Reasons John is not allowed in the kitchen unsupervised, Cuban edition.

[theweaselking]

I ran across a recipe for slow-cooker Chicken Ropa Vieja, which is basically a slow-cooked shredded-chicken stew and it's both easy and very good. I've made it twice now.

Recipe, with notes, reproduced to avoid linkrot, behind the cut

Slow Cooker Chicken Ropa Vieja

A brief note: The site I got this from is "budget bytes" and they make a point of specifying the cost of all their ingredients. And I want to know WHAT FUCKING PLANET this dude lives on where most of a kilo of boneless skinless chicken is $3.50.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 to 2 lbs Bird Meat (boneless skinless) <- the first time, I used chicken thighs. The second time, I used half a kilo of turkey (because it was on sale) and a can of black beans, drained and rinsed. Both turned out well, but the turkey+bean one turned out better.
4 cloves garlic
1/2 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (He says 1/8 tsp, and seriously, an eighth of a teaspoon in THIS MUCH? Why even have it at all? Also, a little more spice = good.)
Freshly cracked black pepper
1 medium yellow onion
1 medium green bell pepper
1 medium red bell pepper
1 15oz. can diced tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
Salt to taste (he says 1/2 to 1 tsp, I say 1-2 tsp)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the bird meat in the bottom of the slow cooker. If you're adding black beans, drain and rinse them and put them on top of the bird meat. Mince the garlic and add it to the slow cooker. Sprinkle the oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, and some freshly cracked pepper over the bird meat.

2. Slice the onion, green bell pepper, and red bell pepper into strips. Place the onion and bell peppers on top of the chicken in the slow cooker. Add the can of diced tomatoes (with juices) and tomato paste to the slow cooker. The tomato paste can be added in dollops and will be stirred in after cooking.

3. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours. After four hours, remove the lid and use tongs (Ed: Tongs? FORKS! Use forks, like you're pulling apart pulled pork) to stir the contents. Break the chicken into shreds as you stir the slow cooker. If the juices in the slow cooker are too thin, allow the pot to continue simmering on high without the lid for about 15 minutes to reduce the liquid. Taste and season with salt as needed.

4. Serve the ropa in a bowl, over rice, or in a warm tortilla <- with shredded cheese! Or sour cream if that's your thing.

Now, even with the "let it simmer uncovered for 15 minutes" step, this had a LOT of watery juice left. Which is fine and good on rice, but a little awkward on a tortilla. And even attempting to drain it as best I could, it still stayed pretty juicy, which wasn't a PROBLEM but it was certainly a little messy on the day of.

What's also really great is: Leftovers of this go AMAZINGLY on nachos. Layer of tortilla chips, smattering of leftover Bird Meat Ropa Vieja, scattering of diced green onions, layer of shredded cheese, cook in oven at 350 until the cheese bubbles and starts to brown (5-8 minutes). Serve with salsa.

But yeah. Dead simple, very easy, very tasty, apparently a Cuban-American staple.

Comments

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

I've been looking for good slow cooker recipes, and this looks AWESOME. (Dammit, I'm salivating.) I like your modifications, too. I think I could get away without added salt; my husband needs to limit it, and there are a lot of spices in there. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Bookmarking to print later (so I don't wake up husband or cats). Thank you!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It really is "salt to taste", and the amounts are just what the original writer and I thought made for a good taste.

But yeah, this really turned out fast, simple, and delicious. Twice.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

I think I'll actually try the turkey and bean version. (My husband's not that fond of chicken anyway.)