Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef)
Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef)

Hello everybody, hope you are having an amazing day today. Today, we’re going to prepare a special dish, ropa vieja (cuban style stewed shredded beef). It is one of my favorites. This time, I’m gonna make it a bit unique. This is gonna smell and look delicious.

Great recipe for Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef). Ropa Vieja (ROpah vee-EH-hah) translates literally from Spanish as "old clothes," so named because you cook the beef, then shred it up, like tattered old clothes. And with flavors of slow cooked beef stewed in a rich sauce of.

Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef) is one of the most favored of current trending foods on earth. It’s easy, it’s quick, it tastes delicious. It’s appreciated by millions daily. They are fine and they look fantastic. Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef) is something which I have loved my whole life.

To get started with this recipe, we have to first prepare a few components. You can cook ropa vieja (cuban style stewed shredded beef) using 25 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you can achieve it.

The ingredients needed to make Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef):
  1. Get For efficiency, make sure to put the beef on the stove to boil before you start your knifework
  2. Get To boil the beef:
  3. Take 2.5-3 pound chuck roast cut into roughly 8 equal pieces (you can also use skirt or flank)
  4. Get 1/2 medium onion, cut in half
  5. Make ready 4 smashed garlic cloves
  6. Make ready 1 carrot, cut in thirds
  7. Prepare 1 celery stalk, cut in thirds
  8. Make ready 5 cups water, or enough to cover by about ½ an inch
  9. Prepare For the rest:
  10. Take 2 Tablespoons oil (olive or vegetable)
  11. Make ready half a medium onion, cut into ¼” strips vertically
  12. Take 1 red bell pepper, halved, cored, and cut into ¼” strips vertically
  13. Take 1/2 green bell pepper, cored and cut into ¼” strips vertically
  14. Take 4 cloves garlic, peeled and rough chopped
  15. Get 1/4 cup green pitted olives, cut into thirds or quarters
  16. Get 1 teaspoon cumin
  17. Get 1 teaspoon oregano
  18. Take 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  19. Get 2 bay leaves
  20. Prepare 1 1/2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  21. Get 1 (15 oz.) (or so) canned tomatoes
  22. Take 2 cups boiling liquid
  23. Take 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  24. Take 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  25. Take 1/3 cup frozen peas (optional)

Growing up Hispanic pretty much means you eat comfort foods not only on Sunday but every day of the week. Return the shredded beef to the sauce in the slow cooker and stir. I've lived way too long hearing about, being tempted by, but not cooking Cuba's national dish, ropa vieja: shredded beef stew. Finally, last week I immersed myself in a week of research and recipe testing.

Instructions to make Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef):
  1. Put the beef, the ½ onion, carrot, celery, and four garlic cloves in a 4 or 5 quart Dutch oven, pour in the water, cover the pot, and place over high heat, until the meat comes to a rolling boil (about 15 to 20 minutes). Then turn the heat down to medium, keeping the pot completely covered, and continue to boil the beef for another 40 to 50 minutes, or until the thickest part of the largest piece of beef is very easily pierced with a fork.
  2. While the beef is boiling, do all your knifework and set aside. When the beef is boiled, remove all the pieces from the liquid and cool for at least 20 minutes or while you prepare the base of the stew. Save 2 cups of the liquid in a mixing bowl or other container. You can discard the rest, or save it, like I do, to use as soup or sauce stock.
  3. In your Dutch oven, bring 2 Tablespoons oil up to slightly higher than medium heat and saute your onions, peppers, and garlic for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and begin to wilt.
  4. Add in the cumin, oregano, black pepper, and bay leaves and stir to distribute evenly. Then add in tomato paste, canned tomatoes, boiling liquid, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon sugar, and stir to completely dissolve the tomato paste into the liquid. At this point, your beef should be ready to shred. Remember the turn the heat off while you shred. :)
  5. Loosely shred all the beef (it doesn’t have to be a fine shred, unless you insist on it that way, but it is a little more work. Besides, the simmering will continue to separate the meat fibers a little more.) and put into pot with the stewing liquid. Turn the heat up to medium high and stir to incorporate thoroughly.
  6. With the pot covered, bring the Ropa Vieja up to a rolling boil for about 2 minutes (should take 7 to 8 minutes), uncover, stir a couple of times, turn the heat down to medium and simmer, fully covered, for another 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times halfway.
  7. Remove the lid and simmer the ropa vieja for another 10 to 12 minutes, stirring a couple of times halfway through to ensure everything is evenly cooked. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning if needed.
  8. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 15 minutes (this will give the flavors time to set and the sauce time to thicken). If you’re adding frozen peas, right after you cut the heat is when you would fold them in. Adding them in at the end helps them retain their texture and color better.
  9. Buen provecho! :)

The happy outcome is this scrumptious recipe for slow cooker Cuban ropa vieja. Cuban Shredded beef or ropa vieja made in the slow cooker! We sear the meat and then braise it for hours with onions, garlic, and spices until the meat is just falling apart tender. Serve it up with black beans and rice! Okay, that's a little too much fun to say.

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