Carne en su Jugo Tapatia

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal for roasting tomatillos and chiles
• •High-powered blender
• •Deep clay bowls for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the beans

   Put the pinto beans in a heavy pot with the onion, garlic, and enough water to cover by three inches. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the beans. Salt them only when they have begun to soften. You need both the beans and their cooking liquid. That bean liquor is part of the broth, not waste.

2. 2

   Crisp the bacon

   Set a wide clay cazuela or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced bacon and cook until the fat renders and the pieces turn crisp at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Lift out half the bacon for garnish and leave the rest, with the fat, in the pot. If your bacon is stingy with fat, add the manteca de cerdo. No me vengas con atajos. The fat carries the flavor.

3. 3

   Cook the beef

   Add the finely chopped beef to the bacon fat and spread it out in an even layer. Let it cook without stirring for two minutes, then stir and cook until the meat changes color and releases its juices, 8 to 10 minutes. Do not add broth yet. The dish is called carne en su jugo because the beef gives you the first liquid. Respect the name.

4. 4

   Roast the tomatillos

   While the beef cooks, heat a dry comal over medium-high. Roast the tomatillos, onion, garlic, serranos, and chile guajillo until the tomatillos blister and collapse in spots, the onion chars at the edges, and the guajillo smells deep and fruity, not burned. The guajillo only needs a few seconds per side. Burn it and you start again.

5. 5

   Blend the broth

   Transfer the roasted tomatillos, onion, garlic, serranos, and guajillo to a blender. Add the cilantro, Mexican oregano, cumin, and 2 cups of bean cooking liquid. Blend until smooth. This broth should be green with a quiet red depth from the guajillo. It should smell like tomatillo first, cilantro second, beef later.

6. 6

   Simmer together

   Pour the blended broth into the pot with the beef. Add 2 more cups bean cooking liquid and stir well, scraping the browned bits from the bottom. Simmer gently for 25 to 30 minutes, until the beef is tender and the broth tastes rounded. Add more bean liquid only if the pot tightens too much. My mother wrote, 'No lo hagas aguado.' She was right.

7. 7

   Add the beans

   Stir in 2 cups cooked pinto beans and simmer 5 minutes more. Taste for salt. The bacon brings salt, the beans absorb it, and the tomatillo sharpens it, so taste at the end, not before. The finished dish should be brothy but not thin, with beef, beans, and bacon in every spoonful.

8. 8

   Serve tapatio style

   Ladle into deep clay bowls. Top with the reserved crisp bacon, diced white onion, chopped cilantro, sliced radishes, and a squeeze of lime. Put salsa de chile de arbol and warm corn tortillas on the table. Birote salado is Guadalajara's bread, yes, but for this bowl the tortilla does the daily work. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher to chop the beef fine, or do it yourself with a sharp knife. Ground beef is wrong here. You need small pieces that still behave like meat, not a paste.
• •Use pinto beans cooked from dry when you can. Canned beans are a compromise, not an upgrade. If you use them, rinse lightly but still add a little bean liquid from the can because plain water weakens the broth.
• •The chile de arbol belongs in the table salsa, not thrown carelessly into the pot until the broth tastes harsh. Guadalajara cooks let each person decide the heat at the table.
• •Tomatillos should feel firm and a little sticky under the husk. If they are pale, watery, or soft, make something else that day. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.

Advance Preparation

• •The pinto beans can be cooked up to three days ahead. Refrigerate the beans in their cooking liquid so the broth keeps its body.
• •The tomatillo broth can be blended one day ahead, but add the cilantro fresh if you want the clean green color.
• •The finished carne en su jugo keeps for three days refrigerated. Reheat gently and loosen with a splash of bean cooking liquid, not water.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 600g)