#9: Weeknight Dinner

A couple of nights ago I made dinner for the second time this week--whoo!

I got this recipe from my local board on the nest; someone asked for recipes raves, and one of the gals recommended this recipe from the Williams-Sonoma "Weeknight" Cookbook. It sounded easy & tasty, plus I had many of the ingredients already. Or so I thought! Turns out when I added ground beef to my grocery list, I should've also added beef broth, red wine vinegar, and a yellow onion. Apparently, our pantry stock is down to just chick stock & three other kinds of vinegar. (All that vinegar on-hand sounds a little ridiculous to me, actually.) I didn't realize I'd used the last of the onion until I got started, so I substituted onion salt, and didn't add any other salt.

I also left out the raisins, since I knew K would object. I cut down on the chili powder because I'm a wuss and I thought it would be too spicy. Turns out, I was wrong, and I'll add the full amount next time. The contrast of spicy to sweet wasn't quite right in my version.

And, finally, I told K that I was making weird chili. He isn't always on board with new recipes, so I just didn't use the real name of the dish. Silly, I know, but I can just imagine him reluctantly poking at it and asking "What's 'picadillo' again??" This way, dinner got an 'A' from both of us!

Cuban Beef Picadillo (or Weird Chili)

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef chuck (I used closer to a pound)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Tbs. chili powder
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes with juices
1 3/4 cups beef stock
2/3 cup raisins or currants
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Steamed brown rice for serving (I used boil-in-a-bag)

In a large, deep fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring to break up any clumps, until the meat begins to brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Spoon off and discard the excess fat.

Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cinnamon and allspice and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, stock, raisins, tomato paste and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until thickened to a stewlike consistency, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the steamed rice among 4 shallow bowls, ladle the picadillo on top and serve. Serves 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, Weeknight, by Melanie Barnard (Oxmoor House, 2006).