I took the last of last week's pot roast, chopped it into chunks and trimmed off the fat [note: the big pad of fat across a rump roast tastes like the very cheapest most disgusting grade of hamburger that has been sitting in the frig soaking up nasty odors until you are afraid to cook it...I will trim it first next time no matter what I read somewhere about fat keeping meat tender and juicy and adding flavor].
I put the a skillet with about a 1/4 cup of chicken broth and a few tablespoons of canned salsa, covered and let it simmer.
While it simmered I made fresh blue corn tortillas, fried them, opened a can of black beans and warmed them up, mashing in some olive oil, and cooked some brown rice in chicken broth (with a little low-sodium V8 juice added in). I stirred some cubed cheddar cheese into the beans.
"What's that smell?" DS asked while the meat was cooking.
I lifted the lid.
"Umm, that's the smell of lightly seared beef, just like they serve it in the finest Mexican restaurants." It was, in fact, the salsa turning into a hard black shell of spicy-hot carbon on the bottom of my skillet (but I got lucky--the meat really was just lightly singed with a toasty grilled flavor, just the way I actually like it). I turned the heat off and shredded the beef with a couple of forks.
Tostada shell. Beans. The "lightly seared" and very flavorful shredded beef. Topped with shredded lettuce/greens from CSA and little more cheese. Rice on the side.
My son and I both ate four. I have a hit, but he thought the rice was underdone and bland (he was right).
The last few spoonfuls of everything are in a ziplock for my lunch tomorrow.
Bother. It's after midnight and writing this made me hungry again.
What was local? The beef, the cheese, the greens. Rice is from closest known source. Corn masa is one of my exceptions until my own corn is harvested. Salsa is from my "using it up before buying more and IS there a local source?" cupboards. Come summer, I might try canning salsa. I've done it once.
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