This just in: Cowboys in Florida eat Cuban food. This according to Cooking the Cowboy Way by Grady Spears, a new cookbook from Andrews McMeel Publishing. They also drink minty mojitos and eat kumquat pie for dessert. Things are different on the range in Florida, but who am I to argue?

 

I figured I might as well give the picodillo a try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 tsp vegetable oil

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef or turkey

1 large white onion

2 or 3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 (6-ounce) can tomato sauce

¼ cup dry white wine

1 cup pimiento-stuffed olives, coarsely chopped

1 cup golden raisins

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups fluffy cooked white rice

 

In a large skillet over medium high heat, warm the oil and brown the meat with the onion, garlic, and pepper. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the tomato sauce and wine. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the olives and raisins. Add the seasonings, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes longer. The consistency should be similar to chili. Serve hot, over rice. Serves 6

 

Recipe Road Test: True confession time. I didn’t have a white onion. Mine was yellow. Well, the outside peel was yellow. The onion itself was white enough. Maybe what Grady meant was that the meat of the onion should be white, and don’t worry about the skin. As opposed to a red onion.

 

I used ground beef (organic) not ground turkey. If you think the beef industry is hairy you don’t even want to think about turkey. Those birds have it almost as bad as commercial pigs. And the way pigs are raised you don’t ever want to think about that, either.

 

So then there’s this direction to brown the beef with the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. I sautéed the vegetables first, letting the garlic and onion brown a little, just to develop their flavors. Then I tossed in the bell pepper (mine were orange and yellow) and beef. Once the beef had changed color I added what was probably a cup of home made tomato sauce. Hard to tell since it was still a little frozen and chunky. I didn’t have any white wine.

 

Grady doesn’t say anything about covering the pan, but I did. I didn’t want to cook off excess liquid at the beginning. I added the olives and raisins, and I added some red pepper flakes, too. This is contrary to most things Cuban, which is not a cuisine that ever calls for hot spice. But to tell you the truth, when I tasted the picodillo, it seemed a little on the bland side. Since the jar of Trader Joe’s Steak and Chop Grill and Broil spice mix was sitting right there on the counter, I sprinkled some of that in, too. You see how this is headed.

 

The picodillo finished cooking with the lid off to thicken up the juices. I served it over short grain brown rice, which has a nice nutty flavor.

 

Road Test Result: The picodillo turned out pretty tasty. It was simple to cook, and once it’s on rice you can see how it’s a kind of stretch the hamburger dish. The little edge of spice gave it a nice kick. With a big Caesar salad, you are good to go.