Picadillo is a traditional Latin American dish using ground meat. It has some wonderful spices and excellent flavor combinations in the dish. We discovered it several months ago and since it has become a staple meal in our house. We tend to make picadillo tacos rather than "normal" ground beef tacos with spice packets. This way we have a lot more control about what spices we use and how much sodium goes into the dish. Also the flavors just beat any taco seasoning packet hands down. The sweetness of the raisins and the cinnamon mixed with the spice of the chili powder and cayenne are perfect. As always we opted to up the amount of cayenne that we use in the picadillo. What can we say? We like spicy food.
Picadillo
Adapted from EatingWell.com
Serves 4
2 eggs, hard boiled and sliced (optional, but highly recommended)
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 t. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. scallions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 t. chili powder
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. cayennne pepper
1/2 c. golden raisins
1/2 c. pitted green olives, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1 c. water
1/2 t. ground black pepper
8 corn tortillas, warmed
Toppings:
pico de gallo
light sour cream
lettuce
cilantro
salsa
1) Cook meat in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, until it is no longer pink. Drain the fat from the meat and set it aside.
2) Heat the oil in the skillet and add the onion, scallions and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until softened about 2-3 minutes. Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne. Cook until it is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the raisins, olives, tomato paste, water and return the meat to the pan, stirring. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Season with pepper.
3) To serve place a layer of picadillo on each tortilla, garnish with a few egg slices and then top with your favorite taco toppings.
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These look delicious! thanks for sharing!