Beef de Sonora and Twice Baked Potatoes

I bought a Better Homes and Gardens “Mexican Cuisine” edition this summer and the few recipes I have tried so far have been great, in particular, the Peruvian chicken I made awhile back.  “Beef de Sonora,” below, was next on my list to try and can be found at the following link.  http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef-de-sonora/

Ingredients for the Beef

2 lb. flank steak

1 onion chopped

3 fresh jalapeños diced; stemmed and seeded

6 (smallish) cloves of garlic diced

29 oz. whole canned tomatoes, blended or canned tomato sauce

1 14 1/2 oz. can of beef broth

1/4 cup ground ancho chile pepper

2 Tbsp. paprika

1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 oz. fresh green beans, cleaned with ends trimmed

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 Tbsp. vodka

Directions

The original recipe cooked the steak in a Dutch oven, but I decided to use my crock pot.  The meat cooked to a perfect tenderness after 3-3 1/2 hours on high.

Cut the steak in two pieces and heat a fry pan.  Add oil and cook each piece on both sides until nicely browned.  Remove and set aside for five minutes before slicing the steak in strips like you would for a fajita.  Add the onions, and peppers to the pan and fry about three-five minutes.  Add garlic for a minute and remove pan from burner.  Place all of the ingredients into the crock pot except the beans and vodka and cook for about two hours.  In the final hour of cooking, add the green beans and vodka.

*I did not have ground ancho chile powder, but I did have dried ancho chiles so I stemmed and seeded about four and blended them into a powder.  You could always use just regular chile powder.

*This can be served on tortillas like the recipe called for or over rice.  For some reason, I decided to make twice baked potatoes.

Ingredients for Potatoes

6 medium red potatoes

1 stick of softened butter

1/3 cup of warm milk

Salt and Pepper

1/2 cup of cheddar cheese

Crumbled bacon and scallions

Directions

Bake the potatoes in a 325 degree oven for 60-75 minutes.  I used red because that is what I had in my cupboard.  Remove potatoes from the oven when they are easily pierced by a fork.  I cool the potatoes for about five minutes, but you do not want to cool too much or they will have a glue-like consistency when adding the other ingredients.  I use my bare hands, but if it is too hot use an oven mitt and cut each potato in half with a sharp knife and scoop out the middles with a spoon in a large bowl.  Be careful not to scoop too hard and break the skins; you can leave a layer of potato at the bottom for sturdiness.  Place empty skins in casserole dish or baking sheet.

Mash or beat potatoes with the softened butter, warm milk, lots of salt, pepper (and sour cream if you desire).  Mix in the cheddar cheese until well-blended.  Scoop a large spoonful of the mixture into each potato shell.  You can put more or less in each shell depending on your preference.  Top with crumbled bacon and chopped scallions.

Broil potatoes on low for 5-7 minutes.  You can also bake them for a half an hour in a 350 degree oven.

Results

The beef was absolutely delicious and tender and 2 lbs. versus the 1 1/2 lbs. the original recipe called for was the right amount for four people.  The sauce had a really great flavor so much so that Grace had it over pasta the next day, and I kept slurping it up with a spoon even when the beef was gone.  I really think my additions to the dish gave the sauce more depth.  Tasting the sauce while cooking I kept thinking something was missing.  I had already modified the recipe by using canned whole tomatoes that I blended instead of canned tomato sauce.  I also used three instead of one jalapeños because I had a bunch.  This likely gave it more flavor than it would have though still did not make the dish spicy (at least by our standards).  Finally, in the last hour to thirty minutes I threw in some oregano, cumin and vodka.  The original recipe did call for green beans, but Alec and I agreed we would rather have the meat by itself.  The original recipe also called for garbanzo beans, which I readily omitted!  As always the twice bake potatoes were a hit and I am glad I made plenty for leftovers.  Next time though I think I would like to have this steak on some warm tortillas.