Cuban Picadillo

As you start to read recipes on this blog, you will notice that certain words pop up fairly often. "Easy" is one of those words. When you work 8 - 5 and need to keep your weeknights stress free, 'easy' is not a cop out. You need easy. 

Picadillo is a delicious Cuban dish. Dried cranberries add an unexpected kick to this flavorful dish of spiced ground meat.

And guess what? It is easy-as.

Ingredients

1 lb - Ground Meat (Beef is traditional, you can also try turkey)

4-5 - Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 - Onion, chopped

1/2 - Green Bell Pepper/ Capsicum (if small then use whole), diced

2 - Tablespoons, Tomato Puree

1 Teaspoon - dried Parsley

1/2 cup - Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup - Spanish Olives, sliced

1 cup - Red Wine

A few sprigs of Cilantro (Coriander leaves)

2 Tablespoons - Oil

Seasoning

1.5 Teaspoon Cumin

1 Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika

1 Teaspoon Mild Chili Powder

1.5 Teaspoon Oregano

Salt to taste 

Method

• Combine all the ingredients listed under "Seasoning" with the ground meat.

• Heat oil in a pan and add the onions.

• Cook them for just a couple of minutes and then add in the garlic and bell pepper.

• When veggies cook down a bit, add the tomato puree and parsley and give it a good stir cook it for about 4-5 minutes (you can add a little bit of water if the sauce start to stick to the pan too much)

• This is "Sofrito", the base for a lot of cuban cooking.
• Add the seasoned meat when the sauce has cooked through and break it up.

• Now add the olives, cranberries and the wine and cook till the meat is cooked through. 

• Stir in the cilantro.

• Serve with rice and a salad.

 This recipe was tweaked and adapted from this tutorial.

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