Picadillo

One of the easiest and most versatile recipes is picadillo. In my Cuban family, picadillo is made with ground meat cooked with the typical onions, peppers, and seasons along with other ingredients like raisins, green olives, and potatoes. This dish offers the perfect balance between the saltiness of the green olives, the flavors of the seasonings, and the sweetness of the raisins. Picadillo is typically served with rice. However, it can also be used to make empanadas, Cuban meat pies, burritos, tacos, nachos, and so on. I usually leave out the raisins if I am going to make something like a taco or burrito. In fact, the raisins and potatoes are optional, even though they are typical ingredients in Cuban-style picadillo. Picadillo is another great recipe where you just put everything in a pot and let it cook, with the exception of the potatoes which are fried separately. This is a really simple recipe, quick to make, and is extremely versatile and flavorful. So have fun trying out this recipe and enjoy!       

Picadillo Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ lbs of ground beef
• ½ of a large green pepper
• 1 medium-sized red pepper
• 1 large onion
• ½ of a 5.75 oz jar of green olives, plus 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive fluid
• 1 ½ cups of raisins
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 2 tablespoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 packet of sazón con azafran or ½ tablespoon saffron
• 2 medium-sized potatoes
• Vegetable or corn oil for frying

TOOLS NEEDED:

• A medium-sized pot
• A frying pan
• Knife, cutting board, large spoon, and measuring utensils
• Spider strainer, mesh rack
• A food processor (optional)

VIDEO DEMONSTRATION / INSTRUCTIONS

BRIEF DIRECTIONS (See the video demonstration for detailed instructions):

1. Collect the ingredients. Soak the raisins in water for about 15-20 minutes (put enough water so that the raisins are covered, the water will be discarded anyway). While waiting, finely chop the red pepper, green pepper, and onion with a food processor.
2. Put the meat in a large pot, break up the meat, and cook on high heat to lightly brown the meat, but continue to stir and break up the meat. You don't want there to be clumps; it should be very refined.
3. Next, add the seasonings, red pepper, green pepper, and onion to the meat and mix thoroughly. Then add the olives and olive fluid to the meat, and drain the water from the raisins and add to the meat, and mix thoroughly. Then reduce the heat to medium and let cook for 20 to 25 minutes with the lid covering the pot. Make sure to stir the pot occasionally.
4. While waiting, you can make the potatoes. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices a quarter inch thick. Then take each slice and cut into strips ¼ inch thick, and cut into cubes ¼ inch in size.  Now, oil in a frying pan at least ¼ inch deep and heat on high heat. Use one piece of potato to test if the oil is hot enough. If you see bubbles, the oil is ready. Carefully add the potatoes to the oil and cook until they have a golden brown color. Then use a spider strainer to remove the potatoes from the oil and place on a mesh rack.
5. At this point, the meat is done, and most of the fluid should have evaporated from the meat (See video demonstration for a visual; Note: if there is still too much fluid let the meat continue to cook for another 5 minutes). Add the potatoes to the meat and mix. Then serve the meat with a side of rice or whatever you’d like.