Ropa Vieja

A very wise and very dear friend of mine told me that when caught in an unhappy situation, you have 3 options; change the situation, change your attitude about the situation, or change neither, recognizing this third option as a conscious choice to remain unhappy. In the spirit of a new year and all that, I am working on my attitude – staying positive – hoping hard that our efforts to change our situation do, in fact, change the situation.

Another tidbit about me – I’m an incredibly open and honest person. So for these past months while I’ve been in a bit of a funk of sorts, I haven’t blogged because I didn’t know how I could do so in a positive voice, whilst feeling the opposite. It seemed it would sound fake.

Through all this, at least there’s food. At least there’s always food! And cooking grounds me, calms me, feeds my passion and the black hole you could call my stomach. This particular dish, a Cuban specialty, I made back in the fall but it was so good I had to share it with you now. Lowly chuck roast is transformed via slow-cooking into fork-tender morsels that pull apart in your hands. The shredded meat is tossed in a well-seasoned mixture of sauteed thin-sliced onions and peppers with tomatoes and chiles. The result is a dish so darn good you can’t believe you made that. 

I made a version of this last year using flank steak, which is what you’ll find in most traditional Ropa Vieja recipes. But, as I feared knowing flank steak is a very lean cut, the end result was dry and stringy, salvaged slightly only by dumping copious amounts of sour cream in! So much for lean, eh? So this time I swapped in chuck roast and highly recommend using it here. Well-marbled cuts like chuck are meant to be stewed and braised. And when you’re going to the trouble of slow-cooking, you don’t want the end result to disappoint.

Serve this with a dollop of sour cream, garnished with additional sliced chiles (if you like heat) over steamed rice. And Buon Appetito!

ropa vieja

• 2.5 – 3 lbs beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1.5″- 2″ cubes, patted dry with paper towels
• kosher salt/pepper
• vegetable oil
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded, 1 thickly sliced and 1 thinly sliced
• 3 large Spanish onions, 1 quartered and 2 thinly sliced
• 3 jalapeno or serrano chiles, thinly sliced (ribbed and seeded for less heat)
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbs whole black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cumin
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 can (15oz) whole or diced tomatoes in juice, crushed
• Sour cream (optional), for serving

1. Season meat with salt and pepper. In a large oven-proof cooking vessel or dutch oven, heat 2 Tbs oil over medium heat. When hot, add meat in a single layer, working in batches if needed, and brown 4 minutes. Flip and brown opposite side. Remove to a plate.

2. Pour off all but 2 Tbs excess fat from pan. Add quartered onion, and thickly sliced red bell pepper. Cook until vegetables are softened, 5 minutes.

3. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, peppercorns, cumin and 1/2 tsp salt. Add browned meat and any accumulated juices from plate. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low and simmer, partially covered, until meat is fork tender, 2 – 2 1/2 hrs. Remove pot from heat and let steak cool in broth, 30 minutes.

4. Transfer meat to a cutting board. Strain cooking liquid through a sieve set over a large bowl; discard solids. DO NOT DISCARD COOKING LIQUID. Let liquid stand 5 minutes, then skim off any fat from the top with a spoon. Set aside. Shred steak, using 2 forks or pull apart with your hands.

5. In same pot, heat 2 Tbs oil over medium heat. Add thinly sliced onions and remaining thinly sliced bell peppers, garlic, chiles, and a hefty pinch salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, 15-20 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until vegetables are coated. Stir in crushed tomatoes with their juice, 2 1/2 cups of reserved cooking liquid and a pinch salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add additional cooking liquid to adjust consistency as desired.

6. Return shredded steak to pot and cook until heated through. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Serves 6-8

Serve over rice with black beans on the side.