Ropa Vieja

The local restaurant reviewer for the Las Vegas Review went downtown and tried Mamacita's, a Cuban/Mexican restaurant. She has traveled the world and said that the Ropa Vieja at Mamacita's was the best she ever ate. I had never heard of Ropa Vieja so I did a little recipe hunting on the internet and found a recipe with great reviews. So last Saturday we tired it. It was great. I served it with black beans, fried plantains and yellow rice. A nice Cuban meal.

Before I could put the recipe on my blog, I had to first go to Mamacita's to taste the original recipe. Last Tuesday Tim and I went to Mamacita's. As the newspaper article said, he was a great restaurant. The Ropa Vieja tasted just like what I had prepared.

Ropa vieja means old clothes in Spanish. This meat is cooked, shredded like rags, then briefly cooked again which gives it the Spanish name. Cubans love peppers, both fiery ones and the green bell peppers.


This is great shredded beef served on tortillas or over rice. Add sour cream, cheese, and fresh cilantro on the side




INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds beef flank steak
1 cup beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded
and sliced into strips

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon 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 flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per 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. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours. When ready to serve, shred meat and serve with tortillas or rice.

The first time I made this recipe I served it with yellow rice, black beans and fried plantains. A couple of days later I served it wrapped in a tortilla. I put in the meat, some yellow rice, cheese, sour cream, cilantro and sprinkled some fresh lime juice over it. I thought this way tasted the best.