Ricks Caribbean Ropa Vieja Food

RICK'S CARIBBEAN ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and mushrooms until lightly browned. Place flank steak in the skillet, and brown on all sides. Pour in the wine. Reduce heat to low, and continue cooking 30 minutes, or until meat is very tender. Remove meat, shred, and return to skillet.
• Pour coconut milk into the skillet. Mix in sour cream, coconut flakes, brown sugar, allspice, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking 10 minutes, or until heated through.

ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Remove the meat from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Place the meat in a pressure cooker.
• Add an onion and 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add water to cover the meat by 2 inches (5 cm), and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes after reaching boiling point.
• Check the tenderness of the meat with a fork. If it is not soft enough, continue cooking for 20 minutes from boiling.
• Once the meat is fork tender, remove the meat from the broth and reserve the broth.
• When the meat is lukewarm, shred it and place in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and set aside.
• In a deep Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil and fry the onion, remaining garlic, as well as the red hot pepper for 1 minute over medium heat, stirring regularly.
• Add 3 tablespoons of the reserved meat broth, 2 bay leaves, cumin, oregano, black pepper and tomato purée.
• Stir well, then add the meat and mix again. Add 3 tablespoons of wine and mix.
• Cook uncovered and over high heat for 5 minutes.
• Cover the Dutch oven and cook for another 15 minutes over medium heat until the sauce is creamy.
• One minute before removing the pan from the heat, add the remaining two tablespoons of white wine and the julienned red bell pepper, and stir gently.
• Serve hot, with white rice and plantain chips.

ULTIMATE ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Pat the beef dry and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Heat a little oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Once very hot add the beef and brown generously on all sides. Transfer the beef to a plate. (Do not discard the drippings and blackened bits in the pot, they are key to the flavor.)
• Add the sliced vegetables to the pot and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until caramelized. Add the garlic and spices and cook for another minute. Add the white wine and bring it to a rapid boil, deglazing the bottom of the pan (scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan).
• Add the broth, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and bay leaves. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Return the roast to the pot along with the pieces of carrots and celery. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 3-4 hours or until the beef is fork tender and falls apart easily. Discard the celery, carrots and bay leaves.
• Transfer the beef to a plate and shred it. Return the shredded beef to the pot.
• Stir in the olives, roasted red peppers, capers and pimientos. Simmer uncovered to thicken the sauce for 30 minutes. Stir in the parsley and add salt and pepper to taste.