[moondice]

I had some shredded fried beef or some kind of meat at a domincan bar and i think its called ropa vieja. Is this what it is and does anyone have the recipe?

[chicaDR]

Hi I know exactly what you are talking about but the dish is not dominican is Cuban. I hope this helps. I don't know how to make it but I'm sure u can find great recipes on the internet.

[KimNY]

That's a cuban recipe. I love it. I actually bought a cookbook a while back with some cuban recipes and that recipe was the main reason I bought it. I'm going to type up the recipe.

One 2 1/4- to 2 1/2 pound chuck roast or two 1 1/4- pound flank steaks
Fine sea or kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Onion powder
3 tbsp. canola oil
1/2 cup sofrito (you can use Goya brand sofrito)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
olive oil, as needed
two 8-ounce cans spanish style tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups of water
3 tbsp. alcaparrado
2 bay leaves
4 celery stalks with leaves cut into 1/4 inch dice
3 medium carrots, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 cup fresh or frozen peas

1. Pound the chuck roast or flank steaks with a heavy meat mallet until about 1/2 inch thick. Season both sides of the beef generously with salt, pepper, and onion powder.

2. Heat the canola oil in a large, heavy, ovenproof skillet over high heat until rippling. Add the beef and cook it until well browned on both sides, about 10 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Drain or spoon off most of the fat from the pan. Stir in the sofrito, 2 teaspoons salt, and the cumin, and bring to a boil. Depending on how much oil was left in the pan, you may have to add a little olive oil to give the mix a creamy texture. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, alcaparrado, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover the dish, put it in the oven, and bake until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork, about 2 1/2 hours. Let stand in the sauce until cool enough to handle.

4. Shred the meat coarsely by hand or use two forks. Return it to the sauce and add the celery and carrots. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook until the vegetables are tender, about ten minutes. Stir in the peas and cook a few minutes more.