Picadillo

One of my friends saw Picadillo on TV and asked if I had ever made it. Nope, I hadn't, but I started searching through recipes so that I could come up with something. I knew we would be having it for dinner eventually.

The results were delicious. I left out the raisins because I knew I would be the only one eating them. One tip: be careful not to over-salt, remember that the green olives add a good amount of salt to the dish. I served this with homemade flour tortillas, lettuce, and sour cream with a bit of cumin and lemon in it. Wait, one more tip: don't eat this late at night or you will have nightmares all night. Woops!

Picadillo
Serving Size = 3 - 4

• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 3 teaspoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped, seeded or leave seeds in to make hotter
• Pinch of cayenne
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion
• Roughly 1/2 cup pimento stuffed green olives, sliced
• 1 1/2 pounds of beef (lean would be ideal)
• 1 can of whole tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar, I used apple cider
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 - 2 teaspoons salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup of raisins (optional, I skipped)

1. If you use lean beef, which is probably ideal, then start by cooking the onions and jalapeno until softened (medium heat, touch of oil, large saute pan). If your meat is greasy, as mine was, then start by browning the meat and then drain the oil, remove to a plate, and start the onion/pepper until softened.
2. Have all of your seasoning spices and garlic in a bowl, ready to go (remember to taste test towards to end to see if you need more of anything). Add to the onions and let them cook for about 1 minute. Then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce and stir. Add the meat back, if necessary. Add everything else and mix well.
3. Let it simmer gently for about 15 - 20 minutes, or longer if it doesn't thicken up a bit. If worst comes to worst, it might taken a maximum of 30 minutes.
4. Serve warm, with almost anything you want. We ate ours with homemade flour tortillas, lettuce, and sour cream with cumin and lemon in it.