Carne Asada (Cuban-style Pot Roast)

Carne Asada is a popular pot roast in Latin America. It is also referred to as boliche mechado, or stuffed eye round roast. Serve it with fluffy white rice, boiled potatoes and/or something fried, like tostones (green plantains). This is what you could call slow food, because it sure takes a while -- but the wait is totally worth it!

Makes 8 or more servings

Ingredients:
• 1 (3-pound) eye round roast (note: Have the butcher cut a slit down the center of the roast)
• 2 large onions
• 1 green bell pepper
• 6 garlic cloves
• 4 bay leaves
• 3 sour oranges (or a bottle of sour orange juice)
• 2 cups dry cooking wine (divided use)
• 1 large or 2 small Spanish-style chorizo sausages
• Salt
• Vegetable oil
• 4 strips bacon
• 5 tablespoons tomato paste (half a 6-ounce can)
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation:
The day before cooking this dish, slice the onions and green pepper and smash the garlic. Put them in a large, deep dish (I used my lasagna dish) together with the meat, bay leaves, sour orange juice and about a cup of dry cooking wine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Turn the meat halfway through the marinating process to ensure even flavoring.

Four hours before you intend to serve the roast, remove the casings from the chorizo and stuff the chorizo into the slit in the meat. (Ham works well as a stuffing, too.) Lightly salt the meat and sear it in hot oil. Drain the onions, green pepper marinade and fry them in the same oil. Wrap the meat in bacon strips.

Place the roast and the cooked vegetables in a large, heavy pot. Add the remaining cup of wine mixed with the tomato paste and ½ cup water (monitor and add a little more water if needed as it cooks). Bring it to a bare simmer and cook, covered, for about 3 hours.

Remove the meat from the cooking pot and pick out the bacon and bay leaves. With a hand-held blender, lightly blend the sauce, adding the sugar. Return the meat to the pot to simmer for a few more minutes. Let the meat rest for 10 or 15 minutes before slicing and serving with the sauce, which I strained, for a finer feel.

The boliche was cut in half and put in a deep dish with onions, green pepper, garlic and bay leaves. Liquid: dry cooking wine and sour orange juice (naranja agria).

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Carne Asada (Cuban-style Pot Roast)

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