Salpicon (sal-pee-con) Cuban Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 lbs of Lean Ground Sirloin
½ lbs of Ground Pork Medium each fine chop of green Pepper, red Pepper, Vidalia or Yellow onion

1 tbsp of minced garlic 6 tbsp of Badia Complete Seasoning or ( 1tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, crushed bay leaves, parsley)

½ tsp of kosher salt

1 small can of tomato sauce

¼ cup of extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 hard boiled eggs
2 cracked eggs

Take the meat and add ½ the seasoning, salt and cracked eggs and combine well. Place a piece of aluminum on the table and dump the meat mixture on it, pat it into a rectangle. Place the 3 hard boiled eggs in the middle and wrap them with the meat sort of logroll style. Take another piece of aluminum and wrap the log in tightly. You can pressure cook this in a water bath for 45 minutes or leave it in the crock-pot with water at med temp for 6 hours. I don’t use a pressure cooker to I go with the crock-pot method. Once it's hardened let it sit and cool for a good 30 mins or so.

While the meat is cooling take the onion, peppers and oil and sauté in the pan until they are soft and the onions are translucent add the garlic the rest of the seasoning and tomato sauce.
Slice the meat roll into ½” slices and place in pan with sauce. Cover and simmer letting the slices pickup the sauce and flavors for 15 mins or until meat is heated through. Serve over white rice, mash potatoes or with a salad. If you have any slices leftover they are great in a sandwich the next day.

Shrimp Creole - Cuban Style

My kids are all getting ready to move out, yippeeeeeee!!! Really, I love them and I'm sure I'll feel a twinge of sorrow as I move my loom and yarn in to my older son's room haha... all joking aside it's a big step and I'm glad they have decided that adulthood is calling and they're answering it loud and clear.

In all of this excitement with my loom and restoration, I was reminded by one of the rugrats, that "mom, you have not posted a recipe in like forevaaaar we'll starve with only the few you have on there". They're very dramatic when it comes to food. I checked and yeah they're right the last post was for the Meatballs in FEBRUARY, it's as if we haven't eaten since then, but I have put on a pound or two so no-one in this house is starving.

Camarones Enchilados (Ca-ma-rhone-es En-chee-la-dos)
Shrimp Creole

1- 2#bag of uncooked Shrimp
1- small green pepper chopped
1- small onion chopped
3 -cloves of garlic minced
2 -bay leaves
1 -8oz can of tomato sauce
½- teaspoon of sugar
1- cup of white wine (I drink Riesling so that’s what I used)
½- teaspoon of Kosher Salt

1- packet of Sazon Goya Seasoning (picture included)
1- lime
2 -tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Hot sauce to taste I usually put in a tablespoon or so.

Parsley for garnish.

Peel shrimp and divine, if you can get them peeled and divined then you’re ahead of the game (I get my shrimp at BJ's wholesale club they come frozen uncooked and ready).

In a sauté pan over medium heat pour olive oil, garlic, green peppers and onions, sauté until the onions and green peppers are soft and the onions are almost translucent
Add Sazon packet, tomato sauce, bay leaves, salt, sugar, wine and hot sauce.
Simmer and reduce the heat. The sauce will thicken some but not like gravy.

Make the rice; once the rice is ready you can add the shrimp to the sauté pan, it really doesn’t take long to cook shrimp and if they get over cooked they are tough and chewy.

Let them cook until they just turned pink, turn off heat and cover let them cook for about 5 more minutes. Squeeze the lime over the shrimp mixture before serving.

Serve shrimp over the rice and some parsley for garnish. Don't forget the Cuban Bread to sop up the sauce, your really going to want to do that.

Albondigas (Meatballs)

Albondigas (al-bun-dee-gus) Meatballs
Traditionally these are served inside of Cuban Bread or on top of rice, the sauce is the traditional tomato sauce as I did for the picadillo dish, but my family doesn’t really like them in that sauce and I wanted to incorporate the meatball recipe into a pasta dish. So I removed a few items, added some and came up with the sauce to compliment the flavors of the meatballs the only switches to the traditional meatball are the basil leaves, ground basil and oregano. The original is garlic powder, onion powder, ground bay leaves the rest would be exactly the same. Either choice of ingredients and you come up with a great dish.

The Meatballs:
1 ½ pounds of lean ground beef (turkey or chicken can be substituted)
1 tablespoon each of ground basil, parsley and oregano
3 cloves of garlic minced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon of ground Cumin
½ teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

10 fresh Basil leaves chopped
1 egg
7 kalamata olives minced

Take the ground beef and add all the dry ingredients except for the flour and mix. Add the egg, basil leaves and olives ( take these and put them in my mini chop and beat them ) mix again, and then sprinkle the flour on and lightly mix so that all the mixture is incorporated. The mixture will be soft and the meatballs a bit sticky but they will be juicy and taste great. Most meatball recipes add breadcrumbs, my grandma never did so I don't, I have tried it and found that they get hard and dry with it so that's the reason for the flour. Form meatball about 1 1/4” diameter (I eyeball them so that you could fit a whole one in your mouth, I guess appetizer size)
In a large skillet pour some olive oil and brown the meatballs on all sides carefully handling them, after they're brown drain them and start the sauce.

The Sauce:
1 small green pepper chopped
1 small red pepper chopped
1 small yellow pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic minced
1 12oz can of Chopped Tomatoes (I had the basil and oregano flavored can so I used that)
1 tablespoon each of ground basil, parsley and oregano
1 16oz can of Hunt’s Traditional Spaghetti Sauce
1 16oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce, I used Barilla Roasted Peppers
½ teaspoon of sugar
1 cup of white wine (I drink Riesling so that’s what I used)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Grated Parmesan Cheese and Mozzarella to taste
In a deep pan sauté the peppers, garlic and onion in the olive oil once they are soft add the can of tomatoes, once incorporated add the two sauces sugar and wine. Let it simmer for about 10 mins. Then gently add the meatballs and push them into the sauce once they're all in there, let it all simmer on the stove for 40 mins carefully stirring them a few times.

Make pasta according to the box instructions, drain and plate, scoop some of the sauce and meatballs on top, add the cheeses and enjoy - your tummy will thank you for the effort.

Camarones Enchilados

Camarones Enchilados (Ca-ma-rone-es En-chee-la-dos)
Shrimp Creole

1 bag of uncooked Shrimp
1 small green pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 bay leaves
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
½ teaspoon of sugar
1 cup of white wine (I drink Riesling so that’s what I used)
½ teaspoon of Kosher Salt
1 packet of Sazon Goya with Culantro and Achiote ( I don't have a substitute for this it's sort of a paprika mix with culantro and achiote)

1 lime
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Hot sauce to taste

Peel shrimp and divine, if you can get them peeled and divined then you’re ahead of the game.

In a sauté pan over medium heat pour olive oil, garlic, green peppers and onions sauté until the onions and green peppers are soft and the onions are almost translucent
Add paprika, tomato sauce, bay leaves, salt, pepper and sugar and wine.
Simmer and reduce the heat.

Make the rice; once the rice is ready you can add the shrimp to the saute pan, it really doesn’t take long to cook shrimp and if they get over cooked they are tough and chewy.

Let them cook until they just turned pink, turn off heat and cover let them cook for about 5 more minutes. Squeeze the lime over the shrimp mixture before serving.

GARBANZO'S FRITOS (GAR-BAN-ZOES FREE-TOES)

Fried Chickpeas is the literal translation of Garbanzo Fritos.



This is a Spanish appetizer that you could order at any Tapas bar, but of course with the Spaniard's colonizing Cuba, the Caribbean influence and spices made it's way into the dish. I've had this dish in Tapas bars and the taste is really different than what it's hybrid Cuban version is, for one they don't add any meat, we Cubans always add some kind of pork product to beans it's just a rule at least it was in my grandma's kitchen. If it didn't get fried in pork fat, there was pork in the meal somewhere hidden or visible but it was there.

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoon olive oil

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped, if you don't have red pepper, substitute with 1 small jar of roasted red peppers sliced

1/4 pound ham, diced

1/4 pound chorizo, diced

1 (5-ounce) can tomatoes sauce

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 15 ounce cans of Chickpeas - garbanzo beans

1/2 tablespoon of Badia Complete Seasoning if you have it if not then 1/4 teaspoon each of cumin, garlic salt, onion powder, oregano .

In a large skillet saute the peppers, onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft.

Add the meats and and spices saute them until for 5 mins.

Add the tomato sauce, wine, and chickpeas turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 mins or the time it takes to make rice. You could eat this on it's own and that is how it's serve in tapas bars, but we always make rice to go with it.

Serve over rice and enjoy! (I think this can be a Rachel Ray 30 min meal, I wonder if she's interested in the recipe? hum.. Ooooo... maybe a guest spot, nah I love the girl but the constant talking would make me crazy I'm a quiet cook, concentrated and quick but definitely quiet LOL).

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

Although not Cuban food, but Argentinian or Nicaraguan this is a family favorite and therefore will make it into the blog for food recipes the kids can't live without.

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri( Chimeechuree) Sauce

Ingredients:
1 pound of Skirt Steak (in our house it more like 3-4 lbs, so if your use more meat add to the ingredients per pound)
¼ Tsp of Salt
¼ Tsp of Pepper
¼ Tsp of Garlic Powder
¼ Tsp of Cumin
¼ Tsp of Onion Powder
Season steak with all the spices above and ¼ of the Chimichurri Sauce let them sit over night
Chimichurri Sauce
1 bunch of Parsley, Italian or Curly, we like the Italian finely chopped we use a mini chopper for this task works like a dream.

3 Cloves of minced Garlic
½ Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ Tsp of Salt
1/3 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and reserve what you don’t use as a marinated for putting on before grill and before you eat.

Heat the grill on high (this requires some grunting noises from the men, some old ritual left over from the hunting tribe I don't understand what it is but open flames and meat just brings out the primal reactions from my men) and put the steaks on to sear we like ours medium, just cook them until your desired grade.
Doesn’t this look awesome, makes my mouth water.

I usually serve this with baked sweet potatoes and grilled mushrooms or asparagus.

Tostones (Toes-tone-es)

These little nosh goodness are as fun to make as they are to eat.

4 green plantains - peeled and cut into 2" rounds (I got mine from my mom's plantain tree they are called Hawaianos - Ha-wa-yanos (Hawaiians, they are shorter, thicker and softer easier to peel than regular plantains).

Canola oil enough to cover the pane 1" deep.

Salt to taste

Take the cut plantains and fry them on both sides until fork tender. Take out of oil and drain on a paper napkin,or cotton towel if your going green and if you weave well then, you should have an ample supply of woven kitchen towels to work with.
I have this gadget called a tostonera which is a different way of saying maker of tostones, its made of two wood pieces held together by hinges you open the lid and inside is a routed out circle this is where you place your cooked plantains to squash them. My mom and grandma squashed the plantains with the flat bottom of a glass cup worked out just fine, but someone got the idea of this gadget and I guess it made them some money cause most of my Cuban American friends all have one, go figure!

After you squash the plantain rounds, you then re-fry them, yes friends this is not a nosh without it's good amount of calories and they are oily, but consider it a treat once in a blue moon. My mom has nuked them with the skin on and cut into rounds and then, squashes and fries them, I have tried this but the troops don't like them that way. After they get crispy around the edges take them out of the oil and drain them once again, sprinkle with salt and enjoy.

Mr. Deepend sometimes likes to sprinkle them with garlic salt he says it adds a little something.

Pudin (Cuban Bread Pudding)

Ingredients:

2 loaves of day old Cuban Bread (can use any day old bread)
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of sweeten condensed milk
1 egg
1 small box of raisins
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of water
1 can of coco rallado (grated coconut flakes in extra heavy syrup this stuff is really sweet)


Let the bread dry out overnight in a bowl covered with a dish towel.

Take the sugar and water and put in a sauce pan on high to make the caramel the color of the cooked sugar should be a dark caramel color.

Pour the caramel into a Pyrex container or a spring form pan.

In the bread bowl pour the can of evaporated milk, sweeten condensed milk and the egg and raisins. Stir mixture until incorporated

Pour mixture into the Pyrex loaf pan and cover with foil, pierce the top of the foil with a knife to let steam escape while cooking. Place the loaf pan inside the crock pot pour water into the sides of the crock pot until it’s half way up the loaf pan, cook on high for 4 hours. This can be done in the oven, same concept set the oven temp at 450 and cook for 35 mins.


You can check the if its ready by inserting a knife in the center if it comes out clean your done.

Chill the pudin in the fridge for two hours, then serve with coco rallado over it. You can omit the coconut flakes, but the troops at my house think it add that extra something.

Frijoles Negros - Cuban Black Bean

Frijoles(Freeholes) Negros (Negross) (Cuban Black Beans)

Mr. Deepend's Family Recipe (Dad's Beans)

My mother in law was a great cook, she could make any potaje (bean dish) that you would want to eat for days. Before she passed my husband and his siblings learned how to make all of her signature Cuban dishes. These are called Abuela's Beans, my kids have renamed them Dad's Beans because he makes the dish just like is mother did, with lots of love, and memories of her. Whenever these are made in my house there is not a missing person, everyone no matter what is happening in their corner of the world, comes home for dinner. I let one of the kids know and it triggers a chain reaction they will call each other and annouce "Dad's making beans", this in my house can only mean one thing Cuban Black Beans.

Ingredients:

1 med onion finely chopped
1 med green pepper finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
½ cup of olive oil 1/4 for the boiling and 1/4 added in stock pot
3 bay leaves
½ tsp of salt
2 Tbsp of Complete Seasoning
½ Tbsp of Ground Cumin
1/3 cup of Vino Seco (Dry White or Golden Cooking Wine)
1 pkg (14oz) of Black Beans
½ tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp of sugar
1 small can of Tomato Sauce
½ Tbsp of Tomato Paste
3 qt of water

Clean the beans in a strainer, taking out the broken beans any rocks etc.

Place clean beans and water into the crockpot, with ¼ cup of olive oil, the bay leaves and salt.




Turn on high for four-six hours until the beans are soft. This can be done in a pressure cooker also, but I don’t like them and don’t really use one. But if you have one and can use it the process is faster with the same results. After the beans are soft place them and all the water in a stock pot. Be careful not to get any water on your clothes it will stain them and getting it out is almost impossible (this tidbit might be great for any fiber dyers out there to try)

Chop the onion, green pepper and garlic and add to the pot. (we mince because the kids don't like chunks of "stuff" in their food.

Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot and give it all a good stir.

Put the heat on to med high and let is slow boil for about 55- 60 mins until the water has thickened. Serve over white rice with a nice pan fried pork chop and some fried plantains, now that is a typical Cuban meal from the homeland.