Cuban Picadillo

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and dice the potatoes. Drizzle olive oil on a foil-lined cookie sheet and then add the potatoes. Bake until golden brown.

Next use a deep skillet to brown the ground beef. Break up the pieces with a spatula; you don’t want large clumps of meat.

Once the meat renders its juices, you should drain it in a colander. Throw it back in the pan and continue to brown. Season with salt. Once fully browned, put the meat back in the colander.

In the meantime, cut the bell peppers and onions. I like to dice them into really small pieces. I like to run a few cloves through the garlic press, and then slice a few cloves on the bias. I like how it looks when you have a few thin slices of garlic throughout the dish.

Drizzle the skillet with olive oil and allow the veggies to cook on medium heat until they become translucent. Add the bay leaves.

Once the onions, garlic and peppers cook, add the meat into the skillet and combine with a spatula. Add the tomato sauce, vinegar, mojo criollo, and the wine.

Mojo is a marinade that can be found in the ethnic aisle of your supermarket. It usually is a mix of sour orange, and spices. A little goes a long way though. If you can’t find this, you can totally omit this ingredient. For many years, I made picadillo without it and it tasted just fine. I just like the flavor it adds. But again, this is totally optional.

Let everything simmer on medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Then add the olives. I use a splash of the olive brine to add some flavor to this dish, too. Add the potatoes to the dish and incorporate well. Lastly, add the ketchup and raisins, if using. Mix everything together.

Serve with white rice and sweet fried plantains. If you throw a fried egg on top, we call that “a caballo” which means on horseback.