I have been making cultural foods posts on my blog and social media sites that highlight easy soups, stews and skillet meals since last fall. (If you missed any of them, click here to go to my food tab to check them out.) However, since the weather has been warming up a bit lately, I’m planning on switching gears in the fourth week of June and kicking off my series of sandwiches and salads that will be perfect for summertime! But, before I move on to sandwiches and salads, I want to share a few more dishes with you.
Because of the results of my last Instagram poll, my most recent #FoodieFriday dish was one inspired by Argentine cuisine. As soon as I saw that Argentine cuisine won, I knew I wanted to include steak in whatever I made since beef is very prominent in that cuisine. I also wanted to use steak in at least one of the remaining dishes for the current series since I’ve used chicken in so many of my previous ones.
Speaking of steak, I’m a big fan of it thanks to my dad. When I was growing up, my mom would make delicious meals showcasing chicken, fish, pork chops, burgers and so on. However, steak night was my dad’s time to shine in the kitchen. His steaks were–and still are today–some of the most tender and perfectly-seasoned steaks I’ve ever eaten!
While I knew I wanted to include steak in my dish, I had to put some thought into determining which other ingredients I was going to use. Then, I remembered I came across multiple recipes for Argentine Carbonada Criolla when I was doing research for my Chilean Carbonada that I shared back in April. And, I knew at that moment that was what I was going to make. You’ll notice that the two dishes are similar. However, the Argentine version still has it’s own unique and wonderful flavor and has earned a spot on my list of favorite cultural dishes that I’ve made in recent months.
If you’d like to make this easy, nutrient-packed dish for your family, please keep reading. And, when you’re finished reading it, take a moment to print it out or pin it to your Pinterest board so you’ll have easy access to it when you’re ready to cook. For your convenience, this recipe also includes a few links that will enable you to buy those ingredients online and have them delivered to your home. If you make a purchase using a link, I will earn a small commission–at no additional cost to you–from qualifying purchases that will help me to continue to produce content like this on my blog.
What You’ll Need To Make 20-Minute Argentine Carbonada Criolla (Six servings)
*1 Pound of Beef (I used 1.25 ribeye steaks and cut the steak into 1″ pieces.)
*2 Large Potatoes, cleaned, peeled and cut into cubes (approximately 1 inch in size)
*4 Cups of Beef Broth
*1 Cup of Frozen Sweet Potatoes (diced)
*1 Cup of Frozen Kabocha Squash (diced)
*1 Cup of Frozen Sweet White Corn
*1 Large Zucchini, sliced into 1/4″ thick slices (Approx. 1.25 cups of zucchini)
*6 Ounces of Dried Apricots (Each apricot should be cut in half or into quarters if they’re big.)
*1 Cup of Diced Tomatoes (I used 8 ounces of a jar of diced tomatoes.)
*1 Teaspoon of Smoked Paprika
*1 Teaspoon of Oregano
*1/3 Cup of Dried Parsley
*1 Teaspoon of Pepper
*1 Teaspoon of Salt
How to Make 20-Minute Argentine Carbonada Criolla
1. Heat olive oil over high heat in a deep pan then add the steak. Cook steak for 5 minutes. While the steak is cooking, put the cut up potatoes in a microwaveable dish with a couple of teaspoons of water and microwave them for 5 minutes.
2. Pour the beef broth into the pan. Then, add the corn, squash, sweet potatoes, and zucchini to it.
3. Sprinkle the cut up apricots on top of the dish.
4. Add the potatoes and seasonings.
5. Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan and stir all ingredients together. Allow the dish to come to a boil. Then, cover it and let it continue to cook on high for about five minutes.It will be ready to be served when the squash and sweet potatoes are tender.
6. When the Argentine Carbonada Criolla is ready, you can use a ladle or large spoon to fill individual bowls with it and enjoy it!
Possible Substitutions and Notes:
1. I chose to use sweet white corn, but you could also use sweet yellow corn for this dish.
2. Beef broth was used for my recipe, but you could also use vegetable broth.
3. If you can’t find a package of frozen kabocha squash like the one I used, you could look for a fresh kabocha squash in your grocery store’s produce section. You would just need to use a large, sharp knife to cut it up ahead of time. A fresh delicata squash could also be used.
4. If you have an allergy to sulfur or simply would rather avoid ingesting that chemical, try to buy organic dried apricots like the ones I used. If you can’t find the brand I used, look for these at Whole Foods or on Amazon.com.
5. Some versions of this recipe include the use of small pumpkins that are cooked separately in an oven and then used as serving bowls for the stew. (This would require additional cooking time.) Others include cubes of pumpkin in the stew. If you’d like to incorporate this flavor in your version without making your cooking time longer, consider using frozen cut up pumpkin or cutting up a small pumpkin and including it in your recipe instead of the kabocha squash.
