THE MEAT CHEAT

 

Pot-roasted beef chuck.

I have to confess that last week when I was making shredded beef for Venezuelan empanadas, I did not follow Juana’s recipe for carne mechada, which is essentially “boiled beef.” Instead I prepared beef chuck pot-roasted with wine to serve for a holiday dinner. We enjoyed the tender beef, rich gravy, roasted carrots and mashed potatoes one day. The leftovers were perfect for shredding and mixing with spicy sofrito for filling empanadas (or tacos) on another day. 

“Carne mechada” actually means “larded meat.” Larding is a technique of threading strips of fat, sometimes with garlic and herbs, through a piece of meat to keep it juicy during slow cooking. Chefs use a larding needle; home cooks just cut slits in the meat and insert the seasoning with the tip of a knife. 

Cutting corners, I simply mixed the garlic, spices and herbs and used them as a rub, spreading the mixture over the meat and into the crevices. Olive oil replaced larding fat.

I am still experimenting with Spanish beef cuts for pot roast. I intended to buy flank steak, which is the designated cut for making the shredded beef for empanadas. Flank may be labelled “vacío” or “falda” (which actually means the skirt, a different cut). But finding a nice hunk of aguja, which is chuck steak, I opted for that instead. I still haven’t found an equivalent to brisket. 

Let meat rest before slicing.

Pot Roast with Herbs

Carne Mechada con Hierbas

Vegetables can be added to the meat during the second hour of roasting. Carrots, parsnips, small onions, squash wedges, potatoes are all good. Personally, I like mashed potatoes alongside pot roast, the better to soak up the delicious onion gravy.

Roast vegetables with the beef.

Serves 6.

2 pounds chuck, skirt, flank or brisket

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika)

1 bay leaf, crumbled

3 cloves garlic, slivered

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 cup red wine

½ cup pureed fresh or canned tomatoes

½ beef bouillon cube (optional)

Carrots or other vegetables

Flour or cornstarch to thicken gravy (optional)

The piece of chuck can be left whole or divided into 3 or 4 chunks. In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, thyme, pimentón and bay leaf. Rub this mixture on all sides of the meat, particularly into the deep crevices between muscles. Insert slivers of garlic where possible. Drizzle over the oil. Let the meat rest at room temperature for 40 minutes (or refrigerated up to 24 hours).

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Lightly oil a roasting pan or cast iron skillet. Layer the onions on the bottom of the pan and place the meat on top. Roast the meat 20 minutes.

Lower oven temperature to 325ºF. Add wine and tomatoes to the pan. Crumble the bouillon cube, if using, and scatter it around and over the meat. Place lid on pan or cover the meat with a sheet of aluminum foil. Return the pan to the oven for 60 minutes.

Baste the meat with the liquid in the pan. Add carrots or other vegetables to the pan. Cover and return to the oven until the meat is fork tender, about 60 minutes. 

Pan juices for gravy.

Carrots on the side.

Remove the vegetables from the pan to a serving bowl. 

Place the meat on a cutting board and allow it to stand 10 minutes before slicing.

The pan juices with onions can be reheated and served alongside the meat or the onions strained out and the liquid thickened with flour or cornstarch. If not serving immediately, cool the meat in the cooking liquid and refrigerate it.

More recipes for braised or stewed beef:

Spiced Shredded Beef.

Pot-Roasted Beef Flank.

Beef Stew with Artichokes.

Rustic Beef Stew with Sausages.

Slow-Cooked Beef Shanks.

Oven-Braised Beef Cheeks in Red Wine.

"All-Together" Beef Stew with Vegetables.

Braised Ox-Tail.

A TASTE OF VENEZUELA

 

Empanadas fresh from the frying pan.

The Spanish being spoken at a recent gathering at my house did not have the typical Andalusian accent, but a decided Venezuelan twang. Juana and Jorge, my fellow in-laws—their daughter is married to my son—who are from Venezuela, spent a couple months with me, a home base while they travelled around, getting to know Spain. They hosted an empanada party for mutual friends. My kitchen was Juana’s staging area for empanada making.

Empanadas are a favorite food in Venezuela as they are in Spain. They are made at home and served for breakfast or bought from street stalls for afternoon snacking. The biggest difference between Venezuelan and Spanish empanadas is that the Venezuelan ones are made with a cornmeal dough, while Spanish empanadas are made of wheat flour.

Juana mixes empanada dough.

Here’s what you need for Venezuelan empanadas:

• Pre-cooked white corn meal, harina de maíz blanco precocida, also known as masa arepa. This flour is gluten-free. The best-known brand is P.A.N., available world-wide—check the Hispanic section of your grocery store, in Spain as well as U.S.  (Pre-cooked corn meal is not the same as Mexican masa harina, nixtamalized cornmeal that is used to make corn tortillas.) 

• Filling for the empanadas, such as carne mechada (shredded beef, directions follow), grated cheese, cooked chicken, pork, fish, beans, etc.

• Vegetable oil for frying the empanadas. Corn oil is preferred (we could not find it locally), but sunflower (girasol) can be used.

• Accompaniments: guasacaca, a tangy avocado salsa (recipe below) for dipping and hot sauce (Venezuelan hot sauce is an interesting blend of chiles, herbs and suero, buttermilk). 

Venezuelan-Style Corn Meal Empanadas

Empanadas Venezolanas

For the empanada dough:

Makes 10 (6-inch) empanadas

1 cup water

¼ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup pre-cooked corn meal

For shaping, filling and frying the empanadas:

For patting out the dough, you will need heavy-duty plastic wrap or a clean plastic bag cut open to make a flat piece about 12-inches square. 

Oil for shaping the empanadas

2 cups carne mechada (shredded beef)

Grated cheese (optional)

Oil for frying

Guasacaca (avocado sauce) to serve the empanadas

Place the water in a mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar and salt until they are dissolved. Stir in the corn meal and beat it until the mixture is smooth and without lumps. Knead the dough in the bowl for 3 minutes. It will be very soft. Let the dough rest 5 minutes or up to 1 hour, covered with a damp cloth. 

Pat soft dough into circle.

When ready to shape the empanadas, wet hands with water and divide the dough into 8 pieces, each about 3.2 ounces. Spread a square of plastic on the work surface. Have ready about 2 cups of carne mechada, cheese or other chosen filling. 

Place 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a shallow bowl. Oil hands lightly. Take up a piece of dough. Dip one edge of the dough into the oil, Squeeze the dough to eliminate any air bubbles and roll it smoothly into a ball. Place the ball on the work surface. With the flat of the hand, pat it into a circle about 6 inches in diameter. 

Fold dough over filling.

Use a fork to mound carne mechada on one half of the dough. Using the plastic, lift the bottom edge of the circle and fold it all the way over to meet the top edge.

Pinch off excess dough.

Still using the plastic, with the fingertips press the edges of the dough together to seal them. Extra dough will be extruded around the edges. Gather it up and return it to the bowl. 

With the help of the plastic, lift the empanada off the work surface and, with an oiled finger, smooth the edges to enclose the filling. Place the empanada on another square of plastic until ready to fry. When all the pieces of dough have been used, gather the scraps and use them to make 2 or 3 additional empanadas. 

Fry empanadas in vegetable oil.

Continue patting out rounds of dough and filling them. When using a different filling, such as cheese, mark those empanadas with a thumbprint to distinguish them from the meat-filled ones. Cover the empanadas with a damp cloth.

Place oil in a skillet to a depth of 2 ½ inches (enough to just cover the empanadas). Heat it to 360ºF. Drop a small ball of the dough into the oil. The oil is hot enough when the ball bobs to the surface. Fry the empanadas a few at a time, turning them once, until they are golden-brown. Remove and drain on paper towelling. Any dough still remaining can be rolled into small balls and fried until golden. 

Serve the empanadas hot or room temperature with paper towels or grease-proof paper for wrapping them. Let guests wrap their empanadas. Serve with guasacaca for dipping.  Leftover empanadas can be stored, refrigerated, and reheated in a hot oven or in an air fryer.

Spiced Shredded Beef Filling

Carne Mechada 

Shredded beef is mixed with spicy sofrito, ready for filling empanadas. 

Carne mechada, spiced shredded beef, is used as filling for fried empanadas and for arepas, which are made of a similar dough and cooked on a griddle instead of fried. The shredded beef also centers the Venezuelan national dish, pabellón, with black beans and fried plantains.  

The beef is cooked first then combined with sofrito. You can spice up the sofrito as much as you like. The sofrito can also be used with cooked beans for a vegetarian filling for empanadas.

To make the beef filling, you need cooked and shredded beef. In Venezuela, this is usually flank steak that is simmered with onions and other aromatics until fork-tender. The cooking liquid, a well-flavored stock, gets incorporated in the sauced meat. You can use any cooked beef that is tender enough to shred or pull apart with forks. Leftover brisket or pot roasted chuck is fine. 

Pull cooked beef into shreds.

8 ounces fork-tender cooked beef flank 

1 ½ cups coarsely chopped onions

1 ½ cups coarsely chopped red bell pepper

1 cup coarsely chopped green peppers

1 red chile (optional), stem and seeds removed

3 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil 

1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika, not smoked)

1 pound tomatoes (2 ¾ cups coarsely chopped)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon oregano

1 cup beef or chicken stock

Use fingers or forks to separate the meat fibers. You should have about 2 cups of shredded beef.

Make the sofrito rojo. Place onions, red and green peppers, chile if using, and garlic in a food processor bowl. Process until they are finely chopped. Scrape into a bowl. Add the cut-up tomatoes to the processor and chop them.

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion-pepper mixture 5 minutes. Stir in the pimentón and fry 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, salt, cumin and oregano. Simmer the sofrito, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are reduced, 15 minutes. 

You will have about 2 cups of sofrito of which 1 cup is needed for the shredded beef. (Store remainder in refrigerator or freezer for another use.) 

Add 2 cups of shredded beef to 1 cup of sofrito. Stir to mix well. Stir in enough stock to make a loose mixture (½ to 1 cup of the stock). Cook on medium until liquid is reduced and meat sauce is thick. The shredded beef is now ready for filling empanadas.

Tangy Avocado Salsa

Guasacaca

Guasacaca is a tangy avocado salsa for dipping empanadas. 

This might replace guacamole in your repertoire. Vinegar gives it tang without masking the avocado flavor. It’s juicier than guacamole. Serve the salsa with grilled steak or chicken, with arepas, empanadas and tostones (fried plantains). Or as a party dip with corn chips for dipping. The salsa can be prepared in advance and refrigerated. 

Use 2 large avocados or 3 smaller ones. They should be ripe but firm. Grind one avocado with the other ingredients. Chop and add the second avocado after the mixture has been finely chopped in blender or food processor. 

2-3 avocados

1 small onion, chopped

1 firm tomato, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeño chile, chopped

¼ cup white vinegar

½ cup olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped cilantro

Cut one of the avocados into pieces and place in a deep bowl (or food processor) with the onion, tomato, two kinds of bell pepper, jalapeño and vinegar. Use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients until fairly smooth. Chop the remaining avocado and add to the mixture. Stir in the oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the cilantro. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Garnish with additional chopped cilantro.

The Spanish way with (savory) empanadas

Galician Empanada with Pork Loin.

Salamanca Empanada with Sausage (Hornazo).

Tuna-Olive Turnovers.

Empanadillas with Spinach.

Sephardic Turnovers (Burekas.)

Empanada of Tuna with Tomato.

RECIPES FROM AL-ANDALUS

 

La Baltasara, Antonio Gala museum.

A tasting of foods from al-Andalus in a lush garden that might have delighted a Moorish prince. Such was the evening I enjoyed recently—Cocina Andalusí en la Baltasara—presented by cookbook author Ana Abellán—in Alhaurín el Grande (Málaga). 

La Baltasara was the country home and literary retreat of Antonio Gala, Spanish poet, playwright and novelist. Now converted to a museum containing Gala’s personal effects and library, La Baltasara serves as a cultural center for the town of Alhaurín. It was an evocative setting for a tasting of dishes that might have been served in medieval al-Andalus. 

Al-Andalus was Moorish Spain, Islamic Spain. It encompassed much of the Iberian Peninsula between 711 and 1492. The cuisine of the era—before the discovery of the Americas and the introduction of tomatoes—is still reflected in modern-day cooking.

Cookbook author Ana Abellán (center) serves tastings of anchovy escabeche assisted by Chef Lutz Petry and María Eloy, poet and member of the editorial board of ColandCol publishers.

Ana Abellán, whose book, Berza y Pringá, las Recetas de Málaga Pueblo a Pueblo (ColandCol Ediciones; 2023), features recipes from every pueblo in the province of Málaga, planned the tasting to showcase local produce such as the oranges of the Guadalhorce Valley and the Aloreña olives and olive oil of the area. 

Eggplant tortillita.

The dishes that Ana demo-ed: Porra de naranja con bacalao ahumado, a thick, cold soup related to gazpacho, with oranges instead of tomatoes.

Tortillitas de berenjenas, eggplant omelets, adapted from a recipe found in an Andalusí-Arabic cookbook from the 13th century written by Ibn Razin al-Tujībī.

Escabeche de boquerones, fresh anchovies in an escabeche marinade, and 

Rosquillas de cítricos, citrus-flavored fried doughnuts.

The porra de naranja—which I translate as “Orange Gazpacho Cream”—is a dish with peasant origins. Field hands made it for their midday meal, mashing bread, garlic and olive oil in a wooden bowl then gathering around to dip chunks of bread into the tasty mash.

Porra—which is a close cousin of Córdoba’s salmorejo—is easily made in a blender or food processor. The classic version is served with chopped cooked egg and chunks of canned tuna. In a reference to another Málaga dish, a salad of oranges, olives and salt cod, Ana Abellán served her version with chopped smoked cod. Brilliant. 

Orange Gazpacho Cream

Porra de Naranja

Porra, like salmorejo, is a thick cream usually served cold. The classic version is made with tomatoes, but this one has orange juice in the mix. Serve it as a thick soup or as a dip.

Three large oranges make 1 cup of juice. Use blood oranges if you want a cream with deeper color. Use a dense-crumbed country-style bread. The bread is easier to pulp in a food processor than in a blender. Removing crusts helps to soften the bread. Add water as needed to run the processor, but keep the porra as thick as possible.

Serve the porra with spoons or with crackers or breadsticks for dipping. It makes a good merienda, afternoon snack, or can be served as a starter for dinner. 

Serves 4-6.

The porra is topped with pieces of salt cod and olives---

5 ounces day-old bread

1 cup fresh orange juice

½ teaspoon grated orange peel

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

Water, as needed

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + additional to finish

Toppings (choose 1 or 2):

Flaked salt cod or strips of smoked cod

Canned tuna, well drained

Hard-boiled egg, chopped

Chopped serrano ham

Cooked shrimp

Strips of smoked salmon

Green or black pitted olives

Chopped orange segments

Chopped scallions or chives

Crackers or bread  to serve

Break up the bread into pieces and place them in a bowl. Pour over the orange juice. Stir in the orange peel, garlic and salt. Allow to set until the bread begins to soften, 15 minutes. 

---or chopped egg---

Place the mixture in a food processor container and process until the bread is reduced to a smooth paste. Add 1 to 4 tablespoons of water as needed. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil to the mixture until it is absorbed and emulsified. The result should be a thick, smooth cream. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve the porra in small shallow bowls. Add toppings of your choice. Drizzle with additional oil. Serve accompanied with crackers or bread for dipping.

--or with shrimp, pieces of orange, red onion and chopped chives.

Ana fries tiny eggplant omelets, a recipe from a 13th century cookbook.

Sundown in the gardens of La Baltasara.

More about Ana Abellán and Entre Berza y Pringá.

Ana Abellán blogs at Me Sabe a Málaga . Her book is available from Amazon and from the publisher Col and Col.

About La Baltasara.

More versions of porra;

Mango-Tomato Gazpacho Cream.

Salmorejo with Tomatoes.

Fava Bean Cream.

Cold Almond Cream.