Carne Mechada is a traditional Venezuelan recipe for a classic stew of beef, vegetables, chillies, plum tomatoes and onions with black beans that's cooked slowly until the beef is tender and the flavours meld and which is served on a bed of rice. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Venezuelan version of: Carne Mechada.
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This is a traditional Venezuelan dish and a variant of the Spanish Ropa Vieja (now become a classic Cuban dish) but with the inclusion of black beans.
Ingredients:
2kg beef skirt, stewing steak or sirloin
60ml dry red wine
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 onions, chopped
3 bay leaves
salt and black pepper, to taste
400g black beans
For the mechado sauce:
2 onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
4 hot chillies, minced
750ml passata (tomato sauce)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
3 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
salt and black pepper, to taste
Method:
Soak the black beans in water over night. Place in a pan with plenty of water, bring to a boil and simmer for about 90 minutes, or until tender. Meanwhile add the beef, wine, garlic, onions and bay leaves in a pan. Cover with plenty of water, season and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 2 hours or until the beef is tender.
Take out the beef and set aside to cool. Strain the stock through a sieve and discard the vegetables. Return the stock to a pan and boil until reduced by half (about 30 minutes).
For the sauce, add oil to a large pan and use to fry the onions, bell peppers and chillies for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Add the tomato sauce and 300ml of the beef stock along with the seasonings. Bring to a boil, season and reduce to a simmer. Trim the beef and shred then add the meat and the beans to the pot. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until everything has heated through and the stock has reduced and thickened.
Traditionally, the beef is pulled into strips before serving on a bed of rice.
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