Mexican Food Archives - Poor Man's Gourmet Kitchen

Beef Steak Ranchero’s with Potatoes

Beef Ranchero’s with Potatoes in a frying pan.

The Best Beef Steak Ranchero’s

If you’re a fan of Mexican food and you’ve never tried this dish, you’re going to love it. Beef Steak Ranchero’s is so very versatile and it can be made mild or spicy. It can be served with or over rice, for breakfast with eggs, tacos, burritos, tortes, the skies the limit because you’ve got well seasoned and marinated beef, onions and tomatoes and, in this recipe, we’re adding potatoes.

2.37 lb. Raw packaged Beef Carne Taco Meat from the grocery store, $3.98 per lb.

What kind of Beef

As you read the title, “Beef Steak” Ranchero’s you were probably wondering what cuts to use. At my local grocery, they put together packages of beef for stews, tacos and burritos. It’s usually just the miscellaneous scraps from steaks and roasts that is too meaty to waste and throw away. Sometimes it’s even pre-seasoned but I like to get a few packages at a time that isn’t seasoned so, I can do whatever I want with it. One for the fridge and one for the freezer.

If you don’t have this available to you, I would recommend buying the cheapest cuts you can find because the meat tenderizes as it cooks so there’s no reason to get real spendy with this dish. Also, you’re going to need to get familiar with my Blackened Seasoning recipe because I use it on the meat.

Plate of Beef Steak Ranchero’s with rice, beans and a folded flour tortilla.

How to serve this Dish

As I mentioned above, there are so many different ways to eat Beef Steak Ranchero’s. The way I prepare it, in the video down below, I just serve it with beans and plain white rice. You can serve it with Spanish rice, if you prefer, but I find the Ranchero’s flavor has plenty of spice to blend in with white rice. Also, the addition of Potatoes in this recipe makes Ranchero’s great in burritos or along side a Chili Relleno. What ever you decide, you might want to consider a few classic Mexican additions because, you can never go wrong with a squeeze of lime, chopped green onion or chives and cilantro.

Beef Steak Ranchero’s with Potatoes Ingredients:

2 lbs Beef Stew Meat
2 tbsp Blackened Seasoning
2 tbsp Cumin, ground
1 tbsp Garlic, chopped
1 Jalapeno, chopped
1/2 cup Brisket Beef Fat, chopped
1 can of Tomato, diced

Kosher Salt & Pepper to taste (aproximately 1/2 tbsp each)

2 tbsp Beef Fat Rendered or vegetable Oil
1 Onion, chopped & sautéed
2 Potatoes, Pre-boiled then cubed & sautéed
1 tsp Oregano

Kosher Salt & Pepper to taste and consider adding lime, green onion and cilantro when serving.

Boiled the potatoes beforehand for 20 minutes then refrigerated overnight. Cook the diced potatoes and onions together but separately from the meat and tomatoes before combing. Follow the instructions in the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make Beef Steak Ranchero’s with Potatoes. Also, this meal can be cooked in a slow cooker.

Barbacoa Pork

The Best Barbacoa Pork

Usually, when I hit a grand slam, I’m either running the bases or shoveling food in my face at Denny’s. Which one of those two moments do you think this is? If you guessed Denny’s, you’re half right. Only, this time, I’m stuffing my face with this amazing Barbacoa Pork recipe because it’s a winner.

Marinated Pork Picnic Roast for Barbacoa Pork.

Barbacoa Pork Marinade

In case you don’t know, Barbacoa is a recipe that was developed years ago in the Caribbean and it’s where the word barbecue derives. It’s usually prepared with beef meat, from the head. Sometimes goat or lamb is substituted for more gaminess and flavor(I think that’s a made up word, “Gaminess?” idk).

In this recipe, I use a Pork Picnic Roast(shoulder), and I used the Barbacoa Beef recipe that I filmed and posted a couple of years ago and transposed it for pork by adding Cilantro and Orange juice to the ingredients. That might sound crazy but it works, good I might add. And, Carnitas has Orange juice in it so, don’t even sweat it. Anyway, I only compare the two because of the mad similarities; they’re both pork recipes, with similar ingredients, cooked for long hours at a time and they both make excellent tacos.

My favorite taco condiments, onion, cilantro and lime.

Barbacoa Pork Tacos

In my opinion, the best tacos are fried tacos and this Barbacoa Pork recipe is no exception. I do occasionally double stack corn tortilla’s and eat my tacos soft but, nothing beats a little hot oil and some salt, to crisp up and flavor a boring tortilla. Then, I just keep it real with some simple condiments; onion, cilantro and lime. No need for salsa because the fresh flavor and spice is already in each bite. If you want to check out my Pico De Gallo recipe, however, I’m not going to stop you.

Barbacoa Pork Ingredients:

10 lbs Pork Picnic Roast
Kosher Salt and Pepper 1/2 tsp per lb

Marinade
1 small onion
6 Garlic Cloves, peeled
2 Chipotle Chili’s in Adobo Sauce
2 tbsp Adobo Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1 tbsp Oregano, dried
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 cup Orange juice
1/2 bunch Cilantro
1 cup Red Enchilada Sauce, PMGK Recipe Only

Red Enchilada Sauce Ingredients: (Watch the Video)

12 Large Dehydrated Chili’s, seeded
1 qt Chicken Broth, approximately
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp Salt, adjust to taste
2 garlic Cloves

Follow the instructions in the Barbacoa Pork video tutorial and Bake the marinated Picnic Roast at 200° Fahrenheit for 12 hours. For Tacos, I recommend Corn tortilla’s, raw or fried topped with Barbacoa Pork and Garnished with chopped Onion, Cilantro and Fresh Lime.

Pizza Tacos

The Best Pizza Tacos

If you’re a fan of both Pizza and Tacos, you’re in for a real treat because nothing could be more satisfying than putting those two things together to make Pizza Tacos. And, the way I do it, the recipe stays true to Italian ingredients, only shaped and stuffed like tacos. If you need a Pizza Sauce recipe, I’ve got one. If you need an Alfredo Sauce recipe, I’ve got that too. I even have recipes for Pizza dough, if you choose not to use the frozen dinner rolls, and homemade Italian Sausage or you can just do what I did, and by everything for this recipe, pre-made, from your grocery store. It’s that easy.

Pizza Tacos Dough

There’s several different ways to make these Pizza Tacos. You can make your own Pizza Dough, for which I have a great recipe for, or use store bought dough like these frozen dinner rolls. I used this dough when I showed you how to make Utah Scones and it works great for recipes like this too because it cuts out half the work and makes it virtually fool proof. Plus it’s fun for a quick snack, lunch or dinner dates and/or for kids, if you want to get them cooking.

Alfredo Sauce, Pizza Sauce, chopped Spinach, Chicken and Pepperoni.

Pizza Tacos Filling

When I made these Pizza Tacos for the video, I made a standard Pepperoni and Sausage Pizza Taco and a Chicken Alfredo Taco with Spinach, just for variation. You, however, can make what ever you like. Just use this as a basic guide to get you from A-Z and have fun with your toppings. It doesn’t have to be the way I did it. Though, I used Italian sausage and some left over pulled chicken, you could totally go vegetarian or vegan with this recipe. Maybe a Philly Steak and Cheese sounds good, I don’t know. You decide. The sky’s the limit.

Pizza Tacos Ingredients:

8 Dinner Rolls Frozen Dough, thawed
1 cup Alfredo Sauce
1 cup Pizza Sauce
1 lbs Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1 lbs Italian Sausage, cooked
1 lbs Seasoned Chicken, cooked
1/2 cup Spinach, chopped
8 oz Mini Pepperoni

Oven max temperatures vary but I bake the Pizza Tacos twice at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 to for minutes, both times. Just follow the instructions in the video tutorial for best results.