Ropa Vieja Ingredients
• 2 medium onions
• 2 pounds flank steak or skirt steak
• 2 carrot, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 3 bay leaf
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tsp minced garlic
• 1 Lg Habanero chile, minced and seeded
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped and seeded
• 2 cup fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 2 Tsp Mexican oregano
• ¾ Tsp cumin
• 2 Tbsp dried parsley
• Canilla extra-long grain white rice (2 to 2-1/2 cups)
Instructions
Quarter one of the two onions. Put in a 6 quart kettle with meat, carrot, celery and bay leaf. Cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Skim frequently.
When meat is very tender, remove from broth. Set aside. Discard vegetables and strain broth through a sieve. When meat is cool, cut off any fat and cut into shreds about 1 inch wide.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onions, garlic, Habanero chile and green peppers until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in broth, tomatoes and cook for 15 - 20 minutes over medium heat. Stir in shredded meat, oregano, parsley and cumin. Cook 10 - 15 minutes more.
Serve with extra-long grain white rice.
Or if you want a more fragrant and less sticky rice try this (my wife loves it)...
Ingredients
• 1 Qt boiling water
• 1cup Basmati or Jasmine rice
• 3 Bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Directions
Add water, bay leaves, salt and butter to a stock pot and bring to a boil. Add rice, when it returns to a boil stir once to ensure it isn’t sticking to bottom of pot then “Don’t stir again”. Partially cover lower heat to medium-high and cook for about 11 minutes until tender, NO CRUNCH!!
(The goal here is NOT to absorb all of the water into the rice like you normally do, just cook until tender then drain excess immediately).
Use wire mesh strainer to drain all water out of rice, remove bay leaves and let sit until dry.
