Carne Guisada (Latin Beef Stew- Puerto Rican style)
Ingredients:
To season beef
2-2.5 lbs chuck roast, cut into bite sized chunks
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1.5 tsp adobo
2 Tbsp flour
For Carne Guisada:
2-3 Tbsp oil
6 Tbsp sofrito
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
1 packet Sazon, culantro y achiote
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 cup olives
2 bay leaves
7-8 baby potatoes, halved (or 1 large potato cut into chunks)
salt or adobo to taste
Instructions:
Season the beef with all seasonings and flour
Heat oil in a pan and sear the beef until brown on all sides. Work in batches not, overcrowding the pan. Plate the beef chinks out.
In the same pan, add sofrito and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in chopped garlic and cilantro and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
Add in tomato sauce, sazon seasoning, cumin, oregano and combine well.
Add in beef along with bay leaves and 3-4 cups of water. Bring this to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add in carrots and olives and keep on simmering, covered, for an hour or more, until the meat is melt in your mouth tender. Stir occasionally.
Add potatoes for the last 20-25 minutes of cooking time. If you want thicker stew, cook it uncovered towards the end.
Notes:
For a quick sofrito, blend 1 green bell pepper, 1 small onion, 5-6 garlic cloves, 1 cup of cilantro, 4-5 leaves culantro (optional) in a blender.
