Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Culinary Throwdown: Beef and Bean


Well this is a bit delayed and not nearly the production I'd intended it to be. This little concoction is the product of living away from home and becoming tired of restaurants food.

Beef with Bean Medley: (or as my lovely wife refers to it death by beans)

Ingredients:
One can refried beans
One can navy beans
One can black beans
1 pound London broil
Olive oil
One clove garlic
1 tablespoon allspice
Two spring onions
One large avocado(two with they're small)
A sprig of cilantro
Black olives (use to taste)
A block of cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
A package of 8 to 12 inch tortillas
Jar of salsa

Directions:

Cut the London broil into strips and sprinkle with allspice. Coat a large saucepan with olive oil, and begin to heat. Watch for smoke on the oil. Mince half a garlic clove and add to the pot. Once a temperature at the London broil strips. Sear on both sides (don't overdo it you want to seal the surface not form a crust. Remove the strips from the saucepan and placed in a warm bowl.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan, then combine the three cans of beans the remaining garlic and bring to a low boil. Add the London broil strips and stir. Keep on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Spoon the concoction onto tortillas and add cheese to taste, add chopped onion cilantro avocado and black olive. Add a bit of salsa and enjoy. All of the above should be served at the table, in a communal style where everyone gets to add to taste.


Any drink you have with this must be able to hold its own, a hearty red wine, a stout or ale.

This is as close to the original recipe as I can remember I never wrote it down and over the years we've changed it around, often with no meat. Or if being served for Sunday brunch with scrambled eggs and Mimosas.
(the photo is of leftovers from last night)

For the real entertainment stop by Moi's at Bite the Apple and read the results.

27 comments:

Jenny said...

Good Evening (and Morning) Karl,

I'm happy to report I am UP with my entry and thank you for hosting.

yellowdoggranny said...

I'm always up...actually haven't gone down to even get up...i love you long time GI

Joanna Cake said...

Hello Karl

I too am UP :)

h said...

I'm up!

moi said...

I'm up!

R.Powers said...

I'm up for a change!

Karl said...

Good afternoon Folks,

My apologies for being an inattentive host.

Unfortunately I experienced a blue screen error and after 6 hours of utterly useless help from the folks in India.(They actually did more harm than good) The folks in the Philippines stepped in and with they're capable help we were able to get the computer running again. Although with considerable loss of data including my post for this affair.

Thanks for coming and I will be coming around to visit soon.

Kymical Reactions said...

Hey Karl! I'm up, but I won't get a chance to visit all the entries until later tonight.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!...

fishy said...

Hi Karl,
I actually did this throwdown :-)

moi said...

Oh no! Stupid computers! Well, I won't be able to post da winners until Friday anyway, so I hope you get a chance to post by at least tomorrow. Hang in there . . .

Karl said...

Moi: I'm going to try and put it together. Unfortunately the pictures are gone, so by post any they won't be mine.

They're sending a box for the computer, there's a defect in the motherboard. "Oh no problem sir, we'll fix it for you under warranty. It will only takes 7 to 10 days" I can't tell you how happy I am at the thought of working on a laptop for two weeks.

LaDivaCucina said...

I'm up but I can't stay to check everyone else out as I've got a personal chef gig for the entire weekend AND am doing my class on Sat. Give me strength! I wisely wrote my post before the madness! C U guys after the weekend! xo!

Aunty Belle said...

I'se up.

Yep...I'se late, but hey it is WEDNESDAY an' it is afore dinner time. (long as y'all doan chow down afore 6pm.)




Karl, groaaaaan! Sorry about the computer glitch an' shure hope it ain't mah fault (Wif the Blue Screen of Death meme fer MM's BLUE).

Not sure when I can git around to one an all but I will by sometime tommory night.

boneman said...

is there any food left over?
Do folk bring leftovers here?
yum
some are really great!

Karl said...

Well...they say better late than never, I'm up.

Jenny said...

There you are with your entry! yay.

Karl said...

LaDiva: You had a great recipe. Hope all this weekend's endeavors turn out well.

Aunty Belle: There are folks that joke about what would happen if I ever lost my coffee cup your recipe was a hit with me.

And no Ma'am it wasn't you. This appears to be a defect that was installed while being assembled in China.

Boneman: Wouldn't that be a neat trick, a cyber smorgasbord.

Karl said...

Boxer: Thanks, nothing like pulling in the anchor leg.

Joanna Cake said...

Evening All! I have no idea what London Broil is, but it all sounds delicious :)

Buzz Kill said...

It's sort of like a fajita bean burrito. I've never seen this combination before. And I know what your wife means with those navy beans. When I make my navy bean soup, I can clear a room an hour later - but I love my beans. Glad you got your technical problems fixed.

h said...

Bean Burrito is what came to my mind too. Or a Burrito Buffet, maybe. Creative dish.

Didn't know refried beans came in cans.

Happy Throwdown friday!

moi said...

Yay, you were able to post! This would be right at home at the tables in Moi's 'hood. Looks delicious. It's also similar to what we call a seven-layer dip that's very popular at pot lucks: spiced ground beef, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, black olives, cheddar cheese. All layered together in a 9x9 pan and served with tortilla chips.

Okey, dokey, folks, I'll be up mid morning with my verdicts!

Karl said...

Joanna: Oddly enough it's an American term. London broil is actually a way of preparing flank or round steak. Butchers will label a cut of meat "London broil", the term does not refer to a specific cut.

Buzz Kill: Rinsing the beans thoroughly can help, so can using dried beans. but the recipe really came to be while I was trying different concoctions that would only use one pot so tined beams were the answer.

Troll: yes they come in a can Elpaso is one brand Whole Foods and Trader Joe's also carry an organic version. None are as good as making from scratch.

Moi: I'm familiar with 7 layer dish, it's very popular parties around here too.

See you later today.

moi said...

Howdy Karl! Drop on by; I've declared a winner!

Joanna Cake said...

So what do they do to it that makes it worthy of the label London Broil? Stick some pearls on it? :P

boneman said...

well, I'll be a star dazed dog!
You have no idea just how close we were in stuff.
Of course, I didn't get moving near quick enough to even figure out how to enter, but, I did plain refrieds, shredded asiago/smoked gouda on a cooked tortilla, sprinkled with slices of spotted garlics and broiled till the cheese melted.
It was good tasting, to be sure, but the weather was more important to keep an eye on.
We heat the two story house with a wood burning stove, and i was holding down the fort alone.
Well, me and a great dog (Max) and three cats (totally worthless) but...you get the idea.

LaDivaCucina said...

Good morning Karl, please excuse my delay in checking out your post. Diva has been cooking for three days straight and my feets hurt. Thank God I can sit and do my blogging! haha!

Anyhoo: GREAT POST! I love Mexican-y food (esp. leftover for breakfast) Can you tell I'm hungry?! Great job!