Chile Macaroni a la Esther

1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 small onion diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
salt, pepper and garlic salt (to taste)
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 small can diced, stewed tomatoes
1 cup dried (uncooked) elbow macaroni noodles

Brown meat in a large skillet, drain off any grease.  Add onion, bell pepper and seasoning.  Cook until vegetables start to soften.  Add tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes.

You can either cook the macaroni noodles separately or add them dry to cook in the meat and vegetable mixture by adding additional water and simmering until they are cooked.  I cook the macaroni in the skillet so I have less pans to clean. :)

Can top with shredded cheese (yummy!) but also, good without.  Add red pepper flakes it you want something spicier.  The red pepper flakes may also be added to individual servings to cater to a multitude of palate preferences.

This is my mother in law's recipe.  She doesn't measure anything... but I think you get the idea.  It is yummy and quick.  I like to serve it with garlic bread and a salad...sometimes, canned peaches too. 

To give it more of an Italian flavor, add Italian seasoning.  For a Mexican flair, add chili powder and diced green chilies...maybe some corn.

Chile Colorado Notes a la Esther

Stew meat, brown in oil with onion and garlic
add flour to coat meat with Gebhart's Chili Powder
cumin
all spice or cinnamon
salt
bay leaf
cloves
broth or water to cover, simmer until thick and meat is tender

Mexican Rice (aka: Sopa)

1-2 Tbsp Canola oil
1 cup white rice, long grain (not cooked)
1/4 to 1/2 white onion, diced (optional)
1 garlic clove, diced or pressed (optional)
2 cups water
1 bouillon cube (any flavor, optional)
2-3 Tbsp tomato sauce (freeze the rest in ice cube trays to use later, store in ziploc freezer bag once frozen)
1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1/2 cup frozen peas (optional)

1.  In a medium saucepan (that you have a lid for), heat oil.  Add uncooked rice and stir to coat.  Watch rice carefully so it doesn't burn, but you do want to lightly brown it. You may add the onion and garlic clove while browning the rice.

2.  If using bouillon cube, I usually add it to the water while I'm browning the rice.  Add water to the browned rice.  It will bubble up and steam right away, so add water quickly.

3.  Add tomato sauce, cilantro and frozen peas if using.  Bring to a boil, while still uncovered.  Once boiling, cover and immediately reduce heat to simmer.  Set timer for 20 minutes.

4.  After 20 minutes, liquid should be all absorbed.  Fluff rice with a fork and serve.

Notes:
If you don't want to chop your cilantro, you may add a sprig or two to the top of the pot just before putting the lid on to cook for 20 minutes.  When rice is ready, just use a fork to remove from the top of cooked rice before serving.

Calito-Quick, Easy, Stove-top soup

This one is from Monty's mom. It's kind of a soupy stew you make in a skillet. I just want to post it here so I don't lose the ingredients. Again...not amounts...just ingredients...see, my mom isn't the only one to not measure ingredients.

Ground beef, browned and drained
add chopped onion and tomatoes
add water or broth
season with salt, pepper and cumin
add diced carrots, green beans and potatoes
Simmer until vegetables are done.

Spaghetti- Esther Pulido Style

1/2 onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
2-28 oz. cans diced stewed tomatoes, undrained
2-cans water (from stewed tomatoe cans)
2- small cans tomato paste (or I used one large one 12 oz.)
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
1 bay leaf
8 oz. mushrooms (small to medium size...brown ones have good flavor), cleaned
1 package Hot Links, browned and cut in half
1 package Sweet Italian Sausage, browned and cut in slices
12 meatballs, if desired (I used frozen Italian meatballs today...sometimes I make these from scratch)
1 package boneless porkchops, browned and cut in thirds


In a large pot (8-10 quart size), saute onion, bell pepper and garlic in olive oil. Add stewed tomatoes, water, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then turn to simmer. Add remaining ingredients and simmer all day.

I cut the hot links and sweet sausage links differently so people who don't like spicy, know which sausages to stay away from. i also leave the mushrooms whole for the same reason. Those who don't like mushrooms can easily avoid them.

With this recipe, there is something for just about every taste preference. I love the pork chops that simmer all day in this sauce. Try it...I think you will like it too.

Serve with (un-burnt) garlic bread and a green salad. If you are over 21...a glass of red wine is perfect with this meal!

Top Secret Tamale Notes

 1.  Cook boneless pork stew meat in water to cover with onion and garlic.  Cool and shred meat, save broth for later.
2.  Clean (use plastic gloves when handling chilies) and remove seeds and stems from dried chiies (California=red color, Pasilla=flavor, Ancho, New Mexico=hot).
3.  Boil cleaned chilies in water until soft (can cook in reserved broth).  Put 5-6 garlic cloves in blender with 2 ladles of meat broth and some oregano, add softened chilies and blend for 7 minutes.  Run chile sauce through a ieve to get all the chilie skins out of the sauce.
4.  Buy prepared masa, put tsp. in a cup of water, if it floats to the top, GREAT, if not beat air into the masa using a large mixer.  Add some sauce to the masa for color.
5.  Spread masa on clean, damp corn husks, add a few pieces of meat with sauce and two olives.  Fold and stack.
6.  Steam in large covered pot with a vegetable steamer and water in the bottom.  Cook for 45-60 minutes.  May be frozen cooked or uncooked.

13 lbs uncooked meat
6 pkgs chilies
25 lbs masa (roughly half as much meat as masa)

variation: masa, green chilies and cheese (jack is good)

30lbs masa; 10.45 lbs pork
We used only about 3 8-ounce bags of leaves
Yielded:  205 pork tamales, 12 sweet, 90 chile-cheese