Beef Stew Zuazua-Style

I have been ordering beef dishes with a gravy on them the last few times I have eaten at a Mexican restaurant. They are served with tortillas on the side so it is almost like fajitas where you make your own. So when I read the recipe for Los Barrios Beef Stew Zuazua-Style, I knew I wanted to try and recreate that "beef with gravy" dish myself.

A mistake I made was not realizing how expensive beef tenderloin is BEFORE heading to the store. Even though I cut this recipe in half while making it myself, I still spend $40 just on the meat! I do not know enough about meats to suggest that you substitute the beef tenderloin for another meat, but I can tell you that you do end up cooking the meat for quite some time so it will not end up being rare no matter what you do. The end result was really good and I'm not sure it would taste as flavorful with a different cut, but if you know about it then go ahead and substitute as you see fit.

That being said, I really liked the results because of the wonderful rich flavors. I am not a huge fan or oregano and this recipe calls for A LOT so you might want to adjust the amounts accordingly. But this is easy to throw together and is a nice change from regular tacos or fajitas.

Beef Stew Zuazua-Style Cortadillo Zuazua Serves 6 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil 3 lbs. beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes Pinch of garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste 3 tomatoes, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped 1 cup water 2 Tbsp. dried oregano

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large deep skillet or a Dutch oven over medium heat. Season the beef with the garlic powder and salt and pepper. Add to the pan, in batches, and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Drain the juices into a small bowl and set aside. Return all the meat to the pan.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, then add the tomatoes and onion and cook about 8 minutes. Return the reserved juices to the pan, add the water and oregano, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes longer.

Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Sliced Tuna Soft Tacos

When preparing the Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon this weekend I decided not to cook all the tuna at once. I have a bad habit of that. I know I can never eat all the food in the recipe and I want to half it, but I forget that at shopping time! So I ended up with way more tuna than I would eat at one setting. Perfect for Leftover Tuesdays which I am hosting this month.

At first I planned to make another Japanese dish with the leftover tuna. I had my eye on another recipe in the Japanese Light cookbook. But I changed my mind and decided to make the Sliced Tuna Soft Tacos which I found in the March, 2007 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine.

Of course I could have thrown together my own version of tacos, but I was intrigued by the one featured in this issue. It is made with cabbage! I like cabbage every now and then. But I've never had it in tacos before. Also, the spice blend used as a rub on the tuna is very different from what I prepared the other night. The tacos were very flavorful. I really enjoyed the combination of cabbage and tuna together with the spices.

There is an avocado, cream and lime sauce which is part of the recipe which I am on the fence about. The lime and creamy factor was really nice and added a bit of zip. But I didn't really taste the avocado. Maybe mine weren't ripe enough. I'm also not a big fan of making a fuss with a sauce in a food processor and all that. It was an impressive addition, but I probably would not make it again.

Find the recipe for Sliced Tuna Soft Tacos on the Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine website.