Carne Guisada
Since it’s Kelli’s last day we head out to the shops. One trick I have learned about shopping while traveling is to head away from the center of town and head toward the edges. Sayulita is no different. The choices are amazing, and the prices are even better. Beautiful handmade jewelry with local stones, embroidered items, beaded purses/jewelry, handmade blankets, and more. Booths line the streets and in between, them is handmade tamales for about 3/$1 and a drink booth with fresh lime margaritas. The unhappy shoppers can be placated by these tasty treats. Forgot holding your purse, hold this margarita and this tamale that should shut that mouth from complaining.
The last dinner was at this small restaurant with little tables in the street. Plates of homemade pasta and buffalo carpaccio come floating out. We watch the Mexican sunset as we enjoy Italian delicacies. Not something I was expecting but was very happy to find out could even happen. This is the thing about Sayulita that shocked me. How easy it was to find terrible food and it’s just as easy to find amazing food of all varying cuisines. I might not stay in Sayulita's again since it’s too tourist heavy for me but I for sure would eat there.
A week flew by and now it was time for Kelli to leave. What shows up as she is getting to leave? Her luggage. I will never understand airlines. You have computers you can see her return flight. You spent all this money and had a taxi bring a suitcase out to a person that was heading to the airport? Another business that can be described as “Bending over a dime to pick up a penny” anyway I digress. Kelli is on the way home with her luggage and at home negative COVID test(this will become important later). Chris and I have headed just 25 minutes away to the smaller town of San Marcos.
San Marcos was everything we were looking for. A smaller town sprinkled with some modern restaurants and roadside stands offering fresh local fare. The oyster happy hour was a daily tradition for us. Mexicos oyster game is strong and has flavor combos I have never had but will be finding a way to copy soon. San Marcos ticked all the boxes, we could not have been happier. Unlike Sayulitas though avoid non-local food, they haven’t got that quite down yet. San Marcos has readily available local treats and was up there as best we had the whole trip. The whole town is less crowded including the beaches. It is still a little rough around the edges but let’s face it so am I.
The only negative thing I can say is if you have a larger-than-ample bosom do not let your partner convince you to go on a romantic bike ride. Unless you consider having your breasts jumping up and down like sugar-high kids on a trampoline while you try to avoid plummeting head over ass to the ground, romantic, avoid it at all costs. Once all my lady parts had recovered we headed out for the night to have some of the worst Italian food I have tried to eat. Damn you, Sayulita you tricked me, back to eating local food o. We made the best of it and chatted with surrounding tables while making our plans to return home the next day. We had no idea what was coming, our trip was about to go from uneventful to a middle-aged version of a Jack Kerouac novel.
Carne Guisada
Ingredients
- 3 lbs stew meat, beef or pork
- 2 tablespoon oil (lard, bacon grease, etc)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 small green bell pepper, diced (optional)
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 3 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup beef or chicken stock
- Hot Sauce, like Valentina or Tapatio to taste
- Flour tortillas, rice or mashed potatoes, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pan, brown the stew meat in the oil of choice, and work in batches so as to not steam the meat.
- Add the onions, tomatoes, and peppers. Cook until veggies start to wilt.
- Add the tomato paste, and stir to combine. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.. Add spices/ salt& pepper. Stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the flour over the meat and mix well. Add the stock. and mix well so the mixture is smooth.
- Bring to a simmer, cover pan, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1 ½ hour, or until meat is tender.
- Add hot sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
- Serve with rice, tortillas or mashed potatoes.
