Braised Beef And Red Chiles Recipes

CHILE-BRAISED BEEF, TWO WAYS

Steps:

• Place beef in a large pot and season with 1 tablespoon salt. Add 1 onion half, 5 garlic cloves, bay leaves, and enough water to cover meat by 1 inch (8 to 10 cups). Bring to a boil, skimming impurities from surface. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender enough to easily pierce with the tip of a knife, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, preheat broiler, with rack 6 to 8 inches below heating element. Arrange chiles on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil with oven door cracked open, turning once, until blistered in places on both sides, fragrant, and beginning to smoke, 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer to a saucepan. Arrange tomatoes and remaining onion half and garlic cloves on baking sheet. Broil, turning a few times, until blistered in places and beginning to soften, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Transfer to saucepan with chiles; add enough water to just cover vegetables (4 to 5 cups). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Strain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid, and transfer to a blender with reserved liquid, vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, oregano, and 2 teaspoons salt. Purée until smooth.
• Transfer beef to a plate and strain broth through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding solids. Return beef to pot with 5 cups broth and puréed-chiles mixture (any remaining broth can be cooled and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week, or frozen up to 6 months; if you'll be serving the dish as a soup, reserve and keep warm).
• Bring beef to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until beef is fork-tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. Shred meat into bite-size pieces.
• To serve as a soup, add reserved warm broth to pot, a little at a time, to reach desired consistency (it should be soupy but still have some body to it). Scatter with chopped onion and cilantro and serve, topped with radishes and avocado, with lime wedges alongside.
• To make tacos, dip tortillas into chile broth, flipping to fully coat, and transfer to a plate, stacking them one on top of another. Fill each with about 1/3 cup shredded beef and a little more chile broth. Fold in half. Heat a generous slick of oil over medium-high in a large, heavy skillet, such as cast iron. When it shimmers, add tacos in a single layer and cook, flipping once (if browning too quickly, reduce heat to medium) until crisp and golden brown in places, about 2 minutes per side. Serve with chopped onion, cilantro, hot sauce, and lime wedges.

CHILE-BRAISED SHORT RIBS

Steps:

• Adjust the rack to the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
• Add the chiles to a medium bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let steep for 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle the short ribs generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just under smoking hot. Add the short ribs in batches, leaving some room between each of them so they sear evenly, and cook until well browned, about 7 minutes per side (14 to 15 minutes per batch). Remove the short ribs to a platter in a single layer (no stacking) and repeat with the second batch.
• Meanwhile, add the chile peppers with water, chicken stock, tomato paste, garlic, onions and a dash of salt to a blender, and mix until blended together.
• Once the second batch of meat is seared, remove and set aside. Add the hard cider to the Dutch oven and scrape the brown bits left from the meat off the bottom of the pot. Pour the onion mixture into the pot and turn the heat up to high. Add the balsamic and rosemary sprigs and boil together for 2 to 3 minutes. Return the short ribs and any juice that may have accumulated on the platter back into the pot. Cover tightly with a lid and braise in the oven until the ribs are tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Place the ribs on a platter covered with foil to keep warm. Put the Dutch oven on the stovetop over high heat and reduce the braising liquid until thick and saucy, 20 minutes. Add the ribs back to the pot before serving to coat with the reduced liquid. Place the ribs on plates and ladle the sauce over the top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley for garnish.

CARNE CON CHILE ROJO (CHUCK BRAISED IN CHILE)

Steps:

• To make the bison: Heat oven to 275 degrees.
• Sprinkle the sugar and salt all over the roast. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add the roast and sear until dark brown on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and reduce the heat to medium. Carefully add 1 cup broth (the hot fat will spatter) and scrape up all the browned bits from the pan. Return the roast and any accumulated juices to the Dutch oven and add the tomatoes, onion, chiles, sage, bay leaves, syrup and remaining 3 cups broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and transfer to the center of the oven.
• Braise until the meat is very tender, about 3 1/2 hours. A fork should slide through easily. Uncover and cool for 15 minutes, then transfer the roast to a large bowl. Finely shred the meat using your hands if cool enough to handle or with two forks. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve.
• To make the chile rojo: Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add all of the dried chiles, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer steadily until softened and lighter in color, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chiles to a blender, along with the garlic, onion, salt and 2 cups of the braising liquid. Save any remaining braising liquid for another use (see Tip). Blend until very smooth.
• Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over high heat until shimmering. Carefully add the chile sauce (it will splatter) and immediately reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring often, until thickened and brick red, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the shredded meat and any accumulated juices and stir to evenly coat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Serve immediately or cool to room temperature to use as a filling for tamales. The sauced braised meat can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.