Carne Seca Beef with Pumpkin Puree
With Salt-Baked Pineapple Flavored with Cinnamon for Dessert
A delectable Brazilian favorite, Carne Seca com Abobora, is a delicious meal made from round or topside beef. Served with a juicy salt baked pineapple dessert.
Here's how to assemble this delicious Brazilian meal.
Unless you know of an excellent butcher or specialist shop, you may not be able to buy dried beef, resembling the type served here in Brazil. Your next best option is this:
Buy 2.5kg of topside or round beef, trim fat and cartilege with a sharp chef's knife, and cut into thick 10 cm slices, weighing 500 to 600 grams each.
Soak in brine for 24 hours. Mix some sea salt, granulated garlic, and black pepper together, and smother liberally all over the meat. Give it heaps. Set the oven to low, as low as it can go, and leave the meat in the in the lower part of the oven, on a wire rack, overnight. Not in a tray, and don't cover in tin foil, as you'll prevent the hot air from circulating.
The salt, and dried spices will have permeated the meat, and the exterior will be quite dry. Now semi-reverse the process by soaking the beef in water for an hour or two. If you don't do this the beef will be too salty.
Method
- Place beef in a pressure cooker and cover with water, cook for about 1 hour or so. It may take longer, so check after 40 minutes.
- When cooked through, drain, cool, shred, and shallow fry over a low heat, with a generous quantity of finely sliced onions, and a splash or 3 of good quality olive oil.
- If you like extra garlic, add some. There aren't any limitations here. Fry over a low heat for 20 minutes. The beef should be, dry, slightly chewy, lightly coated with olive oil, and flavorsome.
- At the same time, cut and dice some good quality Pumpkin, and simmer in salted water, a good glug of olive oil, and 3 smashed cloves of garlic.
- Drain, pop into the food processor, wizz until pureed, and return to the pan with a knob of butter, and a little of the cooking liquor (if you prefer add a 1/4 cup of cocunut cream).
- Simmer at a very low heat, until thickened. Season to taste.
Plate it up with the pumpkin puree, and the dried beef on top. Garnish with chopped parsley, spring onions and a lemon quarter.
That's it. Scrumptious!
A wonderful desert to go with this, is salt-baked fresh pineapple, called abacaxi.
Method
- First, stud the pineapple with cloves.
- Prepare, qty of salt, 2 tbsp cinnamon, and 2 egg whites.
- Select one whole pineapple of the finest quality.
- Smother in the salt mix.
- Make sure the salt is generously laden all over to protect the pineapple.
- Place on a baking tray, in the oven at 180 C, and bake for 20 minutes or so, until the salt forms a crust and begins to brown ever so slightly.
- Remove, cool, and give it a crack with the blunt side of a chefs knife. The salt crust will disintegrate.
- Slice into eighths lengthwise and serve warm, with Catupiry (a Brazilian creamed cheese which can be bought online or in Brazilian speciality shops) or Marscapone.
- Garnish with fresh mint. Wow, it's good!
Follow with rest in seclusion.
