Good Eats: Down-home main dish gets high-end promotion
By Marcia Poole | Posted: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole takes an easy, economical route to dinnertime.
Few cuts of meat are as forgiving and few are as versatile as ground beef.
Easy to cook and hard to ruin, ground beef gives us cheeseburgers and chili, meatloaf and meatballs, loosemeats and sloppy joes -- and dozens of other basic, honest main dishes Siouxlanders have enjoyed all their lives.
A whole genre of ground beef casseroles exists to fill us up easily and economically. This is the stuff kids love, the stuff that comfortably mixes with pasta and does an easy turn with mild cheddar cheese.
I came across such a dish in a collection from Midwest Dairy Association. The recipe title, "Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole," left no doubt: this was familiar down-home fare.
One pound lean ground beef browns with a half-cup chopped onion. Cooked macaroni, chopped fresh tomato, a can of tomato sauce and the all-important shredded cheddar cheese add layers of easy-to-take flavors and textures.
The ingredients converge as a variation on a been-there theme. Nothing new, yet this recipe commanded glossy, aggressive marketing treatment by the dairy farmers. Here are possible reasons why.
First, the recipe showcases cheese -- their star ingredient. Next, it packs appeal less-experienced cooks seek: accessible ingredients; directions that don't intimidate; and the promise of almost fool-proof results.
The recipe aims at cooks who want to go down-home but aren't sure how to get there. These are cheeseburger lovers who likely are settling into a life that may mean cooking at home. And few ingredients offer an easier starting place than ground beef.
Yet, the all-purpose ingredient stirs lots of questions. In fact, questions about ground beef are among the top five food topics that drive calls to the USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline.
Among them: What's in ground beef? As you may have guessed, it's not the choicest parts of the animal that go into the mix. Ground beef takes the tougher cuts. Grinding breaks down the grit and distributes flavorful fat throughout. The less fat, the drier the meat will be.
Why is ground beef sometimes fresh-looking red on the outside but grayish-brown on the inside? Some consumers presume that the brownish interior means the meat is spoiled. That's generally not the case.
The USDA explains that freshly cut meat is actually purplish in color. Oxygen from the air reacts with the meat pigments and the result is a red surface. The inside, which doesn't get as much oxygen, is grayish-brown. A warning: if all the meat is gray or brown, it may, indeed, be spoiled.
How much will ground beef shrink during cooking? A number of factors figure in: fat and moisture content; cooking temperature; and how long the meat is cooked. High cooking temps will shrink meat more than a moderate approach. Medium temps also help keep the meat moist and flavorful. Overcooking dries out ground beef. And overworking ground beef with your hands will pack and toughen it. When patting out burgers, handle the meat as little as possible.
How do you know if ground beef is done? Grab the instant-read thermometer and check the internal temp; it should be 160 degrees F.
As for fat content, take your pick, from 70 percent-lean ground beef up to ground sirloin, which is no less than 90 percent lean. In between are ground round and ground chuck. At not less than 80 percent lean, chuck packs more flavor than leaner round or sirloin. Drain off the excess grease after browning the meat.
Leaner ground beef is well suited to recipes that add moisture, such as our Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole. Sirloin and round hold together nicely in meatloaf and meatball recipes. The ultra-leans won’t leave as much grease in the cooking pan.
Fat was hardly a concern back in the days of cattle drives when the cowboys were tough and the cattle were tougher. The recently published "Texas Cowboy Kitchen" (Andrew McMeel Publishing) presents recipes for 100 updated cowboy dishes, along delicious break-outs on chuck wagon history.
Authors Grady Spears explains that Texas drovers typically moved a herd of steers about 10 to 15 miles a day; and sometimes up to 25 miles in a day if a trail needed breaking in. Getting cattle to market or to a railroad to move them to market was long, laborious and risky work for both cowboys and cattle with not much chance for adding layers of fat.
Chicken-fried steak was born on the cattle-driving trail when the chuck-wagon cook pounded pieces of longhorn to tenderize the tough meat. He dredged it in flour and fried it in a dutch oven over the fire. Gravy added a little flavor. The beefy-mac casserole doesn't boast such a colorful origin. Still, it's a dish that can take us down home.
Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole
1 pound lean ground beef
One-half cup chopped onion
1 cup elbow macaroni (or penne or rotini pasta)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
One-half teaspoon seasoned salt
One-quarter teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an eight-by-eight--inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef and onion until beef is browned and onion is soft; drain.
Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Spoon the macaroni into prepared pan. Spread beef mixture and chopped tomato over macaroni. Pour tomato sauce over beef. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, pepper and shredded cheese.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for 35 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges of casserole are bubbling. Makes four servings. Source: Midwest Dairy Association
Beef Spaghetti Pie Ole
1 pound lean ground beef
1 teaspoon garlic powder
One-half teaspoon salt
One-half teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
Three-quarters cup light dairy sour cream
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
Pasta shell:
1 package (7 ounces) uncooked spaghetti
One-third cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
1 egg
One-half teaspoon salt
One-quarter teaspoon garlic powder
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain well. In large bowl, whisk together remaining pasta shell ingredients. Add pasta; toss to coat. Arrange pasta in nine-inch pie dish, pressing down and up side to form shell; set aside.
Meanwhile, heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add ground beef; brown four to five minutes, breaking up into three-quarter inch crumbles. Pour off drippings. Season beef with one teaspoon garlic powder, one-half teaspoon salt and cumin; stir in tomatoes. Bring to a boil; cook three to five minutes or until liquid is almost evaporated, stirring occasionally.
Reserve two tablespoons beef mixture for garnish. Stir sour cream into remaining beef; spoon into pasta shell. Place one cup cheese in center, leaving two-inch border around edge. Spoon reserved beef mixture onto center of cheese; bake in 350 degree F. oven 15 minutes or until heated through. To serve, cut into wedges. Makes four servings; 652 calories each. Source: National Cattlemen's Beef Association
Easy to cook and hard to ruin, ground beef gives us cheeseburgers and chili, meatloaf and meatballs, loosemeats and sloppy joes -- and dozens of other basic, honest main dishes Siouxlanders have enjoyed all their lives.
A whole genre of ground beef casseroles exists to fill us up easily and economically. This is the stuff kids love, the stuff that comfortably mixes with pasta and does an easy turn with mild cheddar cheese.
I came across such a dish in a collection from Midwest Dairy Association. The recipe title, "Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole," left no doubt: this was familiar down-home fare.
One pound lean ground beef browns with a half-cup chopped onion. Cooked macaroni, chopped fresh tomato, a can of tomato sauce and the all-important shredded cheddar cheese add layers of easy-to-take flavors and textures.
The ingredients converge as a variation on a been-there theme. Nothing new, yet this recipe commanded glossy, aggressive marketing treatment by the dairy farmers. Here are possible reasons why.
First, the recipe showcases cheese -- their star ingredient. Next, it packs appeal less-experienced cooks seek: accessible ingredients; directions that don't intimidate; and the promise of almost fool-proof results.
The recipe aims at cooks who want to go down-home but aren't sure how to get there. These are cheeseburger lovers who likely are settling into a life that may mean cooking at home. And few ingredients offer an easier starting place than ground beef.
Yet, the all-purpose ingredient stirs lots of questions. In fact, questions about ground beef are among the top five food topics that drive calls to the USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline.
Among them: What's in ground beef? As you may have guessed, it's not the choicest parts of the animal that go into the mix. Ground beef takes the tougher cuts. Grinding breaks down the grit and distributes flavorful fat throughout. The less fat, the drier the meat will be.
Why is ground beef sometimes fresh-looking red on the outside but grayish-brown on the inside? Some consumers presume that the brownish interior means the meat is spoiled. That's generally not the case.
The USDA explains that freshly cut meat is actually purplish in color. Oxygen from the air reacts with the meat pigments and the result is a red surface. The inside, which doesn't get as much oxygen, is grayish-brown. A warning: if all the meat is gray or brown, it may, indeed, be spoiled.
How much will ground beef shrink during cooking? A number of factors figure in: fat and moisture content; cooking temperature; and how long the meat is cooked. High cooking temps will shrink meat more than a moderate approach. Medium temps also help keep the meat moist and flavorful. Overcooking dries out ground beef. And overworking ground beef with your hands will pack and toughen it. When patting out burgers, handle the meat as little as possible.
How do you know if ground beef is done? Grab the instant-read thermometer and check the internal temp; it should be 160 degrees F.
As for fat content, take your pick, from 70 percent-lean ground beef up to ground sirloin, which is no less than 90 percent lean. In between are ground round and ground chuck. At not less than 80 percent lean, chuck packs more flavor than leaner round or sirloin. Drain off the excess grease after browning the meat.
Leaner ground beef is well suited to recipes that add moisture, such as our Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole. Sirloin and round hold together nicely in meatloaf and meatball recipes. The ultra-leans won’t leave as much grease in the cooking pan.
Fat was hardly a concern back in the days of cattle drives when the cowboys were tough and the cattle were tougher. The recently published "Texas Cowboy Kitchen" (Andrew McMeel Publishing) presents recipes for 100 updated cowboy dishes, along delicious break-outs on chuck wagon history.
Authors Grady Spears explains that Texas drovers typically moved a herd of steers about 10 to 15 miles a day; and sometimes up to 25 miles in a day if a trail needed breaking in. Getting cattle to market or to a railroad to move them to market was long, laborious and risky work for both cowboys and cattle with not much chance for adding layers of fat.
Chicken-fried steak was born on the cattle-driving trail when the chuck-wagon cook pounded pieces of longhorn to tenderize the tough meat. He dredged it in flour and fried it in a dutch oven over the fire. Gravy added a little flavor. The beefy-mac casserole doesn't boast such a colorful origin. Still, it's a dish that can take us down home.
Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole
1 pound lean ground beef
One-half cup chopped onion
1 cup elbow macaroni (or penne or rotini pasta)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
One-half teaspoon seasoned salt
One-quarter teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an eight-by-eight--inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef and onion until beef is browned and onion is soft; drain.
Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Spoon the macaroni into prepared pan. Spread beef mixture and chopped tomato over macaroni. Pour tomato sauce over beef. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, pepper and shredded cheese.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for 35 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges of casserole are bubbling. Makes four servings. Source: Midwest Dairy Association
Beef Spaghetti Pie Ole
1 pound lean ground beef
1 teaspoon garlic powder
One-half teaspoon salt
One-half teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
Three-quarters cup light dairy sour cream
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
Pasta shell:
1 package (7 ounces) uncooked spaghetti
One-third cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
1 egg
One-half teaspoon salt
One-quarter teaspoon garlic powder
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain well. In large bowl, whisk together remaining pasta shell ingredients. Add pasta; toss to coat. Arrange pasta in nine-inch pie dish, pressing down and up side to form shell; set aside.
Meanwhile, heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add ground beef; brown four to five minutes, breaking up into three-quarter inch crumbles. Pour off drippings. Season beef with one teaspoon garlic powder, one-half teaspoon salt and cumin; stir in tomatoes. Bring to a boil; cook three to five minutes or until liquid is almost evaporated, stirring occasionally.
Reserve two tablespoons beef mixture for garnish. Stir sour cream into remaining beef; spoon into pasta shell. Place one cup cheese in center, leaving two-inch border around edge. Spoon reserved beef mixture onto center of cheese; bake in 350 degree F. oven 15 minutes or until heated through. To serve, cut into wedges. Makes four servings; 652 calories each. Source: National Cattlemen's Beef Association
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Marie wrote on Feb 29, 2008 6:21 AM: