Monday, August 1, 2011

Machacado con Huevos: Mexican Drief Beef with Eggs ... My New Favorite Breakfast (and brunch, lunch, dinner, and snack)

 
Even though I freely admit that I have done it myself, I still always think it's kind of silly when food bloggers act like we've discovered some food or ingredient or dish  that's actually been around a really long time. You know what I mean : "Oh my gosh, look! It's mousse." Or "Did you know that you can actually make your own butter?" (I am guilty on both counts, by the way.)

And here I am ... about to do it again, with machacado con huevos. I discovered Mexican dried beef at the Fancy Food Show in D.C. - but not in the Christopher Columbus sense, mind you. I realize the stuff has been around long before I got to it, and I certainly don't seek to change it, colonize it, or alter its glorious essence in any way.

Allow me to digress for one moment: Why I didn't spend the majority of my time in the Mexico Pavilion at said Fancy Food Show is one of my life's greatest regrets. I only got to it in the afternoon on the second (my last) day. It was a wonderland of spicy snacks, salsas, tequila, mezcal, and amazing home cooking by Mexican chef Pati Jinich of Pati's Mexican Table. The samples were off the hook, including, of course, this dried beef:
How much do you love that cartoon 1950s housewife on the package??
Note the text at the bottom of the package: "To prepare the famous Machacado with Eggs. Delicious recipe on the back." Famous????  Here I am, frequenting specialty markets and buying fresh homemade tortillas at my favorite  Mexican restaurant whenever I can, and I had never heard of it. I felt like such a fool!

Well, the promised recipe on the back of the package divulged ingredients but no amounts, so I felt my way through it.  And let me tell you - this makes one kick-you-in-your-pants meal. If you aren't acclimated to spicy foods, I urge you to just go for it, because the heat here is crucial to the overall effect. No joke, this is one of my new favorite things.  I may be late to the machacado con huevos party, but I'm not leaving anytime soon.

Here's what you do: In a large saucepan, saute one diced onion, a diced green pepper, 3 jalapenos (seeds intact), a dried red chili, and a few minced cloves of garlic in butter or lard. Add the dried beef and cook until coated. Add 3 or 4 juicy chopped tomatoes and cook until warm. Move the mixture to the side of the pan and slowly add 5 beaten eggs, incorporating the beef mixture a little bit at a time. Once everything is covered in egg, cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggs have set. Serve with tortillas and accompaniments of your choice - guacamole, salsa, etc.

Just because it has eggs in it, don't limit yourself to having it for breakfast - this tasted just as good with orange juice as it did with tequila!

And speaking of tequila ... don't forget to enter my Dragon's Hollow wine giveaway! I've extended the deadline to August 7 ... because I'm nice like that. Enjoy!





20 comments:

  1. my lord, I think I would have spent the nite at that pavilion and rummaged the wonderland of goodies... this stuff sounds wonderful and nope, I who talk and eat my way through Mex-Tex have not heard of it either, Thanks Trixy Girl.... gonna head out to find me some 'cause this sounds just great...

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  2. What an interesting recipe! It sounds spicy and delicious!

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  3. I need to get me some of that dried beef -- thanks for enlightening me...looks awesome. Theresa

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  4. Agree with your early sentiment. We really are in an age of refinement or reinvention. Most of the classics have been done already.

    I'd be interested to work with that dried beef. Not entirely convinced.

    I really do not drink much wine but I'd be tempted to cook with the Dragon's Hollow.

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  5. A thousand years ago, when my children were small, we had a Mexican exchange student stay with us for the summer. She came with a HUGE roll of dried beef that her father sent me from his cattle ranch. At first, I had no idea what to do with it but checked out some cook books and discovered the joys of working with this wonderful treasure. So glad you've found it. There are so many other wonderful meals to prepare ahead of you! The package was huge but light as a feather. Made the greatest tacos... thanks for sharing this recipe and come visit when you can.

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  6. I love to make butter, nothing better, what a great meal this is.. havent tried dried beef you may have given me a great reason too!

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  7. I've never heard of this famous dish either and I've been to Mexico! We've got dried, shredded beef here that's very similar to the packet shown above but we normally eat ours with cashews, as a snack, or with rice for a fuller meal. I might just try throwing it into this recipe and see whether it could disguise itself as Mexican food... ;-).

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  8. Interesting... that dried beef looks like our chinese pork and fish floss. Wonder if it tastes similar.

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  9. I've had dried beef - but not the Mexican way. Curious!

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  10. I've never seen it either.... the texture would put me off .... I would need one heck of a recommendation to get me to try it –– enter Trix! Interesting in eggs, I should imagine... I mean I love chipped beef but it doesn't look quite so dry. Must check it out...

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  11. I never seen this carne seca...if it is like what we used to have in Brazil, I am for it! I will look for it and try it out for sure.
    Hope you are having a fantastic week Trix :-)

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  12. I can totally relate to feeling like you just made the discovery of the century, I am guilty too. I wish I could have been at this show! This looks really good....but dried beef? Just sounds weird but I have had it in a Brazilian dish.

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  13. I love your photography, and this Mexican style beef is so good, love it. I'm going to follow your beautiful blog :)

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  14. That sounds interesting and easy to make. Love the presentation. Makes me want to eat for breakfast everyday :D

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  15. I am going to look for this at my local Mexican markets; I can already think of lots of things I could use it for, since I am not personally into eggs so much. Thanks for this discovery!

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  16. I absolutely love dried beef! I use it as a filling in so many dishes (the Chinese version though). I would love to try this recipe to see how delicious it tastes!

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  17. I admit up until reading this post I was dried beef ignorant. I love me a Mexican breakfast and this is a fantastic new recipe to try. Bueno!

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  18. That looks super yum! I love anything with eggs and if it's spicy, even better. :-) I get excited about these things, too.

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  19. I'm baaaack! And at TT I am catching up on all your beautiful posts. I must have missed the one for Berry Terrine though? Is the link broken?

    So I have to laugh at the blogger food discovery stuff. We are all so guilty of it. Lately I feel like I have discovered boiled eggs. Seriously. Can't get enough. Eggs.

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