Picadillo a la Criolla

I'm making a large quantity of Picadillo to ensure leftovers to make 2 more recipes that I will post later on. Cut this recipe in half for a smaller portion.

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 8-10 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• dash of oregano
• dash of ground cumin
• 1 cup Sherry or dry white wine
• salt to taste
• about a dozen pimento stuffed Spanish olives
• 2/3 cup raisins (optional)
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp capers (optional)
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 1 carrot, sliced

Brown and strain the ground beef. Set aside.
Warm olive oil on medium heat and saute onions, peppers, and garlic until limp. Add the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, bay leaves, oregano, cumin and Sherry, add the ground beef, capers, olives, potatoes and carrots. Cover and let simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit about 10 minutes before serving. Serve with white rice and plantains.