Fatima's Picadillo

My favorite recipe will be a dish called Picadillo, it's a Mexican-style dish that includes ground beef and vegetables such as, corn, potato, green peas, and carrots. There are different variations to this dish but the way my mother makes it and taught me how to make it is just extravagant. I found a recipe online but it does not compare the way my mother's recipe to this dish is. I have made it several times for my roommates and that was one of their favorite dishes. I personally like to eat this dish with tostadas covered in sour cream because it adds an extra flavor to it and I am a big fan of sour cream, also with a hint of shredded cheese Mexican-style on top, makes the dish 10/10. I highly recommend others to try this dish because it is a quick and east meal to make as for a college student.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

• 1/2 onion (white or purple, thinly sliced or chopped)

• 2 jalapeño peppers (seeded and diced)

• 1 pound ground beef

• 4 to 5 cloves garlic (peeled and diced)

• 4 medium tomatoes (seeded and diced)

• 8 green olives (pitted and quartered)

• 2 tablespoon liquid from olive jar

• 1/4 cup raisins (softened by soaking in warm water for 20 minutes)

• 1 poblano chili or green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 small cone piloncillo or 1tea spoon brown sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon molasses

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Optional: 2 potatoes (peeled and cubed) plus 1/4 cup oil

Steps to Make It

1. Drizzle the oil into a large skillet and heat it over medium-high until the oil starts to shimmer.

2. Add the onions and jalapeños and cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften. Move them to one side of the skillet.

3. Put the ground beef in the cleared area of the skillet and use a spatula to separate it into a few large chunks. Let it cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes.

4. Break the beef into smaller pieces and toss them around in the pan, combining the meat with the vegetables. Reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook for another 7 or 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef starts to brown but some pink remains.

5. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

6. Add the remaining ingredients and decrease the heat to low; continue to cook for another 10 to 12 minutes or until the tomatoes and onions begin to fall apart and combine with the other ingredients.

7. Optional: Fry the potatoes in the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet, flipping occasionally until the potatoes turn evenly brown. Drain the potatoes on paper towels or brown paper, then fold them into the beef mixture.