Picadillo Cuban Food

CLASSIC CUBAN-STYLE PICADILLO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir garlic, onion, and green bell pepper in the hot oil until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Crumble ground beef into the skillet; cook and stir until browned completely, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Stir olives, raisins, capers, tomato sauce, sazon seasoning, cumin, sugar, and salt through the ground beef mixture.
• Cover the skillet, reduce heat to low, and cook until the mixture is heated through, 5 to 10 minutes.

CUBAN PICADILLO

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and bay leaves and saute until onion is soft, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.
• Add ground beef to skillet and cook until browned. Once the meat is browned, carefully away from the flame, tilt pan and remove excess fat with a large spoon.
• Add the white wine and stir for another minute. Then add the chopped cherry tomatoes, tomato paste, pimento stuffed Spanish olives, raisins, dried oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper. Simmer over low heat for another 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve warm:
• As a filling for empanadas or tacos
• Over white rice with fried plantains or black beans
• With a side salad and black beans
• To make Picadillo soupier for serving over rice, add additional wine, chicken or beef stock.

CUBAN PICADILLO

Steps:

• Mash the salt, pepper and garlic together in a mortar until well blended.
• Lightly brown this mixture in the lard/oil with the pepper and the onions until the onions become translucent.
• Add the tomato sauce and let it simmer for a minute.
• Add the vinegar.
• Add the meat and cook for 5-minutes.
• Add the cooking wine, olives and raisins.
• Simmer until liquid is absorbed (I usually let this simmer for around an hour or so on low, so the flavors meld together).
• Serve with rice and beans and a nice cold beer.
• Tastes even better the next day!

CUBAN PICADILLO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and garlic.
• Cook over very low heat until the onions are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
• Add the ground beef and brown, stirring constantly with a fork to break up the meat.
• Stir in the tomato paste, chile, tomatoes, cumin, oregano, half the parsley and scallions, and the sugar, mix well.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Add the stock and potato and continue cooking, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the patato is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
• Use the tomato juice if you need more liquid.
• Mix in the remaining parsley and scallions and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Serve with bread or rice.

CUBAN PICADILLO

Steps:

• In a large skillet pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
• Add the onions and peppers, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until soft and translucent.
• Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
• Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Break it up with the spoon as it cooks.
• Add the wine, tomato sauce, spices, olives, capers, and potatoes to the pan.
• Turn heat down to low, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes.
• Remove the bay leaves and serve.

CUBAN PICADILLO

Steps:

• Brown the ground beef in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat until crumbly and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Pour off any excess grease, then stir in the onion and garlic; cook for 2 minutes before adding the red pepper, green pepper, raisins, olives, tomato paste, water, and cilantro. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, or until the peppers have cooked to your liking.

CUBAN PICADILLO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add the sofrito (garlic, onions, green pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, capers, olives, bay leaves and cumin seeds).
• Cook the sofrito until it is fragrant and the onions are translucent; remove from pan and set aside.
• Brown ground beef in pan and drain fat.
• Add sofrito to the beef along with the tomatoes, vinegar, and cayenne pepper.
• Simmer for 45 minutes on low heat.
• Serve over rice, with a fried egg on top, garnished with pimiento, if desired.
• Another option to serve is to spoon it into corn tortillas, with lettuce, tomato, green onions, jalapenos, cheese, and hot sauce, like a taco.