When I was in high school, as the Christmas break was winding down and just before we had to get back to our normal schedules, the last act of the season was the removal of the Christmas tree. This always involved my friend Mike coming over to help me take it out. Mom would give him a big bowl of her Steak Soup, left over from our Christmas Eve tree-trimming party. Then Mike and I would go to a movie. I miss the days when you could bribe a friend with soup.
Mom got the recipe from a restaurant in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, called 100 West, which was in KC’s famous shopping district, The Plaza. Mom was accompanied by three girlfriends. The soup was accompanied by slaw, sourdough rolls and cold beer. (Mom keeps meticulous notes on such things.)
Steak Soup became a family favorite, in part because it keeps so well and the leftovers taste even better than the fresh servings. It’s quick and easy and tastes fantastic. The recipe is vintage 70s, including the reference to “oleo.” Does anyone call margarine that anymore? I say go ahead, use butter anyway …
Millie Armato’s Christmas Eve-and-After Steak Soup
Ingredients
1 stick oleo
1 cup flour
2 quarts hot water
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup cubed celery
1 cup cubed carrots
1 package (10 ounce to 2 cups) frozen mixed vegetables
1 can tomatoes, squished (yeah, mom’s recipe says “squished”)
2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
2 tablespoons beef flavor base
1 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Cook oleo and flour in large soup pot on a slow fire until the paste becomes almost a liquid. Add hot water, slowly stirring with a wire whisk to make a smooth gravy. Add onion, celery, carrots, mixed frozen veggies, tomatoes, ground beef, beef flavor base, and black pepper. Cook slowly until vegetables are tender. (If you use liquid flavor base you may need more; adjust to taste.)
Now, go see if you can bribe a friend with this.
Food as Art: Paris Edition
From one of the SacFoodies’ travel files – Paris 2012 — this fruit platter in a 16th century Chateau makes us all hungry to hit the road. We’d love to know, where’s a place you’ve experienced food so gorgeous it could live on as a piece of art?
Shredded Italian Pot Roast
I was 46 before I owned a Crock-Pot, but when I bought it, I bought it with great purpose. Last Christmas I was home visiting family in Kansas City, Missouri, when talk turned to food — as it always does. Somehow my parents and I began talking about “Italian Shredded Beef” and before much time passed mom shifted from describing to cooking. She made a simple tangy variation on a classic pot roast using a Crock-Pot and a recipe given to her years ago by a family friend, Lenore Messina. I tried it. I loved it. I got on a plane to Sacramento. I bought a Crock-Pot.
I now have a new name for Mrs. Messina (“Aunt Crock-Pot”) and a go-to, easy-prep, slow-cook supper-time favorite. It’s especially worth trying as the seasons change and we move the heat from our weather to our plates.
Shredded Italian Pot Roast: The pictured variation was made with pork, baby carrots, baby bella mushrooms and petite potatoes.
Shredded Italian Pot Roast (Recipe courtesy of Lenore Messina via Millie Armato. Where “Aunt Crock-Pot” got it is lost to history.)
Ingredients
3- to 4-pound beef rump roast (also called bottom round) or pork loin roast
2 packages Good Seasoning dry mix Italian dressing, 1 “zesty” and 1 “regular”
1 16-ounce jar pepperoncini peppers (do not drain)
1 beef bouillon cube dissolved in 2 cups boiling water
Vegetables according to taste and imagination
Directions
Put all ingredients in Crock-Pot in order listed.
Cook on high for approximately 8 hours or low for approximately 14 hours.
After slow cooking, the meat will fall apart at the touch of a fork, shredding or slicing easily. Serve on Italian rolls with a side of the broth for dipping a la a French Dip, or simply ladle into a shallow bowl for forkfuls of goodness.
This is the basic recipe. Variations are endless. Pork works as well as beef. And at various times I’ve added onions, fresh garlic, carrots, mushrooms and small Yukon Gold potatoes or petite reds with great success. (Add those or similarly hearty veggies from the start. More delicate veggies such as green beans may be best added part-way through the cooking to keep them from becoming too mushy.) Also, a cup or so of red wine gives the broth an even richer flavor. I’ve made this recipe often and never the same way twice.
The pepperoncini peppers and zesty dressing mix give the roast a spicy edge. Go easy on the peppers/juice or try 2 regular dressing packets instead of 1 zesty and 1 regular to make it milder, especially for milder meats such as pork.
This is a fantastically simple recipe and absolutely delicious. The interplay of the pepperoncini’s vinegary bite and the spices in the dressing mixes keep the flavor alive and tingling on your tongue well after each bite.