Michel Vejar’s February Cooking Class

Pulled Beef Tacos and Mango Salsa

Ingredients for the Pulled Beef Taco’s:

• 3 1/2 lb. beef chuck roast (look for some good marbling)
• 1 bottle of red wine – Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1 bottle Trader Joe’s Salsa – Autentica
• 3 tbls olive oil

 

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350º
2. Slice  the chuck roast into 6 pieces
3. Salt and pepper the pieces
4. Add 3 tbls of olive oil to a large pan on med/high heat and begin to add the beef pieces
5. Turn up the heat to high and quickly sear all sides til browned – this takes 10 minutes
6. Add in 3/4 of the bottle of red wine (be careful of steam here) and the whole jar of salsa
7. Bring to a simmer and pop into the oven for 2 1/2 hrs.
8. Every hour turn the beef pieces over so the other sides can caramelize
9. At 2 1/2 hours take the braising meat out of the oven and begin to remove the beef to a dish wear you can start to pull apart the beef pieces
10. Tilt the braising pan to the side so that you can skim off the fat that rendered out of the meat
11. Pour the left over juice onto the pulled beef and serve with taco shells and my mango salsa…enjoy!

Ingredients for the Mango Salsa:

• 2 lg mangoes chopped 1/4″ cubed – (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 avocado chopped 1/4″ cubed (1 cup)
• 2 med/lg size tomato’s or 5 small tomato’s chopped 1/4″ cubed (1 cup)
• 1/2 Vidalia onion (or yellow) FINELY chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 FINELY chopped jalapeno (2-3 tbls)
• juice from 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• a dash of Siracha (optional)
• S & P

Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
2. We really love to eats this salsa with blue chips too
3. I have also served this salsa up on the tips of endive leaves, and or with a cooked shrimp on top of that ….yum!
4. I must warn you this salsa is highly addictive……consume at your own risk! LOL

http://thetravelingepicurean.com/pulled-beef-tacos-mango-salsa/

Green Goddess Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup mayo (I use Hellmans)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 garlic clove put thru press
• 1/2 jalapeño diced
• 1 tsp. grated vadalia onion ( or yellow onion)
• 1 tbsp ( 1/2) fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp “seasoned” rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• s & p
• dash of Siracha or Tabasco (Siracha is a hot chili sauce sold next to Tabasco at the store)

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients into a blender an purée and you will probably need to stop and stir everything a couple of times to get it going but do not add any more liquid (you will see that once it gets going it will be just right).
2. You can make this ahead of time and keep sauce in a plastic container and refrigerate.  It stays nicely for days in frig.  Yum!
3. This green sauce is absolutely delicious on so many things …… be creative.
4. Try it with Sautéed Chicken Breasts and Spinach or on Crock Pot Pulled Pork sandwiches, BBQ Pork Wraps, Sautéed Chilean Sea Bass or as a dip for Baked Coconut Shrimp!

http://thetravelingepicurean.com/greek-yogurt-green-goddess-sauce/