Slothic Picadillo

From what I can tell, picadillo originated in Cuba, although the cooking method and ingredients are very Spanish or at least Mediterranean. I made it for tamale stuffing, but you could also use it to make excellent tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and tortas. Some versions are fairly dry like a hash, while others are more soupy; this one strives to be dry enough to put into tamales but saucy enough to flavor the tamale dough. The inclusion of raisins and olives strikes some of my friends as disgusting, but after all the ingredients have simmered together for a while, the complex interplay of sweet and salty and spicy with a hint of cinnamon will reward you for your courage. This version calls for fresh tomatoes as well as tomato juice – because those are the ingredients I had on hand – but usually tomato sauce or chopped tomatoes from a can are listed in recipes published online.

¼ lb. ground beef

¾ lb. ground pork

1 T olive oil

3 small yellow onions, chopped

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

6 plum tomatoes, chopped

½ handful raisins

10 green olives, pitted and chopped

2 pinches salt

2 T dried Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens)

1 t powdered red chili

1 T ground roasted cumin

2-inch piece of cinnamon bark, single ply

2 T of some leftover Thai chili sauce usually served with grilled pork and sticky rice

¾ C tomato juice

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high flame. Add ground meat and sauté until it starts to brown. Add salt and spices and stir for a minute.

2. Add onions and garlic and continue to sauté until onions are translucent. Stir in carrots and tomatoes and sauté until the tomatoes give off their juice. Add raisins and olives, simmer for a few minutes with the lid on.

3. Add chili sauce along with tomato juice and, after reducing the heat to low, continue to simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add salt and chili to taste.

Readers can easily adapt this recipe for personal taste. Despite my admonitions, many of you will leave out the raisins and/or olives – maybe you should just think about making chili instead? Mediterranean oregano (Origanum vulgare) can be used if you can’t find Mexican oregano, but if you can it will be worth it. Instead of the Thai dipping sauce, you can use any number of hot sauces, but I would recommend one based around chipotle, or better yet a single canned chipotle in adobo. I rate this version at about medium-spicy for gringos and probably not very spicy for Thais or anyone in the Americas who grew up eating truly spicy foods.

But whatever you do, for the love of Mike, please don’t forget to use whole cumin seeds and to roast them immediately before grinding and adding in.