| Feb 8 @ 11:32 AM |
Cuban recipes
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Loreli
Posts: 25,408
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A friend was telling me she had this for the first time a few weeks ago, and LOVED it!
Do you make it? Do you have a favorite recipe?
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| Feb 9 @ 2:45 PM |
Cuban recipes |
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keen5
Posts: 626
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Which recipe? There are lots of Cuban recipes out there. Are you referring to the sandwich or something else or just anything Cuban?
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| Feb 9 @ 4:11 PM |
Cuban recipes
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Loreli
Posts: 25,408
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Anything! 
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| Feb 9 @ 8:44 PM |
Cuban recipes |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 22,628
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Oh dear, I am afraid I am going to have to tell my husband about this thread. 
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| Feb 9 @ 8:54 PM |
Cuban recipes
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Haban3ro
Posts: 1,197
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Pan de Media Noche (Midnight Sandwich)
On a soft sweet roll (King's Hawaiian Bread is the closest you'll find to what we use) assemble a sandwich using:
Sliced ham
Sliced pork roast
Provolone or Swiss cheese
Butter (for one side of the bread)
Mustard (on the other side)
Sliced dill pickles
Then put your sandwich into a hot skillet or a sandwich press for 3 minutes (per side if you're using the skillet.)
Serve with beer and Tostones (Fried Plantains)
You can also make a Cuban Sandwich by using a regular French roll instead of the sweet bread, and leave out the pickles. The Sweet/Sour tickle of the pickels and the sweet bread is the key.
More Recipes to follow.
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| Feb 9 @ 9:26 PM |
Cuban recipes |
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Haban3ro
Posts: 1,197
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Picadillo (Beef hash, Cuban Style)
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded & chopped.
* 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or put through a garlic press.
* 1 pound ground beef (any fat/lean % you want to use is OK -- My people don't sit still for dictatorial chefs... )
* 1/4 dry sherry (NOT Cooking Sherry -- this tends to have extra salt added, and is the dregs of the sherry family.)
* 1 can (15 oz?) crushed tomatoes
* 1 tasblespoon salt
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* A dash or two of Tabasco sauce (optional)
* 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes
* 1/4 cup dark raisins
* 1/2 cup pimiento stuffed green olives, drained and cut into chunks
* 1 large hard-boiled egg
* 1/2 cup frozen baby peas
Begin by cooking the egg until it's hard boiled. Fish out the egg, and cook the diced potato in the same water until it's fork-tender. (Fuel is an issue in the 2/3rd World -- you've no idea what a luxury it is to throw out hot water.)
In a casserole or a large, deep frying-pan, brown the beef, cooking until it's all in small bits. Drain off the fat, and set the beef aside for later.
Heat the olive oil over low heat until it's fragrant, then add the garlic, the onions, and the bell pepper. (This is the key to any Cuban cooking -- making the sofrito. Each ingredient will add it's own aroma and flavor, and you can only gauge it by using your nose. So smell the olive oil, smell the garlic, smell the onions, and give the bell pepper 1-2 minutes to develop their fragrance.)
Add the Beef back to the sofrito, and blend them together well.
Add the tomatoes, the salt, the Worcestershire, and the sherry. One at a time, and give them a chance to add to the aroma. If you're adding the Tabasco, add it now ( but I usually don't.) Also stick in a bay leaf if you like. I almost always do.
Add the potato, the raisins, and the olives. Stir them all in together, and adjust your seasonings. Cuban cooking should be flavorful, but not HOT. Ccover, and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed, 12-15 minutes.
When the dish is ready, uncover it, toss in the frozen peas, and stir them in. you can also stir the chopped or sliced egg at this time, or use it for a pretty garnish.
Serve with Tostones, White Rice, and Black Beans.
(I'll have my black bean recipe on here later on, but you can use canned black beans. Goya or Kirby are the most authentic ones.)
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| Feb 9 @ 9:53 PM |
Cuban recipes
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Loreli
Posts: 25,408
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Wow-
I know some people that would LOVE the hash!
Please keep posting, Haban! 
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| Feb 9 @ 10:16 PM |
Cuban recipes |
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Haban3ro
Posts: 1,197
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Well, the cool thing is that the Picadillo becomes the filling for another Recipe: Empanadas.
You can either make your own pastry dough, and fill it with the Picadillo (very similar to a Welsh Pasty, my bride informs me) or you can do the lazy bachelor thing and get the Instant Crescent Rolls from the cold case at the store.
Spread out the crescent rolls (you'll find you have 2 trianglss facing one another, then another pair of 2, etc.) Pur 1-2 tablespoons of picadillo on the bottom triangle, then cover it with the other half and press down the edges all the way around. Bake them as directed on the package, and you're good to go with another meal.
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| Feb 9 @ 10:37 PM |
Cuban recipes
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Haban3ro
Posts: 1,197
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Keen5, I'll bet you have lots of good recipes in Elizabethtown. Lots of Cubanos ended up there, and you should have no problem getting ingredients. Poor Lorelei is in the wilds of Iowa, and she can't find a good chorizo to save her life.
OK, I've mentioned Tostones a couple of times; here's how I make them.
Basically, these are fried Plaintains. (You may have to have them FedExed to Iowa) Do NOT try this with bananas; they have a completely different texture, and you'll just make a mess and frustrate yourself. Bananas Foster are a whole different subject.
Find a big plaintain or two at the market. You'll be cutting off about an inch at either end. You want to discard the pointy skinny bit, and start in where it widens out. Cut into sections about 1" or 1&1/4" thick. Plan on 2 apiece for each guest, but 4 if I'm coming to dinner.
Take a small skillet/frying pan, and fill it with 1/2" of cooking oil. Heat that up until the plantain sizzles when you place it in the oil. Leave room to be able to turn them, so that they're golden brown on both sides. Pull them out onto a paper towel-covered plate, and let some of the grease drain.
When all of the plantain chunks are cooked, (and your oil is still hot), take a glass and press down on the top of each chunk, smooshing it to about half it's original height. The plantain should stick to the glass, so use your spatula to pry it off the glass and back into the oil. (Beware of splatters!!)
Fry it again for 1-2 minutes on a side, then pull them out, drain them, and get the next batch in the oil.
It take a while to figure out how ripe the plantains are. They're much sweeter as the ripen, so they become almost a desert. When they're still green, they're pretty good with a bit of butter (like biscuits) or with a light sprinkle of salt.
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| Feb 10 @ 9:38 AM |
Cuban recipes |
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keen5
Posts: 626
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Haban, I really don't have that many Cuban recipes, but I'll share what I've collected. I have to admit that I have not tried them all yet.
Cuban Stuffed Eggplant recipe
Ingredients:
3 medium sized eggplants
1/2 lb ground chuck or round (*)
1-1/2 cups minced onions
6 Tbsp butter
3 cups herbed bread stuffing
1-1/2 cup milk (**)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Directions:
Saute the onion in the butter in a 9" skillet for a few minutes, until onions are slightly translucent. Add the ground beef or turkey, and cook, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes.
Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Scoop the center out and reserve for the filling, leaving 1/4" around the skin. Boil the skins at medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Place skins on a cookie sheet and drain them on several layers of paper towels.
Add to the skillet the reserved eggplant centers and cook until tender. Remove it from heat and while piping hot, add 1-1/2 cup bread stuffing, seasonings and milk (**). Let it cool for 10 minutes.
Fill the eggplant skins with this mixture, being very careful not to break them. Sprinkle with the rest of the herbed bread stuffing and parmesan cheese.
Preheat oven to 400oF and bake the stuffed eggplants for about 20 minutes.
(*) Today most people would use turkey ground.
(**) For a different taste, you can trade off milk for tomato sauce.
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| Feb 10 @ 9:42 AM |
Cuban recipes
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keen5
Posts: 626
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Cuban Munyeta
Ingredients:
1 lb. navy beans **
4 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. each of salt and pepper
1/2 cup cubed ham
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 lb. salted pork, cubed (or bacon)
4 cups water
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 whole chorizo (Spanish sausage)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tsp. vegetable oil
Directions:
Put beans in water, cook them until soft; drain. In a frying pan, saute onion, salted pork, garlic, sausage and ham in oil. Slowly add beans, mashing them. Add tomato sauce, salt, pepper and olive oil; fry until crispy. Serve hot.
serves 4
** Navy beans are called "judias" in Cuba.
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| Feb 10 @ 9:51 AM |
Cuban recipes |
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keen5
Posts: 626
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Cuban Black Beans
Ingredients:
1 pound dried black beans
4 cups of water
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
¼ pound salt pork, chopped
1 pound smoked ham hocks, cut in 1 inch pieces
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves
4 cups chicken stock
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Place black beans and water in large stock pot. Cover and boil two minutes. Turn off heat and let stand covered for 1 hour.
Remove the lid and add the rest of the ingredients, except the vinegar, salt and pepper. There should be enough water to just cover the beans, so if necessary add a bit or water. Cover and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 hours. Take out the hocks and remove the bones. Return the meat to the pot. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper. Simmer long enough to heat the vinegar.
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| Feb 10 @ 9:53 AM |
Cuban recipes
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Loreli
Posts: 25,408
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The only place I have seen plantains, is Puerto Rico.
What was weird, to me, in the restaurants there, the Shrimp Creole is in a brown gravy. When I have had it here, it is in a spicy tomato sauce.
We do have 2 grocery stores, and a Target that sell "gourmet" foods. If they don't carry it, I bet they'd get some!
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| Feb 10 @ 10:37 AM |
Cuban recipes |
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Haban3ro
Posts: 1,197
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Keen, your black bean recipe is excellent. Swap out the salt pork for a Spanish chorizo, and it's the way grandma Gregoria would've made it.
I just throw the hocks in whole, and fish out bigger chunks of bone. But that's just because my nearest Cuban market is 30 miles away.
You've all inspired Katt and I to go make a run today. We'll report back with some chicken dishes later on. Katt insists I do chicken...
BTW, here's a link to a site where you can order chorizo by mail. It's made in North Carolina to the old family recipe, so it's supporting another US employer. (I'm not fussy, the Chorizo I use is made in Chino, CA.) And they're having a sale on it, too!
Order chorizo on-line
[Edited on 2/10/2009 10:47 AM]
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| Feb 11 @ 2:48 AM |
Cuban recipes
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mystery2u888
Posts: 18,057
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| Feb 13 @ 3:36 PM |
Cuban recipes |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 22,628
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I made Black beans yesterday. We had went to a place called Porto's, ( Cuban bakery) and we got Tamales, Ham Croquettes, and potato balls.
Oh and wickly tasting desserts too.
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| Feb 16 @ 8:37 PM |
Cuban recipes
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Loreli
Posts: 25,408
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I'm getting so many ideas, I may have to open a restaurant!
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| Feb 17 @ 2:03 PM |
Cuban recipes |
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blueyes101
Posts: 12,080
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What is the fruit and booze recipe 
And how about BBQ, I need fire to cook my meat.....
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| May 23 @ 2:18 PM |
Cuban recipes
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Haban3ro
Posts: 1,197
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Don't know about the fruit and booze recipes.
And as for BBQ, It's not really "authentic" Cuban. Back home, if you had a piece of meat, it was usually small, so the best way to feed the whole family with it was to add it to a recipe with rice and beans in it so everybody would get something.
You have no idea what a luxury it still is for me to put a whole steak, pork chop, or a chicken breast on the grill for each of my guests.
I LOVE the USA!!
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