Cuban Beef Picadillo

It's time to try another offering from Williams-Sonoma's "What's for Dinner" 30-Minute Meals feature! Today, we're investigating the Cuban Beef Picadillo.

This dish appealed to us because of its straightforwardness and the number of potential serving methods. The recipe claims it can be served over rice, in tortillas, or over spaghetti. (Yeah, that last one didn't sound awesome to us at first, either!)

The recipe begins with an onion, sauteed for 4 minutes. To that, the ground beef is added and browned for 8 minutes, taking care to break up the clumps. The recipe instructs you to separate and discard any fat, but our beef was lean enough that the fat content was negligible.

Next, the spices and garlic are incorporated and cooked for 1 minute. After this, the remaining ingredients are added and brought to a simmer.

Williams-Sonoma's chefs claim that 15 minutes was enough to reduce the mixture to a "stew like" consistency, but it took us almost double that. Our canned tomatoes may just have been extra juicy, or we may not have had the heat turned up enough - either way, we'd caution you to leave a little extra time for preparation. After all, if you finish early, there's no harm in leaving it on low heat a little longer!

We thought this recipe was good, but not great. Because of the seasonings and the currants, the finished product had a slightly sweet (but not too sweet) taste. You guys know us well enough now that you can probably predict our refrain: We want more kick!

If we make this again, we're likely to add a dash of cayenne, and we may also throw in some chopped olives and diced bell peppers for more texture. The salty flavor of the olives, we think, would balance out the sweetness particularly well!

And one final note about serving: Our original plating was with tortillas, which was good but, due to the subtle flavor and liquidity, a messy, mushy combination. We found a winner when we served it over steamed white rice, and, having tried it, we actually can see it being served successfully over pasta. (We know, right?!) It just goes to show, sometimes it's nice to keep an open mind.