Ann Barczay Sloan, used to cook this. I went ahead and made my own version but while she was living with me, before she passed away, I asked her for HER recollection of the recipe. I present both, you can try both, hers is probably faster. I think mine is pretty rockin’, too.

Mom’s Tamale Pie

  1. Chili – can or scratch
  2. Layer or two of corn tortillas in casserole
  3. Layer on chili
  4. Layer sharp cheddar
  5. Layer green onions
  6. Keep layering to top
  7. Add water to the last bit of chili so it is like a soup. This will soak the layers
  8. Top w cheese and sliced olives
  9. Bake covered at 350. Uncover last few minutes to crisp.

Sean’s Tamale Pie

Ingredients:

  1. One large yellow or brown onion diced
  2. 2 tbsp. Olive oil (or 1 ea. Olive oil and bacon grease)
  3. 1-½ lbs. Ground turkey
  4. 1 tbsp. Oregano
  5. 1 tsp. Cumin
  6. 4 tbsp. jarred red salsa, medium hot
  7. Black olives
  8. 2 cups 3-cheese shredded Mexican blend cheese
  9. 15 corn tortillas
  10. 1 can of enchilada sauce 19 oz. (example but in a bigger can size)

Cooking:

  • I like to brown the onions in pan, Salt and pepper to taste and then set them aside
  • Now brown turkey in the same pan with a little more olive oil as turkey can be very low fat and stick to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add back the onions and mix well to spread the flavors around
  • I like to grind the Mexican oregano (slightly stronger smelling and more like
  • whole flowers than standard oregano) between my palms and into the pan.
  • Sprinkle cumin on.
  • Add the salsa, not too much, its meant to be edible by kids and people who can’t handle spice
  • In your baking dish: start by pouring out a thin layer of the enchilada sauce then add a layer of tortillas followed by a layer of the spiced meat and onions mix followed by most of the cheese
  • Next layer starts with tortillas then enchilada sauce, spiced meat and onion mix then cheese
  • Final layer, the top most layer, is tortillas, the enchilada sauce then cheese then decorate with a freshly sliced olives placed around evenly. Sometimes it put a sprinkle of chili powder lightly across the top.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, remove from oven and let it cool/set up a bit before serving.
  • This dish is even better the next day as all the flavors have melded, the enchilada sauce has been incorporated into the tortillas and it reheats amazingly well in the microwave
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Transylvanian Goulash

Transylvanian Goulash
Transylvanian Goulash

This recipe was shared with me by my Mom, Ann Barczay Sloan.

Ingredients:

  • Bacon grease
  • 1 lg. yellow onion diced into 3/8″ cubes
  • 1 lg. green bell pepper, de-seeded, cleaned and diced
  • 1-1/2 lb. Pork shoulder cubed
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tsp. caraway seeds
  • 3 bay leaves
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Paprika (My Mom recommends Szeged brand, sweet, not hot.)
  • 2 cans sauerkraut, drained
  • 1/2 cup Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 350. Brown the pork in bacon grease, salt and pepper the meat then add in onions and bell peppers until onions are translucent. Add garlic and stir that until it is cooked. Add paprika to cover/color meat, its an eyeball thing. Truth be told its hard to add too much paprika. Add caraway seeds and bay leaves then add the sauerkraut. Bring to a low boil, cover it and cook for 5 minutes. Move to oven for 40 minutes. 10 minutes before the time is up stir in the sour cream. Serve with boiled potatoes.

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Hungarian Stuffed Peppers

The filling portion has actually been pulled OUT of the pepper here.
The filling portion has actually been pulled OUT of the pepper here.

My Mom, Ann Barczay Sloan, shared this recipe with me.

Ingredients:

  • 6 bell peppers (green, red, a mix, all OK)
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1-1/2 tsp. paprika
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 5 tblsp. cooked rice
  • 3 tblsp. tomato sauce added to meat
  • 1 can tomato sauce (minus the 3 tblsp. used above)
  • 2 tsp. sugar (for sauce)
  • 1 tsp. paprika (for sauce)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the ground beef, pepper, salt, paprika, garlic powder, cooked rice and 3 tblsp. of tomato sauce in a mixing bowl. Cut the tops off of the pepper and clean out seeds and extra veins of white material to maximize the available room for stuffing.

Stuff all of your peppers and place in a baking dish.

In a sauce pan on the stove pour remaining tomato sauce, sugar and paprika and heat until very hot/steaming and then ladle or pour over the peppers carefully so that they are uniformly covered/coated.

About 15 minutes into the 30 minutes cooking time you can open the oven and baste the peppers using the sauce (see photo below) that’s forming around them. Actually you could baste as many times as you’d like and they’ll probably be even more delicious. These are done when the peppers are soft but still hold together.

NOTES: this can be served with boiled potatoes, the sauce goes great with them.

hungarian-stuffed-peppers-basting

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Mediterranean Chicken

Mediterranean Chicken with pine nut cous cous
Mediterranean Chicken with pine nut cous cous

I struggled for a name for this dish and settled on this as the most accurate. It mixes European (Italian, Hungarian) and North African (Tunisian) flavors. It’s easy to make and really reheats well.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 10 Chicken thighs
  • One large yellow onion, diced
  • 2 bell peppers, one red, one green, deseeded and sliced longitudinally
  • 1 tbsp. freshly chopped garlic
  • 2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • one bottle Classico Roasted Garlic tomato sauce
  • 2 tbsp. harissa (I found mine at Trader Joe’s. Add more if you want it hotter)
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. I have a large ceramic coated metal roasting pan that’s shallow. On the stovetop I add the oil oil and then brown the chicken on a low flame because I want to get them nicely cooked before I put them in the oven. After you’ve flipped and browned the 2nd side of the chicken start adding the vegetables, you might boost the flame a little. I go onions, then bell peppers, then garlic, the raisins, then balsamic vinegar, then tomato sauce, then harissa. The mushrooms I stir in right before moving the dish to the oven for 20 – 25 minutes to finish it off.

I served mine with pine nut couscous but it would go great with linguini or other pasta.

Notes: you could easily add more garlic! Tastes even better the next day, reheats well in the microwave.

Mediterranean chicken up close in the pan after coming out of the oven.
Mediterranean chicken up close in the pan after coming out of the oven.

 

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Chipotle Lime Garlic roast chicken ala Mexicana

Chipotle Lime Garlic roast chicken ala Mexicana
Chipotle Lime Garlic roast chicken ala Mexicana

Quick ingredients list:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • Juice of 2 small limes
  • 2 tsp. powdered garlic
  • 2 tblsp. Chef Merito Steak and Meat Seasoning (image coming)
  • one whole chicken, washed in warm water and dried with paper towel
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, cut into small pieces
  • 2 tblsp. brown sugar

I like to fill the chicken with warm water and let it sit in there for 30 seconds and I do this twice while washing the chicken in order to try to warm it up to room temperature before cooking.

In a metal bowl I added the oil, Chef Merito Steak and Meat Seasoning, lime juice, garlic and cut up chipotles. This is the marinade that I coat it with.

So I hold the chicken upside down and pour in ALL of the marinade mix to the main body cavity while holding the neck cavity closed and swish it around the inside of the chicken to coat it. Then I pour it out into the bowl and coat the exterior of the chicken, on a vertical roaster, and paint it on with a brush for the first coat.

Cook for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, pull out and do the second coat of marinade, put back in for 15 more minutes but now at 375 degrees. Now take it out again (after the 15 minutes), add 2 tblsp. brown sugar and some of the drippings from the catch pan of the vertical roaster to what remains of the marinade and do the glazing stage for the final 15 minutes.

Next time I’m going to add Mexican oregano and ground cumin. My goal is to match (or surpass!?!) the chicken from El Toro Bravo here in Costa Mesa.

*Here’s another one of my attempts to match the fabulous chicken from El Toro Bravo.

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El Toro Bravo-style Roast Chicken

this is the chicken with the spice mix brushed on, on our vertical roaster the better to simulate the rotisserie at Toro Bravo

This is my experimental attempt to duplicate the recipe of my favorite Mexican-style roast chicken restaurant El Toro Bravo on 19th Street in Costa Mesa.

Latest ingredient list as of 2.3.13:

  • juice of one medium lemon, seeds removed
  • 2 tsp. ground garlic
  • 1 tsp. ground oregano
  • 2 tsp. pasilla chile powder
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 3 tsp. Chef Merito Sazonador para Carne
  • 1 tsp. salt

I brushed this on one large chicken and put it in at 350 degrees.

This is the spice paste/sauce that results from mixing all the ingredients.

Completed Chicken

My second attempt. Looking and tasting good. I feel like I need at minimum 3 attempts to get a recipe down.
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Daily Grill Turkey Meatloaf – made Healthy by Joy

Preheat Oven to 350° Loaf 1 hour, Mini Loafs 45 minutes 6 Servings

  • ½ cup onion, diced
  • ½ cup celery, diced
  • ½ cup carrots, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 lbs. lean ground turkey, lean ground beef, or ½ turkey & ½ buffalo
  • Organic turkey and beef are preferable, buffalo is always organic.
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup Ezekiel toasted bread crumbs, or Genesis
  • (or 1 cup spinach, chopped, steamed, & drained)
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato puree
  • 1 tsp. Celtic salt
  • ¼ tsp. black pepper, or to taste
  • 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp. (1 tsp.) paprika
  • ½ tsp. (2 tsp.) fennel seeds, ground
  • 1 Tbsp. (2 Tbsp.) Worcestershire sauce

Optional:

  • 2 Tbsp. toasted seseme seeds, ground
  • 2 Tbsp. flax Seeds, ground

In a coffee grinder, I grind: fennel seeds, seseme seeds, and flax seeds together.

In a large bowl mix vegetables with the meat, and bread crumbs. Add everything together: Best mixed together in blender: eggs, tomato puree, salt, pepper, mustard, paprika, fennel, (other seeds if adding),

Worcestershire sauce. I put on gloves and mix it by hand, much easier to get a good mixture than with a spoon.

Pack into an 8”-9” Loaf pan, or 3-4 mini loaf pans. Great for putting into freezer for future meals.

Serve with tomato sauce, or organic pasta sauce, heated.

6 servings, each contain about: 300 calories, or less, 10 gm. fat,12 gm. carbohydrate, 36 gm. protein, 2 gm. fiber.