Brazilian Picadillo

17 September 2023

This Brazilian dish is an alternative to Chilli-Con-Carne and is full of delicious flavours from the spices. It is perfect served with rice or a jacket potato.

Ingredients

1 x large potato
2 x 15ml spoons sunflower oil
1 x medium onion
3 x cloves garlic
1 x red pepper
500g lean minced beef
1 ½ x 5ml spoons ground cumin
2 x 5ml spoons dried oregano
¼ x 5ml spoon crushed dried chillies
1 x 5ml spoon smoked paprika
1 x 5ml spoon cinnamon
2 x 15ml spoons tomato puree
2 x 15ml spoons red wine vinegar
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
10 x green olives
75g sultanas


Equipment

Vegetable peeler
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Colander
Large pan with lid (preferably a shallow pan)
Spatula
Garlic crusher
Measuring spoons
Can opener
Weighing scales


Instructions

  1. Peel and chop the potato into small chunks (approx. 1cm squares) and rinse in the colander. Heat 1 x 15ml spoon of oil in the pan, add the potato, and stir occasionally.
  2. Peel and finely chop the onion and peel and crush the garlic.
  3. Wash and deseed the pepper and chop into small chunks.
  4. When the potato has started to brown, add 1 x 15ml spoon of oil to the pan with the onions and cook for 5 minutes until the onions begin to soften.
  5. Add the garlic and peppers to the pan and continue to cook gently.
  6. Add the mince to the vegetable mixture and break up to create small pieces. Continue to stir until the mince has turned brown.
  7. Add the cumin, oregano, chillies, paprika and cinnamon to the pan and then stir in the tomato puree and red wine vinegar. Cook for a few minutes until the spices have been absorbed into the mixture.
  8. Add the tomatoes and mix well.
  9. Cut the olives into halves or quarters (depending on size of olives and preference) and add to the pan along with the sultanas.
  10. Stir together and simmer (with the lid on the pan) until the potatoes are soft and the sultanas have plumped up. If the mixture gets too dry, add a little water.

Skills used include:
Weighing, measuring, peeling, chopping, mixing/combining, frying, boiling/simmering


Top Tips

  • This dish is also good with some chopped fresh coriander sprinkled on before serving.

Something to try next time

  • Substitute the potato for sweet potato or use half of each. Sweet potato will take less time to cook and adds a sweeter taste.
  • Replace 250g of mince with 400g can of drained and rinsed black beans.
  • Traditionally, boiled eggs are chopped and added as a garnish after cooking.
  • Replace the beef mince with turkey mince.

Prepare now, eat later

  • Prepare in advance, when cool, store in a covered container in the fridge for up to 24 hours and reheat until piping hot.
  • To freeze, make the dish but leave out the potatoes as they don’t freeze well. When cool, transfer the contents into freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.