Gram's Broccoli Casserole

There are three women in my life who have greatly influenced my cooking: my mother, my grandmother, and my mother-in-law. Today, I dedicate this post to my dear grandmother Leann, who is turning 77 years old. From a very young age, my memories of her are in the kitchen, teaching me how to whip up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies or watching her decorate a wedding cake. She is a baker, but we also used to gather as extended family at her house for Sunday dinners and holidays. I think the menu was pretty constant - roast, potatoes, corn on the cob, fruit salad (with whipping cream of course) and the one casserole that we always had was her broccoli cheese casserole. 

A little over a year ago, we found ourselves from one day to the next without a caregiver for our youngest and my grandmother came to the rescue and spent a couple of months with us taking care of her during the day. I have always wanted to put together a cookbook of her recipes and so we decided it would be the perfect time to photograph all of the dishes that her family loves best. During the day she would take care of Ceci and cook or bake and when I'd get home I'd photograph her work. We were just about finished and my camera card crashed and we lost everything. She was such a trooper and cooked it all a second time and I took photographs again. So, I wish I had the book finished to give to her on her birthday, but this is a start . . . the first recipe that we all love: Broccoli Casserole. 

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup celery

1 cube butter

1/2 onion, diced

1 small jar, cheese whiz

1 can, cream of chicken soup

1 bag, frozen broccoli

bread crumbs

Gram's original recipe reads: Saute onions and celery in butter. Pour over cup of rice in 9 x 13 pan. Mix together cheese, cream of chicken soup, and broccoli. Pour over rice. Top with breadcrumbs and Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly. 

The pictures here are a little different from the process that comes from her original recipe, but it all turns out the same. For a heartier, main dish you can add pieces of cubed chicken breast (pre-cooked) above the layer of rice.

Grandma, thank you for all you do for us - - most recently for the times you've come to our rescue tending our kids or whipping up a ton of your recipes for photographs and for teaching me how to show my love for others through food. If there is one big influence that I'd say you've had on me, it is that! I love you! And Happy, Happy Birthday!

Tamalitos de Frijoles

On the 11th day of Christmas, my suegra gave to me . . .

Tamalitos de Frijoles

We're counting down the days we get to go to Honduras for the holidays and partake of all of the fun tradiciones navideñas (Christmas Traditions) with Armando's family. One of the yummies that I love are my mother-in-law's Tamalitos de Frijoles. My sister-in-law prepared them for me first here in the states when I was expecting our first daughter. With my second pregnancy, of course I craved them because the closest ones were a time zone and two layovers away. Although I'm not expecting, I still love a good tamal de frijol nice and warm with crema on top.

Although I've never made these on my own, my sister-in-law wrote up some instructions for me to share on the blog. If I can talk them into showing me these while we're there, I'll add proportions in the future. For now, this is a typical "little of this and little of that" type of recipe. ;)

Tamalitos with Frijoles (Beans)

Prepare the corn flour for tortillas and make it a little dry. (I recommend maseca found in your local grocer in the Mexican-food section. Follow the instructions to prepare tortillas and make slightly dry).

Blend garlic, onion, green pepper, celery, and cilantro (enough of these ingredients to flavor the beans and the tamale dough. Add a small tomato to the ingredients and blend it as well.

Add half of the blended condiments to the dough along with salt to taste.

Cook and prepare black beans. Let cool and blend with bean broth. Fry in hot oil along with the remaining blended condiments mentioned above. Add salt to taste. Fry and stir frequently so as not to let them stick. They should be a little liquid-like - not a pasty texture. Let them cool - they should be slightly more liquid-like when hot because they will solidify slightly as they cool.

Form dough into small balls. Flatten with hands on a piece of plastic as if you were going to make a tortilla (not too thick nor too thin). In the middle, drop a large spoonfull of cooled refried beans. Fold the tortilla in half, covering the beans. It should look like a half-moon.

Seal the edges with hands carefully so as not to let any beans leak out and place in the center of a banana-leaf. Place in a pot of boiling water with salt for 45 minutes.

Serve warm with crema centroamericana.

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And for all of you Spanish-speakers, perhaps the original instructions would be easier to follow rather than my translation above.

Preparar la harina de maíz como para hacer tortillas dejarla un poco seca. Licuar ajo, cebolla, chile verde, apio, cilantro todos estos ingredientes en cantidades necesarias (que sea sufiente para los frijoles y la masa) además licuar un tomate pequeño junto con el resto de los ingredientes.
Al agregar los condimentos a la masa también agregar sal la necesaria. Los frijoles cocidos se licuan y se ponen a freír en aceite junto con los condimentos licuados, especies y sal en caso de ser necesario; al freír los frijoles no dejarlos secos estos de beben de quedar más o menos líquidos, dejar enfriar.
Elaborar con la masa pequeñas bolas para luego aplanarlas con las manos sobre un plástico en forma de tortilla (esta no debe de ser ni muy gruesa ni muy delgada). En la mitad de la tortilla colocar una cuchara grande de los frijoles fritos y fríos, doblar la tortilla a la mitad cubriendo los frijoles, quedando la forma de una media luna. Nos cercioramos de cerrar bien los bordes para que nada se salga, luego se envuelven en una hoja de plátano y se ponen a hervir en agua con sal por unos 45min.
Comer calientes con mantequilla.

Enchiladas Hondureñas

I love visits from my mother-in-law for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that she pretty much takes over the kitchen. Some people might not like this, but for my busy life, it's like she comes to my rescue. Not only does it make Armando happy to have a visit from his mom, but we all benefit from her culinary genius. She loves cooking for others. And we love eating. It's a win-win. She's been gone for a week now and as a way of honoring all she did for us while she was here, I'm dedicating this week as "En la Cocina con Doña Rina" week ("In the Kitchen with Miss Rina"). Stay tuned for something different and delicious!

This recipe is kind of like Thanksgiving dinner: it takes some time to prepare and you might feel tired afterward, but with simple planning and preparation, all of the extra work put into it will be all worth it the moment you sink your teeth into the contrasting layers of deliciousness it has to offer.


I've come to know Hondurans from "Ceiba", Hondurans from "Han Pedro" and Hondurans from "Tegus" and they will all argue with you on how a proper Enchilada should be built, but I have to say of all that I have tried, Doña Rina's make it to the top of my list and it's not just cause I want brownie points from my mother-in-law. There's something about the contrasting flavors, textures, and temperatures that just make this something I crave when my mother-in-law is 12 hours and 2 layovers away. So, hopefully after I type all of these instructions out and cheer you all on to take the time to prepare this, I'll do the same some day and surprise Armando with one of his favorites.

If you look at the picture above, you'll see that the Enchiladas are basically like what we would call a "tostada" in the states with the fried corn tortilla bottom, a layer of well flavored ground beef and layers of cabbage and salsa on top, but what you don't know about the Honduran Enchilada is that hidden between the layer of shredded cabbage and the meat are diced boiled potatoes, sliced boiled eggs, and fried sweet plantains. Those three ingredients, flavors, and contrasting textures take this dish to a whole new level.

Step 1: Prepare meat for marinating.

Dice the following and mix well into a pound or more of ground beef:

1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 green pepper
1 roma tomato
Lots of cumin
Sometimes I dump a bit of Worcestershire sauce into the meat.
plenty of salt and pepper
You can add ground achiote for color (also found in the mexican food spice section of your local grocer) Achiote isn't used for flavor, but plenty of it will give the meat a nice color. Color is EVERYTHING in Honduran cooking. Everything.

Cover and let flavors mix. I would even recommend prepping the meat mixture the night before so that the flavors have time to marinate the meat well. While the meat soaks up all the flavor, prep the following:

Step 2: Boil Potatoes and Eggs

Peel 1-2 potatoes and place in pot of water on stove to boil. Place 2 or 3 eggs in with them to hard boil them. While those are on cooking:

Step 3: Shred Dry Cheese

Also known as Queso Seco or Queso Cotijo from your local grocer - fresh Mexican food section. If you can't find any of these cheeses, Parmesan will have to do.

Step 4: Finely shred cabbage.

This step should be a separate post in and of itself. Latins have a way with finely shredding cabbage. It's an art. [Note to self: Hone your skills of finely shredding cabbage and teach the rest of the blogging world how to do it too.] For now, all I can say is find a super-sharp knife (for dicing) and find the most dense head of cabbage and slice it paper thin.

Step 4: The sauce.

Ingredients: Butter or olive oil, finely diced onion and garlic, tomato paste or sauce, chicken broth, salt, pepper, cumin and a bit of brown sugar. I will apologize ahead of time, but this sauce has no specific recipe. Trust me, it will all work out.

Saute onion and garlic in oil or butter until onion is clear. Add tomato paste or sauce and bring to boil. Add salt, pepper, and cumin to taste. A guestimate would be about a tsp of salt or a bit more, a dash of pepper and 1/2 tsp or more of cumin. Add broth to thin the sauce and give it a good flavor. At the end, add a pinch or seven of brown sugar and mix and dissolve in the boiling sauce. Remove from heat and cover until time to serve.

Step 5: Cook the meat.

In a large pan, fry meat mixture until cooked through. Remove from heat and cover until time to serve.

Step 6: Fry the plantains
Again, this might be a topic of another post in an of itself, but lets assume you have been successful in finding non-bruised, ripe, plantains. You've opened the peel (which is much harder to open than a banana - use a knife to slice it open) and you have sliced the plantain in half lengthwise and have heated the oil to fry them. Fry until golden brown. And try to refrain from eating them all before serving the enchiladas.


Step 7: The tortilla

If you're out for real authentic (which is so much better), then heat a pan of vegetable oil and hand-fry the corn tortillas for serving. If you're lazy like I sometimes am, I skip this step and use the ready-made tostadas. Armando hates that part. That's why it's so wonderful to have a mother-in-law that visits and cooks. :)

Finally: Putting it all together

Begin by putting a spoonful or two or three of meat on the tostada. Then add hand-picked potatoes (3 or 4), a slice of boiled egg, and 2 or three pieces of fried plantain.

Add a small amount of finely shredded cabbage on top.

Cover generously with queso seco (dry cheese).

Drizzled the sauce over the top.

And enjoy trying to fit a bite into your mouth. Have a fork on hand to finish off what falls on your plate.
Perhaps we could call it a Honduran Sloppy-Joe.

I'd love to hear if you attempt to make this. And if you live anywhere within driving radius, please call, I'll be over for dinner!