Carne Asada with Roasted Vegetable Salsa

Posted on | July 5, 2010 | 1 Comment

I’ve been wanting to make a Carne Asada for a long time now.  We finally did it and it was freaking awesome.  I didn’t have any tri-tip or flank steak in the freezer but I did have an Under Blade Roast.  It’s a tasty piece of meat but it’s tough if you don’t treat it right.  The basis for this Carne Asada Recipe comes from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  We wanted to use a slow cooker to break down the tough meat over time and make the flavors a bit more what our family enjoys.   I’ll get a picture next time, everyone was hungry and it smelled great so it was pretty much devoured on the spot.

The roasted vegetable salsa will just blow you away.  You might want to make extra to keep around for a dip.  When ours got low, we put some refried beans in to make it last.

Here’s the recipe.  I’ve added the recipe for Homemade Ancho Chili Powder below it.   Download both recipes:  Carne Asada with Roasted Vegetable Salsa and Homemade Ancho Chili Powder

Carne Asada with Roasted Vegetable Salsa

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 4     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
3             pounds  beef roast — underblade, flank, tri-tip
Carne Asada Marinade – 24 Hours
1/3           cup  white vinegar
1/2           cup  soy sauce
6             cloves  garlic — chopped
2               each  limes, juiced
1/2           cup  oil
1           teaspoon  sea salt
2          teaspoons  black pepper
1           teaspoon  granulated garlic
Homemade Ancho Chili Powder
1           teaspoon  chili powder — homemade preferred
1           teaspoon  dried oregano
1           teaspoon  ground cumin
1           teaspoon  paprika
Onion Relish
1               each  white onion — diced
1/2           cup  chopped fresh cilantro
1               each  lime, juiced
Roasted Vegetable Salsa
2               each  large tomato — quartered, I used 6 Romas
1               each  white onion — quartered
6             cloves  garlic, peeled — or as needed
2        tablespoons  chili powder — homemade preferred
1/2      teaspoon  brown sugar — or to taste – may omit if your tomatos are particularly sweet.
1/2      teaspoon  salt — or to taste
Other stuff
1            package  corn tortilla — For the tacos
2               each  limes, quartered
cheese

Put the roast or steak in a large Ziplock bag. In a medium bowl, whisk
together the vinegar, soy sauce, 6 cloves of chopped garlic, juice of two
limes, and oil. Add salt, black pepper, white pepper, granulated garlic,
chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika. Whisk until well blended, then
pour over the steak in the bag.  Expel air from the bag and seal. put in a
glass dish, just in case of a leak.  Put it in the fridge and flip it over
a couple times while it marinades.  Marinade for 8 hours minimum.  We made
it 2 days ahead of time.

When ready, remove meat from marinade, DO NOT THROW OUT THE MARINADE. Heat
a skillet over medium-high heat and brown the roast.  Sprinkle on some
salt and pepper too.
Put the browned roast into the slow cooker with the marinade.  Place on
low for 4-5 hours.

In a small bowl, stir together 1 chopped white onion, cilantro, and the
juice of 1 lime. Set aside to use as a relish for the tacos.

Preheat oven to 450F.  Place the tomatoes, 1 onion, jalapenos, and 6
cloves of garlic onto a baking sheet or large casserole dish. Roast in the
oven for 20-30 minutes, until toasted but not burnt. Place the roasted
vegetables, and chile powder into a blender or food processor, along with
salt and pepper. Puree until smooth.

Remove the meat from the slow cooker when done and let it rest for 10
minutes with a loose foil cover and some of the marinade.
Fork separate the meat or chop.  Add some of the juices from the slow
cooker.

Warm the Tortillas in a microwave oven. Arrange two or three tortillas on
a plate, and lay a generous amount of beef over them. Top with a sprinkle
of the onion relish and a large spoonful of the pureed salsa. Add as much
cheese as you like. Garnish with lime wedges, and serve.

Description:
“Really, really good Carne Asada with an awesome healthy salsa”
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Homemade Ancho Chili Powder

Recipe By     :Troy – www.tkdrecipes.com
Serving Size  : 30    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
6               each  dried ancho pepper
3        tablespoons  Mexican Oregano
3        tablespoons  granulated garlic
3        tablespoons  ground cumin

Here’s how I do it but you can probably get away with just using a
processor.

Place oregano, garlic and cumin in a coffee grinder and reduce to a rough
powder.

Put Ancho Chili peppers into blender and reduce to rough powder.  Add
spices and pulse.  Pour into air tight container.

Homemade Ancho Chili Powder – TKDRecipes.com

Posted on | July 5, 2010 | No Comments

Once you make this simple chili powder you will never buy the dull, tasteless crap that passes for chili powder in a store again.  This chili powder will also transform an ordinary chili into a champion.

What I look for in a chili powder is a LOT of flavor.  I’m not looking to get much heat from the chili powder.  If a recipe calls for chili powder, it’s not looking to it to provide heat.

I make a big recipe of this and keep it in a large, empty herb bottle.  The kind you get at Costco or Sams.  Print the recipe and stick it to the bottle with a rubber band.

The key to this is finding the right dried Chilis.  The best batch I ever made of this was when I found the dried Ancho Chilis in the refrigerated section of the supermarket.  They still had a tacky feel to them from being recently dried.  Option #2- the big plastic bag of dried chilis.   I’ve tried this with the dried New Mexico Chili’s and it’s just not the same.

Experiment and find what you like best but I will guarantee that you will love it. Download Homemade Ancho Chili Powder Recipe – Mealmaster format (text).

Homemade Ancho Chili Powder

Recipe By     :Troy – www.tkdrecipes.com
Serving Size  : 30    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
6               each  dried ancho pepper
3        tablespoons  Mexican Oregano
3        tablespoons  granulated garlic
3        tablespoons  ground cumin

Here’s how I do it but you can probably get away with just using a
processor.

Place oregano, garlic and cumin in a coffee grinder and reduce to a rough
powder.

Put Ancho Chili peppers into blender and reduce to rough powder.  Add
spices and pulse.  Pour into air tight container.

Braised Lamb Breast – Cheap & Tasty

Posted on | July 4, 2010 | 2 Comments

We were in Walmart in Cottonwood AZ the other day and I came across a vac sealed bag of Lamb breast.  I’ve never seen lamb breast in a store before.  They were only $1.78 a pound. Since we love lamb but hate the high price of the best cuts, we decided to see if we could do something with this.

The package was 4.01 pounds and cost $7.14.  Thats very cheap compared the lamb I’ve bought in the past.  The cut is a whole lot of bone and fat but some interesting meat too.  We have two pieces in the package.  One is all ribs and the other is ribs and the flank.

Here’s what we did with it:

[View with PicLens]

Lamb Breast – Slow Cooked
Download Lamb Breast Recipe

Recipe By     : TKDRECIPES.com
Serving Size  : 4     Preparation Time :0:45
Categories    :

Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
4             pounds  lamb breast
1         tablespoon  salt
1         tablespoon  black pepper
1         tablespoon  granulated garlic
Slow Cooker Vegetables and prep
1              large  onion — rough chopped
12            sprigs  fresh rosemary — whole, do not strip
4             sprigs  sage
4               each  carrot — chopped
6               each  medium potato — rough chopped
1 1/2           cups  red wine
1 1/2           cups  water

Season ribs with salt, pepper and garlic.  Brown on medium high temp in
skillet.

Put Onion on bottom of slow cooker with sage and 1/2 the rosemary. Then
put on the lamb and the balance of the ingredients.  I sprinkle on a bit
more garlic at this point to.
Cook 5 hours or until done.

Lamb will be tender but still a bit fatty.

Description:
“Cheap and tasty cut of lamb.  Cook it a long time.”