Ben's Carne Guisada

TGIF! Lets celebrate with another Tex-Mex recipe, Carne Guisada. Carne Guisada is one of the quintessential cross cultural dishes that typify Tex-Mex's regional charm. Basically it's pot roast with a mexican flair. It's usually served on a plate with rice, beans, and warm tortillas. You'll also find it at the local taco stands in Texas in a foil wrapped packet of pure bliss. The general recipe just calls for meat but if your frugal like me, you can extend it by adding a couple of diced potatoes and simmering another thirty minutes. And be sure to serve hot tortillas and fresh Pico De Gallo. Like we say at my house, everything's better with Pico! Here's your ingredient list.

4-5 lbs. Chuck or Shoulder Roast
3 Tbs. canola oil
All purpose flour, about a cup
2 Tbs. Chili powder
1 tsp. ground comino
1 Tbs. salt
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Accent(optional)

Cube the meat into roughly 1.5" chunks. Coat the meat in flour and set aside. Heat the oil in a dutch oven and add the meat. Turn meat to brown on all sides. Add enough water to cover the meat and reduce heat to medium. Stir in all your seasonings and cook uncovered for about 3 hours until meat is fork tender. Add water if necessary but not too much. You want it to cook down to the consistency of a thick gravy. Serve and enjoy!

A little aside on our optional ingredient, Accent. Accent is the commercial name for the much maligned MSG. This is probably the most over hyped ingredient in the food world. MSG is the synthetic form of glutamate that occurs naturally in most of our foods. Some of the highest concentrations are in vegetables. If your a vegetarian, your already consuming more glutamate than you would hitting the chinese buffet. In fact recent studies have discovered separate structures on the tongue that detect only glutamate indicating that we've evolved to seek it out in our food. There are no solid studies showing that MSG acts in the body differently from natural glutamate. There have been indirect indications that glutamate might be problematic, but nothing conclusive. That said there is a rare subset of people who get headaches from glutamate. But guess what, if you can eat mushrooms, your not one of them. There is a strong health risk associated with high sodium intake, but here's the kicker. MSG has half the sodium of salt with many times the flavoring power. I've actually reduced the over all sodium content of my dishes by using it without compromising flavor. If you have high blood pressure like me that's a good thing. And finally, let's get real. If your worried about MSG you have no business eating Carne Guisada anyway. That just leaves more for the rest of us who think sacrificing a few years of lifespan are worth decades of Tex-Mex bliss!