Ropa Vieja
- ½ C drained sliced pickled jalapeno chiles (reduce or omit to keep from being too spicy)
- 3 red, orange and/or yellow peppers, cut into ¼ inch wide slices
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 large onion, cut in half and sliced
- 1 15 oz can whole tomatoes
- 1 t ground cumin
- ½ t dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt
- 2 beef flank steaks (3 ½ lbs total)
1. In crockpot, stir together jalapenos, peppers, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, bay leaf and 1 t salt. Top with flank steaks, cutting steaks if necessary to fit. With kitchen shears, coarsely cut up tomatoes in can. Pour tomatoes with their juice over steaks in crockpot; do not stir. Cook on low setting for 9 hours.
2. Transfer steak and vegetables to large bowl. Discard bay leaf. With two forks shred steak with the grain into fine strips. Makes 10 servings.
*This is a traditional Cuban dish which means “old clothes”—the meat pulls apart just like old clothes. You can serve it in bowls with the juice, but I like to put the meat and vegetables in warm tortillas and serve with sour cream. Black beans and yellow rice are good sides and would be typical Cuban fare. Enjoy!
