Ropa Vieja, March 22, 2017

Yesterday morning, I started a batch of ropa vieja, one of my favorite Cuban dishes, going in the crockpot. The name literally translates to "old clothes" in English. The messy, stringy appearance the beef gets makes it look, they say, like a pile of old clothes. The smell of it perfumed the air all afternoon, making my stomach growl. When it was nearly ready, I fixed a batch of lime rice, heated some Goya black bean soup, and had supper all done. The finished product tasted really good to my wife. To me, it needed something. It was good, just not as good as in Miami, a bit insipid. I think next time, I'll toss in some tomato paste and red wine, to give it a fuller-bodied flavor.

Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja

1/2 c. chicken broth (I will use beef broth next time)

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1/2 lg. onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 green pepper, chopped

1 bay leaf

15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 tbsp. cumin

Salt & pepper

1 1/2 lb. flank steak

Lime wedges

Mix broth, vinegar, onion, garlic, green pepper, bay leaf, and tomatoes together in your slow cooker. Combine the cumin, salt, & pepper. Rub all over the meat. Submerge in sauce. Cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Remove from pot and let rest about 10 minutes on a cutting board. Shred and mix back into the sauce. Serve with lime wedges. Serves 4-6.

Lime Rice

2 tsp. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 lg. onion, chopped

1 c. rice (I like jasmine)

2 c. chicken broth

1/2 tsp. salt

Juice of 2 limes

Cook onion and garlic in oil until onion is translucent. Add rice. Stir and cook a couple minutes. Add broth, salt, and lime juice. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low heat 15-20 minutes. Fluff with fork. Serves 4-6. 

Pan-Latin Citrus Turkey Breast, February 11, 2015

Continuing the theme of multi-ethnic meals for the week, I made a Cubanish dinner last night. I say Cubanish because the turkey marinade wasn't very typically Cuban, what with the jalapeño and chile powder and basil. Really, using turkey wasn't very Cuban, either. It's not a popular meat in Cuban culture, generally speaking, but it was on sale at the grocery and looked pretty good. I like to start my meat (other than seafood) marinating either the night before or the morning I'm going to make the dish, so it has lots of time to soak up the flavors. If, however, you forget, a couple hours will do the trick. I prefer, honestly, a typical Cuban mojo for marinade, but it's fun to change it up sometimes.

Last night, I used Goya canned black bean soup to put over the rice, since we both like it quite a bit and our local grocery carries it. If you want to make yours from scratch, you can find the recipe here. I also used Goya frozen maduros (sweet plantains), as I've been having a hard time finding good ripe plantains anywhere near me. Jeannene had spotted these at a Mexican grocery near Pie & Bubbles' apartment & picked them up for me to have on hand. I baked them in the oven and they turned out great! For a salad, I put some slivers of sweet onion and chunks of avocado on butter lettuce, then dressed it with a lime juice, olive oil, salt, & pepper. Simple and delicious.

Pan-Latin Citrus Turkey Breast

2 large skinless, boneless turkey breasts

Juice of 2 limes

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 orange

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 jalapeño, seeded and minced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a heavy knife blade

1/2 tsp. chile powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix everything but the turkey. Add the turkey and marinate at least a couple hours. Broil, grill, or pan-fry in olive oil until cooked through. Serves 2 or 3. 

Cuban Black Beans for Patti

While I was on my honeymoon in New Orleans, a blog reader named Patti commented on another post, asking if I have a good black bean soup recipe. It so happens that I do. I love black beans, either eaten from the bowl like a traditional soup or ladled over rice. I can't vouch for the authenticity of this, as I use canned beans, but it tastes pretty good. If you want it soupier, just add some beef broth to it. 

Cuban Black Beans for Rice

1-2 tbsp. Spanish olive oil (you can sub any extra virgin olive oil)

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (white vinegar is fine, too)

3 cans black beans (I like Goya brand)

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. cumin

Salt & pepper

Chopped onions, for serving

Lime wedges, for serving

Sauté onion & pepper in oil until softened & onions are translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute. Add vinegar, beans, bay leaf, cumin, salt, & pepper, mashing slightly with a wooden spoon to break down some of the beans. Cook about 25 minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve over rice, with chopped onions and lime wedges. Serves 8-10. (sometimes I also squeeze a little lime juice and a little orange juice into the pan while this is cooking)

Puerco Asado

As a Cuban, one of my favorite meats is pork and this is one of my favorite ways to eat pork. Last week, Jeannene came home with a pork roast and asked me to make puerco asado for dinner the next day, "please, please, please." I actually had a can of Goya's black bean soup on hand, to serve over rice. I did not have plantains for maduros, nor did I have any of Goya's frozen maduros, so we were bereft of those. However, the deliciousness of the avocado & onion salad completed the meal nicely. The simple Cuban-style vinaigrette is a fabulous way to dress a simple salad. This meal is my traditional go-to for our Nochebuena feast every year, with the addition of fried yuca.

Puerco Asado

5 lb. boneless pork loin

4 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp. oregano

Salt & pepper

1/4 c. lime juice

1/4 c. orange juice

1/2 c. olive oil

A few bay leaves

In the morning, or even the night before, prick the roast all over with a knife. Mash the garlic and oregano into a paste, using a mortar & pestle (if you don't have these, you can process it in a food processor). Rub the pork with the garlic paste, salt, & pepper. Mix the liquids together in a large ziploc bag. Add the pork roast and bay leaves. Marinate at least 4 hours, turning several times. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove roast from bag and pat dry. Discard bay leaves, but save the marinade. Roast pork about 2 1/2 hours, to a 165 degree internal temperature, pouring reserved marinade over the roast about halfway through cooking and basting often. When cooked, tent with foil on serving platter and allow to rest about 10 minutes. Serves 8. 

For the avocado salad, I like to use butter lettuce (torn into bite-size pieces), avocado slices, and sweet onion slices. The dressing is 1/4 c. olive oil (Spanish is best for this, but not essential), 1/8 c. lime juice, 1/8 c. white wine vinegar (apple cider or red wine is fine, as well), salt & pepper, whisked together. That makes enough for 4-6 salads. 

Zero Is Not Enough Degrees

It is currently very sunny where I am. It is also one degree. We got a heavy blanket of snow over the weekend and then the temperature plummeted. Facebook feeds filled up with friends' experiments with throwing pots of water into the air to become mere puffs of cloud, blowing bubbles to see them freeze, and discovering how many excuses they could come up with to use the oven.

Our oven's been pretty well-used this week, as well. Sunday night, I slathered a chicken with mashed garlic, lemon juice, rosemary, and olive oil. Before roasting it, I stuck the juiced lemon halves and several sprigs of rosemary inside. It was delicious, very tender and flavorful. To accompany the chicken, I cooked rice in chicken stock and added onions and garlic I'd sautéed in olive oil and heated up some corn.

Last night, I made a Cuban dinner with puerco asado (roast pork loin), black beans & rice, maduros (fried ripe plantains), and a green salad. Jeannene often says that our relationship was sealed when I made fried plantains for we the first time. I like mine very, very ripe. I don't know about other places, but it's very hard to find ripe plantains at my grocery, so I usually buy them a couple weeks before I plan to cook them, so they have a chance to get nice and black. I peel them, slice them on the diagonal, heat some oil in a skillet, and cook them until they're deep golden brown all over.

I was disappointed not to be able to find any yuca in our new area. I know they have it in Mexicantown, but I was not about to drive an hour with the roads in terrible condition, so I had to forego the fried yuca. I also forgot to get avocados, so our salad was plain spring mix. I usually slice up some avocado and onion to serve with butter lettuce and a dressing of olive oil & lime juice. I also cheated with the black beans, simply doctoring a can of Goya black bean soup with a splash of lime. Ah, well. It was tasty, if not my own.

My pork loin was gorgeous and the house smelled divine when Jeannene arrived home after a long work day bookended by rough drives. Without a meat thermometer (still packed somewhere from our move), I just relied on the usual cook time & it turned out well. I just served it with pan juices, but you can also make or buy mojo criollo to serve with it.

Puerco Asado

5 lb boneless pork loin

3-5 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp oregano

Salt & pepper

1/4 c lime juice

1/4 c orange juice

1/4 c. olive oil

1 c dry red wine

A few bay leaves

Early in the day, poke the roast all over with a knife. Mash garlic with oregano, salt, and pepper into a paste. Rub paste all over the roast and place it in a gallon ziploc with bay leaves. Pour the liquids over it and seal. Marinate at least 2 hours, turning from time to time. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove roast from marinade and pat dry. Discard bay leaves, but save marinade. Put meat in a roasting pan and insert a meat thermometer. Roast about 2 and a half hours, to 165 degrees, pouring marinade over the roast halfway through the cooking time and basting often. Place on platter and tent with foil, allowing it to stand at least 10 minutes before slicing. Serves 8 & makes great sandwiches if you have less than 8.

If you want to try your hand at mojo sauce, mash 7-10 cloves garlic to a thick paste with a teaspoon of salt. Mix with a very thinly sliced onion, 1/4 c. orange juice, & 1/4 c. lime juice. Allow to stand 1/2 hour. Just before serving, heat 1/2 c. Spanish olive oil until very hot. You can use oil from Italy or other countries, but I think Spanish tastes the best. Add the garlic mixture (be careful, because it will likely spatter) & mix well before serving hot with the pork. It's also good with chicken, fish, root veggies (like yuca!), and plantain chips.

Got My Mojo Workin'

One of my favorite flavors in the world is the tangy mojo sauce so predominant in Cuban food. It's fabulous for marinating (especially pork), for drizzling over yuca, for adding to beans. While you can often find bottled mojo sauce (Goya is a popular brand) even in northern grocery stores, mojo is so easy to make and I think homemade is lots better. Just mash about 10 cloves of garlic into a paste with a teaspoon of salt. Add a cup of sour orange juice. You must use sour orange juice rather than regular orange juice, but it can be hard to find. If you can get it bottled in your area, use it. If you can't, you can use equal parts regular orange juice and lime juice. Heat the oil just to boiling. Remove from the heat and whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture. Use right away as a marinade or sauce.

Latin Flair, Easy Dinners

Last night, prompted by the gorgeous ripe plantains at the local Mexican grocery, I made a Cuban dinner of Bistec de Palomilla, black beans & rice, avocado salad, and fried plantains (maduros). I think the plantains are best when the skin is completely black. I just slice them on the diagonal and fry them. They can also be baked. 

Bistec de Palomilla

3 cloves garlic

Salt & pepper

1/4 c. sour orange juice (or half regular orange juice, half lime juice, and a splash of olive oil)

1 lb. thinly sliced steak

2-3 tbsp. oil

1/2 c. finely-chopped onion

Finely-chopped parsley

Lime wedges 

Mash the garlic, salt, and pepper into a paste. Mix with sour orange juice. Pound the steak lightly and cut in 4. Marinate in garlic/orange juice mixture half an hour. Blot dry with paper towels & pan-fry in oil until golden brown on each side. Remove to paper towel-lined plate. Add marinade to pan and bring to a boil. Drizzle over the steaks & top each with onion & parsley. Serve with lime wedges.

Tonight, we moved significantly to the west of Cuba for a Mexican-inspired burger plate. I mixed half a cup of Newman's Own Farmer's Garden salsa with a pound of extra-lean ground beef, made it into 4 patties, and pan-fried them. I smashed an avocado with a splash of key lime juice and some garlic salt and served the guac with multi-grain tortilla scoops. The salad was romaine, black beans, diced tomato, and diced bell peppers (yellow, orange, & red). We had some salsa verde in the fridge, so I topped the burgers with that.