Ropa Vieja

Recently, I’ve been having a wicked craving for Cuban food.  Problem is there’s barely any Cuban food in Toronto.  I always here about a place called Julie’s Cuban but it gets mixed reviews and I never remember it when I’m picking restaurants.  When I lived in New York there were a ton of Cuban restaurants to try.  While they probably aren’t the best Cuban restaurants I’d often check out Cafe Habana, Havana Central, and Margon among others.  Since living in Toronto I often find myself craving tostones, arroz con pollo, cuban sandwiches, rice and beans, maduros… you name it, I crave it.

I considered a trip to New York to squelch my craving but figured it would be more efficient to just make some Cuban food.  I settled on Ropa Vieja because I figured a stew of beefy goodness would be a good choice. The recipe comes via Epicurious and has a a good rating.

Admittedly the recipe looks daunting.  The list of ingredients is long and there are a few steps that take a lot of (inactive) time.  I was up for the task.  To make my life easier I did the first part of the recipe (braising the beef) the night before while putting around the house and finished of the dish the following evening.  This did indeed make life so much easier.  And truth be told none of the ingredients are that hard to find and there isn’t a ton of chopping involved.

The results were good.  Next time I would add a bit more salt while braising the meat because the meat itself needed a bit more flavour to it.  The stew itself was nicely flavoured and I loved the sauce.  I wasn’t a fan of the rice.  It was a bit too heavy on the cumin.  I found myself craving the packaged yellow rice that I normally buy. If it ain’t broke…

For the record I made very few changes to this recipe.  Instead of a yellow pepper I used another red pepper and I omitted the olives at the end.  This isn’t necessarily going into my regular rotation but it’s a good recipe to have on deck for when I’m craving Cuban.

Ropa Vieja
For braising beef:
3 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed
2 quarts water
2 carrots, chopped coarse
1 large onion, chopped coarse
2 celery ribs, chopped coarse
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, crushed lightly
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch strips
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups braising liquid plus additional if desired
a 14- to 16-ounce can whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish olive, drained and halved

Accompaniment:

For yellow rice with toasted cumin:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cuminseed
1/4 teaspoon crumble saffron thread
2 cups unconverted long-grain rice
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt

To braise beef:
In a 5-quart kettle combine all braising ingredients and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours, or until beef is tender. Remove kettle from heat and cool meat in liquid 30 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter and cover. Strain braising liquid through a colander, pressing on solids, into a bowl. Return braising liquid to kettle and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Stew may be made up to this point 1 day ahead. Cool braising liquid completely and chill it and the beef separately, covered.

In kettle cook green bell peppers and onion in 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring, until softened.

While vegetables are cooking, pull meat into shreds about 3 by 1/2 inches. To onion mixture add shredded meat, 2 cups braising liquid, tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes.

While stew is simmering, in a large skillet cook red and yellow bell peppers in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir peppers into stew with enough additional braising liquid to thin to desired consistency and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in peas and olives and simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.

Serve ropa vieja with yellow rice.

To make the yellow rice:
In a heavy 3-quart saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté cuminseed 10 seconds, or until it turns a few shades darker and is fragrant. Stir in saffron and rice and sauté, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes, or until rice is coated well. Stir in water and salt and boil rice, uncovered and without stirring, until surface of rice is covered with steam holes and grains on top appear dry, 8 to 10 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

Gourmet
January 1995
1998-09-17 15:09:30.0