Ropa Vieja - Cuban Beef Stew

I got the original recipe from Epicurious but I altered some of the cooking times based on another recipe. I liked the idea of simmering things longer to get more flavor.



You'll start with braising the beef, which you can do the day before you plan to eat it all.

For braising beef:
3 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed
2 quarts water
2 carrots, chopped coarse
1 large onion, chopped coarse
2 celery ribs, chopped coarse
1 bay leaf (I just have dried pieces in a jar)
3 garlic cloves, crushed lightly (okay I used 6)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (I just used my pepper grinder)

I couldn't find skirt or flank steak at the store, so I settled on some other thinly cut steak.


You can cut everything up coarsely, it's going to get discarded later.


Seasonings!


In a 5-quart kettle combine all braising ingredients and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until beef is tender.


Remove kettle from heat and cool meat in liquid 30 minutes.


Transfer meat to a platter. Strain braising liquid through a colander, into a bowl. Discard the solids. Return braising liquid to kettle and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, using two forks, pull apart your meat into little pieces. All of this can be done a day ahead (which is what I did). Cool braising liquid completely and chill it and the beef separately, covered.

Now for the rest of the stew ingredients...

*2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips
*1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch strips
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups braising liquid plus additional if desired
a 14- to 16-ounce can of whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced (okay, probably 6 again)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
*2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
*2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips

*I am not a fan of eating bell peppers or onions, but I do understand their necessity as ingredients in preparing food. I used only 1 (instead of 2) of the green, red, and yellow bellpeppers. And in all cases of "cut into 1/4-inch strips" I actually ran them through my mini food chopper until they were super tiny, so I could avoid ever having to bite into a chunk. You obviously may chop the pieces as big or as small as you please.

SUPER TINY "MARY APPROVED" PIECES


Day 2:
Heat a pot with the oil, and add your green bell peppers, garlic, and onion and saute until softened (about 5 minutes or so).


Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, and simmer for about 8 - 10 minutes. (again, I ran my tomatoes through my mini-chopper).


Now add your meat, 2 cups braising liquid, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer, covered, for about an hour.


Add the red and yellow bell peppers, and simmer another 30 minutes. (If you want your stew to be soupier, you can add more braising liquid).

Serve over yellow saffron rice.