Spanish Pulled Beef – Kellmy Rosado-Vargas

#RealPeopleRealFood

Butcher Boy’s guest blog series is an opportunity for us to feature some of our customers and share their recipes, inspiration, and enjoyment of great food. Follow #RealPeopleRealFood on Instagram to see new posts in this series.

Guest blogger Kellmy Rosado-Vargas is the owner of two Lawrence-based businesses, independent design consultancy Left Eye Creations and custom printing company LEC Print. But more personally, Kellmy is a foodie from birth, and he shares his story and recipe for Spanish Pulled Beef.

As a great Dominican descent foodie from Queens, NY, I am quite the cooking enthusiast. During the early days of quarantine, I went into my passion for cooking and trying new cuisines.

While I have been a New Englander my entire life, my foundation consisted of about 10 Dominican women cooking with relentless spices. Today my home is no different as I am married to a Venezuelan lady who happens to be of Cuban descent. Talk about a mix of flavors and cultures.

With that said, and although my heart is with Dominican and New England foods, I could not ignore my wife’s grandmother’s passion for food. She was an excellent cook, an exquisite host who lived for entertaining everyone. In one of her many gatherings, I was introduced to “ropa vieja,” which is nothing more than shredded skirt steak with a Spanish flair. I was hooked!

This stew-like steak is the perfect recipe for foodies and busy families alike since it could be made in big batches and frozen for up to 3 months. It pairs well with arepas, white rice, tacos, even pasta! It is so versatile and certainly a comfort food that hopefully will become part of your weekly rotation.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of the skirt or flank steak
• ⅓ cup of olive oil, mild blend
• 2 large Spanish onions (one whole, one finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 green pepper finely chopped
• 8 oz. organic can of tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 Bay leaf
• ½ cup of dry white cooking wine

Step 1:

Place meat and one whole onion in a pressure cooker/Instapot or a large pot (double the cooking time if choosing a regular cooking pot). Fill the pot with water until it is about 2 fingers over the meat. Cook meat on high pressure for 20–30 minutes.

Step 2:

On a separate large pan, sauté on medium heat the finely chopped onion, green pepper, and garlic with oil for about 5–7 minutes. Wait until the onions are translucent and the peppers have softened.

Step 3:

Take the meat out of the pot and shred it with two forks against the steak’s grain. Remove the whole onion from the broth and toss.

Step 4:

Merge shredded beef with the previously sauteed onions, peppers, and garlic onto the pan. Add all the remaining ingredients together with one cup of broth from the steak.

Step 5:

Let all the ingredients simmer for about 20 minutes at medium heat and add more broth as the sauce starts to evaporate. The beef should be in a runny sauce.

This recipe gets better the day after, so do not shy away from refrigerating it. Reheat it for leftovers, lunches, or dinner.

Enjoy / Buen Provecho,

Kellmy

Download and print the recipe here.