Picadillo

Everybody is trying to stretch their food budget one way or another. How would you like to take one cut of beef and make two sensational meals for your family out of it? Talk about saving money!!

French Onion soup (serves two separate meals and purposes)

Flank Steak (2lbs)
minced garlic
parsley
bay leaf
oregano
6 large onions (you need lots and lots of onions)
olive oil
Italian or French bread
Mozzarella, muenster, or swiss cheese in slices

Buy Flank Steak meat (2 lbs minimum)...put in crockpot with 1 tablespoon of minced garlic (yes vampires will not come near you), 2 tbsp. parsley, 1 bay leaf, and 1 tbsp of basil, 1 tblsp of oregano, add 5 cups of water. Let that simmer on high for 6 hours. After 6 hours, take the meat out. Keep the setting on the crockpot at high. Cut and peel 6 large onions in rings. Break rings apart with your fingers (this is A LOT of onions). In a large skillet, fry a bunch of the onions in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (I used first cold pressed virgin olive oil) - don't need a lot, just need to coat the skillet. Fry on medium heat, until onions caramelize, and can even turn a little crispy. Do this to all the onions you have. As you've caramelized them, put them in the crockpot with the beef stock. Once you've added all the onions, add salt to taste and continue cooking the soup mixture for 2 hours.

To serve, put old crusty (not molded - lol) in the soup bowl first. Add hot onion soup over the top, and top with either muenster, mozzerella or swiss cheese slices (at least 2 per bowl). Put one bowl at a time in microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cheese - fabulous!! Anytime I've made it people go for seconds...
Serves 6 to 8

Cuban Ropa Vieja (Cuban old clothes - literal translation, not to be taken literally...lol)

Boiled Flank steak (from previous meal)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 onion
1 tbsp of garlic
oregano
basil
salt to taste
golden cooking wine (or any wine you have around the house)
olive oil
can of tomato paste

Shred the flank steak with 2 forks (one holding/one pulling ) or if not use your hands. It has to look stringy..once you've done that cut the onion, green pepper and red pepper all lengthwise....onion in rings, peppers in thin strips. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven pot and fry the onions and peppers..onions should be transparent when done frying...toss in the shredded meat, and toss all the ingredients while continuing to cook in dutch oven. Add 1/2 to 1 tbsp of each: oregano, basil, and salt to taste. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and top with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of wine....let that simmer for 30 minutes and toss over white cooked rice...serves 6