In Latin American cuisine, flank steak is the go-to choice for recipes that call for boiled meat because it shreds beautifully and offers bold flavor. It's also inexpensive, making it ideal for feeding a crowd. Look for annatto seeds with the spices in Latin markets or the Latin foods aisle of large supermarkets; they add rich golden color and nutty-peppery flavor.
I decided to make these after discovering that I still had a 2.7-lb sirloin tip roast (an acceptable alternative as I understand) in my freezer from our local grass-fed beef rancher. After thawing I prepped it for the slow cooker (not realizing there was another CL recipe that calls for this cooking method), rubbing it with salt, pepper and cumin and browning it on all sides before putting it in my 3(?)-qt.cooker on low heat. I added 1 1/2 cans diced tomatoes (with juice) along with the other vegetables which were increased proportionately. I let it cook for 8 1/2 hours, then removed the lid to let the liquid cook off for another 1 1/2 hours. In the meantime I made the dough (which was simple enough) and removed the roast to shred it with two forks, added the olives (no room before, and they would have overcooked anyway), then returned it to the liquid with the vegetables. After tasting I added extra salt, pepper and cumin as I hadn't increased these for the larger cut. The dough handled easily, although I did not have anything to cut 5" dough rounds; so I had to make the empanadas smaller, using a glass to cut 3 1/2" circles. I was able to fit about 1T filling in each, and was able to seal the edges without moistening. I baked them for the time specified (although in retrospect it could have been shorter as the empanadas were smaller), and we ate these with corn on the cob spread with butter, lime juice and feta. Of course we had a ton of filling so I may make more dough or we may simply eat the rest with rice. I can't speak to the authenticity as this was my first attempt at making both ropa vieja and empanadas, but I was pleased with how they turned out. (Maybe they could use some cheese but this would probably be incorrect.) I would like to try making the zucchini ones as well.
