Urban Suburban Mommy

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S’mores

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Summer fun in our family includes camping. I know I usually post about staycations and 4 star hotels, but I know my way around a campsite. And what would camping be without a campfire and some S’mores.

smores

Mmmmmmmm

But you want to know a secret? You don’t need to have a campfire to make s’mores.

What you need:

– 10 Marshmallows
– 20 graham crackers
– 2 bars of milk chocolate

What you do (the easy version):

Melt a marshmallow. You can do this on a poker stick over a campfire or over a stovetop burner. (You can even cheat like crazy and just microwave to melt it, 20-30 seconds should do the trick.)

Put melty molten marshmallow on a graham cracker. Put 1 or 2 squares of chocolate onto the hot marshmallow so it melts.

Place a second graham cracker on top to make a sandwich. Let it cool for a second so you don’t scald the inside of your mouth.

Tell me that’s not what camping tastes like!

What you do (The authentic version):

Sandwich 2 pieces of chocolate and one marshmallow between two graham crackers. Wrap like a packet in tinfoil, making sure the edges are sealed well. Place packet into the campfire – not on the fire, but near enough to cook it through. Give it about 1.5 to 2 minutes there. Check on contents. They should be melted and gooey. If not, replace in the campfire and gauge how much additional time you’ll need. If you’ve got a good set of tongs or fire utensils you can try holding the packet over the fire to grill it. But that trick takes skill.

The cooked graham crackers have a different texture and flavour. This is definitely for the purist. If you want to get a bit creative, you can try adding bits of fruit – bananas and strawberries work well. You can add in nuts – peanuts or almonds. You can add in some caramel, use different kinds of chocolate bars, add trail mix or anything else you want that you think would taste good covered in chocolate and wrapped in warm marshmallow.

 

The Best Mommy Martini – Yesterday Once More

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So last week, Elisa and I had a fantastic Mommies’ Night Out.  We had the pleasure of trying Chef Vittorio Colacitti’s  (Top Chef Canada Finalist – Food Network) restaurant The Good Son.  I honestly died and went to heaven.  The food is unbelievable and the drinks are just as superb. The room is amazing. Read more about our MNO outing this week.

The Good Son - drinks

I delighted in a martini called Yesterday Once More and in all honesty – I keep wishing it was yesterday over and over again. This is the ultimate, delicious and refreshing martini. It is one of the best mixed drinks I have ever had (and yes I have sampled a lot in my day). I highly recommend a night out at the Good Son and you must try this drink.  But, if you can’t make it to Toronto – here’s the recipe for you adventurous mixologists at home.

What you need:

– 1.5 oz. Tromba Blanco (now that’s a smooth tequila)
– 0.5 oz. Aperol
– 0.5 oz Lemon Juice
– 0.25 oz Simple Syrup
– 0.75 oz Watermelon Juice
– 5 Basil Leaves

What you do:

Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin. Shake with ice and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Drink.

Repeat.

The result:

Very happy and relaxed mommy.  Here’s to yesterday.

Urban Mommy Elisa adds: Cheers to that!

martini

 

Chef Vittorio Colacitti of The Good Son

Chef Vittorio Colacitti of The Good Son

The Good Son is in Toronto at 1096 Queen St. W. 
Upstairs you’ll find a great little night spot – Wayward
If Hamilton’s your local, you’ll want to check out Colacitti’s newest spot, Born and Raised.
twitter @thegoodson_TO

facebook icon The Good Son Toronto

instagram The Good Son_TO

Cocoa snack balls

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

My friend Ali, the beauty and the brains behind those sensation Au Naturel Artisan beauty and edible products (goingaunaturel.com) showed me this one. Rather, she got my husband hooked on these little pretty-good-for-you treats and I can’t make them fast enough to keep up!

There’s no set recipe, it’s kind of nice that way, you just need to follow the technique and include anything you’ve got a craving for or have on hand. You can make them into balls or bars. You can eat them while they’re still warm or you can wait for them to cool – sometimes it’s hard to wait! Once you try these you’ll see how easy and quick these are and you’ll be making your own versions all the time.

What you need:

– 1/2 cup coconut oil
– 1/4 cup agave or 4 tablespoons maple syrup
– dash of vanilla
– 1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder

These are approximate, I like to toss the ingredients from the container right into the sweetened coconut oil mixture:
– 1/2 cup steel cut quick oats
– 1/2 cup chia seeds
– 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (shelled)
– 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (shelled)
– 1/4 cup raw almonds, slivered or crushed
– 2 pinches sea salt

You can add any seeds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans (crush nuts before adding), shaved coconut – even popcorn if you want. You can pack them with protein and make energy bars. You can make them with dried blueberries, goji berries and other superfoods for a power packed pick-up. You can really play with the flavours once you see how the sweetened coconut oil binds the ingredients together.

What you do:

On medium-low melt the coconut oil and then stir in the agave or maple syrup. Stir in the vanilla and cocoa.

Remove the pot from the heat and start tossing in pinches and small handfuls of ingredients. The oats make the balls bigger, helping the nuts and seeds to bind. You can keep adding ingredients until the mixture is thick and starts binding together. If it gets too dry, just return to heat and add a bit more coconut oil to melt – just very briefly. Keep tasting along the way. You can add a dash more sweet or more cocoa – bump up any flavour that you like.

When the mixture is nice and thick and starting to clump, you can either pour out onto a piece of wax paper on a tray or roll into balls and place on a tray.

Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Put the tray in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to set.

You can eat this warm or cold. You can leave them in the freezer and the cocoa flavoured and sweetened coconut oil is chilled and hard – it’s kind of perfect for the summer heat!

Plain as a potato salad

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Nothing brings back childhood memories of summer family picnics like a good ol’ bowl of potato salad. It’s not one of those dishes that gets made too often during the fall, winter and spring (unless prego cravings!) but come summer, it’s on everyone’s menu.

I’m lucky because my sister-in-law makes the best potato salad. In. The. World.

Seriously. I don’t know how she does it, but there’s no better. She’s got all of the big family barbecues and picnics covered. My husband makes a mean potato salad too, though I’m not super crazy about the celery in his.

Me, I like mine on the plain side. I don’t like eggs so I prefer when the potato salad isn’t eggy or have hard-boiled eggs creamed in there.

(Really, who does that?!?!?!)

Because I’m fussy that way, my potato salad ends up being a big hit with kids and vegans. It’s yummy, but plain. I’m always hearing “You should add…” followed with suggestions from fennel to smoked trout.

But it will never happen.

I think this plain as a potato salad will be a hit with the whole family, feel free to make it a bit more funky with your own tasty twist!

What you need:

-6 or 7 big potatoes
-2 cups Miracle Whip (or mayo)
-1/3 cup onion, very finely diced
-2 tablespoons vinegar
-pinch of sugar
-1.5 tablespoons mustard
– tablespoon salt
-pepper to taste

What you do:

Boil potatoes in salt water until soft. Drain and cool. Peel potatoes if you prefer skinless potato salad, I like to leave the skins on sometimes. Cube potatoes and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients and whisk together. You can taste it at this point and see if you want to add anything. Vinegar for more sour, or more sugar for sweet. Salt and pepper to taste.

Variations:

You can add a little bit of Dijon mustard, fennel, bacon bits, sweet relish, or even turmeric – which will give it a brilliant golden colour. You can add sliced radish, celery, beets or even corn. If you’re an egg fan or you really want to sneak the protein in, mash 3 hardboiled eggs and add into the mix.

Toss this dressing over the potatoes and coat well. This recipe is so forgiving, if you want to add more Miracle Whip/mayo it will be more creamy – or halve it to keep it dry.

Garnish it with a little sprinkle of paprika, some sliced green onions or a few sprigs of parsley.

Side dish. Easy, fast and full of summer.

 

Popsicles = Summer

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Popsicles are the best summer treat. Bright colours, sweet flavours, they’re the perfect cool-down for a kiddo on the go that doesn’t want to stop playing. And hey, they’re on a stick!

I have a few favourite recipes, but the great thing about popsicles is, as long as you have a mould, you can basically make any flavour you want. Of course, the standard orange, grape or lemon are always a hit, but you can get creative.

Pudding pops: Did you know you can freeze jello and pudding? Just prep it the way the package recommends and just freeze it in the moulds instead of in a bowl in the fridge.

Getting fancy: This takes some time because each layer has to freeze, but if you prep several juices, you can pour in a layer, let it freeze, pour in the next colour, let it freeze – and so on, and so on, until you’ve built up layers of colourful stripes. Or, if you tip the mould on a bit of an angle and fill it half way, you can let it freeze, straighten it up and fill the other half for a funky two-tone effect.

Fruit pops: Add a little bit of diced fruit to your pops. For thicker mixtures you can blend in the fruit, for thin liquids you may want to fill half, let freeze, add some fruit and top off with juice so that the fruit is suspended in the middle.

The basics: Any juice will freeze. You can make fresh squeezed or buy pre-made juices. Just fill the moulds and freeze. Milk will freeze – you can add some instant coffee and some sugar for a sweet adult treat, or some powdered chocolate for a chocolate popsicle.

My kids are crazy fans of piña coladas, and love this one the best:

What you need:

– 1 can of coconut milk or coconut cream
– 1 cup of pineapple, diced
– 1/2 cup pineapple juice (or 1/4 cup syrup if you’re using canned pineapples)
– 2-3 tablespoons white sugar (omit if using syrup from canned pineapples)
– tiny chunks of coconut, optional

What you do:

In a blender or food processor, whip together liquids and sugar for 1 minute. Then add fruit. Pulse blend 4 or 5 times. Pour mixture into moulds. Freeze and serve.

(The adult version of this can be made by adding 2 to 3 ounces of rum to the mixture!)

popsicle in cupcake linerPopsicle hack!!!

If you hate watching popsicles drip down your child’s arm, add a cupcake liner to the bottom of the popsicle to catch the drips!

Suggestions:

Cinnamon apple: 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 4 cups of apple juice

Raspberry dream: 3 cups fresh raspberries, blended for 30 seconds, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 4 cups milk or light cream

Keylime pie: Keylime pie pudding prepared as directed on package

Mango tango: 4 cups mango juice blended with 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 talbespoons white sugar + mango chunks

And try out these moulds:

Hamburger Hamburger Hamburger

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

 

Elisa Burger

Lately, it seems it’s not good enough to have a good ‘ole charbroil going on, it’s a world of burger boutiques where garlic aiolis battle it out with caprese relishes and cilantro-infused mayos. Where emu, elk, lamb and bison burgers big-up the oldschool beef burger. My family loves a good burger, we’re connoisseurs, really, and love checking out the big new burger joints. So when my brother started taunting my husband that he’d found the Best Burger Ever, this was nothing to be taken lightly. My brother insisted we didn’t know from burgers until we’d tried The Burger Barn.

This past weekend we made our way out to Port Dover – a beachfront community on the shore of Lake Erie in Norfolk County, about 2 hours west of Toronto. We like long drives and beaches, so combining this with the quest for the Best Burger Ever seemed like a no-brainer.

the burger barn

The Burger Barn, 3000 4th Line in Ohsweken has the Best Burger Ever

My brother was right. We found the Best Burger Ever. Located on 4th Line, just off of Highway 6 in Ohsweken, there is, in fact, a building that looks like a big barn, and it is, in fact, The Burger Barn, and they do, in fact, have the Best Burger Ever. We ordered a few variations – one with brie, mushrooms, bacon and caramelized onions; one with dusted jalapeños, barbecue sauce and Monterey Jack, one with cheese, and one with nuthin’ but the bun – our 8 year old is a purist. The onion rings and the fries are spectacular sides. The bun – that bun… It is standout! Definitely worth the drive.

While we can’t make regular trips to The Burger Barn, the fact is, I make a mean burger. I really do. I may not have all of the crazy toppings, but it holds its own among boutique burgers. We barbecue everything – and we barbecue all year long – and this one’s a staple. Feel free to get fancy with the toppings!

What you need:

-2-3 pounds lean ground beef (regular is more tasty, extra-lean is a bit dry)
– 2 tablespoons salt
– 2 to 3 tablespoons garlic powder
– 2 teaspoons paprika
– 1 egg
– cracked pepper to taste
– burger buns

What you do:

Pre-heat the barbecue. In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients. Get in there with your hands and really mush that meat up. Take your mix out to the barbecue and form round patties, about a half-inch thick and about an inch wider than your buns. The actual size doesn’t matter, but it’s always nice to eat a burger that doesn’t get lost inside a big bun. Patties will shrink down a bit during cooking.

Start grilling. At the 4-minute mark give them a quarter turn. After 4 more minutes, flip and repeat. Those grill marks make you look pro, but the turn helps for even cooking. For bigger burgers you may want to go 10 minutes a side, for smaller burgers it will be 5 minutes a side. You don’t want to undercook ground beef, but you’ll have to tweak the recipe if you prefer your burgers medium or well-done.

Now for the toppings:

TexMex: Guacamole, salsa, cheese and jalapeños
French: Brie and dijon
Banquet: Bacon and cheddar
The Philly: A mix of sauteed mushrooms, onions and green peppers, smothered in cheese
The All-Canadian: Peameal bacon, cheddar and maple-glazed barbecue sauce
The Hellfire: Jalapeño havarti, tabasco mayo, hot peppers and peppercorn crusted bacon

Share your creations with us!

 

Cheesy manicotti

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Not just a great stylist, this talented mama knows her way around the salon – and the kitchen! While we LOVE LOVE LOVE the great hair advice we usually receive from Erica Wearing, and we’re looking forward to a post on taming the frizzies later this week (my big mess of curls is currently begging for help as they boost out of all control!!) she’s kindly shared her Magnificent Manicotti recipe – it’s cheesy, in a good way – and you won’t be disappointed!!Add something tasty to your family’s Italian dinner tonight! Serve baked manicotti shells placed on beef mixture sprinkled with cheese.

erica unbaked manicotti with cheese

What you need:

– 14 uncooked manicotti shells (or oven-ready if you prefer)
– 1lb lean ground beef
– 1 large onion, chopped
– 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
– 1 jar (26 to 30 oz) tomato pasta sauce (choose your favorite – or make your own)
– 2 boxes (9 oz each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
– 2 cups small curd cottage cheese
– 12 mushrooms (or an 8 oz can, drained, if you prefer)
– 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
– 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
– 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Topping:
– 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
– 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

What you do:

First you need to cook the manicotti as directed on package, and drain. Use the minimum cooking time, this will help to prevent the shells from tearing while filling. I used the oven-ready shells and just skipped this step – it’s up to you!

Erica unbaked manicotti

To prepare the beef:
In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic over medium heat, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. Drain off and stir in pasta sauce.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with nonstick – or grease and flour to prep the dish.

To prepare the manicotti shell filling:
Squeeze thawed spinach to drain excess moisture. Spread it out on paper towel, pat dry. Mix spinach, cottage cheese, mushrooms, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and pepper in a mixing bowl.

Putting it all together:
Use one cup of the beef to line the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Fill manicotti shells with spinach mixture. Place the shells on top of the beef mixture in dish. Pour remaining beef mixture evenly over shells. Try to get the shells completely covered. Sprinkle liberally with mozzarella cheese and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.

Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly.

erica with the littleErica H. Wearing has been a stylist for over 16 years and she absolutely loves what she does . “It’s a great feeling to help people feel and look their best when they leave my chair. I wouldn’t trade this for any other job in the world!”
Check out Erica at Ka!Boom Hair Salon 1129 West Pender Street, Vancouver B.C .
(604)681-6003

alissia marciano hairbyericaw

Sweet caramel apple crumble

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

I love this recipe. I learned it as a very young child and have grown up making it. It’s a staple part of our Thanksgiving dinner, but it’s really one of those desserts  you can enjoy any time of year. I find it so quick and easy to throw together, and there’s no need for precision on this. You need more sugar if you like it sweet – less sugar if you don’t. Either way, it’s still pretty sweet as you need the sugar to caramelize.

Word of warning – you’re going to get the recipe the way my mom taught it to me – with pinches and handfuls instead of cups and teaspoons, though I’ll try to give some approximation. Do not be scared off of making this. It’s an easy recipe with only a few ingredients and it really can’t be ruined regardless of the varying amounts. Seriously. Just fine tune it to make it your own.

What you need:

– 3 to 4 handfuls of quick oats
– 1 cup butter
– 6 to 7 nice apples – I like a mix of gala, empire, mac, spy – peeled, cored and sliced thin
– 4 to 5 pinches cinnamon
– dash of vanilla
– 3 handfuls brown sugar
– 2 handfuls white sugar
– 3 pinches salt
– flour as needed

What you do:

Preheat oven to 325°. In a big bowl mix half of the sugar, 3 to 4 pinches of cinnamon, 2 pinches salt, apples, vanilla and 3 to 4 pinches of flour. Toss it all until the apples are well coated. If your apples are very juicy and you find there’s a lot of liquid, add a few more pinches of flour until the mix is a bit dryer – but not to the point where all the liquid has become a paste.

Put the mixture into a 9 by 13 baking dish or a deep, large pie dish.

In a fresh bowl: Add the butter, a pinch of salt, a pinch or two of cinnamon, three handfuls of oats and the remaining sugar. Get in there and start pinching and twisting the butter into the other ingredients. This delicious buttery sugary mixture will start to clump up. Keep going until all the butter is broken in. The friction that you create with the pinching helps the butter melt into the oats and gets the whole mix combined. If the mixture seems too buttery you can add more oats. More buttery or more oats – you can’t really go wrong.

Cover the apple mixture with the oat mixture and put it into the oven. It takes 45 minutes to an hour, your nose will tell you it’s done. But you can leave it longer. The longer it sits in the oven the more the butter and sugar will caramelize. That caramelization is sooooooo delish.

Let cool for 10 minutes and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

Finger-licking barbecued spareribs

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes .

I know we just featured beef ribs last week, but it gave me a craving. So I made Michelle’s Miami Short Ribs for the fam on Thursday. And then they asked for more ribs. But the butcher was out of the beef ribs, so I picked up a rack of back ribs instead. Got home, got them boiling – but when it came time to sauce them and get grilling, I realized I had no sauce. That’s when I learned how to make this finger-licking quick and easy barbecue sauce.

Ribs are, like, the best food ever, according to my 7 year old.

shane eating ribs

What you need:

– 2 racks of pork back ribs – (we prefer back as they’re meatier, but side ribs are much cheaper, either will do

Sauce
– 3/4 cup ketchup
– pinch salt
– teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
– 1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
– 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
– 2 cloves garlic – pressed
– 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
– few dashes of paprika
– 2 tablespoons vinegar (white or malt)

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne or red chili flakes or teaspoon of habanero sauce or hot sauce for some zing

What you do:

Cut the racks of ribs down to a more manageable size – I like sections of 4-5 ribs. Throw them in a stock pot, cover with water and boil for 30 to 45 minutes. The longer you boil, the more fall-off-the-bone tender they’ll be.

While they’re boiling, grab your biggest bowl and mix all of the ingredients together. Stir and blend well until everything is a smooth liquidy paste.

When boiling is done, lift each portion out of the boiling water, give it a quick shake off, and then toss in the sauce. A wonderful Chef friend once told me the secret is to make sure that the sauce is added while the meat is still at its hottest. The pores are open and suck up all of the sauce for the best flavour, he explained.

I believe him.

A basting brush is always handy for getting the sauce into all of the nooks and crannies, in between bones and on the sides.

Fire up the barbecue. Once it’s hot, throw the ribs on medium flame – or high if you want to do this quickly and be very diligent about the barbecuing, otherwise you’ll burn everything.

Place the ribs bone-side down first so that the saucy, meaty side gets to soak up more sauce as the flames caramelize the sugars in the sauce. As the meat shows signs of cooking, flip each portion. You shouldn’t be seeing black – a bit is fine – but the sauce will have darkened. Brush an extra layer of sauce on. Repeat, flipping 2 to 3 times. The more layers of sauce that caramelize on, the better!

To serve, cut the racks into single ribs and let the crowd have at ’em.

Food. The answer is food.

Posted on by Posted in Mommy Approved .

Know what the hardest part of parenthood seems to be for me?

Food.

It’s an ongoing frustration for me. There’s breakfast. There’s lunch. And then, before you know it, there’s dinner. And it’s not like it ends there. Noooo. They want snacks and desserts and on top of it all, you have to shop for it all, make sure it’s all coordinated, fresh, nutritious and delicious.

Right?

Well, that’s how it feels for me, anyways. I work full time. I find getting good, hot nutritious dinners on the table – meals the kids will eat – is a constant battle. It wasn’t quite as hard when I had just one babe, but once the second arrived I realized that I just might not be the master of the meal that I always thought I would be.

The best thing happened when I brought my second little one home – a friend sent a week of meals to me as a baby gift.

GoodFood delivery!

GoodFood delivery arrives in organized pre-measured packages sealed in a freezer type box.

It was the best gift ever. She lives 2,500 miles away and somehow discovered an amazing local chef (who, coincidentally, and unbeknownst to her, was also a good friend of mine) who provides meal delivery and uses only fresh, whole ingredients.

Dishes arrived in reusable containers with instructions for how to reheat, what to pair, possible combinations and a few little treats.

The week of meals probably saved my family from starvation.

Prepping a GoodFood meal

Prepping a GoodFood meal – Roast Pork & Crunchy Apple Salad with Braised Endive in Mustard Sauce

Don’t underestimate the power of food. And if you’re just not able to make it, there’s no shame in finding someone who can. There’s a reason why meal delivery services are cropping up – they’re an awesome alternative to restaurant delivery. Can’t eat pizza every night (sometimes I’m not sure why!) so having access to someone who can prep meals and bring them over is a beautiful thing.

GoodFood - heating it all up

GoodFood – heating it all up

GoodFood, a local meal delivery company, recently gave us a sampler care package. With a 4 year old and a 6 month old, Suburban Mom Michelle, gave it a try. It was tasty, and even better, it was easy!  The meals only took about 35 minutes to make and the service provided inspiration to get creative and healthy in the kitchen. Suburban Mommy Michelle says: My absolute favorite dish was the Lebanese-Style Meatballs over Bulgur and Crispy Green Beans. I am still dreaming about them.

It’s not a new idea, and we can’t be the only ones finding meals a huge effort, the likes of supper prep and meal services are cropping up all over. From Supperworks – where you go in, make meals as a group and have a week’s worth of decent dinner from a night’s efforts, to Chef’s Plate, feeding your family for you is a thriving industry! You can say pshaw to your mama’s slowcooker, these have made it even easier!

Grocery delivery. Food boxes. Meat packs. It’s all about getting you fed with some flavour and nutrition. And they do it with style, making you feel good about it too!

And if you’d like to save $25 and give GoodFood a try, use this link for your first order: makegoodfood.ca/urbansuburbanmommy.

GoodFood simmering on the stove

GoodFood simmering on the stove – Pork and Bean Stew with Winter Squash and Chopped Kale

 

Latin Meat Stew (Biste)

Posted on by Posted in Delicious Dishes, Domestic Goodness, Urban Suburban Mommy .

Estofado De Carne - stewing in potWho doesn’t love a great stew?  Even better when it is super easy, quick and delicious to make.  My sister-in-law taught me how to make Latin meat stew (otherwise known as Biste in Spanish) and of course when I make it, I score big points with the hubs.

If you feel like getting adventurous with your cooking by visiting a different culture in the kitchen – give this recipe you a try!  I promise you’ll love it.

Estofado De Carne – plated

What you need:

  • 4 large ripe tomatoes (Hot House are a good option), sliced and diced
  • 1 large onion, sliced and diced
  • 1 green pepper, sliced
  • A splash of olive oil
  • Salt, pepper and oregano to taste
  • Sazon Goya (Goya Seasoning) – you can find in Latin America grocery stores or in the international section of some supermarkets (I have made it without – so no stress if you can’t find it)
  • 3-4 packages of thin fry steak (the beauty of this dish is you can substitute the beef for sliced chicken breast or thigh if you like). The fry steak should be cut into small strips

Estofado De Carne - stewing meatWhat you do:

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large stock pot. Add the onions and let them sweat for a couple of minutes. Turn up the heat to medium. Now add the tomatoes and green peppers. Stir them around with a wooden spoon.  Add the cover to the pot and let the vegetables cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove the lid and stir periodically.  Reduce heat.  The tomatoes, onions and green peppers should cook down into liquid/sauce.  As this is happening, add your fry steak.  Mix around with a spoon so that the meat browns.  Add your salt, pepper, oregano and stir.  The add 2 packets of Sazon Goya and stir through.  The stew will turn a bright red.  Return the lid and let the stew simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve the stew over our Foolproof Rice.  It is so tasty.  Feel free to add a little hot sauce to take the dish to a whole other level.  Of course, set some stew aside without hot sauce added so the kids can enjoy too!