Carne Guisada (Stewed beef)

I know its been a while since I have placed a post. With between getting a new place ready close to family outside of Houston proper. Both MC and myself are rather excited, but it can be rather taxing. Last weekend, I ended up pulling out old carpeting, taped the house down (for painting purposes), wiped walls down etc. Needless to say, I have thrown the back out and now I am medicated enough to try to relax. I know...no bueno.

This is the kitchen from the new place...plenty of work to be done!

So I have some time to add a post. I thought why not post something that I have created in the past, and actually, something that I first learned from my grandmother. Carne guisada, or stewed beef, is a staple across many cultures. In Mexican cuisine, it is considered a normal staple that not only can be used with beef, but with pork or even lamb.

1 pound beef or stew meat
1 tsp olive oil
1 whole onion
1/2 cup beer
2 cups beef stock

1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp mexican oregano
1 8 oz can tomato sauce

First, start by adding olive oil to a skillet. I liked to use a cast iron because that was what my grandmother used to use. After the oil is well heated, add the meat to the pan. Sometimes I have to check to make sure if there aren't chunks. If so, I might have to dice some more.

 

While the meat starts to cook, dice the onions. Add them to the meat and mix. Make sure you cook the meat and onions well for about 10 minutes.

 

For this recipe, I am adding a little of beer. Notice that it will start to foam. Cook down the beer for about 5 minutes, stirring on occasion.

Add the 2 cups of stock. I prefer to use stock. My grandmother on the other hand used regular water. Allow to continue to cook for 5 minutes on medium high.

 

 

 

After having the meat cooking, start by adding the spices as well as the can of tomato sauce. Allow to cook for another 45 minutes at a simmer.

 

Turn off the heat after 25 minutes or when the meat is rather tender (it might take a little longer...so add more liquid if need be). Normally, you would have it with rice and beans along with tortillas. For this go around, I used the carne guisada for a large burrito. Great eats!

 

Feasting through Paris and Rome

So yeah. I have been gone away from the blog a couple of weeks. I know, but I was too busy with MC and I enjoying ourselves over in Europe. All I have to say that we truly did enjoy ourselves in both Paris and Rome. The people were great, the culture was well equally great and the food was awesome.

As most might know me, I am one to try things whereas MC might try it, but will not actually eat it. Well, I wanted to share my experience of Paris and Rome through the various pictures of what we dined on while traveling both of these cities. Most of what is shown were our dinners as we just became a little frugal and got the occasional sandwich, fruit or picnic to hold us over during the day.

So we arrive early in the morning on our first day to Paris. We travel on a hop on hop off bus and get to see many of the sights of the city. After traveling most of the day, well one gets hungry. Why lie! We decided to go to the area called La Marais. We walked around and found this restaurant that is "family friendly" (most in Paris are).

So for an appetizer, I started with escargot (snails) and MC had paté. The main dish was of course Boef Bourguignon and I had the tripe soup. Yes I know...eww, but I really did like it. To end the meal, we had a dessert medley. This meal was not bad as we spent 70 euros including 3 glasses of wine/beer each.

So the 2nd day, we traveled all around the Eiffel Tower. Went on a boat ride and decided to have a nice lunch in front of Notre Dame. So we ended up having a french hot dog along with Pomme Frites. We sure did walk alot that day.

For dinner though, opted for a small place, again, over in La Marais. I chose to have veal in a cream sauce and MC opted for beef medallions with a cracked pepper sauce and pomme frittes. Tre magnifique!

The 3rd day had us starting with some Cafe Americano across from the Louvre. The only problem was that the Louvre was closed, so we ended up going to Versailles. Loved it, but I could not help but notice that right next to train station was a Tex Mex place. I mean really??

On the final day of Paris, we decided to sit at a little cafe and people watch across from the Seine and Notre Dame. It was great watching people pass by while having a nice glass of wine and enjoying the company. We started with a cheese and meat (pate, prosciutto, sausage) tray. I chose a salad with pomme frite and a side sandwich (part of the salad...with Andalucian chorizo, bell peppers, onions). Then we walked around the corner to a patisserie. We had a piece of chocolate pastry, a flan tart, and a fruit tart. Great way to end our time in Paris!

On our first day close to our hotel in Rome, we walked around and found this little place. Personally, it was a little pricey for my taste (and they cater to the tourists). We did though opted for some authentic pizza. I wanted some mozzarella, arugula and tomato pizza while MC had a mozzarella, mushroom and prosciutto pizza. It was divine! The price wasn't though...we spent about 80 euros (appetizer, pizza and 2 drinks a piece)!

On our 2nd day, we found a much cheaper place and luckily it was a block from the hotel. They only had about 8 tables and are more about catering to people one on one. We started with a bottle of white. Ordered each an appetizer (cheese plate and Prosciutto). As a main course, I ordered Spinach/Ricotta stuffed cannelloni and MC had Tagliatelle with fresh mushrooms. We finished it off with a shared dessert, coffee and a nice limoncello. Price you may ask? 60 euros or about 80 US. For all that? You can't even get anything close to that in the States.

 

 

On our 3rd day, we decided to go another small little restaurant. We started with a meat, marinated artichoke and parmesan cheese. For the second course, MC had fettucine and mushrooms whereas I had creamy risotto with sausage and mushrooms. At the 3rd course with pizza. I ended up with a artichoke, pancetta, eggs and olives. MC got a full meat, olive and mushroom pizza. A nice gelato ended the night.

 

On our final day, we went to Vatican City. After a while, I just wanted some gelato and MC had a folded pizza sandwich.  We then we opted to go back to the place we went on the second day. We started with the same white wine and appetizers. I again wanted some pizza with artichoke, ham, olives and mushrooms. MCjust had pasta.

All I have to say both cities were amazing both visually and via the food we tasted. I am so looking forward to recreating some of these great food items.