Carne Seca

After living in New York I bought myself a Mexican cookbook. New York City is a place of many cultures and of many restaurants - we ate exceptional Cuban food, Guatemalan food, El Salvadorian food, Puerto Rican food - but good Mexican really is hard to find. Its even difficult to find the right ingredients at the grocery stores. At one point, D's cousin (a Brooklyn resident) stumbled on canned enchilada sauce at a store in New Jersey and bought enough to stock us up - that's how desperate our Mexican food situation was.

Ironically, I learned after moving back to the West Coast that my very favorite Mexican restaurant has 3 locations in the United States - 2 in Phoenix and 1 on on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. While this could have saved me in my futile search for passable Mexican, I'm curious to see how authentic the Manhattan location actually is.

I finally got around to using this cookbook last week. I don't know what took me so long, but I'm glad I finally did - this was probably some of the tastiest meat I've ever had. Carne Seca translates to "dried meat" in Spanish and that's exactly what it is - meat that is slow cooked, seasoned, then dried. I used it in enchiladas with red chile sauce, but its just as good on its own. I'll definitely be making this one again!


Tucson Carne Seca
From The Border Cookbook


Dried Beef

3 lbs round or shoulder chuck roast
3 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp fresh black pepper
10 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tbsp groud dried mild red chile
8 cups water
juice of 2 limes

Combine all ingredients except the lime juice in a dutch oven or large, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 2 - 2 1/2 hours until the meat is very tender. Cool the meat in its cooking liquid for 30 minutes. Strain the cooking liquid, reserving for later use.

Tear the meat into thin shreds and transfer it back into the original pot. Add 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid and simmer over medium heat until all liquid is evaporated. Toss meat with lime juice


Dried Seasoning Blend

1 tbsp groud dried red chile powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Transfer the meat to 1 or 2 baking sheets, spreading it thin. Sprinkle the meat with half the dried seasoning blend and bake the meat at 275 for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, stir well, and sprinkle with remaining seasoning. Return to oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and dry.

Meat can be refrigerated for 2 days