What a Difference a Day Makes

MC • 18th Dec 2008 • The Daily Nonsense • cookbook, cuisine, dinner, latin, photo, rice, stew

I took a photo of a rose in the garden near my office.

Two days later, it opened up beautifully. Pure poetry.

Tomorrow, I fly out to D.C. to spend the weekend with my father. It will be my first trip to the city and I’m looking forward to seeing our nation’s capital (I always think of Forrest Gump when that phrase is used). I’m still trying to figure out how to take a phallic picture with the Washington obelisk monument while my dad looks on disapprovingly nearby. Maybe next time!

Last night’s dinner wasn’t terribly exciting since I prepared a very familiar and typical Latin dish, carne guisada. And I use the term, Latin as opposed to calling it Puerto Rican because I believe that it was originally a Caribbean creation that Latinos and Hispanics have modified. You’ll find carne guisada in Columbian, Puerto Rican, Cuban and Mexican foods – and they’re all variations of each other. A quick googling around reveals that most people seem to believe it’s a traditional Mexican dish which kind of makes sense only because I feel like Mexicans, of all the Latinos, get the most exposure in America.

The point is, carne guisada translates into “stewed beef”, which is exactly what it is no matter where it’s prepared. I typically make it without achiote which is what Cocina criolla, my favorite Puerto Rican cookbook calls for (the book has, what I think, are the most traditional Puerto Rican recipes) . To me, achiote adds little in taste but a lot in color. It’s used to make white rice a bright brown and you can see the difference between the carne guisada I prepared last night with achiote:

To the one I prepared a few months ago without it:

I couldn’t really find a recipe similar to the way I make it, so here’s my version (which is very similar to the Cocina criolla, and if you’re a fan of Latin cuisine, I’d definitely recommend getting that cookbook):

(Yields about 4 servings)

1 (8 oz) can canned tomato sauce

2 pounds beef stew meat (or cut sirloin into mouth-bite cubes)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

About a tablespoon or more of Adobo (if you’re unsure, keep taste testing before adding more), I’m pretty generous with it and tend to sprinkle it over the pot while I cook

A little salt

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

Fill the 8oz tomato sauce can (after it’s empty) with water, which will be poured into the pot

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2-3 medium potatoes

About a tablespoon of olive oil

8-10 olives stuffed with pimento

About half a tablespoon of capers

1 bay leaf

Drizzle the olive oil into a saucepan or pot. Sauté the green pepper, onion, garlic and beef cubes on medium-low heat. Season with Adobo to your liking, remember, you can add more later if the sauce is bland. Add some salt and oregano. While the beef is browning, cut the potatoes into cubes and boil in water until just tender (you can test this by pressing a cube against the side of the pot with a spoon), about 10 minutes. Once the beef is brown, add the tomato sauce, water, olives, capers and bay leaf. Add the potatoes, stir and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Do your taste test, if it’s bland, add a little more salt and adobo. If it’s too thick, add a little more water with the tomato can, if it’s too watery, let it simmer (remember, it’s “stewed beef” not a soup).

Serve with white/yellow rice.

See you on Monday!