Recipe Ropa Vieja with Pomagranate

[The Late Night Gourmet]

This is my answer to the question of what to do when you have a bag of frozen chunks of sirloin in the freezer, aging pomegranates in the fridge, and an appetite. That question probably won't be asked very often, but maybe it should be.

I am reminded again of @CraigC's excellent Ropa Vieja recipe, and that I once again forgot to pluck some great ideas from that recipe. But, I will most assuredly make this recipe again, so I will have other opportunities.

I figured pomegranate would work well with beef - and I really didn't have any plans for them - so I seeded them and threw them in. This added a fruitiness that was very interesting alongside the savoriness and spiciness. I thought there might be entirely too much (2 pomegranates seemed excessive), but it really worked out well. I suspect this accounts for the more reddish color I have on mine compared to the dark, beefy color Craig achieved on his.

Ingredients

2 pounds sirloin beef trimmed of fat, cut in 1-1/2" chunks
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp oregano leaves
1 red onion
1 bell pepper
28 ounce can stewed tomatoes
2 tsp chili de arbol ground
4 garlic cloves minced
2 pomegranates
1 tsp kosher salt adjusted to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper adjusted to taste

Directions

1. Place beef in slow cooker. Sprinkle with cumin and oregano.

2. Cut onions and peppers in strips and place on top of beef.

3. Cut stewed tomatoes into chunks and place on top. Sprinkle with chile de arbol powder, salt, and pepper.

4. Seed pomegranates (see https://absolute0cooking.com/recipe/how-to-seed-a-pomegranate/). Add pomegranate to the pot. That looks like a crazy amount of seeds, but they end up looking like pinto beans in the final product.

5. Place lid on slow cooker (don't lock it, but you know that already, right?). Cook on High for 4 hours.

6. Strain out the liquids into a bowl. Retain the liquids as a stock for a future recipe.

7. Use two forks to shred the beef. I used knives because I didn't want to explain why the last 2 clean forks in the drawer were gone.