Ropa Vieja

Ropa Vieja in Spanish means "old clothes", but don't worry...it's much, much tastier than that.  It's a traditional Cuban beef dish with shredded beef, green peppers, onions and tomatoes.  There's a joint nearby that serves a great version, but the best I've ever had was at a Cuban restaurant in Key West called  El Siboney. Here's what their version looks like:

The version I came up with came had a bit more of a tomato base than this one, which was fine.  I also served it with yellow rice and beans, but I also added some pico de gallo and queso fresca.  Came out great!

Ropa Vieja (Old Clothes)

Ingredients

• 2 lbs flank steak
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion - sliced thin
• 2 green bell peppers - seeded and sliced thin
• 3 cloves garlic - chopped
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 cup tomato sauce (homemade or otherwise)
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro - chopped

 - Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the flank steak in the vegetable oil on both sides for about 5 minutes per side.  Remove from heat and set aside.

 - Add the broth, tomato sauce, tomato paste, cumin, vinegar and cilantro into either a slow cooker or a large sauce pot if you plan on cooking it on the stove top. Whisk thoroughly.  Add the beef, onions and peppers and mix.  If you are using a slow cooker set it to low and walk away for 6 hours or so.  If you are cooking it on the stove top, cook it on low with a tight lid for around 4 hours.  Stirring only occasionally

 - Remove the flank steak from the stew, and set aside to cool...say 15 minutes.  Shred the steak with either a couple of forks or your hands. I suggest your hands. How often do we, as adults, get to play with our food like that. Add the shredded beef back to the pot, turn up the flame a bit and heat for 5 minutes or so until it's nice and hot.

 - Serve with warm tortillas, yellow rice, beans (I used kidney beans in a chili sauce), pico de gallo and queso fresca.

I didn't think to take any pictures of it when we had it for dinner, but here's a picture of a plate I put together the next day for lunch.