A Mother’s Day Menu

This was my first Mother’s Day away from my mom, but my first with my new Mother-in-Law. As a gift, she told me she wanted me to make a proper Cuban meal. Since I’ve recently mastered arroz con pollo, I thought I’d give it another go. I still think the real gift was for me, a full unsupervised day in a giant kitchen with a gas stove and miles of counter space!

I served the arroz con pollo with an avocado salad and platanitos en tentacion.

Arroz con Pollo:

1 package bone-in chicken thighs with the skin on (about 4-6 thighs)
1 package Spanish chorizo
1 8oz package cubed ham
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large yellow or white onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 10oz jar manzanilla olives
1 4oz jar sliced pimientos
1 14oz package arborio or Valencia rice
3 sachets sazon Goya
1 cup dry white wine
1 12oz beer
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cube chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28oz can chopped tomatoes
Few strands saffron (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the chicken thighs in a large pot with one quartered onion, one bay leaf, the cube of chicken bouillon and a sprinkle of black pepper. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let them simmer until cooked through. Once the chicken has cooked, set on a plate, discard the onion and bay leaf  and reserve the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot. I use a 5 1/2 quart Le Creuset, but feel free to go with something a bit larger. Add the garlic and cook over medium high heat until fragrant. Add the onion and green pepper and cook, stirring often until the onion is translucent.

Add the second bay leaf, cumin, and coriander and stir.
Add the cubed ham and sliced chorizo. Stir.
Add the package of arborio rice and stir to combine ingredients.

Pour in the canned tomatoes, sazon goya, tomato paste, white wine and beer. Stir.
Add the chicken thighs and enough of the reserved broth to cover the ingredients in the pot. Bring to a boil.

Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat and stir.
Add the drained olives, pimientos, and saffron, if you are using it.
The mixture should be simmering. Watch it closely and stir often as the rice absorbs the liquid fairly quickly. From this point on treat the rice much like you would a risotto, gradually adding more liquid and stirring until the rice is the right texture. Remember that this will be slightly mushier in texture than a traditional risotto.

Once the liquid is absorbed and the rice is at your desired tenderness, season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and allow it to sit for 15 minutes. Serve.

Serves 8, generously.

Platanitos en tentacion:

3 overripe plantains, peeled, cut in half and lengthwise
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tbsp rum
4 tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 375.

Grease a small, glass baking or pie pan.
Place the plantains in the pan and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugars over them.
Cut the butter into small pieces and drop them around the plantains. Pour the rum over the mixture.

Bake for 45min to 1 hour.

Notes:

-You can switch out the olives in the arroz con pollo for peas. I love olives, so I use them instead of the peas.
-You can also top the arroz con pollo with asparagus. Growing up, everyone seemed to use canned asparagus. I don’t recommend that. It’s weird. However, it might be nice to top with blanched or grilled asparagus, if you are so inclined.

 

 

 

 

First Attempt: Lomo Saltado

 

There are things about Miami that never occurred to me that I would miss. One of these is Peruvian food. I never really had it that often, but when I did, it was really good!
I came across this recipe by Gaston Acurio. Mr. Acurio is one of Peru’s most famous chefs and owns a number of restaurants across Latin America, Europe and the US.

Lomo saltado closely resembles a stir fry with beef, peppers, potatoes, onions and tomatoes. The finished product has a really flavorful sauce that gets absorbed by the potatoes and rice and gives them this wonderful salty and acidic taste. It’s even better the next day!

I followed the recipe as instructed. I think next time I might add some fresh grated ginger with the garlic. The linked recipe is in Spanish. See below for my translation. Enjoy!

Lomo Saltado de Gaston Acurio:

600gr beef loin, cubed
1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium onions in thick slices
2 yellow bell peppers in thin slices
4 tomatoes in thick, quartered slices
1 tbsp minced garlic or garlic paste
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 tbsp chopped culantro leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the fried potatoes:
1/2 lb yellow potatoes
vegetable oil

Slice the potatoes into french fry shape.
In a large pan, heat the oil and fry the potatoes until lightly browned and crunchy.
Remove from the oil with tongs or a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the beef and cook until brown on all sides.
Add the onions, tomatoes and peppers. Stir and cook for about 40 seconds.
Add the garlic, soy, vinegar and broth. Stir and cook for about 30 seconds and add the potatoes. Check for seasoning.
Stir in the green onions and culantro leaves.
Serve with white rice.

Notes:
I used tri-tip sirloin which is more inexpensive than the tenderloin.
I did not have culantro leaves so I seasoned the beef with ground coriander in addition to the salt and pepper.
I used a combination of yellow, red and purple potatoes to add more color.

Buen Provecho!

Guiso de Maiz

 

Guiso de maiz, or corn stew, is one the most underrated Cuban dishes out there. When it comes to Cuban food, the first things that often come to mind are black beans or roast pork. Guiso de maiz is an obscure gem not seen on many restaurant menus but most definitely a great addition to your home menus. It’s also great if you have a crowd to feed because a little goes a long way!

Recipe adapted from Cocina Criolla, by Nitza Villapol.

1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large green pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup diced calabaza squash
1 cup diced potatoes
1 28oz can crushed or pureed tomatoes
2 lb packages frozen corn kernels
1/4 lb diced ham
1 large Spanish chorizo, diced
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 sachets of Sazon Goya
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy pot. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add the ham and chorizo and cook, stirring, for about 2-3 minutes.
Add the bay leaf, peppers and onions and cook, stirring until the onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
Add tomatoes, potatoes, Sazon Goya, and stir.
Add water to cover. Start with 2 cups of water and add more if you need to.
Bring the mixture to a boil and add the squash and corn kernels. Taste for seasoning and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
Once the mixture is at a boil reduce the heat to medium-medium low and simmer until the potatoes and squash are tender and the cooking liquid has thickened slightly,  about 30 minutes.
Before serving, stir in the vinegar and check the seasoning.
Serve in bowls with white rice.

Notes:
I typically use 1 package of diced ham. You can find them in the packaged deli meat section of most supermarkets.
Spanish chorizo can be challenging to find outside of South Florida, where it’s widely available at most supermarkets. Outside of South Florida, you can find it at specialty markets or more upscale grocery stores like Whole Foods or Metropolitan Market. It’s usually with the packaged prosciutto and pancetta.
Also, please note that chorizo comes in many shapes and sizes. It varies by brand. Sometimes it comes formed in one large sausage, other times it comes in smaller packages of four or five small sausages. What you are looking for is the dry cured Spanish-style, not the Mexican kind which has a very different flavor profile.
If you can’t find calabaza, butternut squash, acorn squash, or pumpkin are great substitutes.
Sazon Goya can be found in the spices section of the supermarket. In some places, it might be in the Hispanic section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vaca Frita

I thought I would begin at the beginning. Vaca frita, which loosely translated is “fried cow,” is a Cuban classic and one of the first things I learned how to make. I admit, I am a vaca frita snob and will pretty much only eat it when I make it. That being said, my recipe is super easy and once you try it, you probably won’t eat it in a restaurant either. A healthier version you can also try is to replace the beef with boneless chicken breasts or thighs. Bear in mind, those of you who like rare beef, we Cubans cook our meat to death. I do like a rare steak and agree that most of the time, “well done” is an aberration. This however, is delicious sacrilege. Buen provecho!

2lbs Skirt or Flank Steak
2 Medium onions (I use white or yellow, not Vidalia)
4-5 Medium to large cloves of garlic
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lime, plus lime wedges for serving
Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil the in meat in salted water to cover in a large pot for about 20-30 minutes or until just cooked through. Remove the meat and set aside to cool.
*You can also remove the pot from the heat and pour the contents into a bowl. When cooled, place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, when you are ready to cook, skim the fat off of the top, remove the meat and continue recipe as follows. 
While the meat cools, finely chop the onions and mince the garlic.
Once the meat has cooled enough to handle, shred along the grain of the meat by hand so that you have thin strips. It should look like pulled pork.Set aside.
In a non-stick frying pan, heat the oil and garlic together over medium-high heat. Once the oil and garlic are aromatic, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent.
Add the shredded meat and stir to combine. Tamp the mixture down in the pan and let it cook.
With tongs or a spoon, check the bottom of the mixture every 5 minutes. Once the bottom of the mixture develops a slight char, stir and re-tamp so that it all evenly chars. This should take about 15 minutes.
*I like it at the point of almost burnt, but you don’t have to take it that far. 
In the last 5 minutes, add the lime juice, salt and pepper.
Once the meat has evenly charred, remove the pan from the heat and serve with white rice and the lime wedges.

Serves 4, generously.