In 1963, a new edition of a popular 12 year old cookbook was published by Beverly Pepper.

The cookbook was Glamour Magazine’s New After Five Cookbook containing a year’s worth of dinner recipes designed for the young modern woman who didn’t have a lot of extra time to sit down and menu plan. With an audience comprised primarily of busy career girls, new mothers, college grads, young marrieds and the over extended singleton…

the After Five Cookbook was a dream come true. Broken down by month and then further by week, each section begins with a pantry staple list needed for the month followed by a weekly shopping list of all ingredients needed over the next six days..

The recipes are laid out from from Sunday to Friday of each week with Saturday of course left out, assuming either a night off, a party engagement or better yet, a dinner date out.

The last twenty pages contain special large-scale menus ideal for holidays or house parties when ladies were cooking for a crowd.

This is the section where Ms. Jeannie found the recipe for this blog post – a feast of flavor (or a gourmet gangfest as Beverley Pepper liked to call it) that serves eight but could easily be doubled or tripled to feed the proverbial army. Time is always short-handed in December so while this recipe does take two hours to prepare, it freezes wonderfully, sits well in a chafing dish, makes excellent leftovers and transports easily if you are tailgating or pot-lucking your way through the month.

Mexican Beef with Olives (serves 6-8)

3 lbs. cubed grass-fed stew beef

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 lb. ground grass-fed beef

2 minced garlic cloves

3 green peppers, cut in 1″inch strips

6 onions, chopped

2 tblsp. tomato paste

6 dashes Tabasco sauce (or equivalent hot sauce)

3 tblsp. chili powder

3 cups chicken broth

2 cans corn kernels, drained but reserve the liquid

1 cup spanish olives, sliced

salt and pepper (to taste)

1. In a large pan, brown the stew beef, ground beef, garlic, peppers and onions in the olive oil over medium high heat until the beef is browned and the onions begin to caramelize.
2. Add the tomato paste, tabasco, chili powder, salt and pepper to the pan and mix well.
3. Add the chicken broth, reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for one hour.
4. Add the corn kernals and simmer uncovered for an additional 30-45 minutes until most of the liquid is consumed.
5. The mixture at this point should be thick and saucy, if it looks too liquidy or thin let it simmer longer, if it looks too dry add some of the reserved liquid from the drained corn kernels. Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, add the olives and stir thoroughly over medium heat for 4 minutes.
6. If you prepare this dish ahead of time add the olives just before reheating.
7. Serve with rice, soft tortillas, hard tacos and lime wedges.

Ms. Jeannie served her tacos with white rice that was lightly tossed with freshly squeezed lime juice (half of a lime), a touch of salt and a few dashes of cumin.  Other serving options that would be equally delicious include: sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro, and/or sliced mango.

Fun for family and friends, this recipe only gets better as it sits in the fridge making leftovers and quick dinner reheats fast and easy throughout the week. A fun gift for food bloggers, kitchen experimenters and vintage cookbook lovers, the After Five Cookbook is available here.

Happy cooking dear readers!