The Menestron Criollo
of My Grandma
Chef Arlette Eulert
“The women in my family have strong personalities and we are a matriarchy!!! It is difficult to choose some dishes from so many favorites that I have, but if you ask me which ones I miss or comfort me on gray days, there are not so many ... My mamama Barbara (grandmother on my mother's side) in those times of my childhood, was in charge of preparing the day-to-day food at home. My sister and I learned to eat a bit of everything by force, otherwise it was forbidden to get up from the table... And so we had long afternoons with hot lunches that turned into cold dinners and tears instead of water.
Menestron and polenta are the happiest dishes that I have most present in my memory. "
– Arlette Eulert –
Ingredients
½ kilo of beef brisket
1 bay leaf
½ cup green beans in pod, peeled
2 sticks celery
2 carrots, peeled and cut in half
1 small slice of squash, grated
½ bunch of basil
½ bundle of spinach
2 cloves garlic
2 medium corn, sliced
3 medium white or yellow potatoes, peeled
¼ cup green peas, peeled
¼ kilo of yellow yucca, peeled and cut in two without the center vein
¼ cup green beans
50g of small noodle
50g of fresh cheese, crumbled
50g of Parmesan cheese, grated
salt to taste
Additional
1 pressure cooker
parmesan cheese to sprinkle on each plate
water
Method
- Cut the meat into regular pieces. Separately, blend the basil, spinach and garlic with a little water, until it is a homogeneous paste and season, then place the meat, bay leaf, green beans, celery, carrot, pumpkin, half of green paste and cover with two liters of water, bring to a boil, cover and cook for 40 min. (If you don't have a pressure cooker, the cooking will last a little longer… until the meat is soft !.)
- Once ready, uncover the pot and bring it to a boil again, adding the potatoes cut into squares, the yucca cut into pieces, the chopped green beans, the corn cut into slices and the green peas (add water only if necessary). Then, when everything is almost cooked, add the joint noodles, the other half of the green paste and continue cooking for approximately 5 min.
- When it is cooked, turn off the heat, add the cheeses and season to taste. Save some Parmesan to sprinkle on each plate!
Try a great side to
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