Casarita's Picadillo

When we lived in South Texas, just outside San Antonio...my husband and his boss B.W. would travel to Gonzales every Monday to have meetings at the feed mills. I'm sure some business was discussed but the main reason I suspect was the Picadillo Tacos they served at the Cafe! Picadillo or "Spicy Beef" has as many variations as there are good cooks (and in Texas, that's a lot). It can serve as the Tex-Mex equivalent of Sloppy Joes, fill tacos or burritos, or act as a dip for tostadas or corn chips.

I love the food section of the San Antonio Express News. Every week I log onto Wednesday's edition to see Pat Mozersky's column Chef's Secrets. Last week she featured
Casarita Mexican Restaurant, one of San Antonio's hidden gems. They serve some of the best Mexican food in Texas and this one made my heart do a Texas Size flip-flop!

Casarita’s Picadillo
2 pounds 80 percent lean (80/20) ground beef
1 scant teaspoon flour
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon beef base
1 medium potato, finely diced
1/4 cup finely diced carrots
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
Cook and break up ground beef in a large skillet for 8 to 10 minutes, or until meat is still slightly pink. Drain off accumulated fat. Add flour, garlic powder, seasoned salt, cumin, white pepper and beef base. Stir in potatoes and carrots and continue cooking until meat is browned. Add tomato sauce and water, stir, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender but still firm. Serve with rice, beans and tortillas.
Printable Recipe

Hillbilly Fire Alarm

Arkansans have a sense of humor, we have to because if you don't you're in a heap of trouble! Hillbillies have been picked on going way back to the 1930's radio show Lum and Abner. Later on the television show The Beverly Hillbillies poked fun at Jed Clampett and his family. While they lived in a Beverly Hills mansion, they were reluctant to give up their old jalopy and their Ozark ways for a

"City Slicker Life."

If you have been to the Mecca, Branson Missouri, then you have no doubt seen the knick-knacks that poke a stick at us!

But we are a forgiving bunch, especially since tourism is our bread and butter. So I just want you to know we are rolling out the red carpet for y'all again this year,

Come Visit the Ozarks!

I say Tomay~to, You say Tomah~to!

If you live in the South, or were raised in the South, cornbread makes it's way to the family table often. Mom always used yellow cornmeal to make hers, as did her Mother. My family grew their own corn and had it stone ground at a local mill. It was healthier but more than that, it just tasted better. Yellow cornmeal also has more Vitamin A than white.

Historically, Northerners preferred yellow cornmeal in their bread, and Southerners preferred white cornmeal. Northern cornbread often has more flour in it than cornmeal and usually has quite a bit of sugar and eggs. My Great-Grandmother Keeling ate her evening cornbread broken up into “pot likker,” which is the water in which greens were boiled. She died at 99, so it must have been healthy!

We live only 11 miles down the road from the War Eagle Mill. On the banks of the War Eagle River in a serene valley, the old Grist Mill dates back to the 1830's. Three stories high with an 18 foot waterwheel, it’s a working mill. You can buy almost every kind of whole grain at the store on the first floor. They have samples of home baked bread that has been made at the top floors' "Bean Palace Restaurant"

The second floor has unique gift and kitchen items like Granite Ware. The enameled pans come in a variety of colors, red and white, blue and white, even the old black and white like Grandma had! Let me tell you, those pans will make the best biscuits and cornbread you will ever put in your mouth!

If the economy is getting in your pocketbook, don't forget CORN, In the form of bread, dressing, grits, or hominy it's an essential food that will help you stretch a dollar!