Mexican Picadillo

Tip: Read directions carefully before preparing.

Ingredients:

1lb lean ground beef

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2inch cubes

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced fine (1/4 inchor less)

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced fine (1/4 inch or less)

1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced fine

2 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground coarse ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fresh ground comino (cumin)

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup cilantro

2 large tomatoes, cored, peeled, and cut into 1/2inch pieces

Directions:

Heat a large skillet and, when hot, add the canola oil. Add the ground beef, crumbling as you put it in the skillet.

When lightly browned, add the onions, red bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic, and all the spices. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, and then add the diced potatoes, and then the cilantro.

Add beef stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, put into a bowl and serve over Spanish rice or with hot flour tortillas.

Tip: If you would like to spice it up, add a chopped jalapeno. Picadillo, Mexican style ground beef, is a popular lunch meal particularly in Northern Mexico.  Picadillo is an easy dish to prepare that’s in every home cook’s repertoire.

Bacon and Green Onion Cheese Ball

Tip: Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

(For Cheese Ball)

1/4 cup brown sugar ham, finely chopped

1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped

1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon Hidden Valley, Garden Green Onion Mix

(For Rolling Cheese Ball)

1/8 cup real bacon Bits, (I use Oscar Mayer)

1/8 cup green onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup Colby Jack or Mild Cheddar cheese, finely shredded/cut

Directions:

(For Preparing Cheese Ball)

In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine green onion, brown sugar Ham, cream cheese and Garden Green Onion Mix. When mixed well, form ball out of the mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.

(For Rolling Cheese Ball)

Before serving, in a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the real bacon bits, green onion, and cheddar cheese, and roll the cheese balls in the mixture.  Enjoy!

 Tip: This cheese ball is great with buttery crackers!

Carne Guisada

Tip: Read directions completely before preparing.

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef top sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch chunks
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 large white onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons comino (cumin)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 serrano pepper, slightly toasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (regular is fine)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Dredge the cubed meat in flour, coating well.

In a heavy, deep-sided skillet or Dutch oven, add the oil and heat over medium heat. Add the cubed meat and brown thoroughly, stirring often.

 While the meat is browning, in a small saute pan, toast the comino seeds and then add them to the molcajete (mortar and pestal). Use the same pan to toast the serrano pepper.

In a molcajete which already has the comino, add the garlic, and black peppercorns. Grind into a paste. Add 1/2 cup of water and stir, this is to make sure you remove all the paste from the molcajete and set aside.

Once the meat is browned, add the garlic, comino and peppercorn paste and liquid from molcajete to the pot. Add the salt, paprika, oregano, chili powder, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, and serrano to the pot and saute for 3 to 4 minutes.

 

Add beef broth, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours, or until the beef is tender and the mixture has cooked down to a thick sauce. Stir every 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Tip:  You can serve this with rice, or beans or make some great tacos! I love breakfast tacos made with some carne guisada, scrambled egg and cheese! Carne Guisada is a Mexican inspired take on beef stew.

Yesterday I had to pick up some things from Dillard's at Barton Creek Mall and found that in their kitchenware department they now sell Molcajetes! They were made of granite and beautiful. Of course they are not made from the original basalt/lava stone. But they are really nice and will surely do the job! 

You can buy Mexican molcajetes online nowadays, but beware! The quality can vary enormously. There is a world of difference between the best quality molcajetes, made usually from dark ‘river rock’ basalt with low sand content, and cheap and cheerful ones made from grey, very porous lava-rock. The problem with the latter, to quote the gourmetsleuth.com website, is that ‘They are softer and easier to carve and thus less expensive. Unfortunately they are terribly sandy and no matter how you may try to cure them they will always be sandy. They are also typically very shallow so they don’t have a very usable capacity. These pieces are fine for decoration or serving only but we don’t recommend using them as a preparation or grinding tool.’ 

Taken from "http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=wus&tab=aus&id=21""