Ropa Vieja Mexico Food

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.

ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Pat the flank steak completely dry with a paper towel. Cut in half or thirds (across the grain) if needed to fit into your pot in a single layer. Season with 2 teaspoons salt.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium Dutch oven or a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add the steak in a single layer and cook until a deep brown crust develops, 5 to 8 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and set aside.
• Add the onions and peppers to the same pot. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few cracks black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin and oregano; stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until it starts to develop color, about 1 minute. Add the vino seco to deglaze and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the tomato sauce, beef stock and bay leaf. Stir to incorporate. Nestle the steak in the sauce, submerging it slightly. Be sure to add any accumulated juices from the plate.
• Cover and cook in the oven until the meat shreds easily with two forks, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Transfer the pot back to the stovetop. Remove the steak to a cutting board or medium bowl and shred into long thin pieces using two forks. Meanwhile, simmer the sauce over low heat until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Return the steak to the pot and stir to combine. Add the lime juice and olives, capers or pimientos, if using.
• Serve with white rice and black beans.

ROPA VIEJA TACOS

Steps:

• Mix tomato sauce and dressing in pressure cooker. Top with steak, vegetables and garlic; cover with lid. Lock lid in place. Cook on medium-high heat until pressure vent locks in place and regulator begins to rock gently. Reduce heat gradually to maintain slow steady rocking motion; cook on low heat 30 min. Remove from heat. Let stand 10 min. or until pressure vent drops.
• Shred meat; place in large skillet. Cook on medium heat 2 min., stirring frequently. Meanwhile, skim fat from surface of cooking liquid in pressure cooker; ladle 2 cups liquid into medium bowl. Add vegetables; mix well. Discard any remaining cooking liquid.
• Add vegetable mixture to meat in skillet; cook 10 min. or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Spoon onto tortillas; top with cheese and cilantro.

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.

ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Add the olive oil to a large, heavy pot and heat over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons salt, broken bay leaves, crushed red pepper flakes and halved jalapeno and stir. Add the quartered onions, chopped carrot, parsley, and mashed garlic cloves and stir again. Place the brisket in the pot, season with salt and pepper and add enough water to cover by 2-inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat so that the liquid just simmers, and cook the brisket until the meat is tender enough to shred, 2 to 3 hours. Remove the meat from the cooking liquid and set aside until cool enough to handle. Strain the cooking broth through a fine-mesh sieve and discard solids. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the broth for the ropa vieja and use the remaining broth for another purpose.
• When the meat has cooled, shred it into 3 to 4-inch strands. Set aside.
• Combine the minced garlic, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a mortar and pestle and work into a smooth paste. Set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the sliced onion. Saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic paste and bay leaf and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, reserved beef broth, wine, and vinegar and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the shredded beef and roasted green pepper strips, stir to combine, and cook, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the meat is fork tender and falling apart, coated with a thick sauce, and the flavors have come together. If the sauce gets too thick, add a bit more of the reserved beef broth. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and serve, garnished with the pimiento slices, lime juice and cilantro, if desired.

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.

ROPA VIEJA (MEXICO)

Steps:

• Place meat in a large pan and cover with beef stock and water. Add the carrot and half the garlic along with salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Skim the surface then recover the pan and cook the meat gently for 2 hours, or until very tender (should shred easily with a fork).
• Remove the pan from the heat and let the meat cool in the liquid. When cool enough to handle, remove from the liquid and shred with your fingers and a fork.
• Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add the remaining garlic, the onions, and chilies and cook until tender and onions are soft and translucent. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
• Add the meat to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat until browned and crisp. Transfer to a serving dish. Top with the onion mixture and surround with the tomatoes, cilantro, green onion and lime wedges. Serve with warmed tortillas. Enjoy!

MEXICAN ROPA VIEJA

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large flameproof casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, red pepper, green pepper and garlic; cook until onion is translucent and peppers are softened, for about 8 minutes.
• Stir in cumin and oregano; cook for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and broth.
• Season steak with salt and pepper. Add steak to pot; cover and bring to simmering. Simmer about 2 hours or until meat is very tender, turning meat occasionally.
• Remove meat; let cool briefly. cut across the grain into 2-inch-thick slices. Using two forks, pull slices apart into shreds.
• Heat tomato sauce remaining in pot to rapid boiling. Continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add green chiles and corn. Heat to boiling; cook 5 minutes.
• Add shredded beef, jalapeno, and cilantro. Heat to boiling. Serve with warmed tortillas.

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.