Carne Mechada (Braised beef roll)

Recipe: Carne Mechada (Braised beef roll)

Author: Clara G. First posted: May 23, 2011

To start let me be clear that not everybody in the Dom. Rep. knows this dish as carne mechada, in fact I would dare say that some don’t even know it at all. Remember that there is such thing as regional cooking, and even more, each home have their own culinary traditions. Having said that, go ahead and try this dish, I can certainly say that it was very well-received in my own home.

Notes:
The original recipe calls for a wet-cured ham filling, I have done that (and have the pictures to prove it), but for this I made my own version using longaniza (spicy Dominican pork sausage) instead. This adds a lot more flavor to the dish than ham does.

You will need a boneless cut of beef. Dominicans usually use tenderloin for this (which many outside of the DR would not consider it a choice for braising). Since this is a slow-cooked dish any boneless cut will do.

Preparation: 2 hours
Cooking: 1.5 hrs
Time total: 3 hours
Yields: 4 servings (8 slices)

Ingredients:

• 2 lb beef (tenderloin, or flank)
• 1/2 lb longaniza (or other spiced raw pork sausage)
• 1/4 cups oil
• 1 cup tomato sauce (or 1 Tbsp tomato paste)
• 1/2 cup pitted olives
• 1 small carrot, cut into strips
• 2 peppers, cut into strips
• 1 onion, cut into strips
• Pepper
• Cooking twine
• Oregano
• Salt

Instructions:

1. In a food processor blend half the onion, pepper, a pinch of oregano and a pinch of salt.
2. Cut the meat into a tube by inserting the knife lengthwise.
3. Season the meat inside and out with the blended mix.
4. Stuff the beef with the longaniza, some olives and the carrot strips.
5. Tie the meat tightly using the cooking twine.
6. Leave marinating in the refrigerator for at least an hour
7. In a cooking pot heat half the oil. Brown the meat (carefully with splatters).
8. Add 3 cups of water, a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of oregano and a pinch of pepper. Lower the temperature to medium and cover with a tight-fitting lid (a pressure cooker will cut down the cooking time by a lot).
9. Every 15 minutes rotate the meat so it cooks uniformly, add more water to keep the same volume.
10. Once the meat is very tender (30 mins to 1 hour depending on a number of things) remove the meat from the liquid and cool to room temperature.
11. Remove the twine.
12. In an skillet heat the remaining oil. Sautee the remaining onion, pepper and olives. Add the tomato sauce and the liquid in which the meat was cooked.
13. Carefully place the roll in the skillet and cook for about 15 minutes rotating the roll a few times until the half the liquid evaporates.
14. Serve with with your choice of rice.