Ropa Vieja -- "Old Clothes"
Cuban Shredded Beef
 Serves 6 - 8.
This Cuban beef recipe is easy to make (although a bit time
consuming) and very delicious. Make sure you cook the flank steak until very tender.
They say that this dish is called "old
clothes" because the shredded beef frays on the ends as it cooks, like the fabric of
old clothes.
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 lbs skirt or flank steak or 3 1/2 lbs chuck or arm roast
- salt and pepper
- flour
- olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, mashed with 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 green peppers, chopped
- 32 ounce can crushed tomatoes or 2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Do not trim excess fat from meat before cooking! (You can remove the
fat when you shred the beef.) Salt and pepper the meat and lightly dust with flour. In a
large Dutch oven, brown the meat in oil. Add enough water to surround the meat, but NOT
cover it. Simmer, covered, until done, one to two hours. Meat will be fork tender. (Add
more water as necessary to keep from burning!)
- Remove from heat and cool. Shred the meat. (Slice flank steak across
grain in 3-inch strips, then shred strips of steak by hand.)
- Sauté onions, garlic and green pepper in oil until limp.
- Add all remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove bay leaves and serve with
rice.
Source: Silvia Cruzalvarez at icuban.com
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