Carne Mechada
Stuffed Beef
Carne Mechada is one of the most traditional dishes in the Domincan Republic. It's basically
a pot roast, in which the roast is stuffed with onions, bell peppers and other ingredients. Unfortunately, this dish didn't
work for me. Carne Mechada is traditionally made with bola, a boneless cut from the cow's thigh. It's available at
Latin American markets, but I was too lazy to go to one. You can use any roast suitable for pot roast (chuck or round), but
get one that is thick enough to stuff. I didn't and most of the filling fell off.
I made this recipe pretty much as described in the book, but I ended up with way too much filling. I have reduced the
quantities in the recipe below. The cooking liquid was also not very flavorful, so I put it in the blender and salted it.
You may want to do the same.
All that said, this is not a dish that I'd recommend you make. It was OK - though the meat came out too dry - but it
wasn't that special. I'm sure there are better recipes for pot roast out there.
Carne Mechada
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped ham
- 1 Tbsp. chopped green olives
- 1/2 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tsp. finely chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp. oregano
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 lbs. boneless pot roast
- vegetable oil
- 3 cups beef stock
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Mix together the ham, green olives, carrot, onion, green bell pepper, garlic, parsley and oregano in a medium bowl.
Make six evenly spaced cuts in the meat, to about half the depth of the roast. Put equal amounts of stuffing in each
hole. Season roast with salt and pepper.
Pour a thin layer of oil in a pot wide enough to accommodate the roast and heat it over a medium-high flame. When hot,
add the roast and brown well on each side. Add the beef stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and apple cider to the
pot, mixing well.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 2 hours.
Remove roast from the pot and slice. Serve with cooking liquid.
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Adapted from a recipe in Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz's The
Complete Book of Caribbean Cooking .
Dominican Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | E-mail
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