So, to remedy that, I am going to put two recipes here that, while they do take some effort, are truly well worth the time. One of these is a meatloaf of a sort, called Carne Fria, which translates to "Cold Meat," because of its use on many party platters. It tastes as good cold as warm. It is different from our American meatloaves in that it is wrapped in a thin towel (not terrycloth, please!) or cheesecloth, tied at the ends like a sausage and submerged into a large pot of boiling salted water to cook. Another way it is different is that it has hard-boiled eggs lined up along the center, so when it is sliced, there is a (hopefully centered, but not always) slice of egg. Pretty as a picture.
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| Carne Fria |
Carne Fria (Guatemalan Meatloaf)
Makes one large meatloaf
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| Carne Fria |
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
3 strips bacon, fried (leave fat in pan) & crumbled
1 onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves, finely ground, veins removed
1 sprig thyme (1 tsp fresh leaves or ¼ tsp dry)
1/8 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 shots cognac or brandy
2 carrots, finely shredded
2 tablespoons pickle relish
1 slice bread, soaked in milk and squeezed dry
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
½ gallon water, + 2 tbsp salt for cooking
- Cheesecloth & Kitchen Twine
Place both meats in a large mixing bowl. Fry the bacon in a large skillet till done, and remove to paper towels to drain. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the bacon fat in the pan and saute until golden. Add to the meats, along with the bacon. Add all the rest of the ingredients, except the hard boiled eggs, and mix well; set aside. (This part can be done a day ahead of time. Store the mixed meat in a container or zip-top bag in the refrigerator.)
On a large flat surface, place a large piece of cheesecloth, folded double. On a cutting board or other surface, place the meat and create a sort of cradle. Take the hard-boiled eggs and cut the ends off to expose the yolk at either end, then set the eggs end-to-end down the center of the cradle in the meat. Begin forming the meat up and around, enclosing the eggs completely, until you have a nice cylinder formed from the meat. Place the cylinder onto one edge of the cheesecloth and roll it, making a nice tight enclosure. Taking kitchen twine, lay out strips, sliding them underneath the roll, using about 3 for the body of the roll, and one at each end. Tie them snugly; trim ends.
Have a large pot or Dutch oven ready with boiling water with about 2 tablespoons salt. Gently lower the meat roll into the water and reduce heat to maintain a simmer for 1 hour. Pour off water, cut twine, and unroll the packet. Slice in about ½-inch slices. Makes about 10 slices, plus the ends. Serve with a Tomato Sauce.
Steps to Making Carne Fria:
- Take prepared meat and make a “cradle.” Place the trimmed eggs end-to-end down the center of the cradle.
- Form the meat up to completely surround the eggs, making a neat cylinder.
- Lay out cheesecloth or old kitchen towel or flour sack towel, and onto this, place the cylinder.
- Roll up the towel around the meat tightly, to keep its shape.
- Cut kitchen twine long enough to tie. Three pieces around the center part of the cylinder, and one at each end work well.
- Once tied, trim the ends of the twine to short pieces.
- Have a pot with the half-gallon of water at a boil. Add in the 2-tablespoons salt.
- Holding each end of the packet, very gently lower the whole meatloaf into the boiling water. Bring back to a boil.
- Lower the heat until it maintains a simmer; cover and set a timer for 1 hour.
Tomato Sauce For Serving Carne Fria
3 - 4 Roma tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 clove fresh garlic
1 red bell pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil for frying
Heat a broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Set the red bell pepper and tomatoes on the sheet and broil. Turn the pepper as it becomes blackened, until it is blackened evenly, then remove to a zip top bag, closing so it steams. Turn the tomatoes as they blacken in spots, then remove them to a blender container.
Cut the onion into chunks, separating the layers. Set the pieces onto the baking sheet, along with the clove of garlic off to one side for easy removal. Turn the garlic when it browns, and then remove to the blender container. Using tongs, turn/toss the onion pieces until they begin to blacken in spots and smell very appetizing. Once dine, remove to the blender container.
Once the pepper is cool enough to handle, remove all the skins, then remove the stem, seeds and membranes. Place the cleaned pepper into the blender container, then blend until the sauce is mostly smooth. Pour into a heated skillet with the tablespoon of oil and bring to boil. Lower to simmer, add in salt and pepper to your taste and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to meld flavors. This sauce is great with this Carne Fria as well as with Guatemalan Chiles Rellenos.
A bit of cilantro may be added to the blender with the rest of the ingredients. This will, however, leave little flecks of color. Your choice.
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The other dish is called Pepian, and can be made with beef or chicken, as you choose. The sauce, as with many sauces both sweet and savory, contains sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and various spices that we in the US do not think of as savory spices: allspice and cinnamon. Thickening for this stew, again as with many other recipes, is soaked and blended tortillas, or the use of some corn tortilla masa or flour for corn tortillas. This stew is supposed to be rather runny, but somehow mine generally comes out thick. More water and salt can be added. Since my husband does not like anything runny, my version comes out perfect for him!
Pepian
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| Pepian with Beef |
Serves 6 - 8
2½ pounds beef stew meat, in 2-inch cubes OR 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil, for browning
2 dried ancho or pasa chiles
1 chile guaque or guajillo
2 cups water, boiling in small saucepan
4 Roma tomatoes (tomates)
4 tomatillos (miltomates), husks removed
1 large onion (cebolla), peeled, cut in quarters
2 - 3 cloves garlic (ajo)
¼ cup unhulled sesame seeds (ajonjoli)
¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitoria)
½ teaspoon black peppercorns (pimienta negra)
2 allspice berries (pimienta gorda)
3-inches true cinnamon stick (canela)
½ - 1 cup cilantro
1½ tablespoons annatto seeds (achiote), or 1 - 2 teaspoons powdered annato/achiote
1½ teaspoons salt (sal)
1 pound potatoes (papas), peeled, in large cubes
2 soaked corn tortillas (tortillas de maiz), or 2 soaked slices bread (pan), or 2 - 3 tablespoons of masa harina - for thickening
Place the pieces of meat or chicken into a large Dutch oven and just barely cover with water to cook. Add the salt and cook until done, at least an hour for chicken. Beef stew meat, being a tougher cut, will take longer, about 2 to 2½ hours. About a half-hour before the cooking is done, add the potatoes and stir. Other vegetables may be added if desired, such as chayote squash or carrots.
In a saucepan of boiling water, place the 2 ancho or pasa chilies and the chili guaque (or other dried red hot chili pepper such as guajillo) and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, until soft. Set pan aside.
Preheat the broiler with a rack about 4 inches from the heat. On a baking sheet set the whole tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic and onion quarters. Allow the skins to blacken or blister a bit, turning as necessary. Allow the onions to separate and blacken the edges and soften and smell aromatic, and then removing all the vegetables to a blender container as they are done.
In a dry skillet over high heat, toast the sesame and pumpkin seeds, with the cinnamon, broken into bits, the peppercorns and allspice berries until the sesame and pumpkin seeds begin to pop. Do not burn the seeds or you will ave to start over. Pour the seeds into the blender container with the tomato mixture. Remove the dried and soaked chilies from their liquid, reserving the liquid aside. Remove and discard stems and seeds and add the chilies to the blender container. Add in the cilantro and blend the mixture until fine. If liquid is needed to blend, use small amounts of the chilie's soaking water.
Once the meat and vegetables are cooked, if there is too much liquid still in the pot, remove some of it to the side to use only if needed. Pour the blender contents into the pot and stir. Bring to simmer.
Place the annatto seeds into the remaining chili soaking liquid and allow them to soak in the hot liquid for a few minutes. Pour the seeds and liquid into the same blender container and blend on the very lowest speed. The goal is to rattle them around and remove as much of the orange outsides of the seed as possible for coloring and flavoring purposes, without actually blending the seeds to powder as the seeds are bitter. You want the color and flavor of the seeds only. Strain the liquid into the pot and discard the remaining spent seeds. Stir well, then cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes to meld flavors.
While the pot simmers, if using corn tortillas to thicken, soak them in some of the reserved meat cooking liquid, then put the mixture into the blender and blend fine and add to the pot. If using corn masa harina, dissolve in a bit of the meat cooking liquid, then add it to the pot. If using bread, soak it in some of the meat cooking liquid and then blend fine before adding to the pot. With any of these methods, once in the pot, stir well and allow to simmer again for 15 minutes before serving. Serve the stew over rice.
My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.
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