Sunday 17 April 2016

Beef in Adobo

We usually keep a few tins of chilis in adobo on hand, for a warm, smoky sauce that emphasizes the flavour rather than the heat of the chilis. This recipe, however, makes the adobo from scratch.

And it's amazing.

The original recipe calls for ancho and pasilla chilis, and flank steak; we had none of these, and replaced them with guajillo and california chilis and stewing beef, respectively. There is nothing to complain about the results, and the beef comes out deliciously tender.

As accompaniments and toppings, it suggests flour tortillas or rice and queso fresco or feta. We used brown rice, tortillas, and cheddar cheese.



Adobo Ingredients

  • 1½ oz dried ancho or guajilla chilis, stemmed and seeded
  • 1 oz dried pasilla or california chilis, stemmed and seeded
  • ¾ C salsa verde
  • ¾ C chicken broth
  • ½ C orange juice
  • ⅓ C packed brown sugar
  • ¼ C lime juice (~2 limes)
  • 1½ tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
Beef Ingredients

  • 3 lbs stewing beef
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 onion, chopped fine
  • an entire garlic bulb, minced (no, that is not a typo)
  • 1½ tbsp cumin, ground
Procedure

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle-bottom and preheat to 350°F. Arrange anchos and pasillas on rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrant, ~5 minutes.
  2. Immediately transfer chilis to bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let stand until softened and pliable, ~5 minutes. Drain (or reserve! Halfway through making this, we realized that we should have saved the delicious chili-water water to make the chicken broth with. Sadly, the original recipe doesn't suggest this).
  3. Combine chilis, salsa verde, chicken broth, orange and lime juices, sugar, oregano, salt, and pepper, and puree in blender until smooth, ~1 minute. Set aside (but taste the blender blades first).
  4. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.
  5. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook beef until browned all over, ~10 minutes -- you may need to do two batches, there's a lot of beef. Remove beef using slotted spoon and buffer.
  6. Add onion and ½ tsp salt to pot. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 3-5 minutes.
  7. Add garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
  8. Stir in adobo, beef, and any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer.
  9. Cover pot and transfer to oven. Bake for 90 minutes.
  10. > put beef in face

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