Visiting Cuba is o
n our “bucket list.” The sooner we can get there the better, as it seems that time may catch up with them after all. Have you seen travel shows and colorful images? All the streets are filled with 1950s-era cars, intoxicating Buena Vista Social Club music wafts out of clubs and the food – oh, the food. Give me a plate dressed with black beans and sweet plantains any day.
Ropa Vieja is a slow-cooked meat dish that I often make in my slow cooker. But, for something faster, perhaps on a weeknight, Cuban Picadillo is an easy choice. It is one of the tastier ground meat recipes I’ve tried. The briny olives juxtaposed with the sweet raisins make a more complex meal than any American hamburger dish.
This recipe makes a batch big enough to feed four to six people when served over rice. You can also use the meat as a filling for tacos or inside empanadas. Black beans and fried plantains make perfect sides. Wash it all down with a few mojitos, and you may be able to close your eyes and imagine yourself in Cuba for just a moment or two.
Cuban Picadillo
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- ½ green pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped (about ½ cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Spice Islands® Bay Leaf
- 1 pound ground beef (or ½ lb. been and ½ lb. pork)
- 2 teaspoons Spice Islands® Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Spice Islands® finely ground Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Spice Islands® finely ground Black Pepper
- ½ cup dry, white wine
- ½ cup beef stock
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- ½ cup pimento stuffed green olives, chopped
- ½ cup raisins
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and bay leaf and sauté until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add ground meat and cook, stirring, until browned.
- Add spices and stir to combine.
- Add the wine, stock, tomato, tomato paste, olives and raisins.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Serve over rice, in tacos or as a filling for empanadas.
Husband and wife team LINDSAY LANDIS and TAYLOR HACKBARTH are entrepreneurs by day, running a web and graphic design business out of their home in Nashville, Tennessee. By night they cook, bake, and eat all manner of delicious things. Their food blog, Love & Olive Oil (http://www.loveandoliveoil.com), chronicles their culinary adventures in and around the kitchen. Lindsay is the author of The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook (June 2012, Quirk Books), and their next book, a joint endeavor entitled Breakfast For Dinner, is set to be published in February of 2013.
Gaby Dalkin is private chef, recipe developer, food stylist and photographer specializing in simple and sassy recipes for the home cook! Her website, What's Gaby Cooking started in 2009, and includes her latest original recipes as well as her adventures in the food world. 
