Old Clothes for Dinner?

Nope, no old clothes, although that’s the translation for Ropa Vieja. The English title was Shredded Beef. That’s not nearly as poetic, is it? Anyway, now that we’ve had this for dinner, we’ve completed the “Meats” section of the cookbook. “Fish and Seafood” is next, and we’re looking forward to that. I just need to figure out where to buy a 5-pound red snapper! Hopefully, the later recipes won’t have such unusual (meaning hard-to-find) ingredients.

Ropa Vieja

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound flank steak cut in 4x1" pieces
• 4 onions 2 chopped, 2 sliced
• 2 green peppers sliced and divided
• 8 cloves garlic 4 whole, 4 minced
• 2 tomatoes peeled and seeded
• 2 bay leaves divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 can tomato sauce 15 ounce
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• green peas for garnish
• sliced pimento or roasted red pepper for garnish

Instructions

1. Place steak, the two shopped onions, one of the sliced green peppers, the four whole cloves of garlic, the tomatoes and one bay leaf in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

2.   Remove the beef from the pot; shred it as finely as possible.

3.   Once the vegetables have cooled a bit, pureé them in a food processor; set aside.

4.   Sauté the sliced onions and remaining green pepper in the olive oil until tender.

5.   Add the tomato sauce, red wine, minced garlic cloves, oregano, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for ten minutes.

6.   Add the shredded beef and pureéd vegetables. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.

7.   Serve over hot cooked rice; garnish with green peas and pimento slices, with fried plantains on the side, if desired.

Steps 1-3

Steps 4-6