Sonoran Carne Con Chile Recipes

CARNE CON CHILE

Steps:

• Place the tomatillos, tomatoes, serrano peppers, chile de arbol peppers, and 3 whole garlic cloves into a saucepan over medium-low heat, and cool until the mixture is juicy and the peppers are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the garlic cloves. Pour the mixture into a blender, and blend until smooth, about 1 minute; set sauce aside. Mince 1 clove of garlic, or amount to taste, and mix into the sauce; season to taste with salt.
• Mince 1 more clove of garlic, and place into a skillet with the pork over medium heat. Cook covered until the pork is no longer pink and the juices run clear, stirring often, about 30 minutes. Pour the blended sauce over the meat, and reduce heat to a simmer; cook, stirring often, until the pork is tender, 5 to 10 more minutes.

CHILE CON CARNE ROJO, SONORAN STYLE

Steps:

• Put the cut-up beef in a dutch oven or similar large kettle, cover with water and boil with salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and 3-4 bay leaves. Boil until meat is tender.
• Remove bay leaves and throw them away. Remove the meat.
• Pour the liquid into another container. (I use a good-sized plastic pitcher.).
• Stir the chili paste into the liquid. ( Or use 8 ounces of the paste and 8 ounces of made-from-scratch chile sauce. Or if you have an asbestos tongue, skip the commercial stuff entirely!).
• Melt shortening in the bottom of the kettle. Add flour and cook until brown, stirring almost constantly.
• Add 10 cups or so of the beef stock/chile mixture gradually, while stirring. (It's like making gravy.).
• Reduce heat and add oregano, cumin, more garlic, and salt to taste.
• Stir in the meat.
• DO NOT add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, stewed tomatoes, or any other tomato product!
• Serve with flour tortillas and refried beans. Or make your own burros and serve it that way. Left overs (if any) freeze well.

SONORAN CARNE ASADA TACOS

Steps:

• Start a charcoal or gas grill, and get it very hot. For gas, set to high heat. For charcoal, grill is ready when coals are red but entirely covered with gray ash, and you can hold your hand about 5 to 6 inches above the coals for only about 4 to 5 seconds before it becomes too hot.
• Clean and season the grill: Using a pair of tongs, rub a quarter of a white onion over the grill. Next, rub the beef fat over the grill to season it further. (Alternately, you can do this using tallow or vegetable oil.)
• Working in batches if needed to avoid crowding, place the meat over the hot grill. Season the meat generously with salt on top right before throwing it on the grill, salt-side up. (Alternatively, sprinkle the salt on top of the meat once it's on the grill.)
• Grill for 4 to 5 minutes, until the bottom has seared, deep grill marks have developed, and the meat juices have started rising and bubbling over the top. Flip to the second side and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes for medium. Remove the meat and place in a lidded dish or container. Cover the cooked meat while you grill the remainder. Allow the meat to rest for at least 5 minutes.
• One by one, take out the pieces of meat and cut into about ½-inch dice, placing them back in the same lidded dish and covering until all the meat has been chopped.
• Before the meat is brought to the table, make sure the refried beans are hot. Set them on the table along with the salsa and guacamole, in separate bowls.
• Reduce the heat of the grill to medium if using gas, or, if using charcoal, set the flour tortillas on a cooler part of the grill. Heat the flour tortillas about 1 minute or so per side, until puffed, lightly browned and completely heated through. Keep warm in a clean kitchen towel or tortilla warmer and bring to the table.
• To assemble the tacos, a common practice is to grab a warm flour tortilla, spread some refried beans on the middle, add a generous amount of meat, then add salsa and guacamole on top to taste - but everyone can choose how they want to build or eat their tacos. (If the taco doesn't easily close, your assembly was successful!)