{"id":26363,"date":"2011-03-11T11:50:59","date_gmt":"2011-03-11T19:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mehallo.com\/blog\/?p=26363"},"modified":"2011-09-28T00:34:48","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T07:34:48","slug":"californio-cuisine-beef-jerky-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mehallo.com\/blog\/archives\/26363","title":{"rendered":"Californio Cuisine: Beef Jerky Soup"},"content":{"rendered":"

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‘Mark Preston discovered early California recipes while cataloging rare books for the UCLA library’<\/em><\/p>\n

I picked up Mark Preston’s California Mission Cookery<\/a><\/em> at one of the missions<\/a> lining El Camino Real,<\/a> somewhere between Santa Clara and San Luis Obispo. Or Santa Barbara. One of them. <\/p>\n

The cookbook is all about Californio Cuisine, a long lost Spanish-influenced cooking style using local ingredients. The food of the original missions. <\/p>\n

I’ve made the Beef Jerky soup a few times. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jerky is great for soup, it works like a big, bouillon cube – leading to a strong savory<\/em> flavor. I’ve noticed, tho, adding some water in the roasting process helps; and a food processor can cut down on grinding time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

‘sopa de carne seca y arroz’
\nbeef jerky soup<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n

3 oz. Beef Jerky
\n1 tbs Cooking Oil
\n1\/2 cup Rice
\n1 large Tomato, ripe
\n1 Green Chile, roasted, peeled and chopped
\n1 medium Onion
\n1\/2 tsp Pepper
\nSalt
\n1 Quart Water, boiling<\/em><\/p>\n

to make<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a non-stick skillet, roast the meat to soften it. In a mortar, preferably a metate,<\/em> grind the meat to fine shreds. Heat the oil in a stew pot and saut\u00e9 the rice, tomato, chile and onion. Add salt and pepper. Add the shredded meat and 1 quart of boiling water and simmer until rice is done, 15 to 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

variants<\/strong><\/p>\n

For my latest batch, I passed on beef and went with bison; using jerky made from buffalo. I also typically use Basmati rice (adjusting the cooking time as necessary), but this week opted for a ‘Harvest Grains blend’<\/em> found at Trader Joe’s – a mix of couscous, orzo, split garbanzos and quinoa. Small multi-colored heirloom tomatoes gave the soup bite. I also added a splash of fire roasted tomatoes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Recipe source: California Mission Cookery, copyright \u00a9 1994 Mark Preston; photos by mehallo<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n\t

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