Madeline opened her lunch box to find a thick slice of leftover lasagna, a side helping of buttery zucchini, an exotic kiwi cut into quarters, five pearly round cherry tomatoes, a tiny Morton salt shaker, two still-warm chocolate chip cookies, and a red plaid thermos full of ice-cold milk.”
The original inspiration for this blog was to share recipes from the impressive collections amassed over many years by Beulah and Jane. However, as my original idea has morphed into a slightly new direction, as my ideas so often do, in the future I’ll be sharing tried and true recipes from my own extensive collection plus new favorites that I’ve developed or discovered. I often am asked to share recipes with friends and former students (I taught Culinary Arts for 32 years!). If there are any recipes that anyone would like to see added to this blog, just comment below and I will be happy to share them here.
Now a word about the Long Shot Beef Stew recipe. Dusty and I are charter members of the Read Between the Vines book club, which meets at the original Feather Hills Tasting Room at 410 Thorn Lane, Makanda. Formerly known as Orlandini’s Winery, it’s one of the oldest wineries on the Shawnee Hills Wine trail. January is my month to select a book for the group to read and I chose The Trackers by Charles Frazier. I selected this book because it’s set in Depression Era America, a very challenging time in our history and similar in many ways to the post-pandemic period in which we’re living now. I’m hoping that the novel will inspire some good discussion at our next book club meeting on February 8. All book and or wine lovers are welcome to attend, BTW!
There are many food references throughout the text of The Trackers and the quote below inspired this recipe for Long Shot Beef Stew. This recipe is my adapted version of Julia Child’s classic Beef Bourguignon, which is alluded to in the text of The Trackers. I also took bits and pieces of other similar beef stew recipes to come up with surprisingly delicious dish.
Julia, who is identified in the quote from The Trackers, isn’t the famous Julia Child, but rather the Long Shot Ranch cook who often appears in the novel. However, the recipe described is likely Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon. This recipe is my adaptation of the culinary classic. Cooking the stew slowly at a low temperature in the oven, produces tender meat and vegetables simmering in a decadently savory sauce. I should also mention that Dusty is the best sous chef ever! We worked on developing this recipe together and we hope that you will give it a try!
“A torn corner of paper marked a page and when I turned to it, a recipe for beef stew with wine and onions and mushrooms. A sentence was underlined in pencil–However, for the best results, make use of every trick. I held up the open book and said, Good advice?– Your bet, Julia said. And not just in cooking.”
The Trackers
Long Shot Beef Stew
1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 pound beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained 1 can (10.5 ounce) condensed beef broth 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 ½ cups dry red wine, like Feather Hills Merlot
⅓ cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon marjoram ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 carrots, pared and cut into 1-inch segments 1 pound fresh white mushrooms, quartered 12 small red potatoes (1 ½ pound), quartered 1 bay leaf
Directions:
In a frying pan, sauté beef in hot oil until lightly browned and no pink remains. Add onion and garlic. Sauté just until onions are translucent. Remove from heat. Transfer mixture to a 4-quart ovenproof Dutch oven or casserole.
Stir in tomatoes, beef broth, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and red wine.
In a small bowl, combine all-purpose flour, salt, sugar, marjoram, bay leaf and pepper. Add to beef mixture and stir to combine.
Cover and bake 2 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender, stirring once.
While enchiladas are often baked in a high-sodium sauce, this soup produces the same flavors. Garnished with fresh avocado to add a heart-healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids.
We recently discovered this recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup and found it both delicious and satisfying! Weighing in at just 350 calories per serving, it’s definitely an all-around winner! Tasty, easy to prepare, and nutritious! Hope you’ll give it a try!
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 cups chicken broth, divided
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Directions:
In a 6-quart slow cooker, combine tomatoes, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper with 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth.
Add chicken breasts to the cooker, turning to coat with tomato-herb mixture. Cook on HIGH 3 hours.
Remove chicken and shred, then add back to the cooker.
Add black and kidney beans and remaining 2 1/2 cups chicken broth. Cook on Low or Medium setting for another 2 hours.
There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup from a can.
Laurie Colwin
In my opinion, soup is the ultimate winter comfort food, so this seems like the perfect time to share a series of my favorite soup recipes. Initially, I must confess that today’s recipe is not from either Beulah or Jane’s extensive recipe collections. However, like everything prepared in our kitchen, the dish was inspired by similar dishes prepared by our sweet mothers.
I’d like to begin this soup series with a recipe that is a twist on Beulah’s Potato Soup. Her original version was a Marlow family favorite and is very similar to my Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder recipe. Mom’s potato soup called for fewer aromatics and I’ve substituted ham for bacon, otherwise the two recipes are both creamy, flavorful and hearty. Also, as a nod to convenience, my recipe is cooked in the Instant Pot. Hope you enjoy it!
Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, finely chopped
4 slices thick-cut fully cooked ham
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup Half -and-half
1 tablespoon corn starch
Preparation:
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté. Add onion, garlic, and celery. Cook and stir one minute.
Add the broth, ham, potatoes and corn to the Instant Pot.
Put the lid on the cooker, turn the valve to sealing, and select Manual or Pressure Cook for 10 minutes. Note: It will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and begin counting down.
When the cook time has elapsed, let the pressure release naturally for a few minutes, then open the valve to release remaining pressure.
Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté, whisk together cream and corn starch, and stir into soup to thicken slightly.
Serve with shredded cheese and green onions, as desired.
I make this cheese ball recipe for New Year’s Eve every year without fail. I got the recipe from my sister Marilyn Sue Marlow Gerlach and it always brings back very fond memories of the very first New Year’s Eve party I ever attended. I was staying with my sister and her husband Willis, as I often did when I was a kid. I was so excited when I learned that they would be hosting a couples party for New Year’s Eve. Before that time, the only NYE events I had ever attended had been rather somber events at our church. Nice, but not exactly festive! My memories of that NYE party are a little hazy, but I definitely recall a Christmas tree, music on the record player and a pretty buffet table, featuring this cheese ball and chips and dip. By the way, that was my first experience with chip dip! It was love at first bite, starting an affair that continues to this day.
Marilyn Sue Marlow Gerlach
This cheese ball recipe is very adaptable, blending well with a variety of stir-ins. I like to add finely chopped red and green pepper, but you can also add finely chopped ham, onion or any other ingredients you like.
Easy Cheese Ball
1 stick butter, softened
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Finely chopped pecans
Blend butter, cream cheese and garlic salt until thoroughly combined. Roll in chopped pecans to coat. Garnish with paprika or chopped parsley. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before serving for easier spreading.
This simple casserole recipe was very popular in the Marlow household when I was growing up! It’s actually little more than baked beans with ground beef added, but the combination makes a delicious main dish that’s both savory and oh so slightly sweet. I’m sure the fact that the ingredients in Saturday Nite Special are also inexpensive pantry staples made it appealing to a mom on a budget. The brown sugar added to the bacon that tops the casserole give the dish a very modern twist!
Being the rule breakers that we are, Dusty and I prepared Saturday Nite Special for dinner on Sunday evening. LOL We followed the recipe as it appears on Beulah’s recipe card pictured above with one deviation. We replaced the pork and beans with a can of Bush’s Best Original Baked Beans, which added some extra flavor to the dish. I think my mom would approve. Served with some crusty bread and a fresh vegetable salad, Saturday Nite Special was just as tasty and satisfying as I remembered!
Saturday Nite Special
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (28 ounce) can pork and beans
1 (20 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Bacon
¼ cup brown sugar
Directions:
Brown ground beef in hot skillet without added fat. Stir often. Add pork and beans. Drain ¾ cup tomato juice from tomatoes and save for future use. Add remaining tomatoes and salt to browned ground beef mixture. Pour half of mixture into greased 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking dish; cover with sliced onions. Pour remaining beef mixture over onions. Top with strips of bacon and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake in 350̊ for one hour.
Note: To print this recipe, simply right click on the post to bring up the print dialogue box.
We are Dusty and Ramona Hatch, your hosts for a culinary journey through our mothers’ recipe collections!
We’ve been toying with the idea of creating this cooking blog for some time and we’re very excited that it’s finally happening! We are so blessed to have inherited two huge recipe collections, one from each of our mothers! We thought that sharing the best of those recipe collections with people who appreciate preparing and savoring good food would be a fitting tribute to these two amazing women! Thus our Beulah Jane blog was born and our culinary journey begun! We’re so pleased that you’ve chosen to join us!
Meet our Moms, Beulah and Jane
Beulah Watts Marlow
Jane Smith Hatch Krueger
Before we jump into sharing our first recipes, it seems appropriate that we give you some background on our blog’s namesakes. Beulah (my mom) and Jane (Dusty’s mom) lived, worked and raised their families at opposite ends of our home state of Illinois. Though they spent their lives hundreds of miles apart geographically, they shared many traits, interests and even work experience.
Moms who worked outside the home were not nearly as commonplace when Dusty and I were growing up, yet both of our moms went to work when we were pretty young. Interestingly enough, both Beulah and Jane worked as cooks in the elementary school cafeterias where their children attended. They also shared an appreciation for Blue Willow china. We’ve incorporated that traditional dinnerware pattern as part of the theme for Beulah Jane, for that reason.
Both Beulah and Jane were very adventurous cooks, collecting countless recipes for everything from appetizers to desserts. Because the recipes were gleaned from a myriad of sources–newspapers, magazines, cookbooks, friends, family–the process of merging and organizing the two recipe collections was like stepping back in time. Because most of the recipes are handwritten, the experience was deeply personal and emotional.
As we categorized and grouped the recipes, it was easy to identify the most treasured and trusted recipes. They’re the recipes that bear the food spatters and splotches of frequent use, testifying to their popularity with both cook and diners. Those are the recipes that you can expect to see shared on this blog.
Beulah Jane 