Cooking "Carne Molida" with Argentina

We have a wonderful gal named Argentina who works for us on Tuesday and Thursday.  I pay her the going rate of $20 per day.  She works for 3 other families for a total of 6 days per week.  Most people in Costa Rica work 6 days per week and take Sunday off.  That means that she makes $120 per week or $480 per month.  The average income of Costa Rican residents is $11,000 per year.  The people in our area generally make half of that.  Higher salaries are paid in San Jose, the capital city.

She cleans the house, does laundry, supervises the pool and yard cleaning and any other repairs going on around the house (there is always something...this week it is the dryer that broke...good thing we can use the dryer next door as there are no renters in it right now), washes the car, and (the best part), cooks us dinner on those two days.  It has been a great way for us to see how to not only cook Costa Rican dishes, but what spices they use, etc.  I especially like going to the market with her to learn the Spanish names and about things that I just have no idea what they are.  Just about everything she makes seems to use celery, cilantro, red peppers, tomatoes and sometimes if I have it she will use corn, carrots, green beans or other vegetables.

Another thing we are learning is that all the fresh food here is only sold by the season (unless we drive into Tamarindo and go to the AutoMercado and pay huge prices on imported goods...the Woodlands Market of our area!).  One of our favorite stories is when we stopped at the local fruit stand to pick up some fruit for smoothies and when we could not find mangoes, we asked the gal, "donde esta mangoes?" and she said very matter of factly, "next year."  We all laughed and realized that we will have to remember to stock up on mangoes in the freezer in October next year (if we are still here).  We can still get mangoes in the grocery stores, they are just alot more expensive.  We used to pay about $500 colones (or $1.00) per mango.  Now we have to pay $1,500 to $2,000 colones per....or $3 or $4 each, which is similar to back home in the states.

So, last week Argentina made us carne molida and homemade tortillas.  It was so fun watching her make it look easy.  I know that many of you could master this dish very easily back home, so I will try to give you step by step instructions (no recipes here!).  The best part is that you can vary it any way you want based on what ingredients and preferences you have.....

Carne Molida.....

Argentina took ground beef (carne molida) and put it in a pan with water, bullion, and lots of chopped up stuff (cilantro, celery, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, garlic) then added salt and pepper....then she let it cook while she made the tortillas (it is kinda soupy).  Ground beef here is naturally 98-99% without fat as the cattle are all grain fed and fat in ground beef and on steaks is just about unheard of and hard to find.  Funny how in the states people pay more for steaks without fat and here, people pay more for imported steaks with fat (cause some feel the fat tastes good). 

She then took the corn flour (Masa de Maiz) and mixed it with water.

 



 

She cut up a plastic bag and made two circles and stacked them on top of each other.  When she put the ball of dough on the top circle, she spun it with one hand and with the other hand flattened out the dough.  The plastic on the bottom just made it easy to spin the top one.

 

After making the dough into a flat circle....she put it on the pan to cook.

Tortillas done!  (homemade is much thicker than store bought)  This is also considered Guanacaste style.  Guanacaste is the reagion we live in (like Marin, CA).

 

This is our lovey Argentina cooking our dinner!

 

Now, she would normally cook this dish most of the afternoon turn it to low after coming to a boil and then you are done!....you can put the Carne Molina in a bowl and eat it like soup, dipping your tortilla or you can drain it and put the meat in your tortilla like a taco (it is too thick to bend into a burrito, we tried!).  We have also poured Carne Molina over rice and over pasta.  It is really good warmed up in a bowl for a snack or lunch, too.  So simple and so tasty!  Let me know if you try to make it!  (more recipes to come, too!!)