Cuban Picadillo With Potatoes, Olives, Raisins & Mucho Seasoning
- November 2020
- By Ana Osadzinski (Colet)
- Recipe from Cuba
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- (14)
This hearty Cuban beef picadillo family recipe is a favorite family recipe submitted by Ana Osadzinski (Colet), a Cuba-born grandmother. She married a chef of Polish family heritage (“He’s a great chef, he taught me so much,” she says) and lives just outside of Chicago with lots of family around. What goes on the table for their familia meals is muy importante to this family of good cooks, as you might expect.
Ana was born in Bayamo in Cuba’s Oriente province and moved to the States when she was 14. Her mother taught her to cook. And you know Ana is a good Cubana because: “I love garlic,” she says. “I put it in everything.” Garlic adds bold flavor to help make up for the low-salt approach she brings to her cooking, for health reasons. You may want to add more salt than she calls for in her recipe, she advises. Also for health reasons, Ana says she’ll often make her picadillo ground meat half beef, half turkey, but adds that if you go the turkey route, be sure to use extra seasoning to make up for its blander flavor.
You see the pattern, right? Lots of seasoning is key to Ana’s delicious cooking. As you’ll see throughout her picadillo recipe, Ana sprinkles in spices at just about every step.
Ana advises serving this picadillo with white rice and a side of plantain maduros. When it comes to rice, she and her husband the chef disagree: “I like it to the side, but my husband likes his picadillo right on top, to catch all the juices.”
But the way her kids like to eat this dish most is accompanied by a side of another classic Cuban plato her mother taught her back in Bayamo. “‘Ay, Mami, make us your yuca con mojo’ they’ll always ask when I serve them picadillo,” Ana reports, delighted. So, she does.
Ready to Make Ana’s Family-Famous Cuban Picadillo?
Cuban Picadillo With Potatoes, Olives, Raisins and Mucho Seasoning
8
servings15
minutes35
minutesIngredients
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 lbs ground beef, 80%-20%
1 Tbsp adobo
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp basil, dried
2 Tbsp oregano, dried
2 Tbsp parsley, dried
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 large Idaho potato, peeled and cut in 1-inch cubes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 to 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp olives stuffed with pimento
6 oz raisins
29 oz diced tomatoes, from a can, with juice
1 cup red wine, such as cabernet or zinfandel
Directions
- Place a large pot on the stove, set to medium heat.
- Add the ground beef.
- Stir in the adobo, the bay leaves, and 1 tsp each of salt, cumin, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Saute the ground meat and seasonings for about 5 to 8 minutes, until browned.
- When all the ground meat is lightly cooked, remove from the pot and set aside in a bowl. Leave the oil and brown bits in the pot.
- Stir in the cubed potato. Add the salt and pepper. Stir and saute. Add 1 Tbsp of oil if the potatoes stick to the bottom. Once nicely browned, remove them and set the potatoes aside in a second bowl.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the milk.
- Add 1 Tbsp oil to the same pot. Slightly scramble the eggs. Set aside in a third bowl.
- Add 1 to 2 Tbsp oil to the pot. Stir in the finely chopped onion, garlic, green pepper and carrot to the pot.
- Season with another 1 tsp each of: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, dried parsley. Saute until almost translucent, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Return the ground meat to the pot with the aromatics and vegetables. Stir to mix well and saute on medium-low heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes and red wine. Stir to mix well. Cover with a lid and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Taste to see if the picadillo needs more salt, garlic or cumin and adjust as needed.
- Add the cooked potatoes. Add the raisins, capers and olives. Stir, cover with the lid and saute for 10 to 15 more minutes. Turn off the heat and let the picadillo sit until almost ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, add the scrambled eggs and fold them lightly into the picadillo mixture. Cover the pot with the lid and simmer for a last 5 minutes on low heat.
- It’s ready! Serve the picadillo over white rice with a side of maduro plantains or yuca con mojo.
Notes
- Ana sprinkles seasoning and spices throughout just about each step of the the cooking process. When measuring out this dish’s seasoning, she advises measuring each into its own section of a large plate or own small bowl. This way you dole out 1 tsp. or small sprinkle at a time so you don’t have to keep going back to the spice bottle and potentially losing track of how much you use.
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Suggestions and questions from our readers
My mom is making this picadillo this weekend. She is really excited: picadillo is one of her favorite foods. She’ll use all turkey meat, though.
I’ve had this exact dish made by Ana Osadzinski and it is phenomenal… HIGHLY RECOMMEND
This is an easy and tasty recipe! Leftovers are great for making empanadas.
Picadillo with scrambled eggs?! 🧐