Cast Iron

Ropa Vieja

by:
July 16, 2011
3.5
4 Ratings
  • Serves 8
Author Notes

This is my take on traditional Ropa Vieja —jblum

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds flank steak
  • 2 large onions
  • 2 red bell peppers
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 4 carrots
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tablespoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 dashes hot sauce
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
  • 1/2 bottle red wine
  • olive oil
  • salt
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 250
  2. Prepare vegetables: Peel and dice onions, core peppers and cut into 1 inch chunks, peel and roughly chop carrots into 1/4 inch pieces, smash and mince garlic.
  3. Trim any large pieces of fat from the flank steak.
  4. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to an oven-safe pot (such as an enameled cast iron one) over medium-high heat. Sear the flank steak for a few minutes on each side, taking care not to overcook the steak. You just want a bit of browning, if the steak sears for too long the meat will be tough. Depending on the size of your steak and the size of your pot, this may be easiest to do in batches.
  5. Remove the steak from pan let it rest on a plate. lower heat to medium.
  6. Add onion and garlic, saute until golden. You may need to add more oil at this step.
  7. Add spices and hot sauce, saute a few minutes until fragrant. Add salt to taste.
  8. Add carrots and peppers, and flank steak. Stir to combine.
  9. Pour in the wine until it just covers the steak. Turn the stove up to high and let the wine come to a boil.
  10. As soon as the wine boils turn off the stove and transfer the pot, covered, into the oven.
  11. Cook until the meat is tender enough to be pierced easily by a fork. This should take a 2-3 hours depending on the size of your flank steak, but check every hour or so for doneness.
  12. When the meat is done transfer the pot to the stovetop again. Remove the meat and vegetables from the cooking liquid, and bring the liquid to a boil until it is reduced by a half.
  13. While the cooking liquid is reducing, shred the meat with a fork or your fingers. Combine the shredded meat and vegetables with the reduced cooking liquid. Taste and add salt if needed.
  14. Serve with rice and fried plantains.
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1 Review

fiveandspice July 19, 2011
Yum! I love ropa vieja! I definitely need to try this recipe.