Here's the ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil.
3 pounds of beef (I use a boneless chuck shoulder, but sirloin or round steak works as well)
1 onion
2 jalepeños
2 cups water (3 for doubling)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon of salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper
5 tablespoons Fiesta brand Carne Guisada seasoning
To start with, I bought about a 3lb. boneless chuck shoulder roast. NOw you can use sirloin or something fancy, but the chuck shoulder is less expensive, and traditionally you should use a poorer cut of meat for carne guisada. Plus, the shoulder has a bit more fat than some other cuts, which is actaully good for carne guisada. Not a whole lot of fat, but enough to help the flavor and consistency. I cut up the meat into bite size chunks, and browned them in a deep skillet:
While the meat was cooking, I cut up the onion and jalepeños. After the meat had browned, I drained the pan. I also had to switch to a stock pot at this step because I couldn't find the lid for my skillet, but usually I keep it in the skillet:
Then I added the chopped onion and peppers:
And cooked those until the onions started to get translucent, when that happened I added the garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper and mixed it really well:
Then I added the water:
Following that, I closed the lid and let it simmer for about 45 minutes, after which time it cooked down to this:
That's when I added the Fiesta Brand Carne Guisada Seasoning.
To do that, I mixed it with about 3/4 a cup of water, beat it with a fork to get the lumps out, and poured the mixture into the pan (the lighter color in the middle is the mixture of seasoning and water):
After I had mixed that in, I covered the carne guisada back up and let it simmer together for about 20-30 minutes. Next, just turn off the heat and this is what you've got:
Finally, it was time to serve. I spooned some into a bowl, topped with some grated cheese, and sliced a little avocado on top.
And that's how I make carne guisada. Not bad for a white boy, huh? And it makes great breakfast tacos the morning after. It's a little labor intensive for an after-work dinner, but its worth it. I started at about 5:30 and was eating by 7:30.
