MEXICAN BEEF AND TOMATILLO STEW (ENTOMATADO DE RES)
Just made this recipe and does not look anything like the picture. No liquid is added so where does the liquid come from? Added Tomatillo's (13.4 ounces) after 2 hours of cooking meat in oven with spices. Cooked for an additional hour after add ing tomatillos and 15 ounces of Yukon Gold potatoes. Cn out very very dry, i.e no liquid
Is recipe missing a liquid ingredient? water. stock, broth?
very disappointing
Comments
Hi Richard - I’m not sure what may have gone wrong but I do know that, as Enrique Olvera mentioned in the story, the texture is more suited to serving in a tortilla or over rice than simply in a bowl as you would a more soup-like stew. This is an example of a dry braise. In a dry braise the juices from the meat and the liquid released by the aromatics are the only liquid in the braise. Since there is so little liquid the flavor is more concentrated yielding richer flavor. The tomatillos, added towards the end, will also add a fair amount of liquid but will naturally give off varying amounts depending on ripeness. Ripe tomatillos will have bright green flesh and husk and usually the smaller they are the more desirable. In this particular dry braise we use less meat since we are also adding potatoes and tomatillos. Because of this it’s really important to maintain the level of liquid in the pot by keeping it covered during the entire cooking period, which is a slightly different technique than most of our other Milk Street braises where we remove the cover after a few hours and return the pot to the oven. Again, I’m not sure what went wrong here but I hope this information is helpful! Best, Lynn C.
This is my first time to the Q&A, and I was looking for the same answer. The flavors were quite delicious; when I opened the Dutch oven the first time I wondered if it was supposed to be so dry. I did add about 1/2c water to scrape up the fond before adding the tomatillos and potatoes. I like the idea of the dry braise, as the bottom of the pan was gorgeously brown and concentrated. I think next time I’ll add some beef stock along with the toms and pots just to have a saucier dish (I live in San Fran and on cold damp nights it’s nice to have a broth!). Any other suggestions? Thanks so much.
Hi Justin - Thanks for writing in and welcome to the Q&A! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the stew. Feel free to add some stock or water if you wish. It sounds like the right approach to make it a saucier version of the dish. Best, Lynn C.
I had the same question and am happy to find this detailed answer. The dish turned out quite tasty but was certainly a little distressing at first cooking that beef for so long without liquid. I wouldn't call it "very very dry" but was pretty moist although certainly not soupy like is shown in the photo. Again, thanks for this answer.