Vaca Frita
Ingredients
Shredded Beef
- 2-5 Lbs Chuck Roast
- 4 Cups Beef Broth
- 1 Small Onion halved
- 1/2 Green Bell Pepper
- 3+ Cloves Garlic peeled
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Olive Oil
Marinated Onions
- 2 Small Onions s
- 4+ Limes
- 1 Tspn Salt
Frying (Frita)
- 4 Cloves Garlic minced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Olive Oil
Instructions
Marinated Onions
- Slice the onions medium thickness. Juice the limes.
- In a jar or airtight container, add the onions, lime juice, and salt. The onions should be fully submerged.
- Prepare the day before and store in the refrigerator or you can prepare this before you start the beef and let it sit at room temperature until needed.
Shredded Beef
- Start by patting dry the chuck roast and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- In a large pot or Dutch Oven, add olive oil, and sear both sides of the roast (approx 3 minutes per side) on high heat.
- Add the broth, onions, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 4-6 hours (until meat is for tender).
- Remove the cooked roast from the pot and let rest for at least 5 minutes before shredding with two forks.
Frying (Frita)
- In a mixing bowl, combine the shredded beef, minced garlic, marinated onions with some of the juice, salt, and pepper. Don’t be shy with the pepper, if you are ok with pepper.
- Heat a skillet on high heat. Coat with a generous amount of olive oil. Add some the meat mixture. Do not use a pan with high sides and do not overcrowd your skillet or it will steam instead of crisp.
- Cook in small batches on high heat, until onions are soft and translucent. You only have to mix once or twice. You want to let it fry with very little disruption so the meat can get crispy pieces.
- Serve over with rice with black beans, plantains (plantanos maduros), and lime wedges.
Notes
Always check all of your ingredients to be sure they are gluten free.
This recipe pairs with my Cuban Style black beans. I will make a dedicated black beans recipe soon, but for now, you can find my black beans in my Mojo Pork Recipe below:
Mojo Pork & Black Beans
Ingredients
- 4-6 Lbs Boston Butt Roast Pork bone-in
- 20 Oz Badia Mojo Marinade
- 4 Cloves Garlic peeled
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Lime Wedges For Serving optional
Black Beans from Scratch
- 16 Ounces Dried Black Beans soaked over night or quick soak method
- 5 Cups Water
- 1 Naval Orange
- 4 Cloves Garlic peeled
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 Green Bell Peppers Halved & seeded
- 1 Yellow Onions halved
- 1 Tspn Dried Oregano
- 1 Tbs Sugar
- 2 Tbs Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper to Taste approx 1/4 tspn of each
Sofrito (Optional)
- 1 Yellow Onion diced
- 1 Green Bell Pepper diced
- 6 Cloves of Garlic minced
- 1 Tbs Olive Oil
Instructions
Mojo Pork
- Add the pork roast, mojo marinade, garlic, and bay leaves to the crockpot. Cook on Low Heat 8-10 hours or on High Heat 4-6 hours, or until the bone pulls out easily.
- Remove the pork from the crock pot and shred the meat with two forks.
Black Beans
- Cut the orange in half and juice it. Set the juice aside for later. Gently scrape the fruit from orange peel. You only need half of the peel.
- Add the presoaked beans to a pot with 5 cups of water, 2 bay leaves, onion, bell pepper, orange peel, and about 1/4 tspn black pepper. DO NOT add salt yet.
- Cook on low heat until the beans are soft (2-3 hours).
- Carefully remove the orange peel, onion, and bell pepper. Discard.
- Blend, or smash with a fork 1-2 cups of the black beans. Return blended beans to the pot.
- Add the vinegar, the juice from the orange, salt, sugar, and salt (approx 1/4 tspn). Add sofrito (optional) and beans to the same pot.
- Cook on medium high heat until beans thicken.
Sofrito
- Add olive oil to a sauté pan on low heat. Add the diced onions, diced bell pepper, and minced garlic. Cook on low heat until onions become translucent. Approx 20 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve the shredded pork and black beans over cooked rice, with lime wedges & diced onion.
- ***I love to make plantains (plantanos maduros). The frozen ones from Chiquita brand are gluten free and easy to heat up in the oven.