Yesterday I decided to make a beef stew, which turned out as a form of carne guisada.
- 1.5 lbs beef stew meat in ~ 3/4″ cubes. (You could use pork, lamb, goat, venison, or elk here)
- 1/2 cup ~ chorizo (if dried Spanish.. chop it up, if Mexican, w/o casing) I used Chorizo Seco from El Torito #2 in KCKS.
- 1 tbs olive oil (or bacon drippings or canola oil)
- 2 medium yellow onions chopped 1/2″
- 3 shallots sliced thinly
- 3 cloves garlic (chopped, crushed, whatever..)
- 1 red bell pepper chopped roughly
- 1 green bell pepper chopped roughly
- 6-8 tomatillos, husked & quartered
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 3-4 small russet potatoes cut into 8ths.
- 2 corn tortillas torn to bits (these are for both flavor and thickening)
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp epazote
- 2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 2 tbs chopped cilantro
- 1/2 tsp Penzey’s Bonnes Herbes Parisienne (the end of a jar of this stuff I had)
- 1 tsp ground chile ancho
- 1/2 tsp chile caribe or crushed red pepper
- 1 tsp minced chile serrano (I could add more chile, but my mother-in-law eats with us)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 bottle of beer
- stock to cover (I used chicken stock this time)
- salt to taste
Heat oil in large stewpot. Brown/render chorizo on low heat. Add beef and brown slowly.. when partially browned, add onions, shallots, garlic, epazote, mexican oregano, bay leaf, cumin and chiles. Stir regularly. As the onions finish, add bell peppers and have them soften. Add tomatillos, tomato paste, carrots, and potatoes. Add beer and stock as needed. (You could be hoity-toity and use white wine. But you don’t have to.)
Bring to a low boil, add torn-up corn tortillas, and cilantro, stir, and lower to a simmer, cover and let cook for at least two hours.
Good with bolillos (french bread) or cornbread.
Carne guisada Jan. 13, 2013
