How about a picure or description? There must be a story behind that name - please share?

AM

Sounds wonderful.
Please post the recipe.

Thanks,
~boxer

Eileen, Good for you. Are you serving with yellow rice?

I always have flank steak in the freezer and usually use end up making Ropa Vieja. That and Filete Salteado and Bolichi are my go-to Spanish/Cuban dishes as they are common menu items here. We are lucky in that local butchers accommodate customers with the meats for these dishes.

This is Daisy Martinez recipe: 1- 2 1/2 pound chuck roast pounded to approx 1/2 inch thick heavily coated on but sides with Sea Salt Black Pepper and onion powder. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a dutch oven add 3 tablespoons Canola Oil heat to a sizzle and brown meat on both sides drain off most of the excess oil now add: 1/2 cup SOFRITO (goya brand is fine) 1/4 tsp ground CUMIN 2tsp salt and a bit of OLIVE OIL if needed....stir together in pot and brig to boil now stir in 2- 8oz cans of Spanish style tomato sauce (I use Goya) 1-1/2 cups water and 3 tablespoons coarsly chopped ALCAPARRADO OLIVES (I use Goya but if you cant find it use regular salad olives with a tablespoon of CAPERS 2 BAY LEAVES bring to a boil cover and put in oven 2-1/2 hours...Meanwhile finely dice 3 carrots 4 celery stalks and 1 cup frozen peas...SET ASIDE....when time is done pull out meat and shred with 2 forks add back to the mixture with remaing veggies cover and cook additional 10 minutes If needed you can add a bit of water I add an extra 1/2 cup. Serve over White Rice. HISTORY: CUBAN FOOD name comes from the shredded texture the beef gets and resembles OLD CLOTHES so worn they fall apart. This recipe is traditionally done with Flank Steak but Daisy uses CHUCK ROAST

Mustangs I make yellow rice at least once a week but tonight its white rice. Can you please share your other recipes...I am truly addicted to Cuban/Puerto Rican food...and I must admit im addicted to PITBULL (the singer) too LOL!!! My Puerto Rican friends love when I cook and they cant believe and Irish girl can pull it off...gotta love that feeling!

Thank you! I love Cuban food as well, but have never really made anything other than rice & beans and tres leches cake!

AM

Filete Salteado is my favorite, I think I made this for Peppi and Sherry when the visited me.

Filete Salteado
________________________________________
Ingredients

 1 lb. tenderloin filet, cut in 1-inch cubes
 1 Spanish onion, chopped
 2 garlic cloves, chopped
 ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
 2 chorizos, sliced
 ½ cup sliced mushrooms
 Salt and pepper to taste
 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
 Vegetable or peanut oil for frying
 1/2 cup red wine
 1 green pepper, chopped
 1/2 cup of tiny peas (frozen defrosted)
 Parsley for garnish
 Prepared yellow rice (1/2 cup of rice/1 cup of chicken broth/pinch of saffron threads, salt and pepper)

Directions
1. Dice the filet in medium size chunks. (Filet is best because it is tender to start with, if you use a sirloin, you will need to braise the dish much longer to get the meat chunks tender)
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet.
3. Brown the beef briefly, you want to leave it rare, just sear the outside edges.
4. Add garlic, onion, red pepper, mushroom, chorizo slices, sprinkle of salt and pepper. Quick stir fry to soften the veggies.
5. Add the wine, cook a couple of minutes to blend the flavors.
6. Add peas and parsley
7. Spoon over prepared yellow rice.
8. Serves 2 in a hurry. Dig in!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ropa Vieja is also popular here as a Canary Island dish. Probably someone brought is over here from Cuba as there is a history of movement of people from here to there and vice-versa and to Venezuela. Here's the recipe from my Canary cookbooks, and a photo I took in a local restaurant.

BEEF OR PORK STEW- Ropa Vieja

1 lb dried chickpeas
2 lb potatoes - diced and fried (see step 4)
1 lb cooked beef or pork - (preferably roasted) and diced
olive oil - 4 TBS
1 small glass (4 oz) dry white wine
2 tomatoes - chopped
1 onion - finely chopped
1 green pepper - chopped
3 cloves garlic - diced
thyme
pinch of cumin
1 bay leaf
2 or 3 threads saffron
flatleaf parsley
black peppercorns
paprika - 1 teasp
salt

1) Soak the chickpeas ovenight in cold water. Add the drained chickpeas with the meat to a saucepan of cold, salted water and bring to the boil. Put lid on pot and simmer for about 1 hour. Once all is tender, remove the meat and chickpeas from the pot and keep the liquid.

2) Put garlic, peppercorns, saffron, salt, cumin and paprika together in a mortar and crush.

3) Fry the chopped onion, tomatoes and pepper together in a frying pan with a little oil, and add to it the mixture from the mortar.

4) Dice and brown the potatoes in another pan in some oil.

5) When onion-pepper mixture is almost cooked, add the wine, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, chickpeas and meat and 1 1/2 - 2 cups of the liquid from step one. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. There should be some sauce below.

6) Add the fried potatoes to the pot 5 - 10 minutes before stew pot is ready. Garnish servings with chopped parsley.

Sources : adapted from "The Best of Canary Island Cookery" and "Cooking in the Canary Islands"

SharonCb

Ummmmmmmm one of my all time loves - Cuban food. Keep the recipes coming!

Sharon, it was the opposite, the Cubans got it from the Canary Islands, where it supposedly originated. It is popular in Mexico as well as other Latin American countries, and so it is not limited to Cuba. A friend that I used to visit in Mexico City had his cook make it fairly often, and I always thought it was Mexican. The version I had did not have beans or potatoes in it that I remember (but that was decades ago!). I think it was served either with rice or noodles, but definitely with rice. Plain rice was called Sopa de Arroz, even though it was not soup at all, but served in a shallow soup bowl.

Lars

In my travels, I have had Cuban food and thought how different is was form the Cuban food in my area. I remember the Cuban food specifically in Miami and Los Angeles. The history of Ybor City in Tampa is that it was founded in the 1880's by cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Spain, Cuba, and Italy. Consequently, the food today is usually a product of the decades of the three nationalities coming together with spectacular results.

Lars,

The Ropa Vieja that I've had in Mexico & also SoCA also went by the name of 'machaca'. Either name showed up on menus for the same dish. It was basically shredded beef, onion, garlic, & chilis served either as a main dish over rice or, more commonly, as a filling for burritos, empanadas, flautas, etc. No beans or potatoes. Seasoned differently than Cuban also. I'm another that thought it was a Mexican dish until I saw a FoodTV episode featuring Cuban Ropa Vieja.

I've made this version many times & always use chuck roast. Allowing the meat to cool in its own broth before shredding is how I was taught to make Mexican shredded meat dishes.

/tricia

I'm making this tomorrow night.

I forgot to thank Eileen for this recipe. Thanks!

Very Yummy!

Made this last night for dinner and it was a hit!! Even my oldest DD, who's a vegetarian, said it looked and smelled SOOOO good. We had it over white rice with some roasted asparagus on the side.

Thanks Eileen. I own Daisy Martinez' cookbook, now I'm inspired to try other recipes....;)

Dale

How did you like the Ropa Vieja Eileen? I already had Daisy's recipe and had been intending to try it. You know the saying, so many recipes, so little time.

Cathy thanks for the recipe for Filete Saltiedo. Would you please post yours for Bolichi?

We loved this recipe everyone cleaned there plate and went for seconds...This is a keeper. Ive tried several of Daisy recipes and they are sooooooo flavorful!

Also made this last week (daisy recipe) OH SOOOOO GOOD!!!!!

Beverly, Here is the recipe for Boliche Relleno (Spanish Stuffed Pot Roast). We have a street nicknamed Boliche Boulevard because of all the Spanish and Cuban restaurants and grocery stores.

Just like other pot roasts, there are many variations on Cuban pot roast so there is a lot of room to incorporate your likes.

BOLICHE RELLENO
Serves 8

3 lbs boliche (eye round of beef) Bev-our butchers sell this already stuffed
1 large green pepper, cut in strips
3 large onions, sliced in half-moons
1 tbsp oregano
4 bay leaves
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb smoked ham, cut up in 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 cup red wine
3 whole chorizos, chopped
4 tbsp paprika
3 cups beef stock or broth
1/4 cup olive oil

Pierce a hole about 1 inch in diameter through the length of the boliche making a pocket leaving the end closed (or ask the butcher to make the pocket). Mix the ham and chorizos and stuff the pocket with the mixture.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven. Mix salt, pepper, oregano, and peprika and rub on the outside of the roast until well covered. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic. Brown boliche.

Add broth, wine, and bay leaves. Cover. Cook over medium-low heat for approximately 2 1/2 hours turning several times during cooking.

When done, remove from Dutch oven and process gravy with stick blender or food processor until smooth.

cut boliche into 1/2 inch slices and pour gravy over it.

Serve with white rice, black beans, and fried plantains.

Slice boliche into 1/2 inch slices and pour gravy over it.

Wow - I had always been under the assumption that this dish was made with pork and since I don't eat pork I initially skipped over this post. The Cuban cookbook I have makes it with pork. I'm so happy to see many people making it with beef! Thanks for the recipe! I'll have to give this a try! I'm not all that familiar with Cuban food, but what I've had or made from my book I've loved.

Lisa

Thanks Cathy, I didn't even know what Boliche was, just assumed it would be good if it's one of your favorites.

This is in the oven now and the house is smelling oh so good. Can't wait to eat it.

It was wonderful. I like it much better using a chuck roast.

Even my son and husband loved it. They both went back for 2nds.

SHAUN: so glad you liked it as stated before we loved it....Daisy cookbook is a great book to start with the recipes are very explanatory and delicious! I also have Gloria Estephans book but imo its OK

Eileen - I have your Ropa Vieja in the oven right now. O.M.G. - it smells heavenly! I can't wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe.

Pat: How'd you like it????

Eileen - we're having it for Sunday dinner today. Me and Mom couldn't stay out of it while I was shredding the beef, though. It's GREAT! I'm making a big garden salad and breadsticks to go with it. And it'll be served over white rice. Thanks again for the recipe.

Oh good!!! So glad you enjoyed it!

Could you also share your recipe for Arroz Con Pollo?

I have been looking for a good one.

Sure Ill post it

Did you post it and I didn't see it?

If you did I am sorry but could you point me in the right direction? Thanks.