Recipe: Appetizing Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef)

Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef). A Filling Beef Meal Ropa Vieja is a main course of shredded and braised beef with plenty of healthy, tasty vegetables, like onions, peppers and olives. The key to a successful Ropa Vieja is flank steak. The reason: this type of meat is the perfect candidate for a low, slow cooking process; as the meat.

Ropa vieja would be served over white rice, with a side of black beans and fried swee. For Today's Cook we are going Caribbean all the way. A Cuban style shredded beef that is the most flavor and desirable dish in South Florida's restaurants. You can have Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef) using 25 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Ropa Vieja (Cuban Style Stewed Shredded Beef)

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

Ropa Vieja, Cuba's famously delicious shredded beef stew with peppers, tomatoes and olives, is a great recipe for the slow cooker! I've lived way too long hearing about, being tempted by, but not cooking Cuba's national dish, ropa vieja: shredded beef stew. A hearty beef stew made Cuban-style with shredded flank steak, bell peppers, onions, and a flavorful tomato sauce. The name Ropa Vieja translates as "old clothes", but the flavor is fresher and lighter than a regular old stew.

instructions 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! :).

Using the convenience of a slow cooker, Ropa Vieja is a great make-ahead dish, especially on those days when you are overloaded with household chores.or laundry! Ropa Vieja is made with a large cut of beef slow cooked in a tomato based sauce. The meat is so flavorful and tender and shreds so easily. I had this ropa vieja simmering away in my slow cooker yesterday and it smelled so good I thought I'd go crazy waiting to eat dinner! Ropa vieja is a Cuban beef stew dish that, literally translated, means "old clothes" because of its shredded appearance.