Picadillo de Livsita

Let me just say, Picadillo is one of the most useful dishes I have ever cooked. Picadillo is a spicy Spanish/Latin American dish with ground meat and veggies (onions, peppers, tomatoes). Serve this dish over rice, in lettuce as a wrap, as a stuffed pepper, in a tortilla... or whatever else you can think of.



To top it all off, my sister keeps telling me this is her favorite.







Picadillo de Livsita



Ingreditants

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

1 cup green and red pepper mix

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded (to taste) and minced

4 garlic cloves

1 pound beef sirloin

1/2 pound ground pork

1 teaspoon (rounded) cumin

2 small tomatoes, chopped into small pieces, or run through the food processor chop cycle

1/2 cup raisins

red wine (optional)

Hot white rice




1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, green peppers, garlic and jalepeno until soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the meat, turning the heat up to medium-high. Brown the meat, breaking up any lumps. Cook the meat thoroughly, about 10 minutes.

3. Drain off the fat.

4. Add the cumin and tomatoes. Stir in well. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Stir in the raisins, cover, and let simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the raisins have plumped.





Today, I forgot to get a jalepeno, so I used dried red pepper flakes, and it still turned out well. Sometimes I splash in a little red wine (and then have a glass over dinner) for a different flavor. Adding green olives at the end- when the raisins go in- also adds another dimension.