Machaca Food

SLOW-COOKER BRAISED BRISKET (MACHACA)

Steps:

• For the marinade: Combine the Maggi sauce, lime juice, 2 tablespoons water, garlic and serranos in a medium-size bowl, season with salt and pepper. While whisking constantly, slowly add the olive oil, Put the brisket pieces into a large food-safe plastic bag and pour the marinade over it, turning the meat to coat. Seal and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight.
• Allow the meat to come to room temperature. Drain the meat and discard the marinade.
• For the brisket: Pour the oil into the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the onions, broth, peppers, oregano, garlic, chiles, tomatoes and some salt and pepper. Mix well, and then nestle the meat into the liquid in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cook the brisket on medium-high heat until the meat is tender and shreds easily with a fork, about 5 hours.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a cutting board and let stand until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Shred the meat into 2-inch-long pieces. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, stir to combine, and let stand until the meat is hot, about 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
• The warm braised meat can be used to fill burritos, tacos, tostadas or sandwiches. Leftover meat can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days or frozen in plastic freezer bags or containers for up to 1 month.
• For the tostadas: Spread about 1/3 cup of the warm meat over each of the crisp shells. Top each tostada with about 2 tablespoons lettuce, some diced avocado and 2 tablespoons salsa. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon crema over the top and garnish with crumbled queso fresco.
• Serve with lime wedges on the side for squeezing over the top.

MACHACA (AUTHENTIC MEXICAN SHREDDED BEEF)

Steps:

• Place meat in large saucepan. Add water, peppercorns, 1/4 onion and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer until meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Cool meat in broth. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup broth. Mash garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt to make a paste. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chopped onion and garlic paste. Cook until onion is tender. Cut chili into short strips. Add chili strips and tomatoes to cooked onion.
• Cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add meat, cumin and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cook until meat is heated through. Stir in reserved broth. Taste and add salt if needed. Keep warm.
• NOTE: Can be served as a main dish or in tacos or other tortilla dishes.

CHEECH'S MANCHACA

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler.
• Sprinkle the steak with the oregano, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet. Broil the steak until well done, about 6 minutes per side. Remove from the oven and let cool before slicing. Slice or shred the steak into thin pieces and set aside.
• In a large pot, combine the chicken stock, potatoes, jalapenos, onions and tomatoes, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and add the shredded steak. Simmer the mixture for 2 hours until thickened.
• Serve the Manchaca with warm flour tortillas to wrap.
• This recipe was created by a contestant during a cooking competition. The Food Network Kitchens have not tested it for home use, therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

MACHUCA

Steps:

• Peel the plantains, cut them into 3-inch chunks and place them in a pot with well-salted water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until the plantains are easily pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain, keeping 1/2 cup of the water, and pound the plantains to a purée in a large mortar, or purée in a food processor until nearly smooth with some small chunks. The texture should be a bit like chewy mashed potatoes. Add a few tablespoons of the cooking water while puréeing if needed to keep it soft, and season with salt to taste. Keep warm, and serve with hudutu.

PORK MACHACA (TENDER PULLED MEXICAN PORK)

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a stockpot and simmer until fork tender-this can take from 3-4 hours.
• Can be made in a crock pot also-decrease liquid by about 1/2, bouillon powder by 1/3, and cook on low for 8-10 hours (or until tender as above).
• When tender, remove from heat and allow meat to cool in the broth until cool enough to handle (this will keep the meat moist).
• Shred (or "pull") either with forks or by hand.
• Place in storage container and add some of the broth to moisten; refrigerate until needed.
• Reheat either in microwave, or in saucepan; use a little of the juice to keep it moist.
• For the Mexican-flavored pot roast, don't shred-slice fairly thick (about 1/2"), and make a gravy by thickening some of the juice with either cornstarch or roux (sorry, you'll have to thicken by sight; tough to give an exact quantity for that); serve with plain steamed rice/boiled potatoes and a vegetable-broccoli and/or carrots come to mind first. Leftovers make great open-faced hot sandwiches.
• For soup, take broth and add some onions, carrots, celery, an extra bit of canned diced tomato (you can use almost anything for veggies depending on what you like/have on hand), some of the pork meat and posole (or hominy); simmer until tender and add shredded cabbage; cook another 15 minutes. Serve with hot tortillas and a salad for a complete meal.
• Can also be made as beef machaca by using bottom (outside) round, chuck, or brisket; replace chicken bouillon powder with beef.

MACHACA RECIPE, MEXICAN BEEF

Steps:

• First, slice your onion into half moon slices about 1/4in. thick.
• Cut the tops off your Anaheim chili's. Slice them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Depending on the size of your chili's, cut them in half or into thirds. You want strips about the same length as your onions.
• Then cut them into strips like the onions, about 1/4in. thick. Place your prepped veggies on a plate or in a bowl, cover and set aside or refrigerate. We'll get back to these later.
• Next, trim the fat off of your chuck steak. Dice into big cubes, about 1 1/2-2 inch cubes. You'll want them big so when it starts to break down you'll still have nice chunks.
• Add the salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder to a small bowl so it will be easy to add to the meat.
• Preheat your pot to medium high heat. If you are using a non-stick pan you do not have to add the oil. If your pan is not non-stick you'll want to add the oil to keep the meat from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add your cubed meat to the hot pan along with your little bowl of seasoning.
• Fry the meat stirring often until it has browned, about 10-15 minutes or so.
• Pour in enough water to barely cover the meat, about 1/2 gallon or so.
• Turn the heat to high and cover. Once the meat comes to a boil, back the heat off until you have a "hard simmer". This means that the liquid is bubbling but not boiling over. You want to have it bubbling as hard as possible, covered, without it boiling over. Cook it for about 2-3 hours stirring occasionally.
• Note: You want a very tight fitting lid because you don't want the liquid to evaporate too quickly. If you notice the liquid evaporating fast you may need to add more water so keep this in mind.
• After 2-3 hours poke the meat to see if it is starting to break up. If it is, remove the lid, turn the heat down "just a little" and keep simmering until most of the liquid has evaporated. If it is not breaking down yet just put the lid back on and continue simmering until it is breaking up.
• The point here is to keep as much liquid in your pot until the meat starts to break up. Only at this point do you want to remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate. This will ensure your meat is extremely tender and falling apart. All together the meat will take about 3 1/2-4 hours. Keep monitoring your meat and stirring during the last hour.
• Machaca Beef ShreddedOnce the liquid has almost completely evaporated use a wood spoon to break the meat down. You don't want to completely shred it with your spoon, just to the point where some of the meat is shredded but you still have some nice chunks. At this point the meat is ready for the next step, onions and chili's... Yum!
• Adding Your Chili's And Onions To The Machaca.
• Preheat a very large skillet to medium high heat, preferably non-stick (if you don't have non-stick you'll need about a teas. of oil).
• Add your prepped veggies to the dry pan (if you're using non-stick) and grill them until they're just tender, about 2-4 minutes.
• Turn the heat off and add your warm beef Machaca Finishedand stir until thoroughly mixed. That's it, your meat is now ready.

MACHACA

Steps:

• In crockpot, cook roast on low heat 8-10 hours.
• Remove from pot and shred beef.
• In skillet, saute diced onion and green bell pepper until lightly browned.
• Add garlic and saute with onion for an additional minute or so.
• Add shredded beef to a very large skillet or dutch oven and heat with onion/garlic mixture.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add green chilis and tomatoes.
• Cook until well heated.
• Break eggs into a bowl and scramble.
• Add to meat mixture and cook until eggs are done and scrambled throughout.
• Add enough El Pato tomato sauce to moisten but not drench.
• When all is heated through, serve in large flour tortillas burrito style adding condiments as you wish.
• NOTE: If you eliminate the eggs, this makes a wonderful chimichanga filling as well.

MACHACA BURRITOS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large skillet, and saute onions for 5 minutes.
• Add in meat and tomatoes and mix with the onions.
• Once heated through, break eggs over meat mixture and scramble together until done.
• Sprinkle cheese over Machaca mixture and let melt.
• Spoon mixture onto tortillas and fold and eat! You can use sour cream and salsa if you like, but we like it without!

BEEF MACHACA

Steps:

• Place beef in crockpot.
• Cover roast with remaining ingredients except salsa.
• Cover crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until roast is tender and can be pulled with a fork.
• Remove the beef from the crockpot and set the cooking liquid aside.
• Using two forks, shred beef.
• Mix beef with salsa, and if you like it a little moister, add some of the cooking liquid to the meat.
• Adjust the seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
• Use as a filling for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chimis, etc.