But Doesn’t This Look Good!

Review here.

Posted in Beef, Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Five Way Chili

It’s a cool and rainy Saturday night in Billings, and a perfect night for five way chili (chili on spaghetti with five toppings to choose from). My wife grew up in Milwaukee, and introduced me to this fine way of enjoying chili. I, however, wasn’t a big fan of the canned chili available on the store shelves, so with a little testing here and there (and some help from my friends at The Food Network) I’ve cobbled together a decent rendition of chili in a way enjoyed in the Great Lakes region.

1 lb ground beef (I use 85/15)
1 red onion, diced
1 large (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
Kosher salt
1+ Tbsp ground cumin
1+ Tbsp chili powder
1+ Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
Cheese (Medium sharp cheddar here)
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained
Oyster crackers
Sour cream
1 box thin spaghetti

First, get that chili going. I use my dutch oven – but any good sized kettle will do. Sautee half of the diced onions in the fat of your choice, then add in the ground beef and get it browning. As it’s browning up, add a good pinch of salt, a tablespoon each of chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin and the 1/2 tsp of cayenne. Once the meat’s looking brown, add in the entire can (undrained) of diced tomatoes, then fill the can with water and add that too. If you like the beans in your chili, add them now (I prefer my chili sans bean, but the wife likes them so she adds them herself). Let it cook down uncovered for about 30 minutes at a low boil. Add more cumin, garlic, chili powder, and salt to taste. I seem to add another tablespoon of each.

Once the chili is simmering down, boil your pasta water, cook your noodles, and drain them. I like to add a little olive oil on my freshly drained pasta, but that’s just me. Set out bowls of shredded cheese, the remainder of the diced onions, the beans if you didn’t add them earlier, sour cream, oyster crackers and the pasta. Serve the chili in a bowl on a bed of pasta, and let your family or guests add the toppings as they see fit.

In the spirit of the spoon, please monkey around with the chili recipe as you desire. Add more heat, add more vegetables, try different meats – have fun!

Posted in Beef, Chili, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Be Careful What You Wish For

I have spent the last several years perfecting my Italian Beef Sandwich recipe – which I will not share. The ideal that I use is the sandwich that’s sold at a beef joint in Elmwood Park, IL. named Johnnie’s . Elmwood Park is an enclave of Italian Americans that is notorious for both great food and an infamous group of “citizens” that facilitate things like gambling and convenient personal loans. It really doesn’t get more Italian here in the states.

Anyhow, I usually make about 10 lbs of beef whenever I cook it. It’s kind of like an Italian version of the French Dip and I’ve never fed one to a beef loving Montanan who didn’t shower praises on it. Recently I fed a friend of mine and, afterwords, he asked me if I might do him the favor of making these for a tailgate party at a Griz game. Not thinking much about it I agreed. Thinking this food might have a commercial application I though it would be nice to see a reaction from people that might express raw opinions not fetter by friendship.

So, here we have it. In early November I’m supposed to feed the party which, I just found out, will be roughly 200 people. That means have have to roast (and slice paper thin) roughly 65 lbs beef, slice 200 rolls, make 5 – 6 gallons of “gravy” and a gallon of giardinera.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Posted in Beef, Cooking Anacdotes, Italian | 6 Comments »

Winter Borscht

Now that the days are growing a little shorter and the evenings are a bit chilly, I am thinking about winter borscht. In addition, I am seeing a lot of fresh beets at the farmer’s market here in Great Falls. So, borscht.

Now, this isn’t a traditional borscht. However, I think it is very tasty. Don’t wear a white shirt.

Ingredients:

Flanken (cross cut beef ribs cut into 1″ sections)
Beets, diced
Miripoix, diced
Cabbage, shredded
Tomatoes, diced
Potatoes, diced
Salt and pepper
Chiffinade of Basil, Oregano and Parsley

Method

In a large dutch oven, sear the flanken in a very small amount of oil. After the meat is seared, add a few quarts of water and boil for 45 minutes, tenderizing the meat and adding flavor to the water. The amount of water should be a little more than the total amount of soup you want to make.

Once the meat is tender, reserve it and shred the meat. Remove and toss the bones. They aren’t good for making stock, as their flavor has already gone into your soup pot.

Add the miripoix, potatoes, cabbage, beets and meat to the pot. Season to taste and simmer for about two hours.

About 30 minutes before removing from heat, add the diced tomatoes. Right before serving, add the herbs.

Enjoy!

Posted in Beef, Ethnic, Jewish, Kosher, Russian, Soup | No Comments »

Two sweet Rosh ha Shannah recipes

The two-day (one day if in Israel or if following the Reform ritual) Jewish Biblical Festival of Rosh ha Shannah (Lev. 23:23-25), also known as the Jewish New Year, begins at sunset on this Wednesday (September 12) and commemorates the anniversary of the creation of the world, and more specifically the day on which G-d created Man, G-d’s final and most precious creation; and, of G-d as judge, dispensing mercy or justice to those who do or do not repent their sins.

The shofar (ram’s horn) is blown, sounding the alarm that it is the time for introspection, asking for forgiveness, giving forgiveness, resolving to do better, remembering G-d is our King and Judge.

The custom is to eat sweet foods on Rosh ha Shannah as a symbol of the wish for a sweet year. In Biblical times, honey was the sweetener and represented good living and wealth. The Land of Israel is often called the land of milk and honey in the Bible.

Following my name are two sweet Rosh ha Shannah recipes that, of course, use honey: Sweet New Year Brisket and Honey Cake.

L’Shannah Tovah* & Happy 5768,

Walter Greenspan
Great Falls, MT

* L’Shannah Tovah (li-SHAH-nuh TOH-vuh; li-shah-NAH toh-VAH)
Hebrew. Lit. for a good year. The common greeting during Rosh ha Shannah and the Days of Awe. This is a shortening of “L’Shannah tovah tikatev v’taihatem” (or, to women, “L’Shannah tovah tikatevi v’taihatemi”), which means, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” This year, Rosh ha Shannah begins at sunset on Wednesday, September 12 on the civil calendar.

Sweet New Year Brisket recipe

The following recipe for Sweet New Year Brisket was obtained at judaism.about.com :

5 to 7 lb. brisket, washed and drained
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup Coca-Cola™
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup honey
4 to 5 Tbsp. ketchup
1 onion
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. paprika

1. Place washed and drained brisket in covered container large enough to hold brisket in refrigerator.

2. Blend all remaining ingredients in food processor and pour over the brisket.

3. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

4. Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, loosely covered with aluminum foil, until done, approximately 4 to 5 hours.

5. When cool, pour the gravy into a saucepan.

6. Add 1 Tbsp. flour to the gravy and cook until thickens.

7. Pour this gravy over sliced meat when serving.

Honey Cake recipe

The following recipe for Honey Cake is by Esther Shaw, a one-time resident of Helena, Montana, and is from “The MAJCO COOKBOOK, VOLUME II”, published by the Montana Association of Jewish Communities (1999):

3 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups honey
1-1/2 cups orange juice
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, cut
1/4 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Set aside.

3. In another bowl mix together the honey, orange juice, eggs, raisins, walnuts, and dried fruit, reserving the almonds for a topping.

4. Add orange juice/honey mixture to the flour. Mix well.

5. Grease two (9 X 5-inch) loaf pans.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.

7. Sprinkle almonds on top of batter.

8. Reduce the oven to 325 degrees and bake cakes for one hour.

9. Cool the cakes on rack.

Yield: 14 servings

Posted in Beef, Dessert, Ethnic, Jewish, Kosher, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Made in Montana– Meat

The Sysco food show is coming up here in Billings in a week or so. I get to go as part of my job. Its great to go around and talk to all the reps and try new food products. I thought I’d put in a plug for Montana companies that manufacture meat products as an “eat Local” option. There has been a lot of buzz lately about eating local food, carbon footprints, food miles and all that jazz.
Anyway, Daily’s from Missoula has an applewood smoked bacon that is tasty. Their peppered bacon is good too.

Stampede Packing Company from Kalispell will be there also. T.S. Laurens and his wife are nice people who put out a very good product under the “Redneck” label. I’ve used Prairie Fire (jalapeno), Chedder Dawg, Linguica, Sports Dawg, Reggiano Italiano, Andouille, Hot Hen, Bockwurst, Swiss Bockwurst, Polish, Garlic and Old Fashioned franks at work. I use Redneck breakfast links at home and find them milder that other brands. Less sage I think. Their hot Italian bulk sausage is great in spaghetti and lasagna. For home I get their products at Albertsons.

Montana Range Brand is an outfit from Forsyth MT that uses Piedmontese cattle. They can be found on the internet.

Miles City Packing has a good variety of beef cuts, also on-line.

When you are in the grocery store look for Cloverdale brand. Even though they are based in Mandan ND they could be considered local for eastern Montana.

Pat Seder at Seder Ridge Turkey Farms in the Huntley/Ballentine area east of Billings has some good products that are sold in the local IGA stores. I don’t know if they are state wide or not. The fresh turkey is a lot more flavorfull that frozen.

Local options make sense to me.

Posted in Beef, Chicken, Ingredients, Pork | 3 Comments »

A Dog, A Beef & A Dive

We caught wind of a joint in Coeur d’ Alene that was rumored to have real Chicago style hot dogs. For those of you who don’t know, a Chicago dog is a set above most others for a couple of reasons. Primarily I think that the number of Germans that settled on the west side of Lake Michigan, from South Bend, IN up past Green Bay, WI, make the population pretty selective about their sausages. I’ll admit up front that I’m not all that familiar with street dogs from other major cites and perhaps I’m more than a bit provincial when I talk about Chicago dogs. But the difference I usually find in a Chicago dog is that they are all beef dogs in a natural casing. So the drek one finds at the grocery stores out west doesn’t even come close.

By far the biggest selling dogs in the greater Chicago area are the Vienna Beef Jumbo Franks. The casing gives the hot dog a distinctive “snap” when you bite into it. An even better dog, but less available due to it’s expense, is the David Berg Premium Beef Frank. This is the hot dog that is exclusively sold at Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox.

The Real Deal

There is art in building a Chicago dog as well. The typical dog includes:

1. Yellow mustard
2. Bright green relish
3. Fresh chopped onion
4. Two tomato wedges
5. Kosher pickle spear
6. Two sport peppers – which I can’t find in stores here.
7. A dash of celery salt

Notice the poppy seed bun – a must.

It’s almost an act of heresy to put catsup on a hot dog in Chicago. And I’ll admit, dressed this way I think it’s better without it.

Anyway, we found our way to the joint mentioned above, named Giuseppe’s, now located about a mile north of I-90 on American Way in C d’A serving out of a mobile kitchen. As advertised they served up a true Chicago style dog. The rub? $3.75 for a fricken’ hot dog. But what got my attention was the fact that they also had Italian beef sandwiches.

Those who have read davebudge.com for a while know my penchant for an Italian beef sandwich. In fact, since I can’t get the stuff here in Montana I had to discover how to make the things myself and, after a couple hundred pounds of beef, I have the meat part down. The problem is that I can’t get the right bread here. The vast majority of beef stands use Gonnella Bread Company sub rolls. There is something about the crust that holds up to the soaking of spiced beef juice that I can’t seem to get here. But lo and behold, Giuseppe’s served a beef on Gonnella bread.

I talked a while with the owner and found out that he gets both his beef products and bread from a distributor out of Portland. The bread comes par baked frozen and he has to bake it off for five minutes before serving. I couldn’t resist of course and ordered me up a beef – for which I had to wait 5 minutes while he baked the bread. And he had all the accoutrements that would indicate a great sandwich – sweep green peppers, a good hot giardiniera, and sport peppers. When I got the sandwich, however, the bread was dead on but the beef was not what I was expecting.

Most good beef stands sell a product produced by Scala Packing Company or they make the roast the beef themselves. Compared to the Vienna beef product most other Italian beef is much spicier. Thus, I have to give Giuseppe’s a mediocre review. I asked him why he didn’t get Scala beef and he told me that Scala was not USDA inspected for inter-state shipping. I don’t think that’s right and it’s a shame that I spent $6 bucks on a sandwich that didn’t make the grade because, I think, the guy didn’t want to deal with another vendor. But maybe I’m wrong

The good news was that he did have that great olive oil based giardiniera that Vienna does a good job making. It made the sandwich at least edible.

But I tell ya, if you’re looking for a really great hot dog and you’re near Coeur d’Alene, head up American Way about 2 to 3 miles north of I-90. I don’t have an exact address but the trailer is painted red and yellow, is covered with the Vienna logo and parked at a Cenex station on the west side of the street. They may be a bit spendy, but they are definitely the real deal and the eating makes the price go down pretty well too.

Posted in Beef, Fast Food, Italian | 2 Comments »