Bistec Ranchero

November 12, 2010

This was interesting. It has a lot of potatoes (which I’m not supposed to have) and very few flavorings (salt, pepper and cilantro). I can’t imagine making this without an electric slicer or good mandolin.

Bistec Ranchero, from A Gringo’s guide to Mexican Cooking, pg. 73

1 T salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 lb breakfast steak (round steaks thinly sliced)
2 T corn oil
1 white onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb white potatoes, thinly sliced
2 beefsteak tomatoes, thinly sliced
a few sprigs of cilantro, finely chopped

Mix together the salt and pepper and generously coat the steak and shake off the excess.

Pour the oil into a large unheated skillet. Layer all of the onions, then the garlic, then the potatoes, then the tomatoes, then the cilantro. Finally add the beef to the skillet in one layer. It is important the steaks do not overlap. Do not do two layers, make two batches if needed.

Cover the skillet, place on the burner and turn the heat to medium. Slow-cook without stirring until the beef is fully cooked and the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve with corn tortillas, jalapenos en escabeche (pickled) and refried beans.

How I did it: I didn’t have breakfast steaks so I used a petit sirloin I had frozen. I let it partially thaw and sliced it to ¼ inch thick. I marinated it with balsamic vinegar in hopes of tenderizing it a bit. It didn’t work. The steak was hard and somewhat dry. So don’t substitute steaks!

This has a mild but nice flavor. With all the moisture released from the potatoes and tomatoes, I think you could reduce the oil to 1 T.

I think this could have a few adjustments and be more Mediterranean or Italian. Add more herbs, use olive oil, add some olives to the mixture… don’t know, but it seems worth experimenting with.

It would also be good as a breakfast casserole with poached or scrambled eggs.

I served it with Charro beans (July 4). This time I used great northern beans and beef steak tomatoes. Mistake. The tomatoes got too mush when broiling and couldn’t be diced. The white means change the flavor quite a bit compared to the pinto beans. Not nearly as good as the first time I made it. Word to the wise: Always use roma tomatoes for this dish!