Palomilla, Por Favor: A 10-Minute Recipe
If you're looking for an easy, inexpensive, and fast meal, this classic Cuban dish is for you. Pair it with a side of white rice and black beans, and you have a complete meal on your plate. I learned how to make palomilla while spending the day with my abuela. My Abuela Yolanda takes care of my younger cousins, Mikey (7), Nico (5), and Sofi Lou (1). As an older woman taking care of three rambunctious children, fast and easy meals are an essential. My little cousins know who they have cooking for them, and they take full advantage. Why eat Wendy's when you can eat some fresh bistecito?
Ingredients:
1 package of thin cut steak (it's called "Top Round Steak Thin Sliced" at Publix)
Salted Butter (at least 1 stick)
Salt
Sazon Completa
Mojo
Naranja Agria
Lime Juice or Lemon Juice
A small onion (white or yellow)
Directions:
Rinse the steaks in water and place on pan that's deep enough so that sauces won't spill over.
Sprinkle salt and sazon completa on each side of each steak. Then, pour mojo and naranja agria on each side of each steak. Before pouring, cover the opening of each bottle with two fingers so that just enough liquid comes out. Spray lemon and/or lime juice for an extra zest.
On a cutting board, place the onion on its side and hold it steady. Slice the onion horizontally so that the onion cuts into rings.
Place a large saucepan on the stove and heat it up to medium-high heat. While it's heating up, let about 1-2 tablespoons of butter melt on the pan.
Cook one steak at a time on the pan. Let it cook for 1 minute and thirty seconds, then flip to the other side and cook again for 1 minute and thirty seconds. Remove the steak from the pan and place onto a serving plate. Before you cooking the next steak, add some more butter to the pan.
Once all the steaks are cooked, add another 1-2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. Put all of the chopped onions into the pan, and saute the onions until they begin to appear clear. Put onions on top of the cooked steaks.
If you feel like you need more sauce (because what goes better with rice than sauce), then add another 1-2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. Add just a spalsh of naranja agria and mojo to the pan, and let the butter and sauces mix and heat up. Once the sauce starts to bubble, pour it on the sauteed onions and cooked palomilla.
