I love a dish that’s economical, comes together quickly and feeds a bunch of people inexpensively and well.
Picadillo certainly does all of that.
Until I moved to Arizona, I was most familiar with the Cuban and Puerto Rican versions, which don’t include potatoes and carrots. Once here, however, I learned about the Mexican version, which often does.
Now I make a kind of mash-up of the two versions and use it in many ways — over steamed rice as an entrée, as a filling for almost anything, and just in a bowl on its own. It stretches a pound of ground beef to feed as many as six people.
It’s fastest if you use bottled sofrito, but when I have time and the inclination to do a bit of chopping, I make my own sofrito. To do so, start by sautéing a finely chopped small yellow onion (4 to 5 ounces), one-half bell pepper, any color, finely chopped, five stems fresh cilantro and their leaves, chopped, and two garlic cloves, minced or finely grated in about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook the mixture until the onion is translucent. Stir in a tablespoon of sweet paprika or achiote.
To be transparent, my sofrito is a typically Caribbean one. “Sofrito” means “lightly fried” or “sautéed” and there are varieties in almost every culture where Spanish is the predominant language.
In Spain, every paella starts with a sofrito of tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, paprika, and olive oil. Puerto Rican cooks call it “recaito” and include culantro (more pungent than cilantro) and sweet chiles to contribute flavor. Cubans add diced ham to their sofritos of tomato, red bell peppers and other ingredients. In the Yucatan, habaneros add sweet heat. You can find recipes for all those varieties online.
After your sofrito is cooked, add the ground beef and continue to cook until the meat is about half-way cooked, another 10 minutes. Drain excess fat if you like but remember that fat carries flavor. Continue with the recipe as written.
You can also save time by making a batch of your own sazón, the versatile seasoned salt that is so popular in Latin cooking. I learned to make sazón from a Puerto Rican friend in Chicago, and this is how she taught me to make it.
In a small bowl, combine four teaspoons garlic powder, four teaspoons onion powder, four teaspoons cumin, a tablespoon of ground turmeric, one teaspoon black pepper, 1½ tablespoons kosher salt, and two tablespoons ground achiote powder or sweet paprika. This will make just over one-half cup and it will keep indefinitely in your pantry.
My pal uses sazón to season vegetables, beans, tacos and burritos, roast chicken, baked fish ... almost everything she cooks, in other words. I find it useful to have on hand, too. I find it much more flavorful than commercial sazón, but still keep a box of the commercial stuff on hand for emergency use.
I love the little salty punch of the pimiento-stuffed olives and the mild sweetness of the plumped raisins. Omit one or both if you must, but to my mind, they are integral to the dish.
SOUTHWESTERN PICADILLO
Makes about 6 servings
Fast (under 30 minutes) and easy, this Southwestern “hash” feeds up to six people with only a pound of ground beef. You can sub ground turkey or chicken if you like, or texturized vegetable protein for a vegetarian version.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound 85/15 ground beef
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup prepared red sofrito, such as Goya
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup dark or golden raisins
½ cup pimento-stuffed green olives
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
2 sachets prepared sazón, or 1 tablespoon homemade sazón
Cilantro, for garnish
PREPARATION
In a large deep skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, breaking up large clumps, until it is about halfway cooked, about 10 minutes. Drain excess fat if desired. Season with salt.
Stir in the sofrito, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, black pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, raisins, olives, potatoes, carrots, and sazón. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
Serve over hot cooked rice, garnished with cilantro leaves, or use as a filling for burritos, tacos, gorditas, empanadas, or alone as a stew.
