The Ultimate Stacked Southwest Spicy n’ Sweet Burger

This is our favorite “at home” burger. Actually it’s our favorite burger period! What makes it “Ultimate” and “Stacked”? The outstanding components that go together to make up this burger are each a taste treat in themselves, but put them together and you get a burger the likes of which you’ve never experienced before!

Italian Beef Sandwich - Chicago Style

There are things that people do when they travel. You can call them traditions or habits or even superstitions. We’ve all seen photographs of the Pope, kissing the tarmac upon descending from an airplane. For me, it’s about food. (I know, who’da figured?)

Garlicky Garlic Meatloaf

Meatloaves are simple to make, quick to assemble, unpretentious to serve and everyone loves them! The simplicity comes from the choice of ingredients – just about anything you would serve with a meatloaf can go inside a meatloaf or you can keep it modest and let the flavor come from herbs and spices or simply your choice of meats.

Roman Roll

This is a perfect casual main course to serve friends on a cold winter night. The aromas coming from your kitchen will have your guests anticipating great things and when you sit down to eat they will not be disappointed! Make sure your guests are all good friends – there’s a lot of garlic in this dish!

Beef and Bean Enchurritos

Mexican influenced cuisine was never part of our family fare when I was growing up in suburban Chicago. The first time we experienced anything close was during a vacation trip to Los Angeles in the very early 1960’s when my older brother begged my parents to try something he had heard about called a Taco. The fact is that most of what is referred to, here in the U.S., as Mexican food is actually only a bunch of really distant cousins to the cuisine of our southern neighbors. (This is not all that different from our westernized versions of any other culture’s foods!)

Braised Swiss Steak

This one should definitely be filed under Comfort Food.

Remember mom’s Swiss Steak? I’m sure it was fabulous, and hopefully my flavor packed version will trigger some good memories and become a new favorite! For those of you who have only experienced Swiss Steak as the main course in a TV Dinner - trust me, this will be nothing like that.

Creamed Sweet Onion and Bacon with Sautéed Calves Liver

I figured you might actually read this post if I left the Liver off until the end of the recipe title. Did it work?  Is anybody there? The only reason I can imagine that so many people dislike Liver must be that they never had it properly cooked. Come on, something routinely served with bacon and sautéed onions can only be bad if it’s just not cooked right. After all people, it’s bacon!

Little Burros Burritos

Burrito means little donkey or burro. One suggestion for the origin of the name involves the similarity in appearance of a burrito, sealed only at one end, and a burro’s ear. (I know, really appetizing, huh?) Another implies the comparable look between a completely sealed burrito and the pack the animal carries.

Sort of Mom’s Sunday Pot Roast

“Stringy Meat” - what a non-appetizing sounding dish! But that’s the name by which we knew Pot Roast at our house and it did mean delicious to us. But then we grew up eating things like “Trees” (Broccoli); “Pop Corn Soup” (Corn Chowder); and “Monkey” (Welsh Rarebit).

Broasted Corned Beef Brisket

Nice and easy. Low and slow. This is how I always suggest cooking less tender cuts of meat. We do this because time is the only ingredient that will break down the connective tissue and let the meat realize its delicious destiny.

Meatballs from Heaven

Wouldn’t it be great if each time it rained, it rained meatballs from Heaven?  I know the song lyrics say “pennies”, but pennies would hurt!  These meatballs are soft puffs of melt in your mouth goodness. Way better than pennies!

Chili con dos Carnes

 Everyone has a favorite Chili recipe. Some like it savory, some sweet; with or without beans; red, white or brown and varying degrees of heat from mild to “I will never be able to taste again!” There are also those truly fearsome Chili aficionados with their set of rules that govern what is or is not real chili. Good for them, everyone needs a cause to fight for!

Mom’s Meatloaf (was never like this!)

It’s the rare American who is not passionate, in one way or another, about meatloaf. The pro-meatloaf contingency may speak fondly of meatloaf “every night when we were first starting out”, or stuffed with this or that or smothered in this or that or “the best part is the sandwiches”. Conversely, the anti-meatloaf camp will probably drone on about meatloaf “every night when we were first starting out”, or stuffed with this or that or smothered in this or that or “the best part is the sandwiches”. While the reasons to either love or hate the lowly loaf are many, and so very similar, I believe that most haters have just been exposed to too many bad attempts.

Beef Wellington with Cumberland Sauce

My introduction to Beef Wellington came from a friend in Chicago with whom I had the pleasure to cook and cater some wonderful dinners, all the while studying Psychology. While I did not become a Psychologist, I am still cooking.

Nancy had convinced her friend Chef Louis to give her his prized Beef Wellington recipe by trading some or her own creations and then allowing me to assist in its preparation. I never did see the actual recipe – at the Chef’s insistence! Talk about a closely guarded secret!

Carbonada Criolla

Translated literally, Carbonada Criolla is Creole Carbonada... not much help, eh?  Well, let’s see what we can figure out here, and if I’m way off base, I welcome your assistance. Since this dish hails from Argentina, this usage of “Creole” probably refers to people born in the colonies with predominately unmixed Spanish descent.  Carbonada is most likely in reference to cooking over a wood fire to char the meat, signaling to us that there’s a substantial flavor treat ahead. So the first generation Spanish Colonial residents of Argentina made a popular dish that centered around nicely browned meat. I think we should thank them!

Beef Stew with Roasted Root Vegetables

Beef Stew is one of the most loved comfort foods, especially during the cold winter months ahead of us. Nothing satisfies a hearty appetite like a steaming bowl of savory beef stew accompanied by slices of crusty buttered bread.