There are good-for-you entrées and then there’s the not-so-healthy stuff that we all like but hate to admit it. I love both and try to moderate my weekly intake with meals that bring me some benefits other than great taste.
We all know how delicious that crusty browned hunk of fat on prime rib is, or how irresistible an extra piece of fatty pastrami from Katz’s can be. It’s damn tasty stuff, but the thought of it makes my cardiologist swoon. So, I occasionally try to balance this column’s content with healthier fare. Still, I hope I’ve been a winner when cooking like a sinner.
Living in “Mi-Yami,” I’ve often been tempted to snatch that extra piece of chicharron, buttered Cuban toast or anything with a crispy, deep-fried crust. Naughty, naughty lifestyle choices to be sure, but fatty and fried stuff is delish!
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2023)
Beefy Mi-Yami boasts ingredients that are flavorfully balanced and spiced just right.
This month’s column of contradiction is about a healthy superfood, the yam (often referred to as a sweet potato though they’re two different things). Packed with fiber, this tuber is rich in anti-inflammatory agents, antioxidants and vitamins A, E and C. It’s also a perfect culinary container to stuff with some “lean-healthier” ground beef smothered in spices and flavor, then top with a shredded four-cheese mix. What the heck – somebody I know is gonna swoon real soon!
As I expand my cooking influences, I try to steer in the right direction. Superior healthy cooking and eating habits have always been on my lifestyle list. There are plenty of “blue zones” in the world – places where folks live to be 100 healthy years old or more – but I don’t think Mi-Yami is one of them. If one day I am so blessed, 96 revolutions of this Earth around the sun will be just fine for me.
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2023)
A splash of Worcestershire sauce and a bit of ketchup add just the right touch of flavor to my sautéeing vegetables.
Meanwhile, I still have that mantra repeating somewhere in my brain: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die – or cry.” Cooking with beef once a week reinforces that mantra; serving it up with a healthy vegetable side affords me the fantasy of healthier cooking so I hope you can bear with me. Beef and yams and cucumber, oh my!
Living in Mi-Yami has also exposed me to more colorful and spicy directions under the grace of Cuban, South American, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico influences. Any color jalapeño will work at any time. I have also increased and enjoyed the incorporation of cilantro, spicier dried peppers, olives and raisins more than when I cooked while living in NYC, cuisine that was informed by growing up with “Baltic” influences.
I still prefer the red and yellow peppers over green (too much capsicum). Incorporating a form of pico de gallo has become my second Cajun Holy Trinity. Tomato-onion-cilantro is the basic salsa cruda trinity I added into my ground beef sauté for this recipe; the side dish was simply halved and seeded cucumbers with sour cream, dill, a dash of white vinegar, and salt and pepper.
This whole meal gets knocked out in under 35-40 minutes and it’s a crowd-pleaser. Add the spices you like in the quantities you prefer. My recipe allows for the yams to be boiled while the beef filling is being prepped. Fast prep time, a “healthier” substrate pairing with lean protein, and the spice is so nice. I hope you will be smellin’ what I’m tellin’ and try this one out.
Come back next month for my Latvian uncle Kurt’s pseudo beet borscht with a twist (you’ll never toss your beet tops again). It’s oh, so tasty and beautiful on a holiday table.
CHEF SID’S BEEFY MI-YAMI
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
· Three cucumbers, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
· 1/4 cup fresh dill
· 1/2 cup sour cream
· 1 teaspoon white vinegar
· 2 large yams, lightly peeled, cleaned and halved
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2023)
Generously fill your yams with the beef mixture.
· 1 yellow and one red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
· 1/2 large green jalapeño, finely chopped
· 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
· 5 fresh garlic cloves, finely chopped
· 1 medium to large tomato, seeded and finely chopped
· 1/4 cup stuffed green and black olives, coarsely chopped
· Olive oil
· 1/4 stick butter
· Herbes de Provence
· 1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
· 1 heaping tablespoon yellow raisins
· 3 splashes Worcestershire sauce
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2023)
Pile that cheese nice and high on your beef-filled yams. No skimping!
· 2 tablespoons ketchup
· Salt and pepper to taste
· 2 pounds lean ground sirloin beef
· One egg, beaten
· Shredded four-cheese Mexican mix (I like Sargento’s)
PREPARATION
(SID HOELTZELL @ MIAMI 2023)
Dress thinly sliced cucumbers with sour cream, fresh dill and white vinegar for a cool side that pairs well with the hot ’Yamis.
· Gently toss cucumbers with dill, sour cream and vinegar; cover and place in refrigerator.
· Boil yams in unsalted water until soft but firm, about 25-30 minutes; be careful not to overcook.
· In large bowl mix peppers, jalapeño, green onion, onion, garlic, tomato and olives; set aside.
· Drain cooked yams and, using a soup spoon, create a hollow in each half yam (save the insides for making a future “yam-gnocchi”); place hollowed halves onto baking tray or dish lined with parchment paper.
· Spray or baste yams with olive oil; set aside.
· In large skillet melt butter and sauté chopped vegetables with herbes de Provence until tender; add cilantro, raisins, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and salt and pepper to taste; transfer mixture to bowl and set aside to cool.
· In same skillet lightly brown ground beef; separate and remove all excess liquid and fat from pan and allow beef to cool.
· Fold vegetables and egg into beef; combine well.
· Generously fill each half yam with ground beef mixture and sprinkle generously with cheese.
· Place tray in oven and broil on high until cheese melts and lightly browns, about four minutes; serve hot out of the oven with cucumber-sour cream salad.
Next month: My Latvian Uncle Kurt’s beet borscht with a twist – you’ll never toss your beet tops again!
Sid Hoeltzell is an award-winning Miami-based commercial food and beverage photographer and former “MasterChef” contestant. He has completed more than 450 commissioned works for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, teaches food photography seminars and is a preferred fine art photographer for Christie’s, Sotheby’s and private collections.