Eat.Live.Blog.

I am originally from the Tampa area, where we have a plethora of Cuban food available at any hour of the day. It wouldn’t be un-heard of for my family to stop at La Terecita at 8:30am for a steak sandwich for pops and ropa vieja for me. This is the one delicacy that the Boston area is seriously lacking.
When I arrived home from the market this week, I realized I had purchased too much meat, and I had an extra roast. I headed to my favorite recipe site for inspiration. I looked up recipes from my favorite childhood dish, not at all expecting to be able to make it. To my surprise, not only did I have all of the ingredients on hand, but it is super easy to make!

I served the Ropa Vieja over butter & herb rice, with maduros that do not deserve to even be mentioned (it happens to all of us). So with out further ado, here is my Ropa Vieja recipe adapted from Allrecipe auther MASTER815K. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds beef flank steak or roast (NOT stew meat)
3/4 can beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
into strips2 cloves garlic or more to taste- chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions

1.Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the beef on each side
2.Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended.

3.Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours.

4. 30 minutes before serving, shred beef and place it back in sauce to simmer. Add 1 cup frozen sweet peas.

5. Simmer for 30 minutes and serve over rice.