New Experimets on the MAK - Carne Guisada

[BudGarrison]

I am always looking for new stuff to try on my MAK 2. My new experiments are with Guisadas. Last week it was with pork shoulder, this week is beef. Here is what I did:

(I hope the pictures work, I post so in-frequently that I never remember how this site hanldes pictures!)

1) seared a couple pounds of chuck roast in my dutch oven.

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2) Removed the beef and cooked down some onions and garlic in the beef fat.

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3) Deglazed the a little of my favorite cooking fluids. Riley, the ever vigilant guard of the smoker can be seen coming to work in the background.

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4) Added Poblano, Anahiem and Jalapeno peppers along with cumin, chili powder, marjoram, bay leaf and oregano.

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5) I filled up the part with a 50/50 mix of dark beer and water and then it is off into the MAK for a few hours of simmering and soaking up some maple smoke.

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We will serve it up with some good tortillas and all the fixings to make tacos. I will let you know how it goes, but if it is anything like last week, it won't last long.

 

[sparky]

looks pretty good from here. serve me up some plz w/ some milk.

 

[Chili Head]

I'm liking that a lot! I'll be bookmarking this to try later!

 

[BudGarrison]

Chili Head, here is the recipe and blog that got me started with guisada. Carne guisada, Tex-Mex stew | Homesick Texan

 

[Chili Head]

Ahh good deal! Thank you I'll check it out.

 

[TentHunter]

So how did it turn out? Was it able to get enough smoke flavor throughout, after searing first indoors?


It sure looks good.

 

[BudGarrison]

Sorry, didn't respond earlier, I ate myself into a food coma!

It turned out pretty darn tasty. The beer I used was a little hoppy for cooking and created a little bitter aftertaste. I stirred in a handful of brown sugar and a little lime juice (I learned that bitter taste is basically alkaline and to use citrus or an acid to counteract the bitter taste) to balance it out a little. I had maple pellets in the smoker and it did pick up some of the smoke flavor which mixed nicely with the cooked down peppers and spices. I ended up with 8 of us on the patio eating this in tacos and everybody loved it.

 

[GA Que]

What temp did you set your smoker to get it to simmer and should it be placed over the flame zone or does it matter. I've never cooked anything yet in my MAK quite like this. I think I might just give it a try this weekend.

 

[squirtthecat]

This does look good! I'm all for cooking outside......

 

[BudGarrison]

I had to play with the temp a little bit, but most of the time it was running between 275-300. I did sear the beef, add all the ingredients and then bring it back up to a boil on the stove, then moved it to the MAK. Every hour or so I would stir it up and cooked it until the beef was falling apart tender. I then pulled it off the heat, put the lid on the dutch oven and let it sit for an hour or so until we were ready to eat.

 

[CarterQ]

Interesting cook, looks real tasty!