Boliche

Ingredients

Beef and stuffing

• 1.5 kgbeef eye of round, in one piece
• 2cured Spanish chorizo, halved lengthways
• 100 gsmoked ham, cut into batons
• 1carrot, cut into batons

Mojo marinade

• 250 mlsour orange juice, or 150 ml orange juice with 100 ml lime juice
• 8 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 2 tspdried oregano
• 2 tspground cumin
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspground black pepper

Braise

• 3 tbspolive oil
• 2onions, sliced
• 1green pepper, sliced
• 4 clovesgarlic, sliced
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 400 gtinned chopped tomatoes
• 250 mldry white wine
• 500 mlbeef stock
• 2bay leaves

To serve

• white rice
• black beans
• fried ripe plantain

Directions

1. Cut a tunnel through the length of the eye of round with a long thin knife, working in from one end and then from the other so the two cuts meet in the middle. Coming in from both ends keeps the tunnel centred; driven all the way from one end it wanders and breaks out through the side.
2. Widen the tunnel to about 4 cm with the handle of a wooden spoon, then push in the chorizo, ham and carrot, packing them tightly from both ends until the tunnel is full.
3. Tie the roast with butcher’s string at 3 cm intervals so that it holds a cylinder through the long braise.
4. Combine the mojo ingredients, pour them over the beef in a deep dish, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight, turning it twice.
5. Lift the beef out and pat it completely dry, reserving the marinade. Wet meat steams rather than browns, and the crust you build here is most of the colour in the finished sauce.
6. Brown the beef hard in the olive oil in a heavy casserole, about 10 minutes in total, turning it so every surface takes colour. Set it aside.
7. Soften the onions, green pepper and sliced garlic in the same pot for 10 minutes, scraping up the browned residue as they release their moisture.
8. Stir in the tomato paste and fry it for 2 minutes until it darkens to brick red, then pour in the wine and reduce it by half.
9. Add the tinned tomatoes, stock, bay leaves and the reserved marinade, and return the beef to the pot along with any juices.
10. Cover and cook at the barest simmer for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, turning the beef every 45 minutes, until a skewer slides into the meat with no resistance. Eye of round is very lean and unforgiving, and a fast boil gives you dry meat sitting in an excellent sauce.
11. Lift the beef out and rest it for 20 minutes with the string still on, which is what keeps the slices from falling apart.
12. Reduce the sauce over a high heat if it is loose, then untie the beef and carve it across into slices about 1.5 cm thick, so each one shows the ring of chorizo through the middle.
13. Spoon the sauce over and serve with white rice, black beans and fried plantain.

Technique

• Tie it, and leave it tied through the rest. Untied, a stuffed eye of round unravels the moment you try to slice it.
• Sour orange is not interchangeable with sweet orange. If you cannot get naranja agria, the orange and lime blend is the standard Cuban-American workaround.
• Slice across the grain and no thinner than 1.5 cm. Thin slices of eye of round fall apart on the plate.

Substitutions

• Topside or top round instead of eye of round, which is a little more forgiving.
• Bottled mojo criollo, widely sold and perfectly respectable for a weeknight.
• Dry sherry in place of the white wine.

Variations

• With hard-boiled eggs pushed into the tunnel alongside the chorizo.
• Boliche mechado, in which strips of bacon are threaded through the meat rather than a single central stuffing.
• Cooked in a pressure cooker for 50 minutes, then rested and sliced in the same way.

History

Eye of round stuffed with chorizo and braised, a Cuban Sunday roast showing the Spanish taste for stuffed and larded beef.

Frequently asked questions

What is Boliche?

Boliche is a main from Cuba: beef eye-round stuffed with chorizo, pot-roasted. Eye of round stuffed with chorizo and braised, a Cuban Sunday roast showing the Spanish taste for stuffed and larded beef.

How long does Boliche take to make?

Boliche takes 40 min plus overnight marinating of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Boliche?

Yes, within limits. Topside or top round instead of eye of round, which is a little more forgiving. Bottled mojo criollo, widely sold and perfectly respectable for a weeknight. Dry sherry in place of the white wine.

What is the most important thing to get right in Boliche?

Lift the beef out and pat it completely dry, reserving the marinade. Wet meat steams rather than browns, and the crust you build here is most of the colour in the finished sauce.