Texas Home Cooking
Page 17
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The early cowboys loved their longhorn steaks, but not everyone thought highly of the animals or their meat. Two journalists, Alex Sweet and John Knox, said the Texas longhorn is "principally composed oi lean rib roasts and soup bones attached to a wide-spreading pair of horns. Her time is mostly taken up in eating grass and in trying to lose herself."
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Vinegar Pie
Don't skip over this one too fast Vinegar pie is much better than it sounds. When chuck-wagon cooks had no dried fruit, they learned to substitute vinegar fermented from appie cider. Some of the resulting pies, when made without much spice, taste similar to lemon pies. Our version adds a generous amount of spice, making it more like a pumpkin pie.
Unbaked single Flaky Pie Crust ([>])
FILLING
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2½ cups water
4 eggs
6 tablespoons cider vinegar, preferably unrefined
Makes 1 pie
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Bake the pie crust for 10 minutes. Remove the crust, and reduce the heat to 350° F.
Make the pie filling: In the top pan of a double boiler, beat the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer. Add in the flour and spices, and beat well. Beat in the water, eggs, and vinegar.
Place the pan over its water bath, and cook over medium-low heat until the filling is thick, stirring frequently. Pour the filling into the partially baked crust. Bake for 30 minutes, until the filling is the consistency of jellied cranberry sauce.
Serve the pie hot or at room temperature.
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Boiling is one of the worst ways to fix coffee, but it was the only method the cowboys knew. Using a pound or more of coffee per gallon of water, they ground the beans, boiled the water, added the coffee, cooked it on a hot fire until it was plenty strong, and sprinkled in cold water to settle the grounds. To make your own campfire coffee, use a heaping tablespoon of ground coffee per cup of water, and boil them together for 10 minutes, or until the brew suits your taste, if it ever does. Sprinkle in some cold water, and serve.
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THE MAIN COURSE
Holy Cow
The Texas Longhorn made more history than any other breed of cattle the civilized world has known.... In picturesqueness and romantic realism his name is destined for remembrance as long as the memory of man travels back to those pristine times when waters ran clear, when free grass waved a carpet over the face of the earth, and America's Man on Horseback—not a helmeted soldier, but a booted cowboy—rode over the rim with all the abandon, energy, insolence, pride, carelessness and confidence epitomizing the booming West.
J. Frank Dobie, The Longhorns
The ultimate Texan in many ways, "Pancho" Dobie loved his cattle. He made the Longhorn—capitalized, you note—into the bovine equivalent of the Alamo, a mythic symbol of freedom and frontier fortitude. With Dobie's help the scraggly animal left a more lasting brand on Texas than it ever received on its own hide.
The longhorn is long gone, except at a few ranches and on a university pasture in the center of Austin, but Texans still treat cattle with the devotion most Americans reserve for movie stars and pet dogs. The benefit of this beatification, in the state and out, is the beef we get, not just the tastier meat Texans produce today but the multitude of imaginative ways they cook it. The truth is, Dobie aside, most Texans prefer their cattle on the platter rather than the hoof, and they have perfected a range of beef preparations, from "The Texas Classics" covered earlier to these distinctive dishes.
Bourbon-Molasses Marinated Tenderloin
After drinking this bourbon and molasses cocktail, tenderloin takes on a sweet smokiness, like a bar full of honky-tonk angels.
MARINADE
1 medium onion, chopped fine
½ cup bourbon
¼ cup unsulphured dark molasses
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sweet mustard
¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
Pinch of crushed chile de árbol or cayenne
1
to
½ pounds beef tenderloin, cut into 8 medallions
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
2 slices slab bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon oil, preferably canola or corn
Serves 4
In a small bowl, combine the marinade ingredients. Place the tenderloin medallions in a shallow nonreactive dish, and pour the marinade over the meat. Cover the meat, and refrigerate it for 2 to 4 hours, turning it once. Remove it from the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before cooking.
Drain the medallions, and salt and pepper them. Reserve ½ cup of the marinade.
In a large cast-iron skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat until it is browned and crispy. Remove it with a slotted spoon, and drain it. Set aside the bacon, and reserve the drippings.
Stir the oil into the drippings, raise the heat to medium-high, and add the medallions. Cook them rare, about 3 minutes, turning once. Remove the steaks, pour the reserved marinade into the skillet, and raise the heat to high. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom, and stir the marinade as it thickens into a glaze, which requires about 1 to 2 minutes. Working quickly, return the steaks to the skillet briefly to coat them with the glaze on both sides. Transfer the medallions to a dec orative platter, sprinkle the bacon over, and serve immediately.
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Technique Tip
It's hard to go wrong with tenderloin. The aptly named cut comes from the middle of an animal's back, an area that stays lusciously tender because it does little work.
Pan frying is a better method of preparing a steak at home than broiling because you can sear the surface of the meat at a much hotter temperature in a skillet than under the broiler of a typical home oven.
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Steak Dunigan
When Texans visit Santa Fe, New Mexico, their favorite quick getaway, they flock to the Pink Adobe Restaurant for this superlative steak. Restaurateur Rosalea Murphy named it after Pat Dunigan from Abilene, who always asked for green chile on his steak.
1
to
2 tablespoons Char Crust (see "Technique Tip," [>]) or up to 1 tablespoon hickory salt (Rosalea recommends Spice Islands or Schilling)
2 14- to 15-ounce New York sirloin strip steaks
SAUCE
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 cup chopped roasted green chile, preferably New Mexican, fresh or frozen
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon minced cilantro
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon minced jalapeño, optional
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large mushrooms, sliced thin
Serves 2 at the Pink Adobe or 4 of average appetite
About 30 to 40 minutes before cooking time, rub the Char Crust or seasoned salt into the steaks, and let them come to room temperature. Cut the steaks in half to satisfy four non-Texas appetites.
Prepare the sauce: Heat the oil in a small saucepan, and add the onion. Sauté it briefly, until it is soft. Add the remaining ingredients, including the jalapeño if you want the extra heat, and cook for 5 minutes. Keep the sauce warm.
Heat the butter in a small skillet, and add the mushrooms. Sauté them until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Keep them warm, too.
Grill or pan-fry the steaks to the desired doneness, turning them once. Transfer the steaks to a platter. Spread the mushrooms over the tops of the steaks. Cover each steak equally with the green chile sauce. Serve the steak immediately.
Steak Peggy Sue
French chefs had a good idea with Steak Diane, but this variation is more true to a Texan's heart.
&n
bsp; 1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into 8 medallions
2
to
3 teaspoons Char Crust or salt and coarse-ground black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons brandy
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon brown mustard
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Serves 4
About 20 to 30 minutes before cooking time, rub the tenderloin medallions with Char Crust, if it is available, or with a mixture of salt and pepper.
Warm 1 to 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Pan-fry the medallions to the desired doneness, turning once. This takes only a few minutes.
Remove the medallions from the pan, and arrange them on a serving platter. Keep them warm while you make the sauce.
Add the remaining butter to the pan drippings, and reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the onion, and cook it until it is well softened. Pour the brandy into the pan, and ignite it. After the flame has died, add the Worcestershire, mustard, and lemon juice, and heat them through. Sprinkle in the parsley, and stir.
Spoon the sauce over the steaks, put on a Buddy Holly record, and serve immediately.
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Technique Tip
Anyone who grills or pan-fries steaks should check out Char Crust, a savory dry rub from Chicago. Bernard Silver's family developed the rub when they owned a popular steakhouse. They sell it primarily to restaurants, but individuals can order by mail. Contact the company at 3015 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60657, 312-528-0600.
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Beef 'n' Brew Stew
Back in the 1930s some cattlemen sponsored a contest among cowboys for their favorite stew recipes. The winning entry was called "Stew without Them goddamn Carrots." This is a different stew recipe, our personal favorite. With apologies to that cowboy, it does contain those contrary carrots.
4 slices slab bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground dried red chile, preferably New Mexican
1½ teaspoons salt, or more, to taste
1 teaspoon dry mustard
¾ teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2½ pounds sirloin, cut in ½- to ¾-inch cubes
2 cups chopped onions
3 cups beer
2 cups unsalted beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsulphured dark molasses
1½ cups pearl onions, peeled
6 carrots, cut into thick chunks
2 medium baking potatoes, cut into chunks, placed in water to prevent discoloration
Serves 8 hearty eaters
Preheat the oven to 325° F.
Fry the bacon in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until the bacon is crisp. Remove it with a slotted spoon, drain it, and set it aside. Keep the bacon drippings warm in the skillet.
While the bacon is cooking, combine the flour, chile, salt, mustard, cumin, cayenne, and black pepper in a medium plastic or paper bag. In batches, add the sirloin to the seasoned flour mixture, and shake to coat each cube.
Turn the heat under the skillet to medium-high. In batches, add the sirloin cubes and brown them. Don't overcrowd the meat, or it won't brown properly.
With the slotted spoon, transfer the sirloin to a small stockpot, Dutch oven, or four-quart oven-proof pan. Add the chopped onions to the skillet, and sauté them in the remaining bacon grease until they are soft. If the mixture is diy, add a couple of tablespoons of water, being sure to scrape up all the browned bits remaining in the skillet. Transfer the onions to the stockpot or pan. Pour the beer and stock over the meat, add the tomato paste and molasses, and stir well.
Place the stew in the oven, and bake it for about 1½ hours. Add the remaining onions, the carrots, and the potatoes. Bake the stew 1½ hours longer (another 15 minutes won't hurt it if you're busy). At the end of the baking time the liquid should have reduced to a light sauce. If it remains thinner than you prefer, heat the pan or dish on the stove over medium-high heat to thicken it. Add the reserved bacon, and more salt if needed.
You can eat the stew immediately, but it will develop more flavor if you chill it overnight. Reheat it before serving.
Variation: If you are firing up your barbecue pit on the same day that you make this stew, you can add an earthy flavor to the stew by placing it in the smoker for an hour.
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Cattle industry sales were rolling along strong in the 1970s, but then "the wheels fell off the wagon," as G. C. Smith from Texas A&M puts it. Consumers, concerned about saturated fat and cholesterol, pushed the industry into breeding slimmer cattle and trimming meat more closely. In case it's lean meat you're looking for, these cuts of beef are the lowest in fat: top round, top loin, round tip, eye of round, sirloin, and tenderloin.
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Technique Tip
The most important tip we can give you about beef, or any meat, for that matter, is to find a reputable butcher or meatcutter with high standards. Look for a market that cuts and grinds to order, perhaps does some aging, and has people who take an interest in you and what you're cooking. Good butchers can tell you the best cut they have for what you plan to do, and you should always take their advice over any cookbook's. Be willing to pay for top-quality meat and advice.
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Picante Pot Roast
This luscious dish works best with chuck, preferably the boneless shoulder cut. When cooked long and slow, chuck shreds as easily as cotton and absorbs these lively seasonings as smartly as a biscuit takes gravy.
1 3-pound boneless shoulder chuck roast
3
to
4 garlic cloves, slivered
1
to
2 pickled jalapeños, slivered
Lone Star Dry Rub ([>]) or a similar blend of dry Southwestern seasonings
2 tablespoons bacon drippings or oil, preferably canola or corn
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 10-ounce cans Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chiles, or an equal quantity of peeled whole tomatoes plus 1 to 2 chopped roasted green chiles, preferably New Mexican
½
to
1 cup unsalted beef stock
6 small carrots, cut in halves
1½ medium onions, sliced in rings
Serves 6 to 8
Insert the garlic and jalapeño slivers into openings in the meat's surface. Rub the meat well with the dry rub or other seasoning blend, and let it sit about 30 minutes to come close to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 300° F.
Heat the bacon drippings (for more flavor) or oil in a heavy lidded skillet or Dutch oven. Dredge the meat in the flour, and brown it in the drippings or oil. Turn off the heat. Pour in the tomatoes and ½ cup of stock, and add the carrots and onions to the pan. Cover the pan tightly, and bake the roast for 4 hours.
Check the meat after 3 hours, and add more stock if it is getting dry. If it seems a little soupy, uncover it for the last 30 minutes of baking. The meat should be falling-apart tender when done. Serve the meat and vegetables hot.
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Technique Tip
To zip up anything requiring canned tomatoes, try Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chiles. Carl Roettele figured that Texas and the rest of the country were ready for a little verve in the often bland world of canned tomatoes, so he created the product to "jump-start your heart." See "Mail-Order Sources" ([>]) if you can't find the tomatoes in your supermarket.
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Garlic-Stuffed Sirloin
The garlic in this dish mellows during the two stages of its cooking and adds richness to the top sirloin, a leaner and more tender cut than the bottom sirloin. We prefer the meat grilled over charcoal and mesqui
te, but you can also bake it.
FILLING
1 medium garlic head, baked for about an hour at 350° F
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
½ cup sliced green onions
1 3-pound boneless top sirloin steak, about 2 inches thick
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Serves 6 to 8
On an outdoor grill, fire up enough charcoal to form a single layer of coals beneath the meat. At the same time, put a few handfuls of mesquite chips in water to soak.
Make the filling: Break the garlic head apart, and squeeze each soft clove from its skin. In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the garlic, mashing it in the oil with a fork to form a rough purée. Stir in the green onions, and cook a minute or two, until the onions are limp. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the filling cool while you ready the meat.