Home › Some Kitchen Kinks › Some Kitchen Kinks: Mexican

Some Kitchen Kinks: Mexican

Mexican Beef.

The Mexicans have a dish known as "Chili con carne" (meat with Chili pepper), the ingredients for which one would doubtless have difficulty in obtaining except in the southwestern United States. However, a good substitute for it may be made with the foods available in all parts of the country. The Mexican recipe is as follows:

Remove the seeds from two Chili peppers, soak the pods in a pint of warm water until they are soft, scrape the pulp from the skin and add to the water. Cut two pounds of beef into small pieces and brown in butter or drippings. Add a clove of garlic and the Chili water. Cook until the meat is tender, renewing the water if necessary. Thicken the sauce with flour. Serve with Mexican beans either mixed with the meat or used as a border.

In the absence of the Chili peppers, water and Cayenne pepper may be used, and onions may be substituted for garlic. For the Mexican beans, red kidney beans either fresh or canned make a good substitute.

If the canned beans are used they should be drained and heated in a little savory fat or butter. The liquid may be added to the meat while it is cooking. If the dried beans are used they should be soaked until soft, then cooked in water until tender and rather dry, a little butter or dripping and salt being used for seasoning or gravy. White or dried Lima beans may be used in a similar way.

Haricot of Mutton. 2 tablespoonsful of chopped onions. 2 tablespoonsful of butter or drippings. 2 cups of water, and salt and pepper. 1½ pounds of lean mutton or lamb cut into 2-inch pieces.

Fry the onions in the butter, add the meat, and brown; cover with water and cook until the meat is tender. Serve with a border of Lima beans, seasoned with salt, pepper, butter, and a little chopped parsley.

Fresh, canned, dried, or evaporated Lima beans may be used in making this dish.

Roast Pork with Cowpeas.

For this dish a leg of young pork should be selected. With a sharp knife make a deep cut in the knuckle and fill the opening with sage, pepper, salt, and chopped onion. When the roast is half done scar the skin but do not cut deeper than the outer rind. When the meat is nearly cooked pour off the excess of fat and add a quart of white cowpeas which have been previously parboiled or "hulled" and cook slowly until quite done and the meat is brown. Apple sauce may be served with this dish.

Meat Salads.

If Whether meat salads are economical or not depends upon the way in which the materials are utilized. in chicken salad, for example, only the white meat of chickens especially bought for the purpose and only the inside stems of expensive celery are used, it can hardly be cheaper than plain chicken. But, if portions of meat left over from a previous serving are mixed with celery grown at APPENDIX home, they certainly make an economical dish, and one very acceptable to most persons. Cold roast pork or tender veal-in fact, any white meat can be utilized in the same way.

Apples cut into cubes may be substituted for part of the celery; many cooks consider that with the apple the salad takes the dressing better than with the celery alone. Many also prefer to marinate (i. e., mix with a little oil and vinegar) the meat and celery or celery and apples before putting in the final dressing, which may be either mayonnaise or a good boiled dressing.

Meat with Eggs.

Occasionally eggs are combined with meat, making very nutritious dishes. Whether this is an economy or not of course depends on the comparative cost of eggs and meat.

In general, it may be said that eggs are cheaper food than meat when a dozen cost less than 11/2 pounds of meat, for a dozen eggs weigh about 1½ pounds and the proportions of protein and fat which they contain are not far different from the proportions of these nutrients in the average cut of meat. When eggs are 30 cents a dozen they compare favorably with round of beef at 20 cents a pound.

Such common dishes as ham and eggs, bacon or salt pork and eggs, and omelette with minced ham or other meat are familiar to all cooks.