Cuban Meat Stew Ropa Vieja Food

ROPA VIEJA (CUBAN MEAT STEW)

Steps:

• Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Season meat with Adobo. Add steak to pot and cook in batches, flipping once, until well browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate. Lower heat to medium. Stir in onions and peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add sofrito and garlic to pot; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir in 3 cups of water, tomato sauce, Sazon, beef bouillon and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Return beef to pot. Lower heat to medium low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Stir in olives and capers. Cover pot; simmer until meat shreds easily with fork, 1 - 1 1/2 hours, adding more water in 1/4 cup measurements, if pot becomes dry. Transfer meat to work surface; shred meat with two forks. Bring remaining sauce to a boil. Mix meat and cilantro into sauce. Serve with white rice.

ROPA VIEJA (CUBAN BEEF)

Steps:

• Cut flank steak in half across the grain. Mix salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Season both sides generously with the salt mixture.
• Heat olive oil in a pot over high heat. Add steaks and cook until outsides are well browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove steaks to a plate.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add red onion, garlic, and more of the salt seasoning. Cook and stir until starting to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in cumin, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cloves, and allspice. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Pour in white wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth.
• Return beef and accumulated juices to the pot. Season with salt and add bay leaves. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until beef is almost fork-tender, not falling apart, about 2 hours.
• Remove pot from heat and let stew cool to room temperature, at least 45 minutes. Refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight, for best results.
• Remove beef to a plate and set stew over medium heat. Tear beef along the grain into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-wide shreds; place back in the stew. Add bell peppers, poblanos, smoked paprika, capers, olives, and sugar. Stir together and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until peppers are soft and meat is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off heat, remove bay leaves, and stir in cilantro.

CUBAN MEAT STEW (ROPA VIEJA)

Steps:

• Season steak with Adobo.
• In large skillet, heat oil on medium high, brown meat on both sides, remove and keep warm.
• Lower heat to medium, add garlic, onion and green pepper, cook-stirring often for about 10 minutes.
• Stir in black pepper and tomato sauce and cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the sofrito, water, sazon and bouillon and bring to a boil.
• Return the meat to the pan, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring it occasionally.
• Add in the capers and olives, continue to simmer covered, until the meat is tender and shreds easily.
• This should take about 1-1/2 hours.
• You can add more water 1/4 cup at a time if the sauce gets too dry.
• To serve, shred the meat with 2 forks and mix back into sauce.

ROPA VIEJA (BRAISED BEEF, PEPPERS, AND ONIONS)

Steps:

• To braise beef: In a 5-quart kettle combine all braising ingredients and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours, or until beef is tender. Remove kettle from heat and cool meat in liquid 30 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter and cover. Strain braising liquid through a colander, pressing on solids, into a bowl. Return braising liquid to kettle and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Stew may be made up to this point 1 day ahead. Cool braising liquid completely and chill it and the beef separately, covered.
• In kettle cook green bell peppers and onion in 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring, until softened.
• While vegetables are cooking, pull meat into shreds about 3 by 1/2 inches. To onion mixture add shredded meat, 2 cups braising liquid, tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.
• While stew is simmering, in a large skillet cook red and yellow bell peppers in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir peppers into stew with enough additional braising liquid to thin to desired consistency and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in peas and olives and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
• Serve ropa vieja with yellow rice.
• To make the yellow rice: In a heavy 3-quart saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté cuminseed 10 seconds, or until it turns a few shades darker and is fragrant. Stir in saffron and rice and sauté, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes, or until rice is coated well. Stir in water and salt and boil rice, uncovered and without stirring, until surface of rice is covered with steam holes and grains on top appear dry, 8 to 10 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

EASY ROPA VIEJA STEW

Steps:

• In a large skillet, brown beef in oil on all sides. Transfer meat to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add onions and peppers. Combine tomatoes, water, garlic, cilantro, beef bouillon, pepper, cumin and oregano; pour over vegetables., Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Remove beef; cool slightly. Skim fat from cooking juices; stir in olives. Shred beef with two forks and return to slow cooker; heat through. Serve with rice if desired. Freeze option: Transfer individual portions of stew to freezer containers and freeze. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if necessary.

ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Season both sides of flank steak with sazon and place in pot with just enough water to cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours.
• Remove flank steak and shred with 2 forks. Preserve 1 cup of the liquid.
• Heat oil in skillet on medium, add sofrito and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add 1 cup of the liquid from the pot, tomato sauce and adobo.
• Simmer while stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.
• Serve over white rice.

ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Do not trim excess fat from meat before cooking; you can remove the fat when you shred the beef.
• Salt and pepper the meat and dust lightly with flour.
• Brown the meat in oil in a big Dutch oven.
• Add enough water to surround the meat, but NOT cover it.
• Add in green pepper, sliced onion, and garlic.
• Simmer, covered, until meat is fork tender, about 2 hours (add more water as needed to keep from burning); remove from heat and cool.
• Discard vegetables and shred the meat.
• In the same pan you cooked the meat in, saute the chopped onions, garlic, and green pepper in oil until limp.
• Add in tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, cumin, wine, and bay leaf; add salt and pepper to taste.
• Finally, add the shredded beef; cover and cook on low for about 30 minutes, stirring occasinally.
• Remove bay leaf; serve hot over cooked rice.

SLOW COOKER ROPA VIEJA (CUBAN SHREDDED BEEF)

Steps:

• Rub each side of the steak with Adobo seasoning. Place in slow cooker.
• Slice peppers, onion and garlic and add to the slow cooker along with the olives.
• Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add to the slow cooker.
• Cook on low for 8 hours.
• When cooked, remove the meat from the slow cooker and finely shred with 2 forks. Return the shredded beef to the sauce in the slow cooker and stir.
• Cook the shredded beef on low in the slow cooker another 20 minutes.
• Serve over rice.

CUBAN ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.
• Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours. When ready to serve, shred meat and serve with tortillas or rice.