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Better Mexican Ground Meat Please?

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  • #16
    saute the GB with onion, garlic and a little s&p t taste......drain and then back to the pan with some sort of chilis, green onion and cilantro..........no cumin, that's for taco bell.
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    • #17
      Originally posted by chefrob View Post
      saute the GB with onion, garlic and a little s&p t taste......drain and then back to the pan with some sort of chilis, green onion and cilantro..........no cumin, that's for taco bell.
      Whaaaaaa? No cumin? That's just blasphemy! I am not ashamed to say that I have eaten at Taco Bell and I have never tasted cumin. I do like it in my own tacos though.

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      • #18
        Originally posted by chefrob View Post
        saute the GB with onion, garlic and a little s&p t taste......drain and then back to the pan with some sort of chilis, green onion and cilantro..........no cumin, that's for taco bell.
        That's exactly the problem. Oregano and cumin absolutely overpower the flavor of the rest. I'm guessing restaurants do this because of the quality of the beef used.
        when I was a kid, my best friend was half Mexican and half Lakota. I'd eaten at his full blooded Mexican grandmothers house many times. Her ground beef was lightly seasoned and wet. I don't mean dripping with juices, but moist. Not greasy or saucy. You could tell that it was made with beef. Most of what I get at a restaurant or from my own kitchen, could be made with ANY meat, even ground muskrat, because you couldn't taste it if you tried.
        My step mothers sister was married to a Mexican guy, and his beef dishes are to die for, or were. He's dead now. But it seems like I remember him browning his ground beef, then simmering it in a bit of chicken stock, all the while mashing and mashing, for a finer texture. then he would drain it and season with something. Does this sound to anyone like anything you've ever seen or heard of?


        Tom

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        • #19
          Originally posted by Squirrel View Post
          Whaaaaaa? No cumin? That's just blasphemy! I am not ashamed to say that I have eaten at Taco Bell and I have never tasted cumin. I do like it in my own tacos though.
          LOL, then maybe tex-mex ......i can say i haven't eatin' @ taco bell since the 80's and even then i was young dumb and full of liquor...........come for a visit cheryl and i'll hook you up with great mexican food "sans" cumin. don't get me wrong, it does have it's place in the mexican kitchen but many over use it. personally i find it more useful in indian/middle eastern food.....
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          it's all good my friend..........

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Gunslinger View Post
            That's exactly the problem. Oregano and cumin absolutely overpower the flavor of the rest. I'm guessing restaurants do this because of the quality of the beef used.
            when I was a kid, my best friend was half Mexican and half Lakota. I'd eaten at his full blooded Mexican grandmothers house many times. Her ground beef was lightly seasoned and wet. I don't mean dripping with juices, but moist. Not greasy or saucy. You could tell that it was made with beef. Most of what I get at a restaurant or from my own kitchen, could be made with ANY meat, even ground muskrat, because you couldn't taste it if you tried.
            My step mothers sister was married to a Mexican guy, and his beef dishes are to die for, or were. He's dead now. But it seems like I remember him browning his ground beef, then simmering it in a bit of chicken stock, all the while mashing and mashing, for a finer texture. then he would drain it and season with something. Does this sound to anyone like anything you've ever seen or heard of?
            yanno tom, there is a dish called picadillo.....pee ka dee yo......it varies from region to region but it is basically a ground beef dish that sometimes has small diced potatoes that as flavor but it's not necessarily hot or has lots of spices and beef is the star of the dish......... some make burritos while some make tacos with it.....i prefer to top tostadas with it. i will say that in mexican cooking (as in all cooking) fresh ingredients, especially herbs, is what makes a dish. oregano is not going to be available to most but what is more important than using fresh in this case is using Mexican and not Mediterranean. i would rather not using any at all if all i had was the italian style. fresh cilantro, garlic and onions are a staple in my kitchen............along with chilies in the garden. i hope this help a little..........
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            it's all good my friend..........

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            • #21
              Closest I have been able to come to tasting like the Mexican restaurants.

              Mexican Style Ground Beef

              1lb ground beef
              ½ large onion
              3 cloves garlic
              1 T black pepper
              1 t salt
              1t oregano…preferably Mexican
              2 tsp chili powder
              ¼ t cayenne pepper
              2 or 3 cups of water…enough to cover everything in pot

              Dice onions and garlic and add to pan with meat and spices. Add enough water to cover then mash everything together.( and keep mashing. you want a fine texture) Simmer for about 25 minutes with the lid on. Remove lid and cook for 30 minutes to an hour longer until water is gone. Drain off fat and your ready to eat on tacos etc.

              This is very close to the taste of meat in our local Hispanic restaurants with the exception of being a little too hot and spicy. I would suggest an 1/8 t of cayenne or none at all and maybe cutting back on the black pepper some….also use Mexican oregano…maybe less too. Another suggestion would be to dice your onion and garlic as fine as possible.
              z
              Last edited by zombini; 01-08-2018, 10:01 AM. Reason: info
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              • #22
                Some good ideas here. I made a little tonight and liked to result.


                Tom

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                • #23
                  We also only used salt and pepper .Makes all the other flavors stand out more.
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                  • #24
                    I did what I mentioned in another post.
                    I browned the GB then put enough chicken stock in to just cover it, then simmered it all the while mashing the GB with a potato masher. After the stock had reduced I added crushed garlic, crushed onion, salt, pepper and my own chipotle powder. It was awesome.


                    Tom

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                    • #25
                      got to say coriander/cilantro makes a lot more sense to me than cumin.

                      Cumin is a really strong flavour that - like cloves - should always be used with a very light hand, otherwise it tends to overpower everything else.

                      I have eaten at taco bell - it was bland, tasteless and just plain horrible.
                      Never been to mexico, but from what i've seen on telly when they go there - chefrob is on the money.

                      Also bear in mind that beef would be a preminium meat for most mexicans (kinda like in the uk), so they'd want to be able to taste it.

                      Also bear in mind that pretty much ALL commercial seasonings have a really high salt content - it's cheap and over the years people have adapted to eating huge amounts of salt in processed foods.

                      At the moment for seasoning food I use a little all in one pot and grinder with himalayan pink salt. The grinder produces a fine powder and the flavour of natural salt is much stronger (due to the tiny amounts of potassium & ammonium chlorides) so you use less.

                      Seasalt is also good, but the himalayan is better.

                      If you shop around you can get it pretty cheap.
                      The one I'm currently using was from costco - about £3-4 I think.
                      We got almost an identical grinder pot wit the same amount of salt from home bargains for £1.19.
                      So look around.
                      Made In England - Fine Tuned By The USA
                      Just call me 'One Grind'



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                      • #26
                        This thread came at a perfect time as I had some ground beef that needed fixin.
                        Seasoned the beef with, sea salt, black pepper, garlic, onion and jalapeño powder. Added a can of rotel and simmered for a bit. Last night I did soft tacos and tonight was nachos using about a pound of my rapidly dwindling smoked cheese supply. Probably add some other spices next time but this was a good start.


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                        • #27
                          Not sure if this is anything you'd like Tom, but I spent a lot of time trying to find where I buried it
                          I haven't made it in years but I remember it to be good.
                          It was a recipe from someone here or SMF but I don't remember who.

                          Click on the attachment below
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                          Last edited by DanMcG; 01-22-2018, 10:46 AM.
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