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When the weather turns cold, I turn to classic, easy-to-prepare comfort foods that immediately warm me up. I grew up eating beef stew, meatloaf and macaroni and cheese.
My mom’s stew was made with chuck, the beef of choice to create a rich, hearty dish. She used water in place of stock and never added wine. Through the years, I’ve played with the recipe, doing what the French do: Making beef stew with Burgundy, stock and tomato paste.
Meatloaf is another matter. More times than not, Mom’s was on the dry side. I found adding spinach and Parmesan to the mix gave it much-needed moisture during cooking. She used hamburger meat, but I prefer a blend of ground beef and pork.
As for mac and cheese, Mom always liked elbows, but did not add grated cheddar to the casserole. She used powdered cheese straight from Borden’s.
Beef in Red Wine
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, to coat the bottom of a heavy pot
2 pounds of chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 heaping tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1 15-ounce can of beef stock
1 bottle of dry red wine
2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste
4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Heat the oil over medium-high in the pot. Add the beef and saute until browned on all sides. Season with the salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium and add the flour. Constantly saute the beef until covered with the flour. Add the stock, wine and tomato paste and blend well.
Cover and cook for two hours. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for one more hour.
Serves four.
Meatloaf
1-1/2 pounds of ground beef
1/2 pound of ground pork
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of fine dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup of Parmesan
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the meats in a mixing bowl. Season with the salt and pepper.
Squeeze out all of the water from the spinach. Add to the meat mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.
Coat a loaf pan with non-stick vegetable spray. Pack the meatloaf mix into the pan. Bake for 90 minutes.
Serves six.
Note from Phyllis: Some people like to top their meatloaf with tomato sauce or a mixture of chili sauce and Dijon mustard.
Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients:
1 pound of elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions
2 tablespoons of butter plus 4 tablespoons, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons of flour
1 quart of milk
1 pound of top-quality cheddar, grated
Non-stick vegetable spray
Fine dry bread crumbs
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Drain the macaroni in a colander.
Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a large pot. Add the flour and saute for a few minutes until a roux forms. Slowly add the milk and whisk well. Remove from the heat. Add the cheddar a bit at a time, whisking well until incorporated into the roux-and-milk mixture. Add the macaroni to the pot and blend well.
Spray a one-and-a-half-quart casserole dish with the vegetable spray. Pour the macaroni in the dish. Top with the bread crumbs and dot with the remaining butter.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until bubbling hot.
Serves six.
