Actually you don’t have to cook pizza sauce. It’s going into a screaming hot oven. While I will use cooked sauce on a pizza, I will also just open a can and put it directly on the pie. After seasoning, of course.
And another boring beef stew.
Tried for maximum umami without tomato paste. Medium onion and 4 garlic cloves. Sauteed with garlic and onion powder. Also smoked paprika and a dash of powdered cloves. My grandmother always use cloves with braised meat. It reminds me of home.
Added potato, carrot and a few stalks of celery. Saute. De-glaze with about a half cup of tomato sauce. The sauce was previously used to simmer pork and beef meatballs. Then added a dash of Gravy Master which is simply caramelized sugar and water. But it adds another layer of flavor and nice color. Also a few liberal dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Layers of umami, baby.
Bring to boil. Add non-salted beef stock. Not to cover the meat, just up to the shoulders. Bring to boil and cover.
In the oven at 300 degrees F for about 1 and 1/2 hours.
The wife said that it was so tasty she didn’t want ketchup on it.
I said that was good because I didn’t want a felony murder charge.
[quote=“RichVR, post:4585, topic:50840”]
My grandmother always use cloves with braised meat.[/quote]
Yes! Clove seems to have gone out of fashion somewhat, but it really does nice things with slow-cooked beef (and pork). I have to remind myself not to overdo it, though.
Indeed. That’s the key. My grandmother would use whole cloves and strain the gravy. When I used the powdered version I would guess that I used a half teaspoon or less. Serious moderation needed, as you said. Too much clove was a staple of the middle ages when it was used with other strong seasoning to mask the flavor of bad meat. It can literally make your eyes water.
Jesus that looks fantastic. I can almost taste it looking at those chunks of meat. A labor of love for sure.
Oh man, you have a deep fryer, right?
The true form of the calzone, the one that justifies its existence beyond just a folded over pizza, is the fried calzone, e.g.:
http://www.salslittleitaly.com/#homeofthefamousfriedcalzone
I believe the filling is mozzarella and ricotta, mostly? No sauce inside, just cheese, and you dip it into tomato sauce like an enormous mozzarella stick.
Goddamn. I need to head back there soon.
Thanks, man. I appreciate the comment.
Holy God, I must have this thing. I must! But I would die…
Not fully my work here, I was co-chef. My girlfriend had told me she makes killer chicken tacos. I was skeptical. I make all kinds of tacos, my favorite are pork carnitas tacos. I’ve tried several variations of chicken that just didn’t match up.
So she had me assist and see her recipe/process, which is so blatantly simple I was dumbfounded.
4 large chicken breasts (or 5 or 6 smaller breasts.)
2 cans of your favorite red enchilada sauce
1/2 onion, finely diced
(your desired taco fixings)
(your desired taco shells)
Brown/sear the chicken breasts lightly in a large pot with a little oil. Toward the end of the browning, throw in the 1/2 diced onion and stir around and under the breasts to take advantage of fond in the pan. Add the two cans of enchilada sauce, bring to a simmer. Keep on very low simmer for approximately 3-4 hours. The goal is to get the chicken to cook, and reach a braised stage where it will shred easily. Once there, shred the chicken. She does this in the pot, I would suggest removing the breasts and shredding them, then adding them back. Once done, stir into the sauce and turn heat to medium-high. High simmer/low boil the remaining sauce with chicken until very reduced, almost clinging to the chicken pieces. Check seasoning and spices toward the end as the reduced sauce will usually be good enough without much added. Remove from heat and use the chicken to build the tacos.
It. Tastes. Fantastic. I only wish I could describe just how good.
So at any rate, that was last night. Today is leftover day one, and lunch is a chicken taco salad, with some of the chicken meat put into shells and fried for taquitos as a crunchy side.
I’m thinking of breaking open a beer to have with this for lunch. Don’t tell my boss.
Those look awesome
So good. It’s actually really tough when they are this good, you want more but you know if you have more you’ll walk around feeling like a balloon for the rest of the afternoon. It’s almost worth it.
Holy shit that looks amazing Skipper. Anything vaguely Mexican and I don’t take much convincing :) Did you just use regular flour tortillas the first time around? I don’t have a deep fryer for making the crispy ones but I bet they’re soooo good. Is it possible to do them in a pan with a little bit of oil?
Sure, I do it with taco shells all the time. Bit of a mess but it works.
I might have to try this in a pressure cooker. Would have to reduce even longer probably, but eh, I really like how the pressure cooker handles chicken.
My non ground beef taco recipes are like a thousand times more complicated than this. So pressure cooker + simplicity would be a nice combination.
I’m like seriously ready to scrap the dinner plans I had for tonight and have already bought the supplies for to make chicken tacos instead hahaha
I’m eating gumbo for like a month.
Life could be worse. :)
Dude, don’t feel bad, I’m still learning. So I’ve done shells a number of ways. I’ve not made them from masa harina from scratch, though from what I understand, not that hard to do. I buy store bought corn and flour tortillas. I prefer corn tortillas for tacos, but flour ones are cool just as a tostada flat shell kind of thing. They separate and get bigger air pockets and are crunchy if that’s what you’re wanting, but they break too easily for tacos. And speaking of corn tortillas from the store, not every brand is the same. The best ones should be relatively fresh. They shouldn’t separate into bubbles too easily when fried. Apparently, the smoother side should be the inside of the taco. Again, not something I knew. It could be horse shit, but I’m willing to believe it when I’ve had them made by someone who has done it a lot.
I use a small cast iron skillet for frying them. For me that’s about medium-high on my burner. My girlfriend drops them in and uses tongs. She lets them sit about 15 seconds, bends them in shape and waits 15 more, then flips for 15 more after shaping. I use the Alton method and shape some tin foil, roll the raw tortilla around it and poke it with a toothpick, then fry them and easily turn them half way through. She has better skills than me.
Speaking of flour/corn tortilla difference. I did not know that the difference between a rolled corn tortilla rolled with ingredients and fried (taquito) was different from a rolled flour with ingredients and fried (flauta.) My girlfriend is from Nevada with family from Arizona. She’s slowly schooling me in great Mexican food.
I want to marry your girlfriend :(
Dude, the girl can cook! There’s no way you’re taking her away.