OK, foodies. You have under an hour to make something to eat for dinner and you (naturally) want Cuban comfort food. Here’s my quick and easy – shortcuts included – path to making picadillo con arroz blanco. Ingredients (Serves 4 people) 1-1 ½ lb ground beef, extra lean 1 8-oz can of tomato sauce ½ cup green pimento-stuffed olives, sliced ¾ c white cooking wine Sofrito…which is 1 small onion, diced small ½ green pepper diced ½ red pepper diced (or if you can find it, about 1.5 c of frozen sofrito that you can get in the store) 3 -4 crushed cloves of garlic (or about 1 ½ tsp of the prepared kind) ¼ cup white raisins (black ones will do) ½ tsp cumin Salt to taste Adobo seasoning to taste 1 Bay leaf 1 ½ c white rice Frozen plantains from Chiquita (don’t give me grief, you’re in a hurry, aren’t you?)* 2 – 3 T olive oil, enough to sautée sofrito Directions Brown the meat slightly and drain the fat. Remove to a bowl. If you are making sofrito from scratch, dice your onion, core and dice the peppers. If you are using the frozen kind, measure out about 1 cup of the frozen mix. In pan, heat oil and add sofrito and the garlic. Cook until vegetables are soft but not soggy. Add the can of tomato sauce and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook off the alcohol, about 2 minutes. Add…
