Ropa Vieja – old clothes, but tasty!

Tomato Chutney as a dip.  For crackers I used a cookie cutter to cut flour tortillas,
painted them with olive oil, sprinkled salt and baked them in a 350ºF  (185ºC)

Sliced tomatoes, topped with rice vinegar marinated onion
was a nice and colorful addition. 

What a tasty pile of old clothes it is!  Before I get started, I'm putting out a disclaimer.  Ropa vieja is made around the Caribbean basin, by everybody and his mother who drink rum all night, dance the Macarena, then cook all day.  So, I’m sure that your mother, wife, girlfriend, or favorite stalker makes the best ropa vieja on earth.

By the way, what does Macarena mean?  Is it a) a salsa queen who has gobbled a Big Mac, without using her hands b) the best macaroni in Hoboken c) a Peruvian princess whose rena is pleading for larger size pants d) I know, but I ain’t sayin’ because you might tell my wife.

The answer will come in next week’s blog about humiliated salsa dancers.

Meanwhile, back to the recipe.  It's a great one!

Ropa Vieja

2 nice sized flank steaks, sprinkled with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 or 2 strips of bacon, roughly chopped

Enough olive oil to make 3 tbsp when added to the rendered bacon fat

1 medium to large onion, peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper thinly sliced

6 oz tomato paste

1 tsp each of dried cumin, marjoram (or thyme), and oregano

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 cans beef consume (Campbell’s condensed), plus just enough water to make 3 cups total

1 16oz can whole, peeled tomatoes, undrained (crush these with your hands as you add them)

1/2 cup green, pitted olives, sliced in half

1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers, roughly chopped

3 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (to be sprinkled over the cooked ropa vieja)

Place the bacon in a Dutch oven, over medium heat and cook until the fat is rendered.  Remove the bacon pieces and add enough olive oil to make approximately 3 Tbsp of total fat.

I prefer to grill the flank steaks on my gas grill, but if you don’t have a gas grill, cook the steaks briefly in the fat/oil until they are lightly browned on both sides.  Remove the steaks from the pot and set them aside.

Add the onions and (raw) peppers to the pot and cook until they are soft, about 4-5 minutes.  Add tomato paste, cumin, marjoram, oregano, and garlic.  Mix well and continue cooking for another 4 minutes.  Add the wine and cook, scrapping the bottom of the pot to mix in all those delicious bits.  Return the bacon to the pot and mix.

Cut the steaks cross-grain into 1 1/2 inch wide strips. (the strips will be about six inches long)  Return the steaks to the pot, along with the beef stock and can of tomatoes.  Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook until steaks are very tender, 2-3 hours.  This may be done stovetop, but to avoid having to watch and stir for several hours, I heat my oven to 230ºF (110ºC) and slide the covered pot in the hot oven.

After the steaks are tender, remove them from the pot, shred the meat and put the shredded meat back in the pot, along with the olives, roasted red bell pepper strips, capers, and vinegar.  Cook about 30 minutes longer.

Before serving, sprinkle the chopped cilantro on top.

As a side dish, try this:  2 cups of rice, 4 cups of water, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, paprika, 3 tbsp olive oil.

Put the oil in a pot and add the cumin seeds.  When the seeds begin to darken, pour in the rice and the paprika and mix until the rice is nicely coated.  Pour in the water and let the rice boil for 10 minutes, uncovered.  At the end of ten minutes, you’ll see steam holes in the rice, with the top layer of rice appearing to be not fully cooked.  Remove the pot from the heat, cover it and let it stand 5-10 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and serve.

What’s For Dessert?

Fruit Mélange over shortcakes, with whipped cream

4 cups of mixed fruit cubes

1/4 cup Amontillado Sherry (medium)

8 scones

cream for whipping

1 tbsp sugar

Make basic scone recipe (see a previous post), but add 8 Tbsp of butter instead of 4, to make the scone flakier.   For aesthetics, I cut the scones in rounds instead of pie wedges.

Put the fruit in a bowl, pour the sherry over the cubes of fruit and mix well.

Whip the cream.  Add the sugar and whip again.  Do this out of order and the cream won’t whip!

By Jove, I think you’ve got it!

Be sure to tell your mother, this ropa vieja wasn’t as good as hers!