Ingredients
- Makes 16 sliders
- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs of fresh oregano
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 900g skirt steak, cut into 2 pieces to fit in your pan
- 1 tablespoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- 3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped
- 1 green and 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 15 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 120ml BBQ sauce
- 16 small brioche buns, cut in half
- 115g unsalted butter, melted
Kelis, US singer and chef:
I started making these when I had a food truck at South by Southwest music and film festival in Austin, Texas, to showcase my new line of sauces. The meat is a version of ropa vieja, or ‘old clothes’, which is braised, shredded flank steak traditional to many cuisines of the Caribbean. My mum makes ropa vieja all the time; she taught me to make it. To utilise my barbecue sauce, I got the idea to toss ropa vieja with the sauce and then use the meat to make sliders. You can also serve the meat (with or without sauce) with rice, which is how Puerto Ricans traditionally eat ropa vieja, or use it to fill pastelitos, which are the Puerto Rican version of empanadas.
Method:
1. Wrap the thyme, oregano and rosemary in a doubled piece of muslin and tie it closed with kitchen string to make a herb bouquet.
2. Season the meat on both sides with the salt and pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole dish over a medium high-heat for about 3 minutes until it’s searing hot. Add one piece of meat to the pan and sear it for 5-7 minute per side until it is deep brown on both sides. Remove the meat from the pan and sear the second piece of meat. Leave the second piece of seared meat in the pan and return the first piece to the pot too. Add the herb bouquet, onions, green and red peppers, garlic, paprika, cumin and enough water to just cover the meat and vegetables. Bring the water to the boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for about 2 hours until the meat can be gently torn apart with a fork. Turn off the heat and leave the meat to cool to room temperature in the liquid.
4. Lift the meat out of the liquid and shred it back into the pan with the cooking liquid. (I like to go at it with kitchen scissors.) Remove the herb bouquet and stir in the barbecue sauce. Season to taste with salt.
5. Brush the insides of the buns with the melted butter and toast the insides only under the grill. Scoop an equal quantity of the barbecue beef onto each bun and serve.
