Muchacho Relleno (Colombian Stuffed Beef)

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A whole piece of beef with a tunnel cut down the middle, packed with carrot, hard-boiled egg and a blended onion and garlic paste, tied, wrapped and simmered for three hours. Sliced across, every piece comes out with the filling in the centre. Six servings, and it starts the day before.

Prep Time15

Cook Time3

Marinating5

Total Time8 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: stuffed capon

Servings:

Calories: 295kcal

Author: Angela Giraldo

Ingredients

3 pounds beef eye of round (muchacho) in one whole piece
3 eggs hard-boiled
2 carrots cut into small cubes
1 cup onion chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 scallion
A pinch of cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Put the onion, the scallion, the garlic, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and blend to a paste. Set it aside.
With a long, thin knife, cut a tunnel down the centre of the beef from one end to the other. Work some of the meat out from the middle and keep it: it goes into the filling.
Rub the beef all over with half the onion paste, put it in a bag and leave it in the fridge for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight.
Fill the tunnel with the carrot, the hard-boiled eggs, the meat you took out of the centre and the rest of the onion paste.
Push the filling down with your fingers as you go, so that it reaches the far end and there are no gaps.
Tie the ends closed with kitchen twine so the filling cannot escape.
Wrap the beef in plastic wrap and then in foil, and put it in a pot.
Cover it with water and add salt.
Put the lid on and cook over medium heat for about 3 hours.
Top up with more water if the level drops below the meat.
Take it off the heat, lift it out of the water and let it rest before unwrapping and slicing.

Notes

The tunnel is the difficult part. A long, thin boning knife worked in from both ends meets in the middle and gives you a channel you can pack; a short knife leaves a cone that only fills from one side. Whatever meat comes out goes back in as part of the filling, so nothing is wasted. Not every plastic wrap is rated for three hours in simmering water. Check the box, and if it does not say so, tie the roast firmly with twine and wrap it in foil alone, which holds the shape just as well. Let it rest before slicing. Cut it hot and the filling pushes out of the centre; cold, or at least warm, it slices cleanly and every round comes out with the egg and carrot set in the middle. This is a dish that is often made the day before and sliced cold, and it is what turns up on the table at Christmas and at family lunches.

Nutrition