Hey family, it's Chef Rick and welcome back to Recipe Friday here on Unseen Cuisine. Today we're closing out restaurant week with Cuban style propa vieja, tender shredded beef, peppers, onions, garlic, tomato, cumin, and oregano. Also, a little smoke and acidity to bring everything together. But we're not putting a pot in the oven for hours and hoping the beef is tender. We're going to use sound, aroma, texture, resistance to let the food tell us when it's ready. So let's get into the culinary cockpit. Here's what you need. This recipe serves approximately six. For the beef, you're going to need two pounds of flank steak, one and a half teaspoons of kosher salt, one and a half teaspoons of black pepper, one tablespoon of natural oil, braising sauce, one yellow onion sliced, one green bell pepper sliced, one red bell pepper sliced, four cloves of garlic minced, two tablespoons of tomato paste, one cup of tomato sauce, one cup of low sodium beef broth, a half a cup of dry white wine, one teaspoon of cumin, one teaspoon of oregano, a half a teaspoon of smoked pepperica, one bay leaf, one tablespoon of white wine vinegar, one tablespoon of olive oil, two tablespoons of chopped cilantro, salt and pepper as needed. Now for the finishing, you're gonna need a tablespoon of lime juice, two tablespoons of chopped cilantro, additional white wine vinegar if needed. What we're going to do now is set up our culinary cockpit. First, you want to set your oven at 325 degrees. Then you want to get your Dutch oven, tongs, wooden spoons, cutting board, two forks, oven mitts, and a clean plate ready. We're moving a heavy pot from the stovetop into a 325 degree oven. So establish your safe landing zones now. Once the heat comes on, we're not searching. Everything has a home, everything has a place, and that's safety through systems. What I want you to do next is check and sear the beef. Before seasoning, you want to smell your flank steak. Fresh beef should have a mild, clean, meaty aroma, not sour or rancid. Feel it. It should feel firm, moist, and resilient without feeling excessively sticky or slimy. Run your fingers along the meat. Notice those long muscle fibers. Right now, they're firm and tight. Remember that texture. Pack the beef dry, season both sides with salt and pepper, and we're going to sear it. You want to heat your Dutch oven over medium high heat and add the oil. Carefully touch one edge of the beef to the pan. What you want to listen for is that. We want that strong confidence sizzle. Lower the beef away from your body and leave it alone. After about two to about four minutes, gently test the edge with your tongs. If it grips the pan, don't fight it. When it releases with less resistance, that's your natural release cue. Turn and sear on both sides. Transfer the beef to a clean plate. Once you've done that, we're going to build the sauce. You're going to reduce the heat to medium. You're going to add your onions and peppers. As you stir, notice the resistance through your spoon as they start to firm up and gradually soften. Their aroma changes too. Sharp onions become sweeter and peppers are more fragrant. Add your garlic, that raw garlic aroma becomes warm, fragrant, and then add your tomato paste. Stir for about one to two minutes. You'll feel the mixture become thicker against your spoon while the tomato aroma becomes deeper and sweeter. Add the cumin, oregano, and smoked pepperica, and then pour the white wine in. Listen for that sound to change from sauteing to active bubbling. Use your wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot. As those cooked on pieces released from the bottom of the pot if begin feeling smoother underneath the spoon. Let the wine simmer for two to three minutes. Then add your tomato sauce, beef broth, vinegar, olive oil, bay leaf. Return the beef and any juices from the plate back to the pot. Bring everything to a gentle simmer, not a violent boil. What we want is a slow bloop, bloop, bloop. And then you want to cover the pot and carefully transfer it into a 325-degree oven. Let the beef tell you that it's ready. Let it braise for approximately three hours before you start checking it. And remember, three hours doesn't mean it's done. It's simply when we start asking the meat questions. I want you to carefully remove the Dutch oven and place it onto your safe landing zone. Once you are there, I want you to open the lid away from your face to avoid the steam. Use two forks, insert them into the beef and gently pull in opposite directions. Does the beef fight you? Does the fibers stay tightly connected? Then it's not ready. Cover it and give it another 30 minutes. Check it again. When those fibers begin separating easily with very little resistance, that's your texture checkpoint. The beef just told you it's ready. Shred and finish. Remove the beef and let it cool enough to handle safely. Discard the bay leaf. Using two forks, pull the beef apart. It's long natural fibers. We want long strands, not finely chopped meat. Remember where we started. Firm, tight, resilient. Now tender, fibrous, easy to separate. Return a shred of beef to the sauce and add two tablespoons of cilantro. Simmer uncovered for about 10 to 15 minutes. Move your spoon through the pot. The finished ropa view should feel moist, saucy, but not soupy. Now let's use C. Stop. Engage. Evaluate. Smell the roasted beef, tomatoes, sweet peppers, garlic, cumin, onion, and a little smoke. Taste. Add your fresh lime juice. If it needs more brightness, adds a small splash of white wine vinegar. Then only adjust your salt and pepper if needed. Turn off the heat and let everything rest for about 10 minutes. And that is your quiet point. And of course, let's eat. Serve your rope à vieja with your white rice, Cuban-style beans, sweet plantains, fresh lime on a plate. Now you got contrast and that you can experience without sight. Long tender strands of beef, separate grains of rice, creamy beans, soft plantains, and that rich sauce clinging to the beef. Take a bite. The beef should feel tender without turning into mush. The peppers bring sweetness. Tomatoes bring body. Cumin and oregano brings warmth. Smoked pepperica adds depth. And that fresh acid keeps everything from becoming heavy. That's ropa vieja. As we close Restaurant Week here, the most important hospitality lesson is don't assume what somebody needs. If a guest is blind or have low vision, don't automatically cut their food. Order for them, grab them, or assume someone else at the table will assist them. You need to ask, is there anything that I can do to make your dining experience more comfortable or accessible? And listen to the answer. Sometimes assistance is needed, sometimes it isn't. Accessibility is hospitality. Today we use sound to know our pan was ready. We follow up the natural release cue instead of fighting the beef. We use aroma to follow our flavor development. And after that long braze, we use resistance, not the clock, to determine when the beef was ready to shred. Now, that's cooking from the culinary cockpit. Restaurant week started with fast wok cooking and ends with a slow braze. Different foods, different techniques, same principle. The food is always giving you information. Now, if you enjoyed restaurant week, head on over to Unseen Cuisine for more sensory cooking resources, recipes, books, and information about the culinary cockpit foundation course. And next week, we're getting our hands onto some dough with some fresh pasta and dumplings. I'm Chef Rick. This is Unseen Cuisine. Trust your senses, trust your systems, and become the pilot.