Skip to main content

Carne Guisada, A Staple


Bite size pieces of tender stewed meat covered in a rich earthy gravy is delectable all by itself.  Pour it over a taco with rice and cheese and it is love.  The T&T recipe comes from my aunt whose Carne Guisada will always be better than mine even though I follow her recipe.  Not having her recipe written down as it is burned into the fibers of my brain, I had to find one similar for you to follow such as this one here.

My Aunts Ingredients:
2 lbs round steak, 1-2" cubes
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, whole
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon comino
1 small handful cilantro
1 small bay leaf
salt, pepper to taste
1 cube pollo de tomate
3 cups water 

Instructions:
In a searing dutch oven, brown meat.  Remove meat.  To pot, cook onion until translucent.  Toss meat with flour to evenly coat.  Add garlic and meat to onions, cook briefly to remove white coloring of flour.  Add remaining ingredients, cook on low until meat is tender, almost falling apart.  Add water if needed.  Test for salt and pepper.

Scaled for Likability: Great
Carne Guisada is one of my earliest memories of learning to cook Tex-Mex food.  I was not even in Kindergarten, standing on a phone book on a high chair at the stove stirring meat in a pot big enough to place a five year in!  Waiting for the meat to cook took forever and my time was filled by sorting pinto beans and then cooking them.  With beans cooking, tortillas were made and there was always extra for a simple butter tortilla snack after a hard mornings work.  Life was simple.

The only downside to carne guisada is it not budget friendly and left overs never last long enough.  At least not at this table.


Popular posts from this blog

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup.  Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too.  Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup  are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water.  Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender.  Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

Way Too Rich, Extra Heavy Cheesecake

Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001.  Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old.  Eek.   Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake.  In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years.  That is just too long.  Too long.  Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven.  A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature.  If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix.  Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

The Great Freeze 2021 Vegetable Broth

Good grief, this cold snap.  Every year I wish and wish for cold weather so this table can eat soups without melting.  Well this year winter came and came with a vengeance.  Two days below freezing with no water, no power, no internet/cell service.  It's the dark ages.  If you need more info just search for Texas Grid Failure 2021 .  Yes, this tragic affair has its own wiki page.  Good grief. Did you know that if temperatures drop below freezing for too long, refrigerators will not keep your cold stuff from freezing?  Well, they don't.  And with 17℉ temps, this tables fridge contents froze.  What to do with a fridge full of frozen fresh veggies? Veggie stock. No recipe was used, it was just all the veggies in the fridge (white and yellow onions, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, three roma tomatoes, celery, two russet potatoes, seven carrots, and a red and green bell pepper) salt and pepper, and enough water to just touch the top layer of veggies.  I did not want the veggies floa