Which Picadillo to make?

[tuff2000]

I have been dying to make one of the picadillo recipes from CL. Thing is, I have no idea which one to make. I know there was one in the May 2002 issue, one in the june 2002 issue, and one in the November 2002 issue.
Does anyone have any ideas? Favorites?
Thanks,
Tara :-)

[Chefzhat]

I made the one in the May issue I think, with ground turkey and it was wonderful!

[penguin]

I have made a few but I can't remember which one for sure. I think I made the one from the article on Cuban cooking (May 2002). The recipe called for bottled Sofrito but I thought it made the sauce taste funny. I then made my own version of the Healthy Picadillo (an older CL recipe I found in the Recipefinder) which I liked better. Here it is with my modifications after the recipe:

Healthy Picadillo

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds ground round
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cups thinly sliced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1-1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices yellow bell pepper, each slice cut in half
1-1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices red bell pepper, each slice cut in half
1 cup finely chopped carrot
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup sliced pimento-stuffed manzanilla or green olives (about 15 olives)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cook beef in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned; stir to crumble. Remove from pan; drain well.

Add oil to pan. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add bell peppers and carrot; sauté 3 minutes. Return beef to pan. Stir in raisins and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: calories: 280 carbohydrates: 24 g cholesterol: 70 fat: 9.1 g sodium: 557 mg protein: 26.4 g calcium: 46 mg iron: 3.8 mg fiber: 2.2 g

YIELD: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Modifications:

-I used 1-1/4 lbs. ground turkey instead of 2 lb. ground round
-I omitted the olives 'cause we don't like them and might have substituted capers for them but I can't remember
-I sub'ed green pepper for the yellow pepper
-I used regular dark raisins instead of golden

[miami]

Picadillo is one of those dishes that I have a hard time doing by the recipe. It's like following a recipe for a chef's salad--you just throw in what you have at the time. The key ingredients for me are olives, capers, raisins and something tomato (sauce, chopped canned or fresh tomatoes, or tomato paste and liquid). Spices usually but not always include cumin and cinnamon. Vegies are whatever is looking old in the fridge. Oh, garlic and onions are a must too, although I have been known to make it without onions if I have leeks around instead. I often make picadillo with vegetarian soy crumbles instead of beef.

[Gail]

In my family (the Cuban part of it, anyway :p) we use either shredded stewing meat or hamburger (you can sub turkey or ground chicken), a sofrito of sautéed chopped onion, chopped green pepper, minced garlic to which we add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, comino and the meat. Standard additions in our family are olives (sometimes black, sometimes pimento-stuffed green), chopped pickled yellow chiles, raisins, and sometimes chopped up boiled potato.

[Eilonwy]

I had never made, or even heard of, Picadillo until the Cuban cooking article in the May 2002 issue. I tried that recipe and really liked it, and so did DH,who thought it was a repeater. I am sure it is easy to make from scratch if it is something you are familiar with. But I had no frame of reference before I tried the recipe.

[princessa5]

This one is from the restaurant that Gloria Estafan and her husband Emilio opened in Orlando, Florida called Bongos Cuban Cafe. My husband is from Cuba and it is one of his favorites, although he likes to put it on white rice and top it with a fried egg not to mention the fried plantains on the side! Sometimes we have it with our black beans and rice!

Bongos Picadillo

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 large green pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 pound extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup green olives stuffed with pimentos (I use 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon capers (I use 3)
1/2 cup cooking sherry
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
(I also add 1/2 tsp ground cumin and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper)
In a hot pot saute chopped onion and green peppers in oil until soft on medium heat. Add remainder of ingredients and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Serves 6.

[Lucinda]

I discovered picadillo at an incredible little Mexican restaurant in La Canada, CA. Their picadillo has raisins and slivered almonds, which I haven't seen in any recipes. Does anybody out there put nuts in their picadillo?

[Gail]

Bearing in mind that there are scads of variations on picadillo and each country tends to do it a little differently, while I don't use that particular method, yes, I have at least one Mexican recipe which has raisins and almonds in it.

[MaryH]

To resurrect an old thread.......

I had leftover taco meat (from my SIL) and figured this would be a good way to use it up. I have made the Healthy Picadillo recipe before and found it quite good. This time I adapted an Epicurious recipe. I will give the whole recipe here, but my modifications included: using the Healthy Picadillo recipe from above, omitting the olives, using TJs frozen melange of bell peppers, added fresh corn, used dark raisins, and a bag of puff pastry as well because I had way more filling than cornmeal crust. I used a Pampered chef "biscuit" thing (the one that crimps the dough) and I think it is about 2" or 3", not 6", so I got about 20. My husband loved these.

PICADILLO EMPANADAS WITH CORNMEAL CRUST

For the cornmeal dough
a 1/4-ounce package (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup milk, heated to lukewarm
1 large whole egg, beaten lightly
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
1/3 cup sour cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 teaspoons salt

For the picadillo
1 1/4 cups finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 drained bottled pickled large jalapeño chilies, seeded and minced (wear rubber gloves), about 1 1/2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound ground chuck
1/4 cup tomato paste
a 28-ounce can plum tomatoes including the juice, chopped
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped pimiento-stuff green olives (about 4 1/2 ounces)
dried hot red pepper flakes to taste

Make the cornmeal dough:
In the large bowl of an electric mixer proof the yeast with the sugar in 1/4 cup of the milk for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is foamy. Beat in the remaining 1/4 cup milk, the whole egg, the egg yolk, the sour cream, and the butter, add 2 cups of the flour, the cornmeal, and the salt, and beat the mixture until it forms a dough. With the dough hook knead the dough, adding as much of the remaining 1/2 cup flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking, for 4 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to an oiled bowl, and turn it to coat it with the oil. Let the dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours and punch it down. (The dough may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Let the dough return to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.)

Make the picadillo:
In a large heavy skillet cook the onion, the garlic, the jalapeños, the cumin, the chili powder, the oregano, the cinnamon, the cloves, and pepper to taste in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, add the chuck, and cook the mixture over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up any lumps, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the tomato paste, the tomatoes with the juice, the raisins, the olives, the red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste, simmer the picadillo, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is thickened and most of the liquid is evaporated, and let it cool. (The picadillo may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Let the picadillo return to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.)

Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time and keeping the remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap, on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick and with a 6-inch round cutter cut each piece into a round. Put about 1/3 cup of the picadillo onto the bottom two thirds of each round and fold the rounds in half, enclosing the filling. Seal the edges of the dough and crimp them decoratively. Transfer the empanadas with a spatula to a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake them in the middle of a preheated 450°F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden. Transfer the empanadas to a rack and let them cool.

Makes 12 empanadas.


Gourmet
September 1992