Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Rumba Meats. As always, all opinions are mine and mine alone.
We just got home from the redhead’s school program that took us on a walk-through the American Revolution to the United States of America. Not many Americans, however, realize that the official name for Mexico is “The United States of Mexico.” That being said, each state in Mexico has its own particular dishes and recipes. A classic dish in the Northern part of Mexico is Chile Colorado. It never crossed my mind to make it with beef shank until I saw it in Baja California. I rushed home to make Braised Chile Colorado Beef Shanks, or Chamorros con Chile Colorado. Here’s the recipe..
When we have too much stress and discomfort, my family turns to “dis” comfort food that has nourished us for generations. I know this traditional sauce from my family’s native Durango – just with a different cut of meat. I have so many pleasant memories of this dish from my childhood – memories of my mother and of my grandmother. I get emotional just thinking about those many meals that featured Chile Colorado. The crazy thing is that it’s so incredibly familiar to me that I could make it blindfolded. (The Hubs threatened to video me making it with my eyes covered but I said “No way, Jose!”).
The answer to the age old question, “Where’s the beef?” is found in the shank portion of the cow. For this dish, we’re using Rumba Meats which we got at ALDI. It is high quality beef that this classic, Mexican comfort food deserves. You can find Rumba Meats at a store near you. While it may be an inexpensive cut of meat, beef shank is rich with the fatty goodness of the healthy bone marrow. Yeah. I’m a huge fan of marrow. I love it so much that I’d “marrow it” if I could. 🙂
Chop up that the meat into small pieces and then throw it into the pot. Include the bone.
Now, lets talk sauce..
You might think these are a lot of chiles and that Braised Chile Colorado Beef Shanks, or Chamorros con Chile Colorado, is a spicy dish. WRONG! It’s not spicy at all, but it is robust and very strong in flavor.
You all know that I’m a saucy girl, and this dish is a saucy dream come true. This is a red sauce but one with no tomatoes to be found (Think: Tomato-free Zone). I use a lot of guajillo chiles. The secret, however, is adding two ancho chiles to the sauce. They take the sauce to a new level.
Take the stems off the dried chiles, cut them lengthwise, remove the seeds, and the veins. Then add them to the stockpot with water. Cover and bring to a boil. Let them sit in the hot pot for 10 minutes. Then discard the water and place the reconstituted chiles in a blender.
Blast the blender until smooth.
It’s a thick sauce. That’s why the next step is important.
Strain the sauce to make it velvety and smooth.
Add the sauce and 2 cups of water to the stockpot of cooked meat. Let everything cook together for 30 minutes. And… Boom! You’ve got Braised Chile Colorado Beef Shanks, or Chamorros con Chile Colorado!
Man, oh man. This is incredible. Serve your Braised Chile Colorado Beef Shanks, or Chamorros con Chile Colorado, with Mexican rice and garnish with cilantro. The best part of the chamorro is eating the bone marrow. It’s just so incredibly delicious and contains healthy fats that are good for you.
I cook it. I cook it real good. And then I eat it. I eat it real good…… until I’m totally comfortable.
Braised Chile Colorado Beef Shanks, or Chamorros con Chile Colorado, is destined to be one of your family favorites. Enjoy!
- 10 chile guajillo, stems removed, seeded and deveined
- 2 chile ancho, stems removed, seeded and deveined
- 8 cups water (divided)
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon beef bouillon
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon whole cumin
- Salt
- Pepper
- 4 beef shanks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- For the Sauce:
- In a stockpot, add the cleaned guajillo and ancho chiles along with 4 cups of water.
- Cover and bring to a boil.
- Turn heat off.
- Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Discard water.
- To a blender, add all the chiles, 2 cups of water, garlic, onion, bouillon, oregano, cumin, and salt.
- Strain the sauce into a separate container.
- Gently push the sauce through the strainer with the back of a cooking spoon.
- Set sauce aside until ready to use.
- For the meat:
- Separate the meat from the bone.
- Salt and pepper the meat.
- Heat the oil in a large stockpot.
- Brown the meat, stirring occasionally.
- Add flour to the meat pot.
- Cook for 2 minutes, or until you can no longer see the white flour.
- Add the sauce and remaining two cups of water.
- Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on low-medium heat for 30 minutes.
- Taste for salt.
- Serve with rice, beans, and flour tortillas.
Ellena ruiz says
All look so yummy especially the chile Colorado and Chamorro. Question: do you use this same chile recipe for your tamales??
Maggie Unzueta says
Kinda … For Beef Tamales, I use a similar sauce. I use MORE guajillo chiles and more liquid. It is also simmered for a a long, long time so the meat is more tender than the chamorro, or beef shanks.