Fast, cuban-style (almost) Picadillo

Elaine Lombardo

Sep 07 |13:01

Last Updated on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:38

I'm a cook. I love cooking, especially the big holiday meals which I always do from scratch, but even just the family sunday dinners I enjoy preparing. Today I decided to come up with a faster and simpler way of preparing Picadillo, which is a Cuban dish of chopped meat, tomato sauce and other ingredients, always served on a bed of rice. Normally not a big hassle to prepare, and definitely one of my family's favorites, however today I found myself with less time for preparation than usual so I came up with this quick fix. Also a great solution for "last minute" guests. My apologies to my mother and grandmother for the cheats, lol.

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Ground meat (I prefer turkey now, its way less in fat and honestly you can't taste the difference)

2 cans Sloppy Joe Sauce

Capers

Raisins (I prefer the medley of white and red, but any will do)

White vinegar

Rice (I like the "boil in the bag" brown rice)

Directions:

In a large saucepan, cook your chopped meat, making sure to break out any formed lumps as it cooks, and stirring frequently to prevent burning. Once all the meat has been cooked, drain thoroughly and return to saucepan.

Sloppy Joe sauce is a great base, believe it or not. Tomato sauce, peppers, onions, spices - it contains just about everything I would add anyway. I would cook it from scratch if I had the time, but if you are a faced with a last minute meal issue like I was, this is a decent substitute. Add the Sloppy Joe sauce, splash of vinegar (I never measure. I know it's bad but I do it all by eye. I'd say it's probably close to a half-cup by the time I'm done splashing), an even sprinkle around of capers (again, I don't measure, sorry!) and a couple of handfuls of raisins (or as much as you like).

Mix well and let simmer until sauce is reduced, remove from heat. While that's simmering you can put up your boil in the bag rice, which takes about 8-10 minutes after the water starts to boil. For this amount of Picadillo I would cook around 2-3 bags, but again, that's up to you.

Add some friend plantains as a side dish (Goya has some real decent frozen ones, try it!) and you got yourself an "almost" Cuban dish, whipped up in a jiffy.

In the end, this can feed 4-6 people comfortably, maybe more, depending upon the appetites or eating habits of your guests, lol. Enjoy!