Birria

 Delicious and easy traditional Mexican roast.  One of our family favorites!

INGREDIENTS:

Beef Roast

2 garlic cloves

3 guajillo peppers

1 can whole tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes

8 or so of “Chile bravos” also know as “Chile de Arbol” (these are hot peppers)

3/8- ½ cup vinegar (maybe a little less)

½ - 2/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

6 or so whole cloves

1/8 tsp (about 19 kernels) whole pepper

1-1  ½  tsp oregano

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

½ cinnamon stick

1/3 Mexican chocolate tablet (such as “Abuelita” or “Ibarra” brand)

Salt to taste

3 bay leaves

Cut roast into several large chunks and place in crockpot.  Boil or microwave the guajillo and chiles de arbol peppers to soften them.  If microwaving them, do it for 1-2 minutes (you do not need to use a lot of water). Throw the rest of the ingredients (except for bay leaves) in the blender (including the soften peppers) and blend for a few minutes.  Pour sauce over meat and throw bay leaves on top.  Cover and cook on high heat for 4-6 hours.  Serve with chopped onion and cilantro on top.

Carne Molida con Papas

In need of an easy meal??? Well, look no further! This is one of the easiest meals to make. I tend to make this often...specially when I run out of ideas. You can make this and eat it with tortillas like a burrito. You can use this as the meat dish for tostadas, or some delicious sopes (post to come)! It can also be the perfect filling for fried empanadas.

Anyway, the list goes on.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 tomatoes, diced
4 potatoes, diced (it really depends on the size of the potatoes, so as many as you want)
2-3 fresh jalapenos, diced
cilantro, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
Mozarella or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (optional)

In a skillet begin to cook the meat, add salt and pepper. When the meat is practically done, add the remaining ingredients (except for the cheese), add more salt and pepper if necessary (I usually do). Cook on medium heat (mix when needed) until potatoes are tender. When potatoes are ready, add cheese, and serve when cheese has melted. Enjoy!!

Note: I once added fresh chopped spinach to it and it was great. So if you are in the need of using spinach...here is a great dish.

Skirt Steak Tacos with Roasted Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 head romaine lettuce, thinly shredded
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, halved and diced
• Grilled Tomato Salsa, recipe follows
• 8 ounces sour cream

Directions

Heat grill to high.

Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and on the top rack of the grill while the steak is grilling.

Heat grill pan over high heat. Brush steak with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill on one side until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook to medium-rare doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. Let rest 5 minutes then slice against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Fill each tortilla with some lettuce, 3 to 4 pieces of meat, onion, grilled tomato salsa, sour cream, and avocado.

Grilled Tomato Salsa:

nocoupons

• 2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for brushing tomatoes
• 2 serrano chiles
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Heat grill to high.

Heat oil in a small saute pan and saute the chiles, onion, and garlic until soft.

Brush tomatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides until slightly charred and soft.

Transfer tomatoes and serrano mixture to a food processor; add the lime juice and salt and pepper and process until smooth. Add the cilantro and pulse a few times (there should be flecks of cilantro in the salsa.) Transfer to a bowl.

CHEESE STEAK SANDWICH

I found this recipe in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine (again), but of course tweaked the ingredients. I hope you enjoy the sandwich as much as we do!

SERVES TWO:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pds. RIB-EYE or EYE-of-ROUND Steak

1 Tbs. OLIVE OIL (I do not have a non-stick skillet, so I doubled the Olive Oil)

1 WHITE ONION

1 RED BELL PEPPER [my addition]

1 SWEET YELLOW PEPPER [my addition]

1 RED JALAPENO PEPPER [my addition]

8 Slices PROVOLONE Cheese

COARSE SALT and GROUND PEPPER

Freeze the Rib-Eye or Eye-of-Round Steak 35 minutes.

Thinly slice the Onion, and Peppers.


Once you remove steak from freezer slice very thinly against the grain with a serrated knife and season with Coarse Salt and Ground Pepper.

In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil, and cook the sliced White Onion, and Peppers until onion has browned and all have begun to soften.

Transfer Onion and Peppers to bowl. Wipe non-stick skillet clean, otherwise add steak and cook until cooked through and browned around edges.

Gather meat evenly into two mounds and top with Onion, Peppers and 4 slices of Provolone per mound.

Cook until cheese melts. Serve on toasted Hoagie Roll.


ENJOY!

Basic Drip Beef

I made this for my in-laws and parents. My mother in law confessed that she has never made such a tender roast in all the years she's been cooking. Maybe I was just lucky that day.

• 1 whole 2.5 to 4 Pound Chuck Roast
  ¼ cups Butter
  1 whole Large Onion, Sliced Thick
  3 cloves Garlic, Peeled
  ½ cups Soy Sauce
  1 cup Sherry (cooking Sherry Is Fine) (I used 1 can beef broth instead)
  ½ teaspoons Salt
  4 cups Water
  I believe I added in some brown sugar as well
  Toasted, Buttered Deli Rolls
  OPTIONAL: Rosemary, Thyme, Other Spices

Heat butter in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions for a couple of minutes, or until starting to get brown.

Put onions in to crock pot and set chuck roast on top of the onions. Add all remaining ingredients. Cover crock pot and simmer (very low heat) for 6 hours, or until beef is fork-tender and falling apart. Shred meat with two forks until all large chunks are gone. Serve immediately or continue to simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

*Mixture can be refrigerated overnight. Remove hardened fat from top of pan before reheating.

Serve on top of toasted, buttered deli rolls. I used Ciabatta Rolls that I got from Wal-mart.
Top with cheese and place under the broiler if desired.

Beef Fajitas

So Yummy!

Ingredients:

Beef, carne asada cut

1 onion

1 bell(green) pepper

2 tomatoes

Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning

Cut meat into thin slices and place in a skillet, add some seasoning, cover, cook until meat is done.

While meat is coooking, cut vegetables into long thin slices. Add to meat (when meat is cooked) and then add a little more seasoning. Cook uncovered for about 10- 15 minutes. Don't overcook veggies.

Serve with rice, beans, and warm tortillas. Enjoy!