For this Latin America Cooking class I wanted to feature a typical Cuban dish. Ropa Vieja is traditionally made with shredded beef. We used ground beef in class to save a little time.
Ropa vieja, or "old clothes," describes the shreds of meat, peppers, and onions resembling a mess of colorful rags. The name got lost with the ground beef :o))
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 4 hours: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
1 cup beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Fresh oregano, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish
4 small tortillas
Instructions:
Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the ground beef. When brown, add the onion, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté until onion is translucent. Add the cumin and continue to heat until fragrant.
Pour in the beef broth, tomato sauce, tomato paste, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Simmer for 30 minutes. Reduce heat, add oregano.
Serve with tortillas. Garnish with cilantro
To cook in slow cooker- cook on high for 1 hour, or on Low for up to 4 hours.