peruvian roast

When I'm looking at recipes, I oscillate between "fast but moderately impressive" and "long and slow". This recipe is a wonderful combination of both worlds. Yes, it takes 3 hours in the oven .... but it only takes like 15 minutes of hands-on time. A real winner in my book.

I made this on a Saturday afternoon before heading out for a late afternoon walk. While it was simmering away in the oven, I enjoyed a lovely stroll, found some sea glass, scanned a family photo album, did a face mask, and took a shower. Real productive. Also, incredibly easy and you probably already have most of the ingredients. 

I first found this recipe a couple weeks back and it piqued my interest - but when I went to the grocery store for the meat.... I was stopped dead in my tracks. A pot roast was $24. I'm just one person and this was an experiment... so I needed to find a cheaper alternative. Googling in the store didn't give me a lot of comfort in the other roast options (rump, bottom, round, or whatever they were called) - but I did see some beef stew cuts of meat and grabbed that. This was $6 - so well worth the experiment. 

A few notes:
  • Meat // I think any cut of meat that can be cooked long and slow will be just fine. If pot roast was on sale, I would totally buy it - but beef stew cuts will be great too and perhaps easier for leftovers.
  • SO EASY // I haven't had a recipe like this in a while. Essentially all the prep work is done in the blender and all the cooking happens in one dutch oven. 
  • Rice v Cauliflower Puree // I'm not on the Whole30 diet so I opted for rice as the base. I love making a good batch of rice on the weekends and slowly picking away at it during the week. Cauliflower puree doesn't exactly have that same allure and versatility.
  • Spicy // The flavor profile of this meal absolutely has a kick to it. It's not spicy hot but just absolutely a punch. If you are serving to multiple flavor profiles, just cut back on the jalapeno and have extra lime. The lime is essential.
Here's how it goes.
  1. In a medium Dutch oven, set over medium heat, add the oil. When hot, add the onion and sear on first side for 1 to 2 minutes, until browned. Flip pieces of onion over and cook on opposite side for an additional minute or so. Remove the onion from the pot and set aside. I had a hard time actually flipping the onion over because they began to break up - don't stress about it. 
  2. Add more olive oil to the pot and turn the heat up to high.
  3. Sprinkle both sides of the meat with salt and pepper and place the meat in the pot. Brown on first side for about 5 minutes. Flip over and cook on the opposite side for an additional 5 minutes. If you are using stew meat like me, this won't be as precise but just try and brown the meat relatively evenly.
  4. Remove from the dutch oven from the heat and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
  5. In a blender, add the cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, thyme, cumin, salt, coriander, paprika and 1/2 cup of beef broth. Pulse until very smooth. 
  6. Add the remaining beef broth (2 3/4 cup) to the pot.
  7. Add 75% of your cilantro mixture to the pot. We'll use the other 25% for serving - so just save that to the side.
  8. Transfer the dutch oven to the oven and braise for 3 hours or so until the meat pulls apart easily. After about 3 hours I wanted my broth to reduce a bit more so I pulled the lid from the dutch oven, this also gave some of the meat pieces a nice little crust to them - which I liked.
  9. Plate the meat over white rice. Drizzle some of the extra cilantro sauce, chopped green onion and serve with a slice of lime.
Shopping List
olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 purple onion, peeled and quartered
Salt and pepper
2 pound stew beef
1 1/2 bunch of cilantro + more as garnish
1 jalapeño, ends discarded
4 peeled cloves of garlic
4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
3 cups beef broth, divided
Limes, as garnish
Green onions, as garnish

No comments

Post a Comment

© WHAT JEN DOES • Theme by Maira G.