Carne Guisada with Cilantro Lime Rice

This is, hands down, the best smelling recipe in my recipe tin, and it tastes better than it smells!! I almost can’t be It is a versatile recipe that can be served many different ways. My favorite is with cilantro lime rice, sprinkled with a topping of finely chopped cilantro, a squirt of lime juice, and wrapped in warmed flour tortillas.

Elizabeth Reuter

UX Researcher

Elizabeth Reuter

Ingredients

Ingredients for the stew:

2 lb boneless beef shoulder steak, trimmed and cubed (900g)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium poblano peppers, seeded and chopped into 1” (2.5cm) pieces
1 large white onion, chopped into 1” (2.5cm) pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 large tomato, chopped into 1” (2.5cm) cubes
1-2 large tomatillo, chopped into 1” (2.5cm) cubes
¾ cups reduced sodium beef broth (175ml)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the rice:

1 cup long grain white rice (195g)
2 cups chicken broth (475mL)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon lime zest

Directions

Stew:

Heat oil in a 4-quart stock pot over medium heat.
Do a quick sear to get nice browning on one or two sides of the cubes, remove from pan and set aside (they do not have to be cooked all the way through).
Add poblano pepper, onion, garlic, and seasonings to pan with leftover oil and sauté for 3 minutes.
Stir in tomato and tomatillo and sauté 3 additional minutes.
Add beef cubes back into pot and stir to blend with seasonings.
In a separate cup/bowl, whisk together broth and flour until smooth.
Pour broth over beef mixture and stir.
Bring to a slow boil.
Reduce heat to low.
Simmer, covered, 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until beef is tender. Stir occasionally.
Taste the broth when there’s 20 min left; if it needs more salt don’t be afraid to toss more in!
At that same 20 min marker, start the rice!

Rice:

Combine rice, chicken broth, salt, cumin in a large sauce pan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat.
Cover and reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 20 min.
Remove from heat, add lime juice, cilantro, and zest.
Fluff all together with a fork.

Assembly:

Warm flour tortillas in a toaster oven or on the stove. They should still be pretty pliable, not stiff.
Place a few spoonfuls of rice in the warmed flour tortilla, spoon a generous helping of the carne guisada over the rice, sprinkle with more finely chopped cilantro (stems and leaves), add one more squirt of fresh lime juice, wrap, and enjoy!