Wood-Fired, Ancho-Rubbed Sirloin with Fried Plantains and Frijoles Charros
Grass-fed sirloin (Bastrop Cattle Co.) is rubbed in a mixture of ancho chilies, fresh garlic, Mexican oregano, comino and piloncillo, then quickly seared over a wood fire. Served with salt & pepper-fried plantains and home-cooked frijoles charros (cowboy beans)..
Wood-Fired, Ancho-Rubbed Sirloin with Fried Plantains and Frijoles Charros
For the Rub (adapted from a recipe by Rick Bayless)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3-4 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 tablespoon piloncillo
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon half-sharp paprika
2 teaspoons sea salt
Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into a semi-fine powder.
For the Beans (adapted from a recipe by Rick Bayless)
1 cup dried pinto beans
1 tablespoon leaf lard
1/2 yellow onion
1 small sprig epazote
2 thick slices bacon, diced and fried
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fire-roasted tomatoes, diced
1/2 fresh poblano pepper, charred and diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
Rinse and pick over dried beans. Cover with 1 quart of cool, filtered water, lard, onion and epazote. Bring to a hard boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender, about 2 hours, adding the tomatoes and peppers about 30 minutes out. Stir occasionally and add more water if necessary to keep from drying out.
Add bacon, salt and cilantro during the last 10 minutes of cooking, discarding the epazote before serving.
For the Plantains
1 plantain, very ripe but still firm
1 tablespoon peanut oil or butter
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Heat butter or oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Season plantain slices with salt and pepper then fry until golden brown. Set aside to drain.
For the Steaks
1 4oz breakfast sirloin per person
1 1/2 teaspoon spice rub per steak
Pat steak dry, then evenly coat on all sides with spice rub. Grill over a wood fire for about 2 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing against the grain about 3/8 inch-thick.
This post is part of The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday!
Paula Runyan said,
March 12, 2010 at 1:10 am
Ren, you really should consider compiling all your recipes, with the pictures, into a cookbook.
I for one would love to give copies of said book as wedding and birthday gifts.
Paula
Ren said,
March 12, 2010 at 1:14 pm
I’ve been considering publishing the most popular posts in freely-available electronic format. What do you think?
Heather said,
March 13, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I would love a more convenient way to print from your site! If not in electronic book format, something like 101cookbooks’ print recipe option. I would love something more streamlined from your site for things I print and add to my recipe binder.
Heather said,
March 13, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I just read other comments . . . my first thought too was you could make money off of this so why do it for free?!. But then I decided not to think beyond myself and how I would love the freebie. ;) I’ll look forward to seeing what you decide though!
Ren said,
March 13, 2010 at 7:56 pm
I would love to oblige, but I haven’t found a way to do that on a free wordpress.com blog (plugins not allowed). If anyone has an idea, please let me know!
Dink said,
March 12, 2010 at 4:53 am
I agree..along with advice on healthy foods, where to get some obscure ingredients.
Ren said,
March 12, 2010 at 1:12 pm
If you need help finding anything mentioned here, just ask! :)
Paula Runyan said,
March 12, 2010 at 2:21 pm
ebooks are great, but hard copies woud be even better.
See, we have nourishing traditions for real traditional foods, but it reads like a textbook, has no pictures, and so many of the recipes are to scientific to really taste good.
I still highly recommend it, but too have access to a cookbook with your recipes and pictures, that would be ideal.
Dink said,
March 12, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I agree with Paula…something we can actually hold in our hands. And, as has been suggested, give as gifts.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop said,
March 12, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Hi Ren,
“Anchos” and “Siroloin” together in one recipe…DREAMY!
Ren, no need to offer your recipe collection for free when people would PAY you for it, as we should! You’ve put a ton of time into all those recipes!
Kelly
Erin said,
March 18, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Ditto to ALL comments above
I’m not very familiar with eBooks (except Holly Hickman’s “Healthy Eats Here”), but then you can sell them if you want, and folks can easily print one page at a time…
Only other idea I had..I recently tried out “Plan to Eat” a site you pay a small monthly or annual fee. It’s a menu planning/shopping list/pantry list/recipe saving/sharing site… It’s got a few ‘things’ to work out, but is a HUGE leap above the rest (as far as I can tell).
They way the site is right now, it’s a bit clunky to input recipes off a blog, lots of C&P! …but maybe if you already have them in a different format in your computer, it would be easier… You can try it out for free for 30 days…
Anyhoo, main point being, you can “share” your recipe collection with other members…
Clint, the mastermind, is VERY accessible & might be willing to work with you for specifics tweaks…? Worth looking at anyway…
Ren said,
March 18, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I’ll have a look- thanks for the lead!