Picadillo

[Darienne]

There are so many recipes for Picadillo, I was wondering who had a favorite combination.

For years, I made it combining two recipes from Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking, 'Picadillo' and 'Picadillo de la Costa'. Mine was called 'Picadillo de la Cabana' (We live in Cavan and that was the best I could do. Yes, I know, very silly.)

Yesterday's version was without fruit except for the raisins and apples.

[Pierogi]

Picadillo is seriously one of my favorite Mexican/Latin dishes (see my response to your chile relleano post...). I've made a ton of different versions, and this is the one I've finally settled on as being most to my taste.

I got it an eon ago from the Food Network website. I just went to see if I could link it, and it doesn't appear to be up on their site any longer. I'm pretty sure it was by Aaron Sanchez. I also Googled that, and couldn't get a hit, so here it is, rewritten sufficiently I hope to get by any *issues*....

Picadillo Tacos

(6 servings)

2 Tblsp. vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds ground pork

1/3C raisins

1/4C toasted slivered almonds

1&1/2C canned tomato sauce

1/2C sliced pimento-stuffed green olives

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. ground cloves

S&P to taste

3C shredded romaine or iceberg lettuce

1&1/2C coarsely grated radishes

Lime wedges

Cheddar cheese

12 taco shells

Heat oil in heavy pan over med/low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until veg is soft, stirring often. Raise heat a bit, and add pork. Cook, breaking up lumps, until browned and cooked through. Drain extra fat, add raisins, nuts, sauce, olives and spices. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened to your taste, about 10 or 15 minutes.

Put the picadillo in the warmed taco shells, and top with desired toppings. Squeeze lime over.

Cooked picadillo keeps in fridge for a day or two, reheat before making tacos. It also freezes really really well. I much prefer it in the hard, fried taco shells than in tortillas as soft tacos.

Enjoy !!

[Darienne]

Sounds like a fine basic recipe except that I would probably mix the pork with beef. And use either fresh or canned tomatoes.

And I just made it using pulled pork and pulled beef chopped up after being frozen in great honking packages. (Pulled meat being good for all kinds of emergencies Our basic problem is that we eat 'dinner' at noon and that leaves all sorts of weekdays in chaos at the last minute with my having run out of time to get anything made. And so on. )

The one thing I don't get is the hard taco thingy. Don't they just break while you are eating them and then the stuff falls all over the place???

Oh, I also add a dollop of cocoa usually. I have really no idea why. And I do love Picadillo de la Costa with all the fruit in it. DH likes it better without fruit, although I refuse to leave out the raisins.

[Jaymes]

I often serve it as a dip at parties. Put in a crockpot or chafing dish to keep warm. Serve sturdy tortilla chips alongside.

Never fails to surprise me how many folks have never heard of it.

But it's always a huge hit.

[Pierogi]

....The one thing I don't get is the hard taco thingy. Don't they just break while you are eating them and then the stuff falls all over the place???

....

You know, they don't really. If, and I guess this is the key, you get shells from a market with a high enough turnover that they're fresh and not on the road to cardboard. That could be an issue for you, I'm guessing. But if you try, make sure to heat them in a low oven (250-300°F) for about 5 minutes. Uncovered, just toss them on a baking sheet. That will liven them up. Then when you put your fillings in, the liquid sort of softens the corn, and they just get....crispy and chewy and *good*. It's the textural contrast thing. Put the "jucier" stuff on the bottom, and the drier stuff on top. The bottom may split a bit, but you can usually keep it mostly together by squeezing it with your fingers.

Like overstuffed sandwiches, though, the kiss of death is to put a filled hard taco down !

The oven-crisping should be done for tostada shells, also. You'd be amazed at what a difference it makes.

Don't get me wrong, I love soft tacos in certain applications (I'd *NEVER* make a fish taco with a hard shell), but sometimes I've just got to have that contrast between the succulent filling and the crunchy shell.

[rancho_gordo]

Traditionally, you don't see hard shells in Mexico. They have some tacos "dorados" where the taco and filling are fried until the taco is crisp but these "U" shaped things are from north of the border, I would bet. Not that they aren't good, but not very typical. I think a tostada would be more likely and now that I think of it, I'd enjoy one with some lettuce and a scoop of picadillo on top.

[Pierogi]

Traditionally, you don't see hard shells in Mexico. They have some tacos "dorados" where the taco and filling are fried until the taco is crisp but these "U" shaped things are from north of the border, I would bet. Not that they aren't good, but not very typical. I think a tostada would be more likely and now that I think of it, I'd enjoy one with some lettuce and a scoop of picadillo on top.

Yes, you're absolutely right of course. I knew that the North American "hard shells" are an invention of the Southwest and border states (as is, btw, the fish taco, but that's another thread....). I was actually thinking about including it in my response to Darienne, but well, I hit "post" and the thought went "poof" (as many of my thoughts do) and it was lost. Thanks for helping out my old, feeble brain.

They're still tasty though, in their place !

[Jaymes]

I knew that the North American "hard shells" are an invention of the Southwest and border states (as is, btw, the fish taco, but that's another thread....).

Fish tacos, "an invention of the Southwest and border states"? Are you saying fisherfolk along the coasts of Mexico haven't been wrapping up their catch in tortillas? And then sprinkling on a little hot sauce? For hundreds of years? Probably even thousands? For as long as they've been making tortillas? And fishing?

In fact, not until some norteamericanos thought of it?

I'm sorry, but I simply can't imagine that. Am I missing something?

_________________

Edited January 26, 2011 by Jaymes (log)

[kalypso]

Don't think you're missing something Jaymes, fish tacos are a producto de Mexico, not the American Southwest.

Ralph Rubio certainly popularized the fish taco and help mainstream it with his chain of Rubio's quick service restaurants, but he ddin't invent it. By his own admission, his fish tacos were originally based upon the fish tacos he enjoyed during Spring Break surfing trips to San Felipe, Baja California del Norte. Contrary to popular belief, the fish taco was not invented in San Diego, just the chain that made them popular.

[Jaymes]

Don't think you're missing something Jaymes, fish tacos are a producto de Mexico, not the American Southwest.

Ralph Rubio certainly popularized the fish taco and help mainstream it with his chain of Rubio's quick service restaurants, but he ddin't invent it. By his own admission, his fish tacos were originally based upon the fish tacos he enjoyed during Spring Break surfing trips to San Felipe, Baja California del Norte. Contrary to popular belief, the fish taco was not invented in San Diego, just the chain that made them popular.

Whew. Gave me quite a start!

[janeer]

I knew that the North American "hard shells" are an invention of the Southwest and border states (as is, btw, the fish taco, but that's another thread....).

Fish tacos, "an invention of the Southwest and border states"? Are you saying fisherfolk along the coasts of Mexico haven't been wrapping up their catch in tortillas? And then sprinkling on a little hot sauce? For hundreds of years? Probably even thousands? For as long as they've been making tortillas? And fishing?

In fact, not until some norteamericanos thought of it?

I'm sorry, but I simply can't imagine that. Am I missing something?

_________________

No, you're not. Fish tacos are from Baja, California, which is Mexico.

[theabroma]

One of the more entertaining delights of life is to watch the face of a Veracruzano, especially one from around Alvarado, as it is explained to them that people on the west coast batter and fry the fish for the fish tacos. They think that strictly comida de Gringolandia invading Mexico.

Never a dull, boring, or less than tasty moment!

Regards,

Theabroma

[KatieLoeb]

My mom's picadillo (which I used to describe to friends as "Cuban Sloppy Joe") was always ground beef, diced onions, diced red and/or green bell pepper, minced garlic, slivered pimento stuffed olives, capers, golden raisins, tomato sauce, lots of cumin and oregano and just a little cinnamon all simmered with several bay leaves. I liked a little shot of hot sauce on mine at the end, but mom didn't like spicy food so it couldn't go in the pot. Good stuff. I haven't made it in a while so perhaps I needed this thread to bump it up in my brain. Maybe I'll make some this weekend...

Edited January 27, 2011 by KatieLoeb (log)

[C. sapidus]

According to an unsupported statement in Wikipedia (!), nixtamalization equipment found in Guatemala has been dated to 1,200 – 1,500 BCE (3,200 – 3,500 years ago). I would love to learn more about this history, preferably from someone with better resources than Wikipedia.

On topic: We have been very happy with the recipe for picadillo Oaxaqueno from Rick Bayless’ Authentic Mexican. For a closely related recipe, click and scroll down.

[Darienne]

Anyone else have any favorite picadillo recipes? Originally I had no idea of how many varieties there are.

I think I'll try the Bayless Empanadas recipe posted by C. Sapidus, but with the picadillo which I have already made. I'll try the Bayless picadillo recipe next time with the pork only.

[ChrisTaylor]

I normally follow Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe, mostly because it's the only one I have (in hard copy, anyway) and his recipes are reliable. He may not offer the best picadillo/bolognese/steak and kidney pie/etc but he'll always point you in the right direction.

I followed his recipe tonight, bar one or two points I picked up elsewhere. I started by frying 500 grams of pork mince (if I was making a larger quantity I'd have done equal parts pork and beef). I put it aside once it was browned up nicely and fried some diced onion and garlic with a star anise pod (see also: Heston Blumenthal). Once the onion was softened and browned I added 800 grams canned (diced) tomatoes, the spices (cloves, cumin, cinnamon, a little bit of chilli powder, black pepper), sultanas (I know all the recipes say to use raisins--but I can buy bundles of single serve packs of sultanas designed for school lunches, which give me the perfect quantity for dishes like this and don't require me to waste any or find some excuse to use them up), a good handful of slivered almonds and a generous splash of white wine vinegar (all out of apple cider vinegar). Added, too, some sliced jalapenos from a jar--I can't easily get chipotles here (the only chipotle product I recall seeing is the Tabasco chiptole sauce, which you can only buy at specialist retailer 'USA Foods'--supermarkets just carry the red one)--purely because I like them more than the fresh options readily avaliable to me. I simmered it for maybe a hour. I've found that things like this are always, always, always better when cooked for a long time (i.e. a hour as opposed to ten minutes). Didn't include olives as one of the recipes above--the Rick Whoever one--didn't include them and, too, I've found olives, unless of good quality (which I can't afford at the moment) or added at the last minute, aren't so nice in dishes like this.

I moved away from Mexico altogether when serving it--didn't feel like making tortillas and didn't want to pay for them (about $5 for half a dozen low quality tortillas) so I used little pita breads. Hey, it works ...

I'm very happy with the picadillo. In fact, I'd rate this version, with the preserved jalapenos, above the versions I've made with fresh chillies--the preserved chillies just add something I really like. Can't quite identify it. If anything, I'd say this needs sour cream, which I'd happily drive off and get if I hadn't consumed so much gin.

Edited January 28, 2011 by ChrisTaylor (log)