CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Friday, February 29, 2008

Carne Guisada






Thursday was one of those days that was scheduled from daylight until dark and even beyond. I put our main dish in the crockpot, then came home and made Authentic Mexican Rice and a salad. That and some canned fruit and it was dinner. It was very flavorful, low in fat and just really good. I also used some of that sirlion tip roast I bought way back when. (I am fully aware that the photo may not be entirely appetizing. I just know how much our entire family loves the flavor of this meal. )

Crockpot Carne Guisada
serves 6 (leftovers freeze well)

3-4 lb. beef roast, frozen (I used sirloin tip as it works for Weight Watchers, but chuck is fine, just fattier)
1 can Ro-tel brand Chili Fixins (I can only find this at Kroger, but mild Ro-tel works fine, too)
8 oz. tomato sauce (I use El Pato brand, I buy it at Dollar General or in the ethic aisle at Kroger or Food Lion, yellow can with a duck on it..spicy!)
**If you cannot find the chili fixins type of Ro-tel, add 2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. ground cumin, 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. paprika.


Place the beef in the crockpot, still frozen, but unwrapped, obviously. Pour everything else over the top. Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove beef from crockpot and slice or shred. Return to crock to soak up remaining sauce. Serve over Authentic Mexican Rice.


**If you don't like the texture of shredded meat, you can use cubes of beef and serve that over the rice.



Authentic Mexican Rice
seriously, this is the real stuff as shown to me by a friend in McAllen, Texas, our previous home


1 tomato, quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
2 cups chicken broth, divided (I use a product called Knorr Suisa Chicken boullion)
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup rice (I always use Uncle Ben's brand)
Salt to taste

Place tomato, garlic cloves, cumin, ground pepper and just a bit of chicken broth in your blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Heat oil in a medium saucepan; add onion and cook until soft. Add rice and stir to coat and brown just a bit in the oil. Now pour in the blended tomato mixture. Let that cook, while stirring for a minute. Add the remaining chicken broth and stir. Bring to a boil, cover pan with lid and reduce heat to simmer for 25 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and season with salt to taste. You'll never want to use a boxed Mexican rice again!