mmm mmm Good, Mexican Beef Stew

Being that I am a bit behind on posts (and have a slight backlog of recipes and photos), today there's a good chance I'll be up to two posts. The first is something I found in a Julee Rosso cookbook called Great Good Food, the last few weeks we have had sporadic cold fronts that have left us with some chilly evenings, one evening I went searching for inspiration and stumbled upon Julee Rossos' Mexican Beef Stew...I highly recommend it! It has a delicious savory flavor that reminds me of a Cuban pork stew my mom made when we lived in Florida, mom's was a little sweet as it had apples and raisins but also some heat, this one has the raisins and heat and is perfect for a chilly February evening.

Mexican Beef Stew
2 Lbs Roma Tomatoes, Chopped
2 Corn Tortillas
1-2 Canned Chipolte chilies in Adobo Sauce, seeded
1 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 12 Lbs Stewing Beef
1/4 Tsp Freshly Ground Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Thinly Sliced Onions
1 1/2 Cups Beef Broth
1/2 Lb Fresh Tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed well, cut into wedges
1/2 Cup Raisins
1 Cinnamon Stick
4 Whole Cloves
1/4 Tsp Sea Salt

1. Preheat the broiler. Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and set the sheet under the broiler, about 4 inches from the heat. Broil until charred. Place tortillas under broiler and toast until crisp.
2. In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, tortillas and chilies, blend until smooth. Set aside.
3. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the beef and pepper, saute until meat is browned on all sides. *At this point I also added some garlic powder and some of the salt so that the meat was better seasoned.* Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato mixture, broth, tomatillos, raisins, cinnamon stick, cloves and salt. Bring to a boil, cover partially and reduce the heat. Simmer for 1 hour.

The recipe calls for this to be served with brown rice or noodles, I served it over brown rice and thought it was great. One of the best parts of this recipe is that the whole cookbook is healthy food - this has 277 calories per serving, 30g of carbs, 19g of protein, 51mg of cholesterol and 11g of fat...not to bad for a hearty stew.