Mexican Braised Beef {Oven, Pressure Cooker or Slow Cooker}
The funniest part of this recipe is that I’m creating it WHILE fasting. Yes it’s day 10 of my 15 day water only fast and I’m totally able to cook. My Carne Estofada is undeniably delicious but not enough to tempt me away from fasting – nothing is.
Now, let’s not get things confused or think that I am superwoman. Of course I’ve had a few tiny, itsy-bitsy tastes, because there is no good cook/chef that can flavor things perfectly w/o tasting.
And, No. I don’t consider that breaking my fast. My total intake was about 1 tablespoon and that’s acceptable for me. At the end of the day when you are fasting it’s 100% up to you to make the rules and when we accept that there is no such thing as true perfection life become much less stressful.
I’m sure you are wondering why on earth I’m cooking 10 pounds of Carne Estofada if we are fasting (yes, Ray is fasting as well). Easy explanation, this year I’m honored to be creating deliciousness and serving up samples on behalf of our friends at Working H Meats & Market at the Morgantown Farmer’s Market once a month.
Of course I get anxious and nervous each time before hand, but afterwards it’s such a rewarding experience. I fergot how much I enjoy interacting with people and sharing easy & delicious recipes featuring local, healthy, real foods.
What is Carne Estofada?
Carne Estofada is simply translated to Braised Beef. I use grass-fed/pastured beef stew meat because it’s an inexpensive cut of beef. I season the bite sized pieces with Mexican inspired spices and lightly brown, then cook until tender in a tomato based sauce.
My Mexican Braised Beef can be served as part of many different meals; burritos, fajitas, tacos, salads, the sky is the limit! Which is why when I make this, I always make extra for leftovers. Even if we aren’t going to eat the leftovers right away, they are perfect to freeze for later.
Most often we use my Mexican Braised Beef for shredded beef tacos, with slices of avocado and handfuls of chopped fresh cilantro piled high in Homemade Cilantro Lime Corn Tortillas... topping it all off with my Sweet & Spicy Fermented Tomato Mango Salsa or a drizzle of my Fermented Mango Habanero Sauce. And maybe a side of 5 Minute Rice with a  generous squeeze of lime… great now my mouth is watering…. your’s too? sorry about that.
I recommend making this ahead of time, 1 or 2 days and letting it hang out in the refrigerator, it tastes even better as leftovers! Perfect for meal planning, right?
Oh and one last thing – I went ahead and gave you 3 cooking options; Oven, Pressure Cooker or Slow-Cooker. Each way of cooking turns out equally delicious, if I’m in a hurry I choose pressure cooking, otherwise I prefer braising in the oven for a slightly deeper flavor. Slow cooking works great but since I work from home, I don’t use it as much.
This weekend at the Morgantown Farmer’s Market I’ll be sharing Mini Braised Beef Tacos with Fermented Sweet & Spicy Tomato Mango Salsa and/or Mango Habanero Hot Sauce. I hope to see you there, so I can watch you eat… while I’m still fasting.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beef stew meat grass fed/pastured
- 3 tablespoons Homemade Seasoned Salt <-- ONLY my homemade
- 1 tablespoon organic chili powder
- 1 tablespoon organic cumin
- 1 pinch Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 2+ tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1/2 medium lime, juiced
- 1 cup bone broth
- 3 ounces tomato paste roughly 1/2 of a 6 ounce can
- 1 large Onion
Instructions
- Trim beef stew pieces as needed to be bite sized.
- Toss beef stew pieces with dry seasonings.
- Working in batches, over medium/high heat brown seasoned beef pieces in olive oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot.
- Combine browned beef pieces with the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Slow Cooker:
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. For less 'juicy' sauce, broth can be reduced to 1/4 or 1/2 cup.
Pressure Cooker:
- Cook under high/standard pressure for 35 minutes. Can be quick depressurized or allowed to depressurize naturally.
Oven:
- Bake at 350 for 2 hours or until meat is tender.
Please stop promoting fasting or the lack of taking in anything, you underline that with saying you had a tbsp of liquid while cooking this and pride yourself on being able to starve in spite of it. as someone who has struggled with an eating disorder – i’d recommend you stop excusing this behavior as a “diet” – it’s disordered eating, and you’re helping to pass that along to other people. Don’t be a negative influence – healthy cooking is one thing, fasting is an absolute other.
Fasting is Not a mental disorder. I refuse to stop taking about it.
I’m sorry you struggle with an eating disorder; however, all you’re doing here is projecting your personal issues. Your comment demonstrates how often people attack something they know very little about. Your knowledge of fasting is clearly limited to your own personal struggles. That aside, I wish you well.