I am burnt out on Mexican flavors, so I went Louisiana for the big meal cook this week.
Rice and gravy is not talked about much, but Inda and other natives would vouch for it!
I made this one out of a bit of mixed meat, but all beef. It's got some chuck in it and some sirloin chunks. It's chock full of hatch peppers (instead of bell), onion, and some celery. It's also got a good bit of tomato in it, but the roux got a bit dark (normally I'd go for a bit lighter than gumbo, but it's gumbo dark) so you can't see the red from the tomato. Because I add tomato it's more of a Sauce Piquant, but hell it's all just really rice and gravy.
I started a day ahead. Cut a chuck roast into manageable but not tiny chunks. Liberal sprinkle of salt and onto racks to dry out a bit. This helps to get your good good sear. I also salted the sirloin and placed it on a rack, but this was stew meat size from a whole sirloin I broke down last year and it ended up being a pain in the butt putting it on the racks piece at a time, that's why the chuck wasn't broken down into smaller pieces. All in all I had right at 4.5 lbs of meat. The technique is more important than the ingredients, the sear is super important IMO.
I seared off the chuck pieces first. Very very brown. Lots of delicious fond on the bottom of the big stainless pot I made it in. I was a bit aggressive on the sirloin pieces and overcrowded the pot on the first batch. Sigh. Not as good of a sear.
Did the roux in the oven. I don't stand at the stove and stir roux anymore, haven't in a very long time.
Once I pulled the meat I deglazed it with a box o stock. I used chicken, it's what I had.
To the pot I added the hatch peppers (roasted in the air fryer to get the skins off and most of the seeds out), the celery and onion.
To my shock I didn't have a can of tomatos in the pantry, but I had most of a jar of Pace picante sauce in the fridge. Don't judge lol. It's from where I'd made some chicken burrito mix last week.
So it went in the pot too.
I let it rip (boil) until the roux was done. Well, overdone to be honest, but not burnt. I just went to far for it to have any thickening power. I fixed that later...
When the roux was done it went into the pot along with the chuck, which I'd by then cut down into beef stew sized chunks. Simmered it for maybe 90 minutes and added the sirloin chunks. I didn't want to dry out the sirloin by adding it at the same time. Sirloin cooks down into tender in less time than chuck. By now you couldn't see any vegetables. I like it this way, I like gumbo much the same.
When the sirloin was tender, it was done. To thicken it I made a couple of tablespoons worth of blond roux and added that almost at the end. That was 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of flour, got it about right.
Seasonings were as follows, I can't give you measurements because it's all to taste.
Salt
Black, white, and cayenne pepper.
A big dash of Worcestershire.
A lot of dried minced garlic. A LOT.
Paprika, smoked and regular.
Dehydrated parsley
A good sprinkle of good old msg.
This is really simple food, but very rich and of course filling. It's great with pork chunks (butt or sirloin) instead of beef. If you use chicken and don't cook it down so long, it's pretty much sauce Piquant.
This is my lunch tonight.
Rice and gravy is not talked about much, but Inda and other natives would vouch for it!
I made this one out of a bit of mixed meat, but all beef. It's got some chuck in it and some sirloin chunks. It's chock full of hatch peppers (instead of bell), onion, and some celery. It's also got a good bit of tomato in it, but the roux got a bit dark (normally I'd go for a bit lighter than gumbo, but it's gumbo dark) so you can't see the red from the tomato. Because I add tomato it's more of a Sauce Piquant, but hell it's all just really rice and gravy.
I started a day ahead. Cut a chuck roast into manageable but not tiny chunks. Liberal sprinkle of salt and onto racks to dry out a bit. This helps to get your good good sear. I also salted the sirloin and placed it on a rack, but this was stew meat size from a whole sirloin I broke down last year and it ended up being a pain in the butt putting it on the racks piece at a time, that's why the chuck wasn't broken down into smaller pieces. All in all I had right at 4.5 lbs of meat. The technique is more important than the ingredients, the sear is super important IMO.
I seared off the chuck pieces first. Very very brown. Lots of delicious fond on the bottom of the big stainless pot I made it in. I was a bit aggressive on the sirloin pieces and overcrowded the pot on the first batch. Sigh. Not as good of a sear.
Did the roux in the oven. I don't stand at the stove and stir roux anymore, haven't in a very long time.
Once I pulled the meat I deglazed it with a box o stock. I used chicken, it's what I had.
To the pot I added the hatch peppers (roasted in the air fryer to get the skins off and most of the seeds out), the celery and onion.
To my shock I didn't have a can of tomatos in the pantry, but I had most of a jar of Pace picante sauce in the fridge. Don't judge lol. It's from where I'd made some chicken burrito mix last week.
So it went in the pot too.
I let it rip (boil) until the roux was done. Well, overdone to be honest, but not burnt. I just went to far for it to have any thickening power. I fixed that later...
When the roux was done it went into the pot along with the chuck, which I'd by then cut down into beef stew sized chunks. Simmered it for maybe 90 minutes and added the sirloin chunks. I didn't want to dry out the sirloin by adding it at the same time. Sirloin cooks down into tender in less time than chuck. By now you couldn't see any vegetables. I like it this way, I like gumbo much the same.
When the sirloin was tender, it was done. To thicken it I made a couple of tablespoons worth of blond roux and added that almost at the end. That was 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of flour, got it about right.
Seasonings were as follows, I can't give you measurements because it's all to taste.
Salt
Black, white, and cayenne pepper.
A big dash of Worcestershire.
A lot of dried minced garlic. A LOT.
Paprika, smoked and regular.
Dehydrated parsley
A good sprinkle of good old msg.
This is really simple food, but very rich and of course filling. It's great with pork chunks (butt or sirloin) instead of beef. If you use chicken and don't cook it down so long, it's pretty much sauce Piquant.
This is my lunch tonight.
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