PICADILLO Y ARROZ BLANCO (A CUBAN DISH)

This is a dish popular in almost every Cuban household and is a variation of my mother's own picadillo recipe. But it has numerous changes from my mother's original to the ingredients and the techniques.

Picadillo is basically Cuban peasant food. Every grandmother has her own recipe that she passes down to her children and no two grandmothers make it the exact same way. I like how adaptable it is to the particular tastes of each cook. It's popularity is based on how inexpensive the dish is to prepare. But it is the common simplicity of the dish that evokes that warm feeling of childhood and home.

The best part is you can make this the day before and just reheat for dinner because it is actually better the next day when the flavors truly meld. Also this is the best filling ever for the empanada. Ever. Your empanada will evocakie memories of the Jamaican patty when filled with picadillo.

The recipe below will easily feed 4 to 6 people and leave you enough to make empanadas to take for lunch the next day.

The ingredients...

2 lbs. of ground beef

4 to 5 good sized potatoes

1/2 cup of olives (Buy the pitted spanish olives that have the red pimiento inside.)

1/4 cup of currants or raisins

1 cup wine (I like red, but white is fine.)

1 green bell pepper

1 onion or 2 shallots

4 garlic cloves

3 ounces of tomato paste

1 can of crushed tomatoes

olive oil (I prefer the mild kind for this cooking.)

2 jalapeno peppers or 1 habanero (This is optional and not at all traditional. I prefer the Habanero.)

Sazon (Find this in the latin section of the grocery store but you can also use Sazon Completa,)

salt

pepper

garlic granulated powder

2 cups white rice

The equipment...

Rice cooker (these usualy have their own measuring cup)

Large pan

Cutting board

Knife

Large cooking spoon

Measuring spoons


The preparation...

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into little 1/2 inch cubes. Then put them on a sheet pan and toss them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Use just enough potato to cover the bottom of the pan in a single layer. This will be the perfect amount to add to the dish late. Put the sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees until they are completely cooked. You can continue your preparation work while they are cooking because this will take about 20 minutes but make sure to keep an eye on them so they won't burn. Most people like to fry the potatoes. I prefer the oven. It lets me control the oil I use but most of all, it lets me ignore them while I continue to cook. Frying them takes time and, as previously learned, oil on the stovetop that is ignored can ignite and cause a fire. This is a nice, safe way to get the job done.

2. Start the rice cooking in your rice cooker. If you don't have one, go buy one. They are very cheap, usually under $20. And are the easiest way to make rice without having to pay attention to it. The rice is the simplest part of this to make. Put in 2 cups of rice, 2 and 1/2 cups of water, 2 table spoons of a mild olive oil or a canola oil, 1 teaspon of granulated garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the rice cooker, put the lid on and press start. Easy.

3. Chop the shallots (or onions, if you prefer them), the bell pepper, the garlic cloves, and the habanero (or the jalapenos) into small pieces. Make sure that you remove all the seeds and the ribs (the white stuff holding the seed pod) from the habanero (or jalapenos) pepper. The hot peppers should be cut very small and you may want to wear rubber gloves to handle the peppers. They could irritate your skin. Also, DO NOT touch your face and especially not your eyes with peppery hands!

4. Slice or chop the olives and set them aside in another bowl. Don't slice them too small because you want them kind of chunky. I usually slice each olice in half and then cut each half into 4 slices.

5. Set your currants to soak in the 1/2 a cup of the wine.

Let's Cook...

1. Add some oil to the bottom of the pan set over medium heat and when it starts to shimmer saute the shallots, bell pepper, and habanero. When they are almost cooked, add the garlic. Then take them out of the pan and put them on a plate. I did this in a separate pan because I have many pans, but I am trying to show you how to do this with the least equipment possible since you may not have two pans.

2. Add the ground beef with the sazon to the pan and brown the ground beef. Then add the cooked veggies back in.

3. Add the crushed tomatoes, the tomato paste, the currants and the red wine.  Let this simmer over medium low heat for a little while. The longer it simmers, the more the flavors blend together. If it gets a little dry, you can add some more wine or water or even some beef stock. You can't be wrong here. It's just ground beef. Live a little!



4. Add the olives and cook them for a few minutes. Then add the potatoes. I like to let the potatoes sit for about 10 minutes in the pan so that they will soak up the juices from the tomato sauce. Sometimes I add a little more wine or water or beef stock at this point to keep the mixture moist.


5. When it had the consistency you want, just serve it. Remember you are servin it over rice so it can be a little saucy. If you have left over, put it in the refrigerator to have for lunch or to fill those empanadas. Sometimes I make this just to have empanada fillings.