Trinchado

This recipe sounded really delicious to me, and I was not disappointed. I altered the recipe based on some of the comments - more onions and garlic? more heat? I'm in! This is a spicy dish, but not overpoweringly so, with some really great flavour. Just the right dish for a frosty evening!

Trinchado
adapted from this recipe on Leite's Culinaria

1 tbsp bacon fat
1 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 lb stewing beef
2 huge onions, chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
4 red chile peppers, minced (with seeds)
3/4 head garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 c beef broth
1 2/3 c red wine
2 bay leaves
25 oil-cured black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
Italian parsley, chopped

I seared the stewing beef cubes in the bacon fat and olive oil to give it some colour, then put the seared beef aside. (The original recipe called for butter, but since I had some bacon fat in the fridge I decided to use that instead. Mmm, bacon.) Using the same pot, I sauteed the onions, red pepper, and red chiles for a while, then added the garlic and continued sauteing until the whole mixture had softened. I sprinkled the flour over the vegetables and let that cook for a few minutes more.

I added the red wine and the beef broth and let the mixture come to a simmer before adding the beef, olives, bay leaves, and freshly ground black pepper. Since I had cooked everything in my lovely dutch oven, I just covered the pot with some foil and the lid before sticking it in the oven at 300. After an hour or so I reduced the temperature to 250, and let it cook for another couple of hours (maybe two and a half?) until the meat was fork tender.

I served the trinchado in a deep bowl with some parsley on top, accompanied by a delicious sourdough roll to soak up the juices.