Abuelita Julie’s Minty Salpicón

My Abuelita, or grandma in Spanish prided herself on her Sunday table feast. She’d often be seen perusing cooking magazines and clipping recipes and adding them to her personal cookbook which my mother luckily inherited. This is where I found the Salpicon recipe, though this one was hand written in her absolutely perfect cursive penmanship. And I admit, the pomegranate embellishment, comes from my own love of the fruit and my wish to integrate a piece more of the Mediterranean in this dish. 

Ingredients

• 3 pound beef brisket 
• 6 cups beef stock or water
• 2 stalks of fresh mint
• 1 Tbsp dry mint 
• 2 limes
• 1 large red onion 
• 3 radishes
• 5 stalks fresh cilantro
• 2 serrano pepper (optional)

2 Tbsp Pomegranate seeds 

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a dutch oven, on medium heat brown the beef on all sides. Add stock or water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and braise until meat is tender and easy to shred.  About 1.5 hours in Insta pot. 

Mince the onion very finely by hand.  (We suggest avoiding the urge to use the food processor because this will change the texture of the dish.)  Trim and finely dice radishes.  Wash and dry cilantro, removing the stalks and chop finely.  Remove the seeds and interior of the serrano pepper and mince into tiny pieces. (Pepper is optional.) Once the meat has cooled, remove any fat and shred the meat into strips using two forks or your fingers. Then shred meat completely with a fork. Combine the meat, cilantro, onion, radishes, dry mint and jalapeño pepper in a large non-metallic bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the lime juice from two limes and add salt and pepper.

Pour the lime juice dressing over the meat mixture and toss lightly with a fork.

Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more and then serve with Buttery Arroz Arabe or Crunchy Pita Chips. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro or slices of avocado.