Cuban Picadillo
Cuban Picadillo
When you want something good, something hot, and something filling, but only have 30 minutes, this is the meal for you.
I have been eating Picadillo ever since I've been eating table food. It is a dish that my mother would prepare at least once a week.
This is one of many Cuban dishes my Pennsylvania born, Italian mother, learned how to make from my Cuban born father's relatives.
I truly had the best of both food worlds growing up. My mother was a fantastic cook no matter what she was making. She learned the Cuban dishes from my father's family and all the rest she learned from her mother.
Living in a coal mining town, my grandmother and the other housewives in her neighborhood--German, Polish, Irish, etc.--all taught each other how to make the foods they learned from "the old country."
Dinner in my house was never boring. And since I was fortunate enough to grow up with such a wide variety of flavors, as a teen and later as an adult I was never afraid to try new recipes.
This can't be beat if you want a good dinner in less than 30 minutes.
Cuban Picadillo
Cook Time
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ready in: 25 min
Yields: Approximately 3 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds Ground Beef
- 1/2 Large Sweet, Yellow, or White Onion, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Capers, (or more if desired)
- 1/4 Cup Raisins, (or more if desired)
- 1/4 Cup Spanish Olives, (or more if desired)
- 8 oz. Can Tomato Sauce
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Cup Rice, uncooked
- 11 1/2 oz Can Campbell's Condensed Bean with Bacon Soup
- Red Wine Vinegar, to taste
Cuban Picadillo
- Make rice. In rice cooker place one cup of uncooked rice and add water to the appropriate line according to your cooker's directions. Or in saucepan bring 2 cups of water to boil, add one cup of rice, cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile make Picadillo. Place ground beef and onion in pan and saute until beef is browned and onion is wilted. Drain fat.
- Add capers, raisins, olives, bay leaf, and tomato sauce. Stir. Bring just to boil then turn heat down to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- While rice and meat cook, heat soup according to directions on can.
- To serve, spoon some rice on plate, add some Picadillo on top of rice, ladle some soup on top of rice. Add red wine vinegar to taste (start with about a tablespoon) and mix in.
- Be sure to remove and discard the bay leaf from the Picadillo.
© 2015 Joy Roma
