Ropa Vieja

Ropa Vieja is one of Cuba’s national dishes and is hands-down a seriously delicious stew that’s big on taste with tomatoes, bell peppers, and spices. My go-to protein for this recipe is Australian grassfed flank steak because it’s high-quality and a simple, healthy swap that trims the fat without sacrificing flavor! When you’re craving a savory stew in summer, this is the dish that will hit every taste bud and will come together perfectly as you cook (and dance!) with a little Cuban music in the background.

Ropa Vieja translates to “old clothes” in Spanish because after hours of cooking, the flank steak resembles clothing that’s been worn for a long time. My friend, and future cousin-in-law, inspired me to cook this dish for the first time a few years ago and I’ve been cooking it ever since. It’s a recipe that her Cuban grandmother and aunt would make for her growing up when she visited Miami in the summer. Her aunt likes to call the dish Ropa de Vieja, which is a naming I can definitely get behind because it naturally rolls of the tongue.

My personal preference is to cook Ropa Vieja in the pressure cooker because it saves a lot of time and means I can make it on a weeknight! If you don’t have a pressure cooker, save this for the weekend and stew the steak for a few hours until it's beyond tender.

For more on where to buy Australian grassfed flank steak for your next Ropa Vieja cooking adventure, visit the Where to Buy page. You’ll be sure to cook this dish for many summers to come!

Ropa Vieja with Australian Grassfed Flank Steak

Time: 45 Minutes
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients
1 ½ lbs Australian grassfed flank steak
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp canola oil, divided
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup dry red wine
1 (15 oz) can whole tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp white vinegar
½ cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives, halved

To Serve
Steamed rice
Fried plantains
Canned black beans
Fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Directions
Season Australian grassfed flank steak with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat 1 tbsp canola oil in a 6-quart pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add steak and brown on each side, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add an additional 1 tbsp oil in the pressure cooker over medium high heat and stir in onions, garlic, and bell peppers. Sauté until the onions have softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in oregano, thyme, cumin, and paprika and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, and bay leaf to the pressure cooker. Simmer for 2 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon. Return steak and accumulated juices to the cooker. Cover and secure pressure cooker with lid and increase heat to high. Once the pressure cooker whistles over high pressure, reduce the pressure to low and cook for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before removing lid.

Reheat the stew uncovered over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in vinegar and olives and simmer for 5 minutes to allow flavors to combine.

Serve stew over rice with fried plantains and black beans on the side. Garnish with parsley. Enjoy!

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If you liked this recipe, you will love my recipes for Peruvian-Style Steak with Aji Amarillo Mashed Potatoes, Flank Steak with Roasted Vegetables in a Red Wine Reduction Sauce, and Thai-Style Aussie Grassfed Beef Strip Steak with Slow-Cooked Green Beans & Tomato Chutney!

Pork Black and Bean Stew (Frijol Con Puerco)

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If you’re looking for something different from the usual, try this Pork Black and Bean Stew! It’s spicy, comforting, and definitely hits the spot when it’s cold outside. It’s also a great way to get in your serving of beans for the week, which pack in folate and a bunch of fiber to boot! Not a bad of a way to balance out a meat stew.

I like my Mexican food spicy - so I used Spiceology’s sweet and spicy habanero blend. It’s super yummy and builds flavor that is different, and in my opinion, more rich than just using cayenne. You can make this stew as spicy or as mild as you like it. It’s going to turn out good no matter what.

Not only is the stew easy to make, but the pork almost does the braising itself! And by almost, I mean that it braises with a little help from the Dutch oven – my favorite tool in the kitchen. You can find out more about my love for Dutch ovens by checking out this Redfin blog article: Kitchen Hacks: Expert Tips for an Organized and Functional Kitchen.

Pork Black and Bean Stew (Frijol Con Puerco)

Time: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Saveur

Ingredients
2 lb. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2" cubes
1⁄2 cup canola oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp Spiceology habanero powder, or more to taste
2 medium white onions, thinly sliced
1 lb. dried black beans, soaked overnight
4 sprigs epazote or cilantro
1 lb. plum tomatoes, cored
1 medium jalapeño
2 baby radishes, very thinly sliced, for garnish
Cilantro leaves, to garnish
Cooked white rice, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving

Directions
Season pork on all sides salt and pepper.

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add pork to the pan, and cook, turning as needed, until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pork to a plate. Cover and set aside.

Add two-thirds of the garlic, the habanero powder, and one-quarter of the onions to the skillet, and cook, stirring until soft, about 5 minutes.

Return pork to pot along with beans, epazote, and 8 cups water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans and pork are tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and jalapeño, and cook, turning as needed, until blackened all over, about 12 minutes. Allow jalapeño to cool. Stem and remove seeds if desired.

Transfer tomatoes and jalapeño to a blender along with remaining garlic and onions, and purée until sauce is smooth.

Return skillet to heat and add remaining oil; when the oil is hot, add sauce, and fry, stirring constantly, until sauce is slightly reduced, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and keep tomato sauce warm.

To serve, transfer beans and pork to a large, deep serving platter and drizzle with tomato sauce. Top with radishes and cilantro leaves, and serve with rice and lime wedges.

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If you loved this recipe, you will love my recipes for Real California Cheese Mushroom & Pesto Quesadillas, Chicken Mole Verde Tacos, and Chipotle-Spiced Bean Tacos!

Persian Lamb & Celery Stew (Khoresht-e Karafs)

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Khorest-e Karafs, or Karafs for short, is a Lamb & Celery Stew that is ridiculously good. It’s Adrian’s favorite Persian stew hands down and definitely a close contender to my favorite Persian stew, Gormeh Sabzi, with lamb, kidney beans, and fenugreek. 

Adrian and I have been making karafs for 8 years now thanks to his aunt Fatteneh who has taken it upon herself to pass down the Assassi family recipes to future generations. While Fattaneh lives in Australia, we’re fortunately able to connect with her every other year or so when she flies out to Santa Barbara for the holidays. When she does, we love nothing more than catching up with her life in Australia AND soaking up every second that she spends in Adrian’s dad’s kitchen.

Back when we first learned how to make karafs, I followed Fattaneh around like a detective and questioning her almost like she was a criminal. “Fatteneh, what did you just add to the pot?!” super worried I was about to miss something for my handwritten recipe. Then she’d tell me, “it’s just a bit of turmeric, salt, and pepper.” “How much?” I’d ask, always one to quantify things.

Since then, we've mastered how to make Abgoosht, Gourmeh Sabzi, Bademjan, Fesenjoon, and a couple different dips and desserts.  Bademjan and Fesenjoon are definitely next for the blog, but I bet you'd give anything for Fattaneh's incredible eggplant and garlic dip, but you're going to have to be wait!

Below is a picture from our first trial of karafs in 2008. My food photography is a little (A LOT) better now, haha.

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Back in 2008, Fattaneh was a superstar as far as her patience was concerned because I really did ask a lot of questions. I personally know that pesky questions can be more than a little annoying when you’re trying to get dinner on the table, so I'm beyond grateful for sharing her knowledge and talents with us! Fortunately now, we have this recipe down to a T, and I’m so excited to share it with you today!

I've pretty much transcribed everything I wrote down from Fattaneh’s cooking lesson in the recipe below. I’ve gone back every year or so to rewrite it for clarity, and revalidated it when we were cooking with Fattaneh this last Christmas. But if there’s anything that doesn’t make sense, or could be said better, be sure to send me a message! 

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Persian Lamb and Celery Stew (Khorest-e Karafs)

Time: 1 Hour, 20 Minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 cup canola oil, divided
1 large yellow onion, cut into thin wedges
1 ¼ lb boneless lamb shoulder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 medium bunch celery
1 bunch flat leat parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp dried mint leaves
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp tomato paste

To Serve
Steamed basmati rice
Toasted pita bread or lavash

Sabzi (Persian Salad)
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1” pieces
1 bunch radishes, halved
1 bunch mint leaves
1 bunch tarragon leaves

Directions
In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat ¾ cup oil on high heat and add onions, sautéing until golden brown. Add lamb pieces and stir. Add salt, pepper, turmeric and stir until lamb is a pinkish brown. Add water to lamb level and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat ⅓ cup oil in a medium sauté pan over high heat and add celery pieces. Fry until coated generously with oil, about 3-4 minutes, but do not let celery get soft. Add celery to the stew while it continues to simmer and cover. To the same sauté pan, add parsley and more oil if needed, and fry until cooked down, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in mint. Add mixture to stew. Cover and simmer until lamb is tender, about 30 more minutes.

Once lamb is tender, add lemon juice and tomato paste and simmer until the stew has reduced appropriately, about 10-20 more minutes. Season with salt to taste.

West African Chicken & Peanut Stew: Chicken Mafé

I was speaking with a new friend I made from France recently and we exchanged what he and his family were both cooking up for dinner. He told me he was having mafé, a stew made of lamb and peanut butter, but the dish didn’t register in my foodie brain. What?! A West African staple? A national dish of Senegal? How could I not know this?

As it turns out, I made a similar stew several years ago thanks to Carla Hall of Top Chef and The Chew fame. She called it Groundnut Stew and made it with chicken instead. It was SCRUMPTIOUS, but much more of a challenge to make, and actually a little bit different with adzuki beans and a pureed consistency. 

So have I heard of mafé? Sort of, but I didn’t realize how many variations there were of this dish, with different proteins and vegetables, like cassava, okra, turnips, squash, or even eggplant in place of the potatoes and yams. And in cooking this dish, I realize that with ten years of cooking under my belt, often international cuisine, it’s so amazing to still be able to cook different things and to know that there are different dishes I’ve never even heard of have never even fully recognized. I’m SO looking forward to the next 10 years of my cooking journey and can’t wait to keep sharing it with you! 

Below is my recipe for mafé with chicken. I was really tempted to make it with lamb, but I just had lamb the other day, and wanted to take it easy on the red meat for the rest of the week. Lamb mafé is definitely on the menu down the road! 

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West African Chicken & Peanut Stew: Chicken Mafé 

Time: 1 Hour, 15 Minutes (+ Overnight Marinade)
Serves 8

Ingredients
1 lb boneless chicken thighs
1 lb skin-on chicken drumsticks
4 tbsp garlic, finely chopped, divided
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 Scotch bonnet chili, or habanero pepper, finely minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 birdseye chili peppers, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
4 tablespoons fish sauce
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 cup creamy unsweetened peanut butter
¼ cup lemon juice
2.5 cups cabbage, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1/2 small cabbage)
1.5 cups carrots, chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 5 small carrots)
1 medium yam or sweet potato, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large boiling potato, cut into 1-inch chunks
Steamed rice or couscous, to serve

To Garnish
1 Vine ripe tomato, chopped
3 birdseye chilies, finely chopped
2 limes, cut into 8 wedges

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, add chicken thighs and drumsticks. Season with salt and pepper and rub with 2 tbsp of garlic, ginger, and scotch bonnet or habenero chili (using gloves!). Marinate overnight.

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, 2 tbsp garlic, and birdseye chilies. Season with kosher salt to taste, and cook, stirring until onion is soft, about 5-6 minutes. Add thyme, tomato paste, and fish sauce, and simmer, stirring to combine, about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, bay leaf, and the chicken thighs and drumsticks. Bring back to a simmer and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom. Slowly stir in peanut butter, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Once the sauce has reduced some and the chicken has cooked through, add add lemon juice, cabbage and carrots, and simmer for 10 minutes. Finally, add yams and potatoes, and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, until the oil begins to separate and the sauce has reduced.

Serve stew over steamed rice or couscous. Garnish with birdseye chilies, tomatoes, and a wedge of lime. Adjust seasonings as needed.