5
May
Posted by Edward Antrobus in Recipe Sunday | Tags :burrito, casserole, Cinco de Mayo, Tex-Mex, Tortilla | 1 Comment
In two and a half years, I’ve never posted a Cinco de Mayo recipe! I’ve posted 10 different Tex-Mex recipes over the last 2 1/2 years, but never one specifically for the celebration of Mexico’s victory in a key battle against the French occupation. But this year, May 5th is a Sunday, so it’s an opportunity I can’t miss! So for my first annual recipe celebrating Cinco de Mayo, I am sharing a recipe for a cheesy taco casserole.
Many people think that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s Independence day. It isn’t. In fact, Cinco de Mayo isn’t even celebrated much in Mexico, but instead in Mexican communities in the U.S. It was first observed in California to celebrate Mexico’s victory in the Battle of Puebla against French occupation forces.
This cheesy taco casserole would make a great side for Cinco de Mayo or even a meal for picky families. Plus, it is easy to make and takes under an hour, including baking time.
Cheesy Beef Taco Casserole: Cinco de Mayo Recipe
Author: Edward Antrobus
Recipe type: Casserole
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 4
- 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 TBSP If You Can Read, You Can Cook taco seasoning
- 1 can (10¾ ounces) condensed tomato soup
- 1 cup thick and chunky salsa
- ½ cup milk
- 2 flour tortillas or 4 corn tortillas
- 2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In medium skillet over medium high heat, cook beef until browned, stirring to separate meat. Pour off fat.
- Cut half of tortillas into 1″ strips. Dice remainder into 1″ pieces.
- In shallow baking dish, add meat, taco seasoning, soup, salsa, milk, tortilla piece (not the strips) and 1½ cups cheese. Mix together until well combined. Top with tortilla strips in a lattice pattern. Cover.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
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Feel free to use your choice of ground meat, or your preferred vegetarian option. A cup of corn can also be added to make this more of a meal.
Other Tex-Mex recipes for Cinco de Mayo you may enjoy
Burritos & Tacos:
Dips:
Sides & Seasonings:
Other:
Cookbooks & Tools
- The If You Can Read, You Can Cook cookbook also has two Tex-Mex inspired dishes not found anywhere else. Buy it today from the e-store or Amazon.
- If you don’t have time to make your own taco seasoning from scratch and don’t want to buy preservative and allergen-riddled packets from the store, consider my all-natural, allergen-free premium taco seasonings available in hot, medium, mild, and sweet cumin.
29
Apr
Posted by Edward Antrobus in Food News | Tags :Benzoaic Acid, Food & Drug Administration, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Kraft Foods, meat, Natural News, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Propionate | No Comments
Fda (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The FDA has reversed a previous ruling that three chemicals used as preservatives are unsafe. Based on research provided by Kraft Foods, the FDA has declared safe for human consumption sodium benzoate, sodium propionate, and benzoic acid. At least, that is the story circulating the internet. As usual in situations like these, the full truth is a bit more complex.
Regulation of food additives is done by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) branch of the Food & Drug Administration. In March, the FSIS announced that based on evidence provided by Kraft Foods and Kremin Foods, a biotech firm, it was amending regulations concerning the use of the three benzene derivatives as a anti-microbial agent in meats. According to FSIS:
Sodium benzoate, sodium propionate and benzoic acid, under the conditions proposed in the petitions, are both safe and suitable for use as antimicrobial agents in certain RTE (Ready-to-Eat) meat and poultry products.
– from http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/03/12/55664.htm
Anyone who has looked at a can of soda recently can tell that sodium benzoate was never actually banned from human consumption. While there have been some concerns about a possible link to hyperactivity disorders from sodium benzoate (maybe it was all the sugar, instead?), there have been no definitive links to health disorders.
Instead, the FDA had been concerned that the chemicals were being used to mask damaged and other unsafe cuts of meat.
Green bloggers reaction
That seems to be getting the goat of a lot of writers for sites like Natural News. They claim that masking damaged and inferior cuts of meat is exactly what Kraft wants to be doing. Kraft’s stated reason for petitioning the FDA on the issue was to prevent Listeria outbreaks. Natural News does make a valid point that tainted meat would normally not be usable.
But their claim isn’t actually true. While tainted meat would be unusable if the taint couldn’t be safely destroyed, that isn’t how the FDA defines damaged or inferior. Damaged meat is caused by improper butchering of the animal. If the animal is still bleeding when a cut is made, blood will flow into the flesh, causing it to bruise. THAT is a damaged cut of meat. Meanwhile, inferior meat is a matter of USDA grading. Utility grade meats are generally used only in ground and processed meat products instead of whole cuts.
With large amounts of preservatives, it is possible to mask the taste and include in products that ordinarily be wasted. But that is against the law. And so, the FDA has prohibited the use of benzoates in meat to keep watch on the practice. What Kraft is claiming is that limited amounts can be used an an anti-microbial agent but aren’t capable of masking damaged or inferior meat.
While I’m generally leery of claims sponsored by a company with a vested interest, this really isn’t an issue of food safety. This is an issue of food quality. Claiming that a certain level of a preservative doesn’t keep consumers from figuring out that a utility grade cut of meat isn’t actually a commercial grade seems pretty straight-forward.
28
Apr
Posted by Edward Antrobus in Recipe Sunday | Tags :Bisque, Campbell Soup Company, semi-homemade, soup, Soups and Stews, tomato, Tomato soup | No Comments
I was 30 before I had ever heard of a version of tomato soup that wasn’t Cambell’s Condensed Soup. I especially love a chunky tomato bisque. But who has the time to make a bisque from scratch? Fortunately, there is a really easy cheat to turn ordinary condensed soup into velvety bisque. This semi-homemade tomato bisque will fool your family and your taste-buds into thinking you made this meal from scratch.
The best part is that this semi-homemade recipe is cheaper than making bisque from scratch. Made from scratch, tomato bisque would require a pound of tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes can go for as much as $4/lb, while a can of Cambell’s Condensed Soup costs a dollar and a half. If you go with store brand, it’s even cheaper. The Kroger Value brand is just $.69. That’s half the price of even the cheapest tomatoes in the store.
Tomato Soup vs Tomato Bisque
For a long time, I was confused by the difference between a tomato soup and a tomato bisque. It turns out, not much. A bisque is a cream-based soup, while most other soups are water/broth based. However, in my family, we always added milk to our condensed tomato soup, which made it more like a bisque. But a true bisque will use cream instead of milk to make it thicker.
A bisque was originally a cream-based shellfish soup from France. The term “bisque” comes from bis cuites meaning “twice cooked” since the shellfish were first sauteed and then simmered in the broth. So I guess a twice-baked potato would be a bis quites potato. :) The soup was then strained and rice added as a thickening agent. Eventually, the term came to mean any cream-based soup such as tomato or squash.
Since a bisque is a creamy soup, why did I describe this semi-homemade recipe as a chunky bisque? Because I like it that way. When making a tomato bisque from scratch, you would puree the tomatoes into a smooth, creamy consistency. But some people, myself included, prefer chunky foods. Chunky applesauce, chunky peanut butter, chunky mashed potatoes, and chunky soup. Contrary to popular thought, those foods aren’t made chunky by pureeing them less. Instead, they are made by pureeing completely, but setting some pieces aside to be mixed in later.
It is the same way with this semi-homemade tomato bisque. Only the good folks at Campbells have already done the pureeing, you just need to add some tomatoes that you bought separately.
Semi-Homemade Tomato Bisque Recipe
Author: Edward Antrobus
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
- 1 Can condensed tomato soup
- 2 cups cream
- 1 roma tomato
- 1 Tbsp basil, chopped
- Pour condensed soup and cream into small saucepan and heat over low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes until hot.
- Dice tomato into ½ inch pieces. Stir into soup.
- Spoon soup into 2 bowls. Sprinkle basil over top
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Other options include frying some bacon to mix in, sprinkling some mild cheddar over the top, or adding rice as is sometimes found in a traditional bisque.
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