Puerto Rican Stew Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare the adobo: Combine the adobo ingredients in a small bowl, or blend in a large pilón or mortar and pestle.
• Prepare the guisado: Pat meat dry and put in a medium lidded bowl or a resealable bag. Evenly coat with the adobo and let marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or in the refrigerator overnight.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large lidded, heavy-bottomed pot over high. Working in batches as needed to prevent crowding, add beef, shaking loose any additional adobo beforehand. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, flipping often to brown evenly. Transfer meat to a clean bowl and set aside.
• Lower heat to medium, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and pour in sofrito, adding olive oil as needed if the pan is too dry. Sauté for 5 to 7 minutes until liquid has evaporated.
• Add sazón and sauté for 1 minute. Add the broth (or water), tomatoes and their juices, and bay leaves, and scrape up any browned bits using a wooden spoon.
• Nestle meat into sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, then cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• Add carrot and celery, and cook, covered, for 1 more hour, adding more water or broth if needed. At this stage, check the tenderness of the meat. It should start to get close to falling apart when pressed with the back of a spoon.
• Add potatoes and cook, covered, for 30 minutes more, until meat and potatoes are cooked through and tender.
• Adjust salt to taste, and serve on a plate or in a shallow bowl over a mound of white rice.

Steps:

• Mix flour, salt, and pepper together in a freezer-size plastic bag. Add beef and shake, coating evenly.
• Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in sugar and cook until it turns golden, about 5 minutes. Add meat and cook until browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer browned beef to the bottom of a slow cooker.
• Stir carrots, potatoes, water, tomato sauce, wine, olives, sofrito, sazon, adobo seasoning, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce into the slow cooker.
• Cover and cook until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender, on High 4 to 6 hours, or Low for 8 to 10 hours.

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add beef in batches and brown. Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to bowl. Add onion and garlic to pot and sauté 5 minutes. Add parsley, thyme, bay leaves and flour. Stir 2 minutes. Gradually mix in broth and wine. Return beef to pot and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered 45 minutes.
• Add potatoes and carrots to stew. Simmer until meat and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Add green beans and simmer until beans are tender and gravy is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Transfer stew to large bowl. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

Steps:

• In a large pot place all ingredients except tomato sauce.
• Bring to a boil.
• Cook until potatoes are soft, then add tomato sauce and more salt if necessary to taste.
• Notes:
• Achiote is a small red seed found in the latin section of the grocery store. If unavailable just make the stew without it.
• To make achiote oil over low heat place 2 tbsp achiote seeds plus 3 tbsp olive oil and simmer until the oil turns red, this may take a while so if you plan to use this oil often make a larger batch to keep on hand. Then let oil cool completely before straining out the achiote seeds. This oil adds great flavor to any of your foods.
• The seasoning salt I use is called Adobo. It is a spice Puerto Ricans use in place of salt. My favorite is the brand called Goya. It is basically salt, pepper, and oregano - but it tastes entirely different than the sum of these ingredients.
• If possible use your own homemade chicken broth or buy organic free range chicken broth from the store.