Rita Moreno’s Pica Dillo
Rita says this is an old Cuban recipe and it’s her favorite to serve at a big dinner party. It’s basically a one-dish meal and it always gets rave reviews. She warns that all of the measurements are to taste, not exact. She says “Keep tasting!” while cooking and DO NOT USE SALT (the ingredients are salty enough)
– start with 1lb or 1 1/2 lbs of a combo of ground sirloin and pork
– Chop two bell peppers (Rita likes confetti-style, meaning combining green, red and yellow peppers)
– Use 1/2 a can of drained, chopped tomatoes (reserve the juice for use later)
– 1 large onion, chopped as finely as possible
Brown all those ingredients together in frying pan using high-end olive oil, the greener the better. Rita uses a pastry blender to unlump the ground beef than tends to clump. Then add:
– 3/4’s of a cup of sliced green olives (she combines two types: half stuffed with pimentos, half with jalepenos)
– 2 tablespoons capers
– 2 tablespoons raisins
– 2 tablespoons cilantro (or more if you’d like. She says, “Keep adding, until you’re happy!”)
– add cumin
– add liberal amounts of crushed garlic
– sprinkle oregano over it (to taste)
– Now add some of that reserved juice from the chopped tomatoes (you want the mixture wet but not soupy).
– Make a pot of white rice.
– Serve Pica dillo over it
*For an extra special meal, Rita makes Chorizo Rice (add chopped chorizo, removed from it’s casing and sauteed, to the white rice) and sweet fried plantains. Delicioso!!
