Cuban Picadillo

[Kayelle]

We've been discussing this recipe for several days on the nightly dinner thread.
I thought I should put this where it belongs so others can find it in the future. It's very good!!

Cuban-Style Picadillo Recipe - Allrecipes.com

[Andy M.]

Really a good everyday recipe with a fairly quick and tasty meal. Give hamburger a different taste.

I chose to leave out the potato and served it over rice. I left out the capers because YUCK!

[RPCookin]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Really a good everyday recipe with a fairly quick and tasty meal. Give hamburger a different taste.

I chose to leave out the potato and served it over rice. I left out the capers because YUCK!

Capers - goooood! Pimento olives. - eh.

[Dawgluver]

Nice recipe, Kay! As a fan of both capers and green olives, I'll make it as is, minus the potatoes. Will need to figure out a way to cut back on the sodium though.

[medtran49]

Good looking recipe, although most of the Cuban recipes we have use sherry instead of red wine. Will have to give it a try next time we make picadillo.

[Cooking Goddess]

Thanks, Kayelle. I had a leftover green pepper from tonight's dinner and was wondering what to do with it.

Originally Posted by Dawgluver

Nice recipe, Kay! As a fan of both capers and green olives, I'll make it as is, minus the potatoes. Will need to figure out a way to cut back on the sodium though.

I rinse my capers, so I'll do that with the olives, too. Takes a tiny bit of flavor away, but it's still there when we bite into it. So is the sodium, probably. Salt-free tomato sauce is pretty easy to find.

[Roll_Bones]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Really a good everyday recipe with a fairly quick and tasty meal. Give hamburger a different taste.

I chose to leave out the potato and served it over rice. I left out the capers because YUCK!

Without the capers, its not picadillo. Sorry about the spelling.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Roll_Bones

Without the capers, its not picadillo. Sorry about the spelling.

Why is that? Is there only one authentic recipe for the dish?

[medtran49]

No, not really ,most people have their own variation of the basic recipe, a little more of this, a little less of that, maybe a secret extra ingredient. But, each ingredient adds a layer of flavor. I don't particularly like capers or raisins, but I use both in picadillo because it doesn't taste right if you don't. I do rinse the capers though and that cuts most of the yuck, and I use the tiny ones rather than the bigger ones.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by medtran49

No, not really ,most people have their own variation of the basic recipe, a little more of this, a little less of that, maybe a secret extra ingredient. But, each ingredient adds a layer of flavor. I don't particularly like capers or raisins, but I use both in picadillo because it doesn't taste right if you don't. I do rinse the capers though and that cuts most of the yuck, and I use the tiny ones rather than the bigger ones.

I understand that ingredients add different flavors.

As you suggested, there are countless different recipes for this dish and most are different from one another. Every household has a different touch. If one old Cuban grandmother who has been making this dish for 50 years doesn't put capers in, does that make it not picadillo? I'm not sure it does.

Then you get into questioning each of the ingredients. Are the potatoes a must? The tomato? The olives? Do the olives have to have pimentos in them? The wine? Does the wine have to be red or white?

I don't believe this dish is one of the few in history that has an identifiable singe source that you can point to and say without reservation, "That's the original recipe!"

[LizStreithorst]

I was wondering what I would make this weekend. Now I know.

[medtran49]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

I understand that ingredients add different flavors.

As you suggested, there are countless different recipes for this dish and most are different from one another. Every household has a different touch. If one old Cuban grandmother who has been making this dish for 50 years doesn't put capers in, does that make it not picadillo? I'm not sure it does.

Then you get into questioning each of the ingredients. Are the potatoes a must? The tomato? The olives? Do the olives have to have pimentos in them? The wine? Does the wine have to be red or white?

I don't believe this dish is one of the few in history that has an identifiable singe source that you can point to and say without reservation, "That's the original recipe!"

Well there are some constants, at least traditionally, potatoes being one, raisins being another, olives, capers, onions, garlic, beef, wine of some sort. I've had picadillo many, many, many times since I moved to S Florida over 40 years ago and they've always had those things at minimum. Like i mentioned earlier, the recipe we like best uses sherry. It's been a while since we made it but I think it also has carrots in it. I have been known to replace the raisins with currants if I have them on hand, I really DO NOT like raisins, but that's about as far as I'll mess with the base recipe because it just doesn't taste right otherwise. And yes, the olives are generally the so called salad olives that are already kind of broken up, have pimientos and are pretty cheap compared to the whole olives. It is, after all, basically a stretch your budget dish, thus, the potatoes and served over rice.

[LizStreithorst]

I can't see using potatoes if I'm serving it with rice and beans. Just seems like too much starch.

[medtran49]

Originally Posted by LizStreithorst

I can't see using potatoes if I'm serving it with rice and beans. Just seems like too much starch.

Why would you serve it with rice and beans? The potatoes are traditionally tiny little cubes, fried and stirred in at last moment for crunch.

Oh, the description with the recipe. You usually get a dish or mound of rice, with a bowl of black beans and a mound of picadillo. Your choice as to whether you eat rice with the beans or the picadillo or both. Like I said it's basically a budget stretcher dish, thus, the filler starches.

[Kayelle]

Am I the only one who doesn't taste a lot of difference between the flavors of green olives and capers? Both have basically the same brine. I feel the slight sweetness is needed for the balance of the dish, and currents or golden raisins are milder in flavor than black.
If I ate carbs, I'd use either rice or potatoes, but not both.

[medtran49]

Originally Posted by Kayelle

Am I the only one who doesn't taste a lot of difference between the flavors of green olives and capers? Both have basically the same brine. I feel the slight sweetness is needed for the balance of the dish, and currents or golden raisins are milder in flavor than black.
If I ate carbs, I'd use either rice or potatoes, but not both.

Capers have an earthy flavor to me that olives don't have. Honestly, I'd say they have a dirt aftertaste, if I'd ever eaten dirt, but that's what some people say about truffles and I love them.

[Andy M.]

I think there is a distinct difference between capers and olives. Capers tend to have a bitter component missing form olives.

Medtran, what type of sherry? Sherry could add an additional sweetness to the dish.

I left the potatoes out because I generally don't care for potatoes cooked in a dish like that. As I served it over rice, I felt the potatoes weren't essential.

My feeling is I've assembled a dish that generally has the intended flavors. If the capers are absent, the olives and their brine are a reasonable substitute. I'm OK with the fact that it's not 100% authentic.

[Roll_Bones]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Why is that? Is there only one authentic recipe for the dish?

Authentic or not, I have yet to have picadillo without capers in it. To leave out the capers is like leaving the cream cheese out of a cheese cake.
I grew up in Miami and my father was Cuban and he always made it with capers and olives. He never used potato's though.
To me, its the capers that give picadillo its authentic taste. To leave them out would make it a sloppy Joe mixture.

Originally Posted by medtran49

No, not really ,most people have their own variation of the basic recipe, a little more of this, a little less of that, maybe a secret extra ingredient. But, each ingredient adds a layer of flavor. I don't particularly like capers or raisins, but I use both in picadillo because it doesn't taste right if you don't. I do rinse the capers though and that cuts most of the yuck, and I use the tiny ones rather than the bigger ones.

I agree. To me, its the capers that give picadillo the authentic taste.

Originally Posted by LizStreithorst

I can't see using potatoes if I'm serving it with rice and beans. Just seems like too much starch.

We serve picadillo over rice. So I agree about the potatoes.
In Cuba mostly back in the day, food and supplies were very thin.
The Cuban people had to fill bellies and be able to do it with minimal amount of ingredients. What the government supplied is a better description. Potato's being a fairly easy to obtain food item sometimes was added to bulk up dishes and to feed hungry families.

I have seen some Cubans put potato's in black beans. Its just an attempt to make it more filling and potato's are generally available to the Cuban people.

[Addie]

As you said, the Cubans had to fill bellies. And so did the Italians when they arrived here after WWII. Potatoes and pasta daily. Very little meat. Eggs were another food that could feed the family in place of the meat. Add two or three scrambled shirred eggs to a pot of chicken broth, save the chicken for sandwiches or the evening meal with pasta, and you had meals for two days.

I think all our immigrants had the same problem when they first arrived. And this country is the better for it. It expanded our culinary tastes and experiences.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Roll_Bones

...To me, its the capers that give picadillo its authentic taste. To leave them out would make it a sloppy Joe mixture.

I agree. To me, its the capers that give picadillo the authentic taste...

With no disrespect intended to anyone who uses capers in this dish, despite your disdain, I will continue to leave them out of my "Cuban Influenced Caper-Free Picadillo".