Revoltillos

I was looking through Fannie Farmer for a stove-top recipe that uses ground beef when I ran across this one. It looked really weird, but I thought I'd try it.  I made it for a dinner with my sisters, and when I told people what I was making (I pronounced it in what I imagined was the Spanish way, ray-VOL-tee-ose), my sister said, "You're making something called 'revolting o's'?" I couldn't defend it too staunchly, since frankly, the recipe did sound a little gross (Olives and raisins? Who came up with that combo?). So I let it slide when everyone called it Revoltio's all week, pronounced like Spaghetti-O's.

Since it had raisins, and sounded vaguely curryish, I used ground lamb instead of ground beef for it. I'm guessing this is a Spanish food, seeing as it has olives and bay leaves in it, but I really have no idea. I do know that it was surprisingly delicious.

Unfortunately, the pictures aren't too lovely, as I forgot my HTC phone, and my iPhone camera is worthless. So if it looks especially ugly, don't let that deter you. It's actually quite good.

Here's what I used:
1 c. brown rice
2.5 c. water
1/4 c. olive oil
3 medium onions
3 green bell peppers
3 cloves garlic
1 lb. ground lamb (Fannie calls for 2, and if I had it, or made it again, I'd use 2)
5 bay leaves
3/4 c. ripe olives
3/4 c. raisins

Directions:

• rinse rice, then add it to a sauce pan with the water, simmer on very low heat for about 40 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. If the water is all absorbed and the rice is still chewier than you like, add more water and cook longer.
• while rice is cooking, heat oil in large cast iron skillet with lid
• chop onions and add to skillet
• chop peppers and add to skillet
• cook about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent, stirring often
• mince garlic, add to pan and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly to keep it from sticking
• add ground meat and cook until browned 
• add bay leaves, olives and raisins
• cover pan and cook on low heat 15-20 minutes, stirring once or twice. If it begins to stick reduce heat or remove from heat if it's been at least 15 minutes.

I served this with creole tomatoes, which don't really go with it so well, but I have sooo many tomatoes that I wanted to make a side dish with them. Shockingly, despite the weird name and ingredients, everyone enjoyed the revoltillos. My sisters (even the picky one) said it was good, my mom, husband and brother in law all ate it, and even my son finished his plate, though he thought the meat tasted funny since he's used to ground beef. I served these with creole tomatoes, which everyone also ate without complaint, though I don't think it was a very good match for this dish.

Overall, I'd definitely call it a success.