House Sold, Emptying A House and Cooking My Slumgullion for the Last Time

I sold my house.  I am delighted.  My children have been gone from the house since 2014 and the place is too much house for me. I engaged a neighborhood realtor. For two years my local realtor was unable to sell this raised ranch in need of work, because " It is too close to the CSX railroad tracks."

In January, I hired Doug Perry, a tall elegant African American gent,  of Property Consultants and he sold this "as is" property in three days, after conducting ten house visits.

A young neighborhood couple will move in here after March 8th and begin their adventures.  Mine are pretty much over.  Now, I spend my days bagging, boxing and shedding two decades of toys, books, clothing, furniture, utensils, bri-a-brac and bills.  I hired the Schuch Brothers of Total Clean to haul away - everything. They are outstanding.   I also make daily trips  with loads to the wonderful Goodwill site at 93rd & Western, which features a drive up bay to shed memories and household detritus.  Adios, to all that.

Mine was a single parent home, since July 1999 and I bought the place from a single mother of two boys.  Being a single parent is no bag of popcorn.

By the grace of God, my offspring are solid citizens living their own lives.

I tried to make their lives comfortable and helpful - the jury is out on that and will listen to opposing arguments from family and friends.

One of the things that I managed to do well was feed my family.  They had three squares a day and a roof over a heated, lit and cabled set of rooms.

One of my standard meals was Slumgullion.

As I wrote some time back :

Slumgullion is the food of the working people who built America!  Not Howard Zinn activists and trust funded hair-shirts of the 21st Century American History textbooks, but the real people, former slaves, black, white, brown, yellow and tawny.  They are Edna Ferber's Midwestern Jews, Bohemian, Alsatian immigrants; they are John Dos Passos' Portuguese, Irish, WASP, and Belgian adventurers; They are Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, Richard Wright's Bigger Thomas and James T. Farrell's Studs Lonigan.  They are slumgullion eaters.
Slumgullion is a varietal staple that can include Chinese five spices, Mexican cumino, Japanese ginger, Hungarian smoked paprika, or just salt and black paper.
You need a cauldron, Dutch oven, iron pot or slow cooker of some volume.
Beef and Pork are the usual cuts of meat, but chicken, squirrel, turtle, or fish will work as well.
Root vegetables, or macaroni, pasta, rice or noodles will add substance to savories.

My Aunt Margarite was a master of this dish, which she often served to the denizens of the old St. Rita Augustinian Monastery at 63rd & Claremont Avenue.  Those black robed Austin Friars tucked away handsomely, back in the day.

I made her recipe with my own variations.

In celebration of my exit a a homeowner, soon to live a Spartan few decades in single room apartments, I will whip out my Slumgullion.

                                            Pat Hickey Slumgullion
two lbs - of Chuck Beef-cut like Fajitas - dredged in three good tablespoon of flour, smoked paprika and cilantro
One 1/2 cup of Mire Poix( celery,onion and carrots)
Five medium potatoes peeled - I use three Golden Yellow and two Russets
Five sprigs of Rosemary and five sprigs of thyme
One 16 oz. Can of Crushed Tomatoes and one small can of tomato paste
Two long dashes of Worcestershire sauce
A pinch of crushed Red pepper flakes
One five quart Hamilton Beach slow cooker
One skillet with three tablespoons of Olive Oil
Methode: À la manière de Hickey
In a large plastic bag add flour, smoked paprika and cilantro; Mix well and add the beef and roll it , bounce and knead the hell out of it  and let sit for about ten minutes.Add beef to the skillet and brown it.  When good and brown make room for the mire poix and saute and them blend all together, Cook until all vegetables are tender-ish
Peel and coarsely cut five potatoes and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Pour meat and mire poix mixture over the spuds.
Add 16 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and then the tomato paste and mix them together over the meat and spud.
Squirt five dashes of Worchester and sprinkle crushed red peppers over the tomatoes
Layer rosemary and thyme sprigs and mushrooms on top.
Cook on low for twelve to 24 hours.  

 

Serve with Pat Hickey Iron Skillet Cornbread -
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2 cups of Aunt Jemima Corn Mealone Jumbo eggone can of creamed corn2/3 cup of milk two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of good vanilla extract. Mixed and poured into a greased cast-iron skillet and baed for 25-30 minutes. 

Free at last!