This is an updated version of recipe that I originally published on April 26, 2003.
In Spanish, picadillo is a ground-or-minced-meat-and-tomato dish. The version I grew up with is a soup. My father (who was a really fantastic cook) used to cook picadillo with either potatoes or chayote, depending on which vegetable was available. So did I, until that fateful summer night in 2003 when I just felt that the beef AND chayote combo was already too boring, while beef AND potatoes just looked too colorless. It was Speedy who suggested a medley of vegetables. And to make the soup even more chunky, instead of ground or minced meat, I opted for cubed beef short ribs. A little adventure in the kitchen turned out a new version of picadillo that my family couldn’t get enough of! These days, of course, with Sam having gone vegetarian, only three of us — Speedy, Alex and I — get to eat picadillo.
Speedy's picadillo
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 kilograms and 1/2 kilos of beef short ribs (with the bones), uncut
- 2 whole shallots
- 1/2 head garlic
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- salt
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 2 to 4 plump tomatoes diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- patis (fish sauce) or salt, to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1 large chayote peeled, cored and cut into one-inch cubes
- 1 large carrot peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
- 2 to 3 large potatoes peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
- finely sliced onion leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Place the beef short ribs on a baking tray and sear in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Carefully lift the ribs off the tray (tongs are useful) and transfer to a deep cooking pot. Cover with water. Add the whole shallots, half a head of garlic, peppercorns and salt. Bring to the boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer for two hours or until tender.
- When the beef is done, lift out of the pot and move to a chopping board. Strain the broth. Cool the meat for a while you prepare the vegetables.
- Heat the cooking oil in another large and deep pot. Saute the sliced shallots, diced tomatoes and minced garlic with a drizzle of patis. Add the cubed vegetables. Pour in the strained broth. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- While the vegetables simmer, discard the beef bones. Cut the meat into one-inch cubes. Add to the pot. Continue simmering until the vegetables are done.
- Serve hot sprinkled with sliced scallions.
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Hi Connie! This one is also my husband favorite kasi nakakain sya one time sa office nila then I tried this one and it was a hit pa din…..he!he!he!
Hi Miss Connie. Ganito pala dapat ang itsura ng Beef Picadillo. Yung nabili ko kasi sa Filipino restaurant dito, mukhang Giniling kaya nagtataka ako kung ano difference ng dalawa. From your post, kaya siguro maalat yung beef picadillo nila kasi walang potatoes, hindi na-absorb yung salt. Anyway, will try the recipe. Looks simple enough, kayang kaya ng isang amateur gaya ko =)
Hello Ms Connie!
I’ve been an avid fan of your blog for two years now, and all I can say is your site is incredible!!! Every time I want to cook something I just browse @ your site. Because of that I always received lots and lots of praises and compliments about my cooking… It was all worth it. Thank you so much for all the information most of all the recipe that you’ve shared to us. More Power!!!
anyway I just tried this picadillo recipe and it was excellent… myself my very full husband loved it!
hi ms. connie!
I really loved reading your blogs! Just wondering, why is there a need to bake/sear the beef prior in the oven prior to boiling?
For better texture, color and to prevent scum from invading the broth. :)