In many cultures around the world it is said that to get to a man’s heart you first have to get to his stomach, so when I got married 12 years ago I set a goal for myself to learn to cook cuban food like a cuban. My husband Emilio is the son of cuban immigrants that moved to Puerto Rico in the late 1960’s. Puerto Rican and Cuban food have many similarities since they are both a fusion of mainly Spanish and African influences along with the ingredients the tropical climate of the Caribbean region has to offer. However, the cuban staple dish of white rice (long grain), black beans, breaded beefsteak (carne empanada) and yuca al mojo (boiled yuca with a dressing made of garlic, onions, oil and lime juice) is different form the Puerto Rican staple dish of white rice (medium grain), red beans, sauted beefsteak with onions and tostones (fried green plantains). Probably these differences come from availability of the products or varying tastes from immigrants from different regions, but in order to impress my husband with the food he grew up with I had to give it try.
Of course, the first step was getting a cuban cookbook. My mother in law, Doña Martha gave me Nitza Villapol’s Cocina Criolla (not to be confused with Puerto Rico’s Mrs. Carmen Valdejully Cocina Criolla). In this book, which has no pictures and is printed in old fashioned type writer font, I have found all of the recipes that are trademarks of cuban cuisine and more. This book along with cooking tips from dear cuban family and friends like Doña Martha, Nene, Lilly, and of course Emilio, have been the wind beneath my wings to discover the pleasures and savour of cuban cuisine. Arroz con leche, frijoles negros, yuca al mojo, arroz con pollo, maduros, ropa vieja, picadillo, carne empanada, mojito, congri and cafe batido have become part of my recipe repertoire and in my family’s dinner table for many years. I must mention there is another version of cuban picadillo which has raisins and or cubed potatoes if you like it. It is also delicious!
Picadillo, which means to cut or mince in spanish, is the best way to make ground beef in my opinion. As I have mentioned before in other blog posts, I don’t eat a lot of meat but I like to make Picadillo with organic ground beef and use as a filling for tacos, burritos, empanadillas, empanada gallega, relleno de papa (potato fritters filled with ground beef), pastelón, lasagna, alcapurrias, ravioli, Bolognese Sauce or just as a side dish with white rice. Some people like to add Bijol powder or annato oil to give it more color but I don’t think its necessary. This recipe makes a large amount because it is generous enough to make a meat lasagna but if I only need half of it I have the option of freezing it or using it as a filling for argentinian oven empanadillas (which can also be frozen once assembled) or whatever dish comes to my mind. I also use it for my mother’s recipe of one-pot-spaghetti in which the pasta is cooked in the meat sauce. Super delicious! Here is my version of Picadillo.
Buen provecho!
Picadillo (cuban style ground beef)
Ingredients
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup of yellow onion finely chopped
1/2 cup of green cubanel pepper (pimiento de cocinar)
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 pounds approximately of organic ground beef (lean)
8 oz. tomato sauce
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp homemade adobo (if you don’t have then use salt with a pinch of cumin)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 recaito “ice cubes” = 3 tbsps
4 dried bay leaves
3 tbsp “alcaparrado” (mixture of capers and manzanilla olives) or just manzanilla olives
1/4 cup dry white wine
Procedure
1. In a heavy bottom sauce pan heat oil (med or med-low depending on your stove) and add onions, cubanel pepper and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes until transluscent (not browned or burned).
2. Add rest of ingredients, except ground beef, and let simmer to make “sofrito”. Stir occasionally.
3. Add ground beef. Mix well and cook uncovered for approximately 20 minutes stirring frequently so that the beef doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Take out excess fat with spoon.
Mrs Aleida Arbona, im so happy to run into your blog!!!! You may be wondering what strange event led me to your site, so here it is in a nutshell…… Ive spent a lot of time over the last year looking to find the perfect cuban recipes for the few, standard cuban dishes: black bean, ropa vieja, picadillo and carne con papas.
To make a long story short, ive threw away many pots full of black beans, that came out horrible -thanks to crappy internet and book recipes until i found the perfect recipe which i have tested over and over, always comes out perfect, at least to my liking.
Ive always loved ropa vieja but was afraid to even consider it, thought it was out of my league, until i saw a youtube video, seemed easy, so i tried it 2 days ago, i got the look of the real thing and the smell was almost like the real thing, but not quite there, as it was dry and the meat chewy, so during my search for other ropa vieja recipe i started looking for picadillo recipies, which led me to you-i just tried your recipe, during my lunch time hour, and it came out great!!! It was the best picadillo recipe ive tried so far, so you stand at #1 !!! I must confess that i only had 1.17 lbs of ground beef so was scared it would be too soupy, but it came out perfect, also, i bought the GOYA brand recaito, instead of making my own from your recipe to expedite the meal – all came out awsome!!!
I will try other recipes i see here, like mantecaditos and your pasta carbonara. Thanks for providing such a great blog.
Oh, i looked for that book you mentioned, to purchase online, they are charging $285+ for it, i guess is too old.
Can you do me a great favor and see if your Nitza Villapol’s Cocina Criolla book has the recipe for Ropa Vieja and also for Carne con Papas – ive been pretty frustrated with those 2 dishes – let me know…. keep up the great work. Im happy to have joined your blog!!!
dear alex: thank you for your kind comments. i also spent many hours trying to find the perfect picadillo recipe, i’m so glad you like it! some recipes in the internet and in some books are not tested. I don’t publish recipes which i have not tested myself. my cocina criolla book by nitza villapol was bought by my mother in law for $12.95 about 12 years ago. I don’t know where you live, but if it is in a community with a large concentration of latinos your nearest border’s should carry it. They have it in Puerto Rico’s Border’s Store in Plaza Las Americas and they ship. I checked and it does have carne con papas recipe on page 59 which is very similar to my carne guisada recipe (will post soon). ropa vieja (page 49 in cocina criolla) is also one of my favorites. in my experience, the key for tender meat is to place the meat in boiling water with bay leaf and salt for at least and hour, then shred and cook in a skillet with onions, pimientos, tomato sauce some of the boiling water (broth), wine, manzanilla olives and other seasonings. I use flap or skirt steak. well, hope you enjoy the rest of my recipes as well. let me know how the others go. regards.
There is a print of that book that sellos for around $15.00, is called Cocina al minuto. They sell it at the Cuban nostalgia fair. I have used mine for 42 yrs got it from my mom when I got married and I keep copies of it to give to newly weds. If interested contact me at 305 804 3134. I know where you can get it but don’t have the web page here now.
hello eida: I only have cocina criolla de nitza villapol and guard it with my life! ja! I always look for it at book stores but never find it. I would love to have a cocina al minute! will be in touch. cariños!
Mr Arbona, thanks for your detailed reply, i had my wife follow your picadillo recipe yesterday, came out a winner again!!! I called the borders on plaza las americas to locate the Nitza Villapol’s Cocina Criolla book, they do not have it, and it wont show on the website, if you run into it, let me know and ill send you the money for it.
Im looking forward to your ropa vieja and carne guisada recipe postings, i will be extremely happy when you do.
On another note, we went to a cuban cafe in cocoa beach and the owner makes this wonderful mojo which he uses to top the cuban sandwiches and to dip on tostones, using garlic, olive oil, salt and lemon – ive tried the store sold brands, badia, goya and other, dont like any of them, too strong. Do you have a recipe on how to make homemade mojo?
i make a mojo similar to that one which I use for Yuca al mojo recipe and can also be used for french fries or tostones. hope to post it in the near future.
Aledita, hoy quise probar tu version del picadillo, y me facino. Nunca lo habia hecho a tu manera, y el resultado es mejor que el mio. Por ser de una familia cubana siempre lo habia comido, por lo menos una vez la mes cuando estaba creciendo. La chiquita mia, no comia mi picadillo, pero probo el tuyo y no quiso soltarlo se lo comio completo. Ahora este picadillo es parte de mi casa. Esta buenisimo, y bien sabroso, lo mas que me gusta que es facil. La proxima vez tengo que hacerlo con el recaito homemade, estoy segura que va hacer mejor.
querida vivian: que gusto me da escuchar eso! bea r. de nuestra clase, me dice lo mismo de sus nenes cuando prepara el picadillo. je! a la verdad que es muy sabroso y versatil pues se puede usar como complemento en muchas recetas. gracias por compartir con nosotros tus comentarios. espero visites foodielady pronto de nuevo!!!