My mom made this while I was growing up, and since I moved away from home I find myself craving all sorts of things that she used to cook. It used to be our "rainy day" meal, which we didn't have very often seeing as we lived in the desert that is Los Angeles.
So now that I live away from home I decided to carry on the tradition, and make this my new rainy day meal... which poses a problem, since it's been a bit of rain everyday for the past month.
What you'll need:
* 1-1 1/2 lb ground beef (good beef - sirloin not too much fat content)
* 1/2 med onion sliced
* 2 lg/ 3 med russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick
* 2 cloves garlic minced
* 1 can tomato sauce (15 oz.)
* 2 cans chicken broth (about 28 oz.)
* 2 cans pinto beans
* Dried oregano
What You'll Do:
1. Brown meat (Season with garlic salt, salt & pepper).
2. While cooking meat, add garlic and onion.
3. When all redness from meat has disappeared, add potatoes.
4. Add tomato sauce and chicken broth and water (about 8 to 10 cups, depending on how much juice you want).
5. Turn up heat, to boiling, taste and season with salt, cover and boil about 20 mins.
6. When potatoes are soft that blade of knife enters easily. Add dried oregano, pinching leaves, and beans.
7. Lower heat to medium and simmer for 5-10 mins more. Also taste again and season accordingly.
8. Garnish with lemon wedges, chopped cilantro, crushed red chilie pepper.
I also made some parmesan toast with some fresh sourdough bread that was starting to get a bit stale. For that, simply spread some butter, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and salt and toast in toaster oven for a few minutes. (It's great for dipping in the soup!)
