Bistec a la mexicana
Bite-size steak simmered with tomato, onion and jalapeño into a chunky sauce, scooped up with warm corn tortillas and beans.
- 35 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.48 a serving
- 510 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb sirloin steak tips
- 4 Roma tomatoes
- 1 white onion
- 2 jalapeños
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 can pinto beans
- 12 corn tortillas
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 510 calories, 35 g protein, 60 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $3.48 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No pinto beans? Black beans or kidney beans work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the steak into ¾-inch pieces, them dry, and with the salt, pepper and cumin.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
the tomatoes and onion, the jalapeños ( for less heat), and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Seed. Seeding means scraping out the seeds and white ribs, usually from peppers, tomatoes or squash. In hot peppers the ribs hold most of the heat, so wash your hands after and don’t touch your eyes.
How you’ll know: The inside is smooth and clean, with no seeds or white ribs left.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Dolly’s tip: The heat lives in the seeds and white ribs. Scrape them out with a spoon for a milder dish.Heat the oil in a large over high until it . the beef in one layer 2 minutes, then stir and cook 1 minute more, until browned all over.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
High heatTimer: 3 min
Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and jalapeño, and cook 3 minutes, stirring, until the onion .
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Add the garlic and tomatoes and 5 to 7 minutes, stirring now and then, until the tomatoes break down into a chunky sauce and the beef reads 145°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Meanwhile, warm the beans with their liquid in a small over low heat, stirring now and then.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Low heat
Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet 30 seconds a side, or wrapped in a damp paper towel in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Medium heat
Serve the steak and its sauce with the beans and tortillas, with cilantro scattered over.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
