Carne asada en la olla de los misioneros - Roast meat in the missionaries' pot (pgs 52 - 53)

After having tried the Adobo seco recipe last month, I wanted to try another meat recipe from Pinedo's book.  Click here to see the previous recipe.

This time I had a two-pound beef roast.  What I found was a recipe on pages 52-53 titled Carne asada en la olla de los misioneros.  It looked easy, but I learned from the last recipe that getting the spicing/herbs just right is the challenge.  Challenge accepted!

Her Recipe

 

My Translation

My Redaction

2 pound beef roast
12 costeño chiles
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  

Thinly slice the garlic.  

Cut slits in the meat deep and wide enough for the garlic slices to fit. (I skipped the lardons.  See my note below.)

Insert garlic into slits in the meat.

Pour oil into the bottom of a heavy Dutch oven and spread it around.

Put the meat in the Dutch oven, cover with the lid, then put into the oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the seeds and cores of the chiles.  Toast the chiles in a hot, dry pan until browned with maybe a few black patches, stirring or turning them often to toast them evenly.

Remove chiles to a bowl and cover with hot water.  Allow them to soak until soft.  

If you haven't already, finely chop the oregano.

Once the chiles are ready, put them and some (or all) of the soaking water into a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add the oregano and blend a few seconds more to mix.

When the 30 minutes is up on the meat, pour the sauce over the top of it.  Turn the meat and spoon the sauce over the top if needed.  Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and bake for another 20 minutes.

When done, let the meat rest for a few minutes.  Slice thinly and serve with a few spoonfuls of sauce over the slices.  The rest of the sauce can go in a small pitcher that goes on the table with the meat. 

 My Notes

Lardons are thin strips of fat that are inserted into the meat so that they melt into it while cooking.  They are a great way to keep the meat moist.  I didn't have any, although if I had thought about it enough, I probably could have used raw bacon fat.  That would add salt to the flavor.

My garlic clove was big, so after slicing it, I cut each slice in half.  That made it easy to put into the slits and not have them sticking out.  I used less than the whole clove.  I would guess my slits were 1 to 2 inches apart on all sides of the roast.

Tuck that garlic in!

 My chile sauce measured 1 1/2 cups when done.  I hoped it was "scant" enough.  

When the meat came out after 30 minutes of cooking, the center was at about 100 degrees F.  After the second round of cooking, it was 145 degrees F.  I considered that done.

That much fresh oregano. (I liked the picture!)

After the Round 1 cooking time.

Rolled that chunk o'meat in the sauce, and spooned on more.

After Round 2 of cooking.

I think that is perfect!

Ready for the table.

The Verdict

I served it with some roasted potatoes dressed with a little shredded asiago cheese;  steamed zucchini tossed with garlic powder, pepper, and salt; and wine.  Don't forget the wine!

The meat was a little more chewy than I had expected.  My guest taster agreed but did not see it as a negative.  To me, beef tends to be chewy and that usually disappoints me, so I have a hard time judging it.

The sauce was pleasantly spicy-hot, not too much for my guest taster who typically does not like spicy.  I got a little tingle on my tongue from each bite, which I enjoyed.  It did not set my mouth on fire.  (Whew!  The costeños are hotter than what I am used to, so I usually mix them with less fiery chiles.  But I am learning that cooking can reduce the fire a bit. )

The garlic and oregano were not dominant.  I believe the sauce was close to being balanced, but I think I would add more oregano next time.  I could barely taste them; I wasn't even sure I was tasting them.  My guest taster said he could get the herbal notes of the oregano.   

Also, I think I could have used less sauce for the second round of cooking.  Maybe 1 cup? It could have been more robust in flavor, which makes me think "watered down" implies "too much liquid."

If I had cooked the meat at a lower temperature, say 300 degrees F, that might have made the meat less chewy.  It would just take longer. 

We enjoyed the meal, so I call it a success!  We both poured on more sauce as we were eating the beef. Again, that added flavor and chile-heat but not too much.

I shared some of the leftovers with another favored guest taster who really likes hot and spicy chiles.  He has a discerning palate and has different food preferences than I have, so I really appreciate his take on things. He thought the meat was cooked just right.  However, he could not discern much taste from the sauce.  At all.  Not from the chiles or from the oregano.  So the sauce was a bust for him.  If you have guests who are similar, bump up the oregano quite a bit and reduce the amount of water used to make the sauce.  Maybe even reduce the sauce somewhat before serving, just to concentrate the flavor.  At least, that is my best guess.

Adobo seco - Dry marinade (pg 4)

I had a boneless pork loin just asking for a Pinedo recipe.  I liked the challenge of this one, on page 4, which was "cook enough red chiles."  Hmmm.  How much was enough?  For my redaction, I needed to balance the heat of the chiles (not too many!) with the flavor of the chiles (not too few!).  I have a bag of costeño chiles, which I was cautioned to be careful with because I am not as experienced a chile-eater as the person who gave it to me.  I'm getting better, but I heed the caution.

Her Recipe

My Translation

My Redaction

3 pounds, 14 ounces boneless pork loin

0.8 ounces costeño chiles (dry)

1 pound tomatoes

1 tablespoon garlic

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil for frying

And the olive oil.

Remove the stems, seeds, and cores of the chiles.  Cover them with boiling water and let them soak for 10 minutes to soften them.

Core and coarsely chop the tomatoes.  Grind them in a large mortar (or pulse them in the blender) until the mixture is wet and not as chunky as they were after they were chopped.

Grind the cumin seeds.

Drain the chiles.  Grind them with the tomatoes.  

Add the garlic and cumin.  Grind them more.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven.  Add the chile/tomato mixture and the vinegar.  Mix well and bring to a boil.  Add the meat and turn it over to get the sauce on both sides.  Then ladle sauce over the top of the meat.  

Bring the sauce back to a boil.  Turn the heat down so the sauce is simmering.  Leave the Dutch oven uncovered.

Cook the meat for about 2 hours, turning over occasionally and spooning sauce over the top.  This is how long it took for the sauce to reduce to very thick.  Adjust the heat as needed to maintain the simmer.  Turning over the meat will slow the simmer for a short time.

When done, turn off the heat and let the meat rest in the sauce for a while.

Serve slices with the sauce spooned over the top.

Chiles soaking

Coarsely chopped tomatoes

Grinding in my mortar.

Sauce in the pan and the pork loin on top.

Spoon that sauce on top!

All done.  Notice how little liquid is left in the pan.

My Notes

I used my large (ish) mortar to grind everything.  I ground half the tomatoes and put the result in a big bowl.  Then I ground the other half with the chiles.  After that was done, I added the garlic and ground it some more.  Then I repeated that with the ground cumin seeds.  Then it all went into the bowl and I mixed them together.  If I were to do this again, I would use my blender and make it more of a puree.

Since I didn't know how long it would take to cook the meat, I turned it every 20 minutes, spooning sauce over the top each time.  I think 30 minutes is better.  Since the Dutch oven is uncovered, the top of the meat seemed to be colder than the rest, so it stopped the simmer when I turned the loin.  I adjusted the heat to bring it back to a simmer.  

The sauce started getting thick but it appeared the meat juices and fat made it runny again.  Then it got thick again with more cooking.  Be careful not to scorch the sauce.  Turning the meat helped keep the bottom of it from being scorched, too.

After two hours, the internal temperature read about 150 degrees F.  

The Verdict

I was hoping that the meat wasn't overcooked, i.e., dry.  It was very mildly pink in the middle and appeared moist.

I served it as a simple dinner with green beans and wine.  

Put a little sauce over the top.

My concern was that the tomato skins and/or the chile skins would be tough and noticeable if they were bigger than what a blender would make.  That is what I was looking for when I tasted it.  I really wanted to know what my guest tasters thought of the chiles' heat levels.

One guest taster, the one who is not really into spicy foods, thought the chile heat level was just right.  He enjoyed the flavor of the sauce and thought it was good with the meat.

The other guest taster, who loves spicy food and strong flavors, thought it was not chile-hot enough and that the sauce was "sweet" from the tomatoes.  He did not really detect the costeño's much at all; he wondered if it had any chiles in it.  He also did not think the sauce had much flavor.  He compared it to some rosemary-flavored crackers which he thought did have a flavor punch and said those had flavor but the sauce did not.  Does that make sense?  

As for me, I liked the flavor, although I would agree that it was not strongly flavored.  I thought the sauce was important to moisten the meat and keep it from being "just a slice of pork loin."  So if I were to do this again, I would bump up the amount of chiles (if my first guest taster were not involved) and definitely bump up the garlic and cumin content.  Even my first guest taster would like more garlic and cumin.

One guest taster noted that the skins from the chiles and tomatoes were annoying to eat.  I agree, that was my worry, and though I didn't experience that with this dish, I have previously.  So definitely use a blender to make the sauce.  Perhaps using a mano and metate would have broken up the skins better than a mortar and pestle.  I don't know.  

Also, everyone agreed that the meat was cooked to perfection.  It was cooked enough but not dry.  I think the slow cooking and the regular turning helped that along.

The green beans with a variation on a Pinedo pipian sauce were a good accompaniment!  You can see that recipe here:  Ejotes en pipian.  I used red wine as the liquid and cinnamon and cloves as the spices.  

Success!

Coliflor en salsa de mantequilla - Cauliflower in butter sauce (pg 69)

I have to admit that I am not a fan of cauliflower.  I don't buy it while grocery shopping.  When it is served to me at a restaurant, I eat it but it is never tasty.  In general, what I get is usually hard and the flavor is uninteresting.  I wondered if I would ever try a Pinedo recipe involving cauliflower.  (There are six of them.)

But when one is given a cauliflower, one does not ignore it.  I decided the fates were telling me it was time.

On page 69, Encarnación Pinedo gave us a recipe for Cauliflower in butter sauce.  This is the second recipe in the cauliflower section.  The first tells us how to cook the cauliflower:  boil it in salted water, then drain it.

Her Recipe

My Translation

My Redaction

1 pound, 6 ounce cauliflower in one whole head

1/2 teaspoon salt

water to cover

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

It looks simple enough.

Remove the leaves from the head and wash the head well under running water.

Bring salted water to a boil in a saucepan big enough to hold the cauliflower head comfortably.

Immerse the head in the water, stem up.  Bring water back to a boil.   Turn the heat down so the water is at a fast simmer.

Cover the pan.

Cook until fork tender, about 7 minutes.  

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan over low heat.  

Whisk in vinegar and pepper.

Let this combine for a few minutes while you get back to the cauliflower.

Remove the head from the water and allow to drain.  

Cut off stem and place the head in a serving bowl.

Whisk the sauce again and slowly pour it over the head.  Aim to allow the sauce to cover the entire head.

Serve while still steaming!

An only somewhat enthusiastic simmer.

The sauce is combining over a very low heat.

It looks lovely, no?

My Notes

I checked the head for fork tender at 4 minutes, and it was nearly done.  It was still too firm near the center of the head.

When I was allowing the sauce to combine, I turned the heat down to the lowest possible setting.

When I poured the sauce over the head, the pepper "marked" where I had already poured.  The sauce disappeared into the head and I worried that it would all just end up on the bottom of the bowl and not on the head at all.  

There was pepper left over in the pan once I had poured the liquid.  It might work just fine to use 1/8 teaspoon of pepper instead of 1/4.

The Verdict

I served it with baked spiced chicken for a simple meal.

It really was that simple.

I had put a sharp knife near the bowl to help with serving, but the cauliflower was so tender that it came apart easily with a large serving spoon.

And yet it wasn't mushy, which was my "don't you dare overcook this" worry.

My guest taster, who is also not a fan of cauliflower, tried it cautiously.  He was very surprised at the taste!  He could taste the pepper and the vinegar, then figured out there was butter in the sauce, too.  

I knew what was in it, of course, so I was pleased to discover that the sauce had stayed mostly in the nooks and crannies of the head, even though I couldn't see it.  There was just enough vinegar to add interest and the pepper made it more exciting.  That the cauliflower was so tender made me happy.

In fact, I had seconds!  I never thought I would be able to write that.

So success!  We both enjoyed it and it went well with the Chinese spice mix that had coated the chicken before it was baked.

This is a simple sauce, but it brought the (otherwise boring) vegetable to new heights.  

My guest taster tried the leftovers the next day and decided that it was really good and that I could fix it again any time I wanted to.  That says a lot of good things about how it tasted.

Pollos guisados - Stewed chickens (pg 207)

I have to admit that I love stews.  They are generally easy to fix, can contain a lot of flavors, feed a crowd, and can be made in advance.  This Pinedo recipe, on page 207, checks all those boxes.  

Her Recipe

My Translation

I also have to admit that I don't have any pigeons on hand, so I have to make this one with just chicken.  I noticed she didn't say to cut the birds up, but I assumed they were.  I chose to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs (a favorite).  But look at all the ingredients that make up the sauce!  

My Redaction

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 cloves garlic

7 ounces onion

1 1/4 pounds tomatoes

16 large, pitted black olives

4 ounces mushrooms

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon flour

2 cups boiling water

1/8 cup fresh oregano leaves

olive oil for cooking

Everything but the chicken.  Its picture is further down. Not the olive oil, either.

First, heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven.  I put enough in to lightly cover the bottom of pan once it was hot.

Add the chicken thighs and brown them over medium heat.  You can do this in batches if you want them to be more brown.  I did one batch.  Note:  I interpreted "half fried" as "brown them."  After they cooked on one side, I turned them to brown the other side.

While the meat is browning, chop the tomatoes, garlic, parsley, oregano, and mushrooms.  Also, slice the onions and olives.  I had a big bowl nearby and I placed each ingredient in the bowl once it was chopped or sliced.  Add the raisins, too.

Once the meat is browned, add all the ingredients from the bowl into the Dutch oven.  Stir them well.

Add the boiling water, salt, and pepper.  The sprinkle the flour over the top.  The goal is to avoid lumps and clumps of flour.  Stir well.

Bring the whole mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.  

Simmer over that low heat for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve by placing one thigh with a scoop (or two) of sauce over the top.

This is a bit crowded for standard browning, but I didn't worry about it.

Everything in the bowl, as viewed from the top.

The bowl, as viewed from the bottom, after added to the chicken.

Stirred well.  Note the herbs are not finely chopped.

Now it is everything.  See how the flour was sifted with no clumps?

Stirred and starting to bubble.

Ahh, done.

My Notes

Miss Pinedo suggested using flour or toast.  By that she probably meant toasted or dried bread crumbs, which is a time-honored method of thickening a liquid.  I chose flour because it was convenient, although I do have copious amounts of dried crumbs that I store in my freezer.  Either works.  I have learned that with stews, bread crumbs seem to make a more "gooey" sauce, meaning thicker with more body.

For my low heat, I used 1 or 2 out of 10 on my stove's settings.  I was looking for just a little bubbling in the middle; that's all.  Slow cooking will get the meat very tender.

I judged the amount of water to use by how high the level in the Dutch oven was -- it was almost as high as all the ingredients together.  And that was 2 cups.  

The house smelled so good while the stew was cooking, and continued to smell good afterwards.  Yum!

The Verdict

I kept the meal simple:  stewed chicken, toasted onion rolls, and wine.  Don't forget the wine!

The chicken was tender.  I never used the knife because the meat broke up easily with a fork.  The meat was not dry, either.  

The sauce:  Oh, the sauce!  Full of flavors, textures, and surprises.  My guest taster, who didn't know all that I put in it kept saying, "Are these raisins?" and "There are mushrooms!" and similar comments.  He loved all the ingredients he discerned while eating.  

Overall, we both loved the sauce.  It was complex in its flavor profile, but no one flavor stood out.  I consider that a win.  I got the balance right, even for the amount of salt and pepper.  The tomatoes cleared formed the basis of the sauce but it was not a "tomato-y" sauce.  It was fun to taste different ingredients along with a bite of chicken.

The toasted roll came in handy for sopping up the sauce once the meat was gone.  

My guest taster had seconds.  That is also a win!

Success!

The leftovers were just as good reheated.  

Did the flour really thicken the sauce?  I will say, "Probably not" but the long cooking with the lid off reduced the sauce and it did thicken up a little.  How much was from the flour, I cannot tell.  Would bread crumbs have been better?  I've used them in stews before and I think it would be thicker.  But with only one tablespoon, maybe not.

It just occurred to me that Miss Pinedo's tablespoons were probably two of ours - so it could have been thicker had I thought of that earlier.  I realized that after reviewing her table of weights and measures on page 274:  she said, "A tablespoon measures an exact ounce."  Our standardized tablespoons measure one-half ounce.  I need to keep that in mind for future experiments.

Albóndigas de frailes - Friar's Meatballs (pgs 7 - 8)

I had two bone-in, large porkchops that needed to be cooked, and this Pinedo recipe looked very inviting.  I've had success with her meatball recipes before, so I felt confident that I could tackle this one.  I didn't make a large quantity, but I can see how this recipe would extend to do that.

Her Recipe

My Translation

My Redaction

1 pound pork, weighed after bones and gristle are removed
4 ounces onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme and some more
1/2 Tablespoon fresh mint and some more
1/2 Tablespoon fresh Italian oregano and some more
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley and some more
3/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup flour

Fresh herbs!

Note that the herbs measurements are approximate, just to give a target for your cooking.

Start heating a large saucepan with water that is at least three inches deep.

Coarsely chop the onion, garlic, and herbs.

Grind the pork, onions, garlic, and herbs once through a meat grinder.  Then mix in the breadcrumbs and grind the whole mix again.

Add one beaten egg and mix well.  Melt one tablespoon of butter and mix it well into the meat mixture.

Form meatballs about two inches in diameter.  If the mixture is not sticking together well, consider adding more breadcrumbs if too wet or more liquid (an egg or butter or water) if too dry.

Put the meatballs, however many that can fit comfortably in the pan without being crowded, into the boiling water.  You will probably have to cook them in several batches.  Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer.  Gently stir them a few times while cooking.  After 10 to 12 minutes, remove the first batch with a slotted spoon; place in serving bowl.  Cook the next batch.  Keep cooking until all the meatballs are done.

While the meatballs are cooking, put flour, one egg yolk, and 1/2 cup cold water into a bowl and stir well.  If the bowl has a lid, shake it, too, to mix it.  

Once the meatballs are done, take 1 cup of broth that the meatballs were cooked in and put it in a small saucepan.  Bring it to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium, then, while whisking the broth briskly, start pouring in the water/flour/yolk mixture.  Keep the broth moving!  

The broth mixture should simmer now.  Add 1 tablespoon butter and a tablespoon or so of finely chopped herbs (a mixture).  Simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the broth thickens.  Add salt to taste.  

To serve, pour some of the thickened broth over the top of the meatballs.  Put the rest of the broth into a pitcher and place on the table.

The first grind with the breadcrumbs sprinkled on top.

Breadcrumbs mixed in.  Ready for the second grind.

Second grind with butter and egg mixed in.

Meatballs achieved!

A gentle simmer, so they don't break apart.

About that much mixed, chopped herbs for the sauce.

Simmering the sauce to get it thick.  

Cooked meatballs.

Meatballs with sauce.

My Notes

I have a grinding attachment for my mixer, so this is convenient for me.  I suppose you could start with ground pork, finely chop the onions and garlic by hand or using a food processor, then mix in the rest.  The point is to have the meat so fine that everything sticks together well after being mixed.

The eleven meatballs I got were cooked in two batches (of five and of six).  I wasn't sure how long to cook them, especially because they first sank then rose to the surface after about four minutes.  But I checked their interior temperature with an instant read thermometer, and they were still pretty cold.  So I kept simmering them until the interior temp was about 160 degrees F, which took 10 to 12 minutes.  I think it would be hard to overcook them.

The amount of water I used to cook the meatballs was a lot, and I realized that I didn't want that much sauce for the meatballs and that the flavor would probably be weak if I used it all.  So I decided to use one cup of the broth.  That still made about 1 1/2 cups of sauce, which was a lot.  

My goal for the sauce was to make it thick and have an herbal taste.  Pinedo did not call for salt but I felt it needed it, so I mixed in 1/2 teaspoon and that was just right.

The Verdict

We wanted a light dinner so our meatballs and sauce went into our bowls along with some whipped sweet potatoes mixed with cardamom, mace, and a splash of cream.  And wine!  Don't forget the wine!

I was pleased to see that the meatballs were fully cooked into the middle.  They also stayed firm enough to hold their shape, even when being removed from the serving bowl into our eating bowls.

The amount of sauce on them for serving looked nice, but my guest taster and I both wanted more sauce while we were eating the meatballs.  We poured in small amounts from the pitcher of sauce as we ate.

The meatballs themselves were very tender, almost delicate.  They had a soft pork flavor enhanced by the herbs, onion, and garlic.  No one flavor was dominant.  I thought I could taste the herbs more than anything else and my guest taster thought the onion was stronger than the rest.  

The sauce was thick enough to stick to the meatballs (hooray!).  It had a stronger herbal flavor than the meatballs, which I wanted because I thought it should emphasize the herbal aspect of the meatballs.  Fortunately, it wasn't too strong.  I thought the balance was just right.

So, success!  Whew!  We had four meatballs each, so there were some leftover as well as sauce.  I think they would make a good evening snack when a full dinner wasn't wanted.