Comfort Food – from Marta’s Cuban American Kitchen
Ed: The response to Marta's Cuban-American Kitchen was so good - both on the blog and in our kitchens - that Marta decided to forgo the waiting until next week and came up with a great recipe to be posted today. Of course, this was before the knock on the noggin and the trip to the ER and the Cat Scans and MRI's and the "Babalu and the Picadillo" murmurs. Enjoy today's recipe and drop by Marta's and wish her a quick and painless recovery.
I love to cook and entertain and I almost always make Cuban food when we have company. People are usually surprised that even the simplest food is so flavorful.
In the early 60’s when we were new to this country, my mom experimented with all kinds of traditional, inexpensive American foods. We kids went along with it for a while, but it was my dad who got very vocal about getting his picadillo at least once a week.
The moment we began to smell the sofrito, all was right again in our little exile world.
I have been reluctant to serve picadillo to American friends because it is my absolute favorite comfort food and it’s a little difficult to explain that the incredible sweet and sour taste comes from pimiento-stuffed green olives and raisins. Then the explanation becomes more complex when I start raving about how tasty it is for breakfast the next day with a fried egg.
I figure…
If you just don’t “get it" - there's more for me. 
Papi’s Favorite Picadillo
3 Tbls. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
1 ½ lbs. Ground beef (I have substituted ground turkey and it’s still awesome)
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
¼ cup dry white wine (the cheaper, the better!)
4 Tbsp. Pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced
1 small box of dark raisins
½ tsp. Cumin
½ tsp. Oregano
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion, green pepper and garlic until the onion is transluscent.
Add the ground beef and brown over medium heat.
Add the rest of the ingredients and continue cooking until meat is tender and completely cooked through. About 25 minutes.
Serve over white rice. And tostones.
Makes 6 servings.
I love piccadillo. For those who liked it kicked up a few notches, in my recipe I grind my own meat (as I always do with mixture of ground sirloin and ground chuck) but out of experimentation, I started to add into the ground meat 2 dried chorizos (spanish style). Typically the ground chorizo into the mix adds a nice kick to the meal. In fact, I add the chorizo to ground meat when I make carne fria, meat loaf, burgers, fritas, etc.
I was never a big fan of the raisens though. Whenever my grandma or mom would make it for me, I'd pick out the raisens. I do love the olives in it though. I usually have the raisens on the side for those who like it.
Marta, I'm still awaiting for a tamal en casuela recipe...post one before the weather gets to warm to eat it.
i thank you, but my wife will not like the extra work.. we tried to make picadillo a few times, from different recipes i found on the web, but cant get the sazon quite right.. hope one this gets it..
as soon as I saw the raisins (I look first at the pics) I knew it was picadillo.
Tell me something Marta, how do you keep the ground meat from clumping? that's my lifelong battle!
Perejil! Dried parsley! It is mandatory. Otherwise, your recipe is identical to the one I have eaten all my life. As an eccentricity, I don't like any tomato in it. I would take my share before the tomato was added.
Ventanita, if you grind your own, it won't clump. It also helps to brown the meat in a well seasoned cast iron skillet.
I don't have a recipe for picadillo, but the ingredients I use are the same as this one - I'm sure this is deeeelish!
By the way, Marta - I tried your ajiaco recipe last week. It was absolutely wonderful - thank you very much! And my husband thanks you, too
I also seem to remember a splash of vinegar or lemon juice.
ahhhhh cast iron skillet; I'll try to grind my own next time, I do have a meat grinder I inherited from Abuela.
Thanks for the tip Mike!
Marta- your recipe is almost identical to mine except for the tomato paste (I'll have to try that) and for the three bay leaves I throw in.
Cigar Mike-The chorizo sounds excellent! BTW I think I got that perfect mojito recipe from you a few months ago. Thanks.
Ventanita:
Also, I brown the meat seperately in the cast iron and sautee the sofrito in a sautee pan; when the meat is browned, I add the meat (drained of fat) into the pan with the sofrito to complete the cooking process.
(clumping occurs mainly cause the ground beef from the gorcery has been there for a while... make sure you clean your meat grinder well after use)
you know, I think I'm gonna make it this weekend for the staple of the week....
Hi Everyone -
Glad you're enjoying the food!
My biggest problem is writing down amounts because I tend to cook "by ear."
So, sometimes I add the bay leaf, & parsley and other times I don't.
Mike -
I sometimes use half beef & half pork. Awesome.
But grinding your own puts you in a class by yourself!
It's always good to keep in mind the sweet & sour elements of this dish and you can almost do anything with it.
Enjoy! =D
Mami uses capers, but I stick to just the raisins. I also use black olives rather than green. And yes the vinegar as well. It also makes great sandwiches on day two if it lasts that long.
Marta: My recipe is almost like yours, but I learned from my Mami to add a few capers, a bit of paprika, fresh parsley and tomato sauce that had no sugar added (or sometimes little cut up tomaticos instead). She would also fry small potato pieces to add towards the end (initial phase would have skillet uncovered and towards the end covered once the papitas were added--the ones that I hadn't stolen already and quickly popped in my mouth). We would often have the picadillo on top of white rice with a fried egg close by, fried ripe plantains or platanitos manzanos, accompanied by green tomato salad and some avocado (this would be at dinner time--if it were lunch we would also have judias (white bean pottage), or any other bean or pulse, and instead of the fried egg a good chunk of tortilla (and no, we didn't call it Spanish tortilla; if it had anything in it other than potatoes and onions, then we would specify tortilla de platanos, tortilla de sardinas, etc.).
you rock my socks captain america. i've been trying to get this recipe from my mom for the longest time, but i need measurements to cook; measurements like tablespoon, a cup, etc. her measurement are ''una mano de esto, un poquitito de lo otro, y que no se te olvide el 'tin' de eso.'' um....huh? so tonight, cucu will be serving harina con picadillo, becuase that is my fave comfort food... THANK YOU SO MUCH!
cucu,
what time should we be over?
I like to add the capers. This may be considered "una blasphemia" but I'll go ahead and share. Instead of the raisens try dried cranberries. Not as sweet and it give it a little zing. Also a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper will give it a little heat if you are so inclined.
Mamey:
You are so right about the little fried potatoes. I had completely forgotten about that. If one mind did not support another everything worth knowing in the world would have been lost long ago.
see we Cubans can agree somewhat on something. FOOD!!!!!
Eloy M:
About the dried cranberries, I am intrigued. But not enough to try it. I think it would make the whole thing vaguely reminiscent of Thanksgiving.
Absolutely no cayenne pepper. Ever. Now you are talking profanation.
Capers, ok.
forget about the papitas fritas??? Never!!! it's not picadillo for me if it doesn't have the potatoes cut up in little squares and added at the very end.
In my house it gets served weird: for the hubby I serve it without the raisins and for me without the olives. It takes some fishing but it makes everyone happy.
Capers? Yes.
Fried Potatoes? Absolutely.
Dried Cranberries? Ummm... okay.
Cayenne Pepper? No, thank you.
When vegetarians show up at my house I also add diced carrots, zucchinni, and red pimentos towards the end of the cooking process--it looks nice, it's healthy, and the veggies acquire the flavors of the meat, which of course under no circumstances will I replace with soy (although sometimes I do mix the ground beef with ground pork and ground turkey). Needless to say the vegetarians adapt or just eat salad.
This is the same recipe that I use, and we love it. I always try to double the recipe in hopes of leftovers. I'm intrigued by the idea of cranberries, not for everyday, but imagine a cranberry picadillo stuffed turkey!
I think I just put on another 5 pounds from just reading all the comments!!!! I will be making some picadillo this Saturday and I will use this recipe, but definately add capers and the "papitas".
Try this with leftovers. Make a cuban bread sandwich with a layer of leftover picadillo, a layer of platanitos fritos and topped with fried eggs, the best!
Of course wait a few days before you have your cholesterol checked after eating this.
I have tried the cranberries before and it was actually very good. I also did it by using half cranberries and half raising for that extra flavor.
Marta, like Cigar Mike stated, definatley tamal and casuela recipe would be appreciated before we hit 90 degrees here in Miami again.
Also, I am having a party this weekend and I would love a good mojito recipe. Cigar Mike, I understand you have a great one?
The ajiaco was wonderful, did it last weekend and everyone enjoyed it.
ORGULLOSADESERCUBANA
I have a most killer mojito recipe...good enough to make Hemingway proud...it's time consuming.
You need mortar and pestle. Put 2 tbls of sugar in mortar and put a bunch of mint leaves. Add a dash of seltzer water. and pound the mixture until the mint/sugar/seltzer mixture becomes a smooth paste smelling like spearmint gum.
squeeze a bunch of limes.
and this is the formula per drink. you can multiply it depending on the size of the batch
1 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
2 oz white rum
1 oz dark rum
(try to use Bacardi or Bacardi's Havana Club. Don't use any spiced rums or Anejos as they have too strong a taste that will kill the drink.)
mint mixture (note that a bag of mint from the produce section usually will yield enough for 4-6 drinks depending on how strong you like the mint)
add sugar to taste (or simple syrup)
put it in a drink mixer with some ice and stir it well (I think stirring yields better result than shaking.
get mojito glasses or bar tumbler with ice and strain the liquid into the glass to 3/4 full. (Some folks don't mind the pieces of mint; I think the presentation is nicer when it is strained as it will look a nice clean green hue)
Top the glass with seltzer water and enjoy.
The key to the perfect mojito is not to have it too sweet. Just enough to cut the tartness of the lime and make the drink refreshing. The problem with most bars here in SoFla is that they make this drink too sweet which is a mistake.
Enjoy!
Cigar Mike,
THANK YOU! I am going to get the ingredients right now and maybe do a batch tonight, just to test it of course!
It sounds like this is certainly the ultimate Mojito recipe. When I recover enough to write, I will let you know how it went.
Off to the kitchen - nice recipe!
Here's a recipe for Oaxacan picadillo -- similar, but also quite different.
http://www.grouprecipes.com/9776/picadillo-oaxaca.html
[...] how I plan my Cuban menu for the week: Monday - Picadillo - The picadillo becomes the filling for Tuesday’s Papas Rellenas. Tuesday - I’ll serve [...]