Adobo Ragout
My Adobo Ragout combines ground beef (or ground moose, deer, or whatever works for you), tomatoes with chipotles peppers in adobo sauce, hominy, and carrots to produce a hearty and delicious meal in a jiff. It is one of my husband’s favorites. It is also one of my favorite ways to use the carrots I grew this summer. The pictures below add a bit of my Christmas flare. I’m a sap for it.
You can purchase chipotles peppers in adobo sauce in a seven ounce can at most groceries. You will find it and the hominy in the Mexican food section of the store.
The original recipe comes from my dear friend Kirsten Richardson Cohen, who is an amazing cook! I have modified it over the years. It is an easy meal to whip up tonight so you can have time for wrapping presents.
Get started by gathering the following ingredients.
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
2-3 chipotles peppers in adobo sauce and 2 tablespoon of the adobo sauce
1 25-ounce can hominy, drained
2 pounds of carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch thick coin slices
salt and pepper
garnish with any or all: cilantro leaves, basil leaves, grated cheddar cheese, sliced green onions
Start by adding the oil to a heavy stock pot or an instant pot. Heat the oil on medium for 30 seconds before adding the onions and a pinch of salt (1/2 teaspoon) and a few good grinds of black pepper (1/4 teaspoon). If you are using the instant pot, use the saute setting to cook the onions, otherwise cook the onions on medium heat in your stockpot until they begin to be translucent, about three minutes. Add the ground meat and raise the heat to medium-high, or continue using the saute mode of the instant pot. Brown the meat, stirring to break up the meat and to allow browning on all surfaces. This should take 5-7 minutes.
While the meat is browning, put the tomatoes into your blender. Add two chipotles peppers in adobo sauce and two tablespoon of the adobo sauce. Blend the tomatoes and chillies for 30 seconds or until well blended. Taste the sauce, if you like it hotter add another chilli or two and blend to combine. Some chillies are hotter than others so add one chilli at a time to get the level of spiciness you prefer. I typically use three chillies and two tablespoons of the sauce, but I don’t eat fire.
Add the tomato mixture and hominy to the pot and turn the heat to low (or turn off the saute mode on your instapot). Add the peeled, 1/2-inch slices of carrots and stir to combine. If you are cooking on the stove top, raise the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to avoid burning. Once you reach a boil, lower the heat to a low simmer and replace the lid. Cook on low for an hour or until the carrots reach a tenderness you prefer. If you are using the instant pot, you can cook this with the pressure cooker option. So you will need to secure the lid, place the valve in the pressure cooking position, and set it to pressure cook mode for 18 minutes and allow it to lose pressure without expelling the pressure manually.
Serve this hearty ragout in bowls on rice or with cornbread (I actually like it on top of cornbread). Eat it like this or garnish each bowl with any or all of these items: cilantro leaves, basil, shredded white cheddar cheese, and sliced green onions. Enjoy!
I know you will be back for seconds. And it is even better the second day.