My SIL was in Monterrey, Mexico this past week for business, and he brought me a plastic packet of carne seca de res. I’ve never cooked with it before, and I found a recipe for Machaca Guisada that sounds promising. Any thoughts or other recipes? Thanks!
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My all time fav dish for machaca is “Machaca con Huevos”. Two lightly toasted corn tortillas spread with refried beans, sprinkled with Cotija, topped with two sunnyside up/over easy fried eggs, machaca, and a ranchero-ish salsa - yum!
Thanks for your link BTW as it includes a link for making your own machaca which is of major interest here.
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Thanks! If you make your own machaca, I’ll be curious to know how it turns out.
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Me too. It is something I really miss as it used to be a pretty main staple in Mexican restaurants (which I always ordered for breakfast/brunch), but now a days I never see it. I have never bought the dried versions so I should probably give that a try before going to the effort of making my own.
Good luck with your carne seca… and would luv to hear about your experience with it.
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It’s good - phew!!!
Here are the changes I made in the Serious Eats recipe based on what I had, cooking experience, being a know-it-all, etc.
I doubled it so I could give some to my SIL who brought me the carne seca that started this whole thing.
I cooked the onions for about 20 minutes and should have let them cook longer. I seasoned them with a little Cajun seasoning because that’s what I put on everything.
Used a can of mild chopped Hatch chiles because that’s what I had.
Used two cans of diced tomatoes in tomato puree instead of fresh given the time of year.
Added at least two cups of water because the mixture seemed too dry.
Cooked it at a simmer for an hour because that’s what I do with stews, soups, etc.
Will serve it tomorrow because I think that dishes like this are better after a night in the refrig.
As you can see, it’s a very flexible recipe…!
This is the place he bought the carne seca from.
Have fun!
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Looking forward to hearing about your thoughts about the texture of the machaca when you serve this.
I realized that I actually have tasted machaca at the Shoreline Coffee Shop in Mill Valley, CA. They serve it as a hash type dish with poached eggs. The texture of what I made today is very similar to what I remember - pleasantly chewy, but not tough, with just enough liquid so that it’s not dry. I may end up adding a little more salt tomorrow.
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P.S. Forgot to mention that I left out the cilantro - don’t eat it except in very small amounts. Having the machaca for dinner tonight and will report back.
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I enjoyed this - very flavorful and pleasantly chewy. I probably won’t make it again - so many recipes, so little time - but it was fun to try something new.
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Just to be clear… do you mean you won’t use carne seca again… or just not in the recipe you tried yesterday?
Probably won’t use carne seca again - unless my SIL brings me more!
