Picadillo

Today I think I'll make Picadillo for dinner. This is a traditional Cuban dish that I ate about a million times growing up and have since adapted into my own version. It's made with ground beef and vegetables and served over white rice. I always throw in a side dish of fried plantains which have become really easy to make now that Goya packages a frozen version (look for "platanos maduros") that just needs to be warmed up in the microwave. It's just so hard to find fresh plantains that are the right ripeness. Goya's are always perfect and so freakin' easy.

It's also nice to remember to take the ground beef out of the freezer sometime during the day. I hate having to defrost things last minute.

To make picadillo you need to start with a sofrito - a very popular start to many Cuban meals. My mom and grandma don't use tomato paste and wine, but I think it has a nicer flavor when you do it this way.

Sofrito
1 medium onion
1 medium green pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic (although I usually throw in at least a second cuz I love garlic)
1 can of tomato paste
1/4 cup white wine
water
Optional: Sazon Goya with Saffron packet


Chop up the onion and green peppers into small diced pieces. Heat up the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.



Squeeze a peeled garlic clove through a garlic press (I like this one from Hoffritz) into the heating oil. When it starts to brown, add the chopped onion and peppers.





Cook the garlic, onions and peppers over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent and the peppers are soft. This take about 7 or 8 minutes. Try not to under cook the vegetables but don't let them get too dry either.

Lower the heat to a lower setting and stir in the can of tomato paste. Then add the white wine and stir until it starts bubbling. You might want to add a bit more wine or water to make the consistency a little looser. It shouldn't be soupy but it should be soft and wet.


If I have it, I add in a packet of Sazon Goya with saffron, a seasoning you can find in the Goya, Latin food section of a supermarket. This just gives it an added zing and a beautiful color.




This is your sofrito.

Now, for the rest of the Picadillo.

Picadillo
Sofrito (see above)
1 pound ground beef (I've never tried turkey or other ground meats, but I bet they'd be fine, just not very Cuban)
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped green olives with pimentos
1/2 cup raisins
Optional: a couple of chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce

You'll add the ground beef to the sofrito you just made, breaking up with your hands as you add it. Season it by sprinkling a light layer of salt and pepper over all of the beef/sofrito mixture. Then add the cumin and bay leaf, olives and raisins. I know raisins are an odd addition, so if it freaks you a bit, just leave it out. But, I gotta say, they're my favorite part of picadillo.

I also have been adding a couple of chopped up chipotle peppers that have been canned in adobo sauce. I've been adding them to just about everything actually. (They are superb in chili!) This makes it a little spicy and probably makes it taste more Mexican than Cuban. I buy it at this bodega on the corner since they don't seem to carry it at Publix, my local supermarket (which is surprising since they have everything.)

Cook the sofrito/beef mixture over low/medium heat for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, make some white rice. And don't forget to put the fried plantains in the microwave just before you are ready to serve. They take about 3 1/2 minutes to heat up well.

I serve individual portions of this dish in shallow bowls. I start with the rice, put a good amount of the picadillo on top and a couple of sweet plantains on the side. Delicious. Even my gringo husband calls it a favorite!

***I'd also like to send a shout out to my friend, Becky, who went back to work today. I know it's gonna be a hard day for you, but it's got to get easier. I am sure you are much more upset than Olivia. She's probably having a blast playing with her new friends. And you get to have adult conversations and skip a couple of nasty diaper changes!