Taco Soup by any other name..

I first got this recipe my freshman year at BYU from Virginia Whiting..or rather, her mother. It became a staple in my life. Especially after screwing with it a few times.

The original recipe:
Taco Soup
1 lb ground beef
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans corn
2 cans dark kidney beans
1/3 cup salsa
1 tbsp chili powder

Brown ground beef in large pot. Drain excess oil. Without draining, add canned tomatoes, corn and beans. Bring to a low boil. Add salsa and chili powder. Simmer. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and/or Frito corn chips.

But after a few batches made with spaghetti sauce for salsa, black beans for kidney beans, and other substitutions through the years...I made one very bold substitution: a dash of cinnamon and crushed red pepper for chili powder. It's become my signature recipe. I still add spices without much of a formula other than what smells good--so, I'll just tell you how I made it tonight. But it hardly seems appropriate to call it "Taco Soup." And I've even entered it into church chili cook-offs which forced me to rename it,

Black Bean Chili
1 lb ground beef
salt, pepper
garlic pepper
crushed red pepper
2 cans stewed tomatoes, Italian style
2 cans corn
2 cans black beans
oregano
cumin
paprika
cinnamon

Brown the ground beef in large pot, and season with salt and garlic pepper. Drain excess grease. Without draining anything, add tomatoes. Season with crushed red pepper. Drain one can of corn, but not the other as you add the corn. Season with black pepper. Add black beans. Bring to a low boil. Simmer and add a big dash of oregano, a medium dash of paprika, a small dash of cumin and cinnamon. Top with cheddar cheese and/or tortilla strips.

Pork Chops with Acorn Squash & Tomatoes

I loved this idea of combining acorn squash with cherry tomatoes. It came from RealSimple.com. How appropriate for this time of year: summery tomatoes and autumn-y squash! Also, turned out to be really easy.

The recipe originally suggested chicken breasts, but when I went to Kroger, the pork chops were cheaper.

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1 small acorn squash (about 11⁄2 pounds)—halved, seeded, and sliced 1⁄4 inch thick
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
4 pork chops

Heat oven to 425° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash, tomatoes, and garlic with 2 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast until the squash is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pat the meat dry with paper towels before seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes per side. Serve with the squash and tomatoes and sprinkle with the oregano.

Beef Stroganoff

Bill's favorite dish that his mom makes is Beef Stroganoff. She serves it over mashed potatoes--which I'd never heard of before. But maybe that's because we usually just had the Hamburger Helper kind in my family. I've never made it from scratch before but last night was the night! I decided I would tackle the Stroganoff...and of course it was a mish-mash of two different recipes that I found at Allrecipes.com: Beef Stroganoff II and Beef Stroganoff III.

This is what I ended up with:

7 small red potatoes

1 lb beef chuck steak, sliced into 1/4" thick, 1 1/2" wide strips--approximately.
salt & pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tbsp flour
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can condensed beef broth
1/2 pkg mushrooms, sliced
1/3 c sour cream


Boil potatoes in salted water.

Season beef strips with salt & pepper. Brown in large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove from skillet to plate.

Add onions to skillet and cook until transparent.

Add flour, mushroom soup and beef broth. Bring to a boil. Return beef strips to skillet and simmer on reduced heat for 15 minutes.

Add mushrooms to skillet.
When potatoes are tender, drain them. Arrange on plates.

Add sour cream to skillet a few minutes before serving, and stir well to heat it through.

Smash the potatoes with a fork and top with beef mixture.