Cuban food is a blend of Spanish, African and other Caribbean cuisines (thanks, Wikipedia), but this recipe's a mix of spicy, marvelous and mouthwatering. You could use flank steak, but chuck roast is going to give you much more tender and juicier beef. (See? Mouth watering already.)
Ingredients: For the crockpot
2 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime peel (zest)
2 Tablespoons dry sherry
1/2 cup beef broth
Juice of one lime
1 can mild green chilies (4 oz.)
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ancho chili pepper (replace with red pepper flakes for more heat)
1 jalapeno (seeded, sliced)
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To be added later:
1 red pepper (seeded, sliced)
1 yellow pepper (seeded, sliced)
1 orange pepper (seeded, sliced)
Ingredients: For serving
1 jalapeno (seeded, sliced)
Green salsa (tomatillo salsa)
1 bunch cilantro leaves (chopped)
Green onions (chopped)
1 can black beans or Cuban black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cups brown or white rice, prepared
Cooking & Preparing
- Cut chuck roast into 1-inch pieces, cutting away and discarding the biggest strips of fat (you want some marbling left, for flavor). Salt and pepper the beef and put into crockpot. Add all other ingredients and stir well to combine (stop before the red, yellow and orange peppers)!
- Cook in the crockpot 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low, until beef is extremely tender.
- With a slotted spoon, remove beef and onions from the crockpot and place onto a baking sheet with sides. Pull the beef apart with two forks to shred. Or, smash with a meat mallet or cast iron pan to separate into shreds. Both methods work -- use the smashing way if you have extra tension to release :).
- Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or pan on medium-high heat and add your sliced red, yellow and orange peppers. Saute until softened. Add shredded beef to sear for a minute or two -- you want a little crust to form on the edges.
- Remove all but 1 cup of liquid from the crockpot. Add your beef and pepper mixture to the crockpot and serve with a slotted spoon. Note: You can keep the crockpot on "warm" or "low" until ready to serve, but the longer the peppers are heated the more broken down and soft they become.
Serving:
- The simplest way to serve this Cuban beef and peppers is on a bed of cooked rice. Serve with chopped green onions, cilantro and salsa to top it.
- I mixed the cooked rice with a can of Cuban black beans and a few Tablespoons of chopped cilantro, then heated it in a skillet. It's just a few extra steps, and it added some additional color and protein to the plate.
A Little Backstory:
Be careful with jalapenos -- the seeds and juices are hot, and if you don't wash your hands well after prepping them, you'll end up with fiery lips, eyes ... whatever you touch with your spicy fingers.
If your skin is particularly sensitive, you will feel it on your fingers hours after handling the peppers, like a burn.
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