My Mom's Cuban Pot Roast

[Cubangirl]

Here's my mom's version of Cuban Pot Roast. She had it ready for me when I got here Wednesday.
EXPORTED FROM LIVING COOKBOOK

CARNE ASADA*****


The original recipe called for the usual Cuban sofrito (chopped onions, garlic, green bell pepper sautéed in Spanish EVOO), but as she has gotten older (now will be 90 in Nov.) she has revised the recipe with the shortcuts listed below. The original did not call for potatoes, but I love them with the sauce. She omits them if she does not have any on hand. She made it for me last week and it was better than ever with the thick chunk of Serrano instead of the Smithfield which is what I can find here. We try to get the biggest eye or the round we can find and ask the butchers at stores is they have whole ones. We ask them to trim them so we don't pay for extra fat, then cut them in half to fit the PC ourselves. This freezes very well and keeps in the coldest part of the refrigerator for a week and it is even better the second time. We serve it with white rice (and black beans if no potatoes) and fresh avocados with salt, olive oil and a splash of lime.

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO ADDED SALT (OR PEPPER) . The Serrano style ham and the soup can be quite salty, so no extra salt is usually needed.

1 Whole eye of the round 5-6 lbs.
1 Envelope Onion Soup Mix (usually Knorr or Lipton)
½ tsp. Oregano
2 tsp. Minced garlic
2 Bay leaves (dried ok)
1 cup Beef Broth
½ cup Chablis (Carlo Rossi)
1 Thick slice of Ham preferably Serrano or other flavorful salty not sweet ham
4 russet potatoes in quarters or sixths if large (optional)

Divide the beef in half if whole.

Cut ham into 1½" slices. Make hole in middle of each round with knife and stuff ham onto hole.

Brown beef, add all including potatoes. Close and wait for steam; cook one hour. Let pressure go down naturally. Take meat out and rest ½ hour on counter and 2 hours in fridge covered with plastic.

Slice after it is cold. Put liquid through colander and press. Put everything back in container after throwing out bay leaves. Reheat in microwave.

Can be frozen.

Prep.30 min. Cooking: 1 hour and 30 min. Inactive: 2 hours Total Time: 4 hours

Author: Hilia
Source: From Hilia's recipes

Recipe Type: Beef, Cuban Food, Main Dish, Meat, Pressure Cooker

PS: It is good made with the sofrito and using the original dry white wine instead of the Chablis. I found however, that I actually prefer the easier version and keep the cheap Chablis to make this and carne con papas.

[labradors]

Would the onion cubitos (bouillon cubes) work, instead of the soup? In the soups from Knorr and Maggi, we don't have regular onion soup mix here - only cream-of-onion soup mix, but we go have onion and garlic bouillon cubes. Even better, did the original use something other than packaged soup mix?

How much real sofrito would you use? Given the size of the roast, maybe about four tablespoons? Also, my non-packaged sofrito experiences are all from Puerto Rican friends, and sofrito can really vary quite a bit. You didn't mention tomatoes in your description of sofrito. Do you not use tomatoes in your sofrito, or did you just not type everything into the description (e.g. you also left out the cilantro)? The version used by all my Puerto Rican friends does use cilantro, but not tomatoes (and are they ever adamant about that! LOL!).

[Cubangirl]

Some Cuban sofritos use tomato sauce, but never ever cilantro, not a Cuban flavor. Some recipes call for culantro or parsley, but not in the sofrito. A typical sofrito starts with an onion, several cloves of garlic and some green bell pepper sautéed in olive oil. Depending on the dish, tomato sauce and/or cumin and/or oregano and usually dry white wine (Cuban favorite is Edmundo) Picadillo, Ropa Vieja and Carne con Papas would be examples of recipes using tomato sauce. The Cuban Pot Roasts (boliche mechado) I've had have never had tomato in it. You could definitely use a real onion chopped small instead of the envelope of onion soup. In that case I would add a bit of salt to the onions while sautéing. You can also add some cumin. I usually do, though my mom skips it most of the time. If she does not have beef broth, she puts in a bouillon cube and the equivalent amount of water. You could also a small amount of white or black pepper, but never any chiles. Cuban food is never peppery hot. Some cooks add a splash of vinegar or lime juice at the end for some acidity. In this case the wine provides enough balance. There are fancier and more complicated ways to make this dish, but this is the way my family eats it.

[labradors]

Thanks! Sounds wonderful. I would probably go with the cumin, too.