Worth It Carne Seca Recipes

FEIJOADA

Steps:

• The day before you plan on cooking the feijoada, trim the excess fat of all the meats (except the bacon) and place them in a large bowl. Cover with cold water and refrigerate for 24 hours, changing the water 3-4 times, to get rid of the excess salt.
• Place the black beans in a separate bowl and cover with cold water. Let them soak overnight in the fridge.
• Drain the meat and beans. Place the soaked meat in a large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot and cover with enough water so they're all submerged. Cook, over medium-high heat, until boiling. Let them boil for 20 minutes, adding more water as needed. Drain and reserve.
• Combine the boiled carne seca, beans, bay leaves and orange in that same pot. Pour 2.5 quarts cold water and cook, over medium-high heat, until boiling. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, add the sausages. Cover and continue simmering, occasionally skimming the fat that rises to the top, until the meat is tender, about 1.5 to 2 hours.
• Remove the orange and bay leaves. Discard. Remove the meat and sausage and slice into smaller pieces. Reserve.
• Heat the oil in a sauté pan, over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until no longer raw but not yet golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add a ladleful of the cooked beans, without liquid, and stir to combine. Using a fork, mash the beans, to release their starch.
• Pour that mixture into the feijoada pot and cook over medium heat, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until thickened. If too thick, add more water as needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Return the meats back to the pot.
• Serve with white rice, collard greens, fried bananas, farofa, vinaigrette salsa and orange slices!

CARNE SECA ROSTI

Steps:

• Cut the top sirloin into 2-inch cutlets. Thoroughly salt the cutlets on all sides and refrigerate, covered, in a large container, adding more salt every 24 hours, until the meat is dehydrated, 3 to 5 days. Rinse the salt from the cutlets and place into a clean container. Cover with water and return to the refrigerator for 24 hours, changing the water every 4 to 6 hours.
• Cut the cutlets into big chunks and put into a pressure cooker. Fill with enough water to just cover. Cook for 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the pressure cooker to release all the pressure before opening. Transfer the meat to a bowl and pull into strips with a fork while still hot. Reserve.
• Pour 1 cup vegetable oil into a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir until soft, about 3 minutes. Transfer this mixture to the bowl with the meat. Add the cilantro and mix everything together well. Set the carne seca filling aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine the shredded potatoes, black pepper and 2 tablespoons salt. Mix well and set aside.
• In a 7-inch nonstick skillet, scoop 8 ounces of the shredded potatoes to form the base of the rosti. Layer with about 2/3 cup of the carne seca filling and top with another 8 ounces of the shredded potatoes. Place the skillet over high heat. Drizzle vegetable oil around the rosti (enough so that you can see it sizzling on the sides). Fry until golden brown, about 7 minutes, draining the oil halfway through (see Cook's Note). Flip the rosti and repeat this process. When both sides are golden brown, transfer the rosti to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining shredded potato and carne seca filling.
• To serve, top each rosti with about 4 ounces of the Catupiry, piped in a crisscross pattern. Place 2 Sweety Drop peppers in the center and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the dried parsley.

MEXICAN-STYLE RICE (SOPA SECA)

Steps:

• In a large heatproof bowl, pour boiling water over the rice enough to cover. Stir only once, and let stand 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a colander over the sink and rinse rice under cold water. Drain again. Set rice aside, spread out on a cookie sheet to dry slightly. (I usually do this first thing in the morning.).
• In the meantime, put the tomatoes, onion, garlic and half of chili pepper into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth like salsa. Set tomato mixture aside.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy saute pan and cook rice until a light golden brown color. Stir constantly so that rice does not burn, scraping bottom of pan with spatula because the rice grains will stick.
• Next add the pureed tomato mixture and keep stirring over medium heat until all the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. If mixture starts to boil, reduce heat. *Stir in the stock, salt, and green peas. Continue to cook the mixture on low-medium heat stirring occasionally until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, another 10-15 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
• *NOTE: DO NOT stir rice too often after adding the stock or the grains will become too starchy.
• The original directions say to remove pan from heat, cover with tight-fitting lid; letting stand in a warm place 10 minutes or so. I remove pan from heat, cover and place pan in low oven, at approximately 150-200 degrees. Sometimes I'll let the rice set in the oven for a good hour or longer, as long as the rice grains are tender and rice doesn't dry out too much.
• Transfer the cooked rice to a serving platter, fluff with fork and serve sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with thinly sliced chilis or serve on side.

BEEF JERKY & RICE SOUP (SOPA DE CARNE SECA Y ARROZ)

Steps:

• In stockpot add boiling water and jerky.
• Let set 15 minutes. Take out of water and cut in small pieces. Return to pot.Heat on low setting.
• In frying pan, add lard or oil, add rice and onions and salt. Brown the rice and cook the onion until slightly browned. Add tomatoes and chili pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add all ingredients to stockpot.
• Simmer about 15 minutes until rice is cooked. Take out whole chili pepper before serving. There should be enough salt in the jerky so you do not need to add except for the 1/2 tsp of salt called for in the recipe. Serve with tortilla chips.

CARNE SECA

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in a plastic zipper bag and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, if using your oven to dry, cover your oven racks with foil and preheat oven to 180 degrees F.
• Transfer drained meat to baking racks and dry for approximately 6 hours; depending on how thick the meat slices are, drying could take between 5 and 7 hours.
• Be sure to place a couple of potholders in the oven door to keep it slightly ajar so moisture can escape and the meat can dry more thoroughly.