Crock Pot Beef Roast

When it comes to home cooking there is no recipe that needs to be followed exactly (unless you're baking).  I use what's at hand, and most of the time I eyeball the measurements.  Today I am making a beef roast in the crock pot.  Being a Cuban married to an American, it is only natural that I have also married the ingredients.  For a Cuban recipe I would have chopped onions; I substituted Lipton's onion soup mix, and I would have used tomato paste; I used bbq sauce.


3 lb round roast
1 pkg Lipton's beefy onion soup mix
1 cup water
6-8 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup wine (I only had white, but dry sherry or red would be fine)
2 tsp bbq sauce
1 bay leaf

salt to taste

Set your crock pot to high if you're home, or to low if you're leaving it to cook all day. Toss all your ingredients in, cover and walk away.

I went back and added two potatoes, carrots and olives in final two hours of cooking. These could have been added from the start, but my potatoes were already boiled from the previous day and I din't want them falling apart. Like I said, whatever is at hand.

Carne Asada: Cuban Pot Roast

2 lb beef roast
6 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, cut in big chunks
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
dash of oregano
4 cups beef stock*
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup Sherry

Rub salt on your roast. Mix the pressed garlic and lemon juice, and add to the roast. Marinate for at least half an hour.

Coat a large pot with your olive oil, heat to medium high and brown your meat on all sides. Add all remaining ingredients except for the Sherry. Lower heat to medium low and cover. Let the roast cook for about 2 1/2 hours or until tender.  Remove the meat from the sauce and let the sauce reduce 'til thickened. Stir in the 1/4 cup of Sherry.  Slice your roast and pour the sauce over it. Serve.

 *I prepared a stock with a package of Lipton Beef and Onion soup and a stalk of celery.

Cuban Shepherd's Pie???

I've been meaning to make this for a while. It's difficult for me to make all the recipes I would like to  because of the likes/dislikes and food restrictions of my family. My daughter can't eat dairy... that eliminates a lot, no cheeses, no creamy sauces, no mashed potatoes! My mother can't eat eggs or red meat.... yeah, I know! My husband doesn't like olives, peppers or raisins... and here I am going to make a meat dish (which my mother can't eat) with olives, peppers and raisins (which my husband doesn't like) and mashed potatoes (which my daughter can't eat). The only ingredient that suits everyone on is the sweet fried plantains that lay on the bottom layer! Here we go.

First we are going to prepare our PICADILLO. I have posted this recipe before, but I will repeat it again here as I'm adjusting it slightly.

1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 cup tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup Sherry
about a dozen pimento stuffed Spanish olives
1/3 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup water
1 carrot, sliced
salt to taste

Brown and strain the ground beef. Set aside. Warm olive oil on medium heat and saute onions, peppers, and garlic until limp. Add the bay leaf. Add the ground beef, tomato sauce, sherry, water, cumin and Sherry. Add the olives and carrots and salt. Cover and let simmer for about 40 minutes.

MASHED POTATOES...
You can used instant mashed for this if you like, prepare enough for about 8. Otherwise, while your picadillo cooks, peel 5 large red potatoes, slice and boil. Prepare your mashed as you normally would. I mash mine until creamy with milk, butter and salt.






MADUROS...
I cheated and bought a couple boxes of GOYA frozen sweet plantains that only require frying. It's difficult for me to find ripe plantains here, but if you have access to them you need to buy some that are turning black (if they are black they may be too soft and fall apart). You will need about 3 plantains.  Peel them and slice them diagonally about 1/2 inch thick and fry them in vegetable oil. (see picture) Let them sit on a paper-towel lined plate 'til ready to assemble.

THE ASSEMBLY...
Preheat your oven to 350F. In a rectangular baking pan place your plantains in a layer at the bottom. (I was a little short on plantains, it's best to have enough to fully cover the bottom of the pan). Next, using a slotted spoon (you don't want too much liquid) transfer your picadillo in a layer on top of your plaintains. Next comes the potatoes, smooth them out with a spoon to cover the picadillo completely and form a seal to the edges of the pan. Bake for 30 minutes. (I turned on the broiler for the last 5 to brown the potato top).

Vaca Frita • Fried Cow (Fried Shredded Beef)

I had bought a one pound flank steak thinking I would use it in a stew, but then the temperatures soared this week and I put the stew out of my mind. I decided to make Vaca Frita. Vaca Frita translates to Fried Cow. Who in their right mind would come up with such a name? We're not frying a whole cow!... It's really fried shredded beef and it's simple to make, but I like to complicate things a bit. You see, the flank steak has to boil for about 2 hours, so why not kill two birds with one stone and go ahead and prepare a yummy beef broth which I can use for soup or separate into containers and freeze for another day?

For the Vaca Frita
1 lb Flank Steak
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp dry sherry
olive oil


You can boil your flank steak in water with just a bay leaf and some salt for about two hours, maybe less, just until the meat is tender.

I boiled my flank steak in water to make a broth. I added garlic, onions, bell peppers, celery, carrots, bay leaves, beef bouillon, bijol, and half a tomato.

Once your meat is tender let it cool. Slice it across the grain, cover it with plastic wrap and then pound it with a mallet or rolling pin to separate. Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil and bring to a medium high heat. Sautee you onions, peppers and garlic. Add your meat, salt, cumin and dry sherry and quickly toss it in the pan, adding more oil if necessary browning your meat until some pieces become crispy. Serve with white rice and fried plantains. Or if you prefer, you can make a sandwich, a wrap, a taco, etc. Be creative.

Salpicón: Cuban Meatloaf

My sister prepared this at my house a while back. I had photogrpahed the steps and sent them out to the family, as it is based on my grandmother's recipe. Since I've had a slow cooking week, I figured I'd post it here now.

This morning I googled salpicón and this is not at all what I found. Then I googled Cuban meatloaf and this is not what I found either. So, I'm not sure what this dish is called, only that it was called salpicon in our family and that it is delicious.

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground ham
Olive oil (Sensat)
1 large yellow onion
1 green bell pepper
1 head of garlic
4 cans tomato sauce (Del Monte)
4 eggs
bread crumbs (galleta molida)
salt to taste
oregano
2 cups dry white cooking wine (vino seco)
1 bay leaf

Preparation:

Chop onion, and slice green pepper.  Set aside.

Press the garlic head in a mortar with salt and shake in some oregano (about 1 tsp).

Combine all the meats in a large bowl with half the garlic mix. Make a well (dent) in the center of the meat mixture. Beat 3 of the eggs (our abuela would separate the yolks from the whites and beat separately) and pour into well, combine, then add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs. Add extra salt to taste (yes, she would taste the raw stuff, I would eyeball it). Form two separate loaves. 

Beat one egg.  In a large platter spread out a cup of bread crumbs.  Coat each loaf evenly and sculpt firmly.  Dip each breaded loaf in the beaten egg, then coat evenly once again with bread crumbs.

In a heavy skillet pour about 1/2 cup olive oil and bring to a medium high heat.  Brown the two loaves, evenly.  Remove loaves and put them aside.

In a large pot, pour another 1/3 cup olive oil and sauté onions with remaining garlic mixture over medium heat. When onions are translucent, add peppers and bay leaf. Cook for a few more minutes.  Slowly stir in 4 cups of tomato sauce and dry white cooking wine. 

Place the 2 browned meat loaves into sauce.  Spoon some sauce on the tops. Cook on low heat and check periodically to make sure they haven't stuck to the pot.  Spoon more sauce over the tops.  Cook for two hours turning over the loaves halfway through the cooking time.

Serve with white rice and tostones.

Carne Fria

I think by now, those of you who have been following this blog are aware that I am learning as I go. Oh yes I've been cooking Cuban food for many years and there are some dishes that I have mastered, but a handful of recipes isn't enough to fill a blog, so I have to venture into unchartered waters. I have never made carne fria before. I remember standing next to my grandmother in the kitchen watching her prepare this dish, so I'm not unfamiliar with it, I've just never made it.  This is a cold meat loaf this is usually served at parties along with crackers.  I encourage comments that may point out something that I may have missed or a better or simpler process for preparing carne fria. So here we go on another adventure.

I'm not exactly sure that I had exactly these propotions, but these are the ingredients I used. The easiest way to prepare this dish with is with a food processor, if you don't have one, chop everything very finely. You will need:

cheesecloth

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground ham
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 medium sized onion
queen sized pimento stuffed olives (optional)

4 eggs well beaten
1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs

For the water
4 garlic cloves, whole
1 onion, cut into 4
1 bay leaf
2 tsps salt
1 tsp oregano

Grind your pork and ham in a food processor if you bought it whole. You can drop in your onion and galic in the food processor as well. Take off your rings, this gets messy: in a large bowl combine your ground beef, pork and ham along with the onion, garlic, cumin, salt, worchestershire suace, bread crumbs and eggs.

In the meantime, in a large pot bring approximately 4 quarts of water to a boil with the garlic, onion bay leaf, salt and oregano.

Separate your meat mixture in three and shape into a flattened square. Lay out our olives in a row in the center horizontally and bring the meat up from the side to form a cylinder. Double wrap with in cheesecloth and tie the ends with twine. Repeat this for the other two rolls and drop them in the boiling water. Cover and reduce the heat to simmer for two hours. Add more water as needed.

After the allocated time has passed take the loaves out of the water and remove the cheesecloth. Wrap each roll in aluminum foil. Let cool then refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Slice and serve with crackers or bread  – goes well with a cold beer.

Spaghetti with Meatballs (Albondigas)

It don't come easy.
I was discussing with a friend the other day just how complicated Cuban cooking is. I don't mean to scare anyone away, but the fact is that Cubans take simple ingredients and complicate them. We can't just grill a steak. No... we have to marinate it first, and chop onions and parsley to sprinkle on top.  We look at an ear of corn, and we can't just steam it or boil it; no, we have to slice off the kernels and grind the kernels and transform it into tamales. Can we just roast a chicken in the oven? No, we need to prepare a mojo and let it marinade for 24 hours. The list goes on and on. I personally need to simplify my life.

Take something relatively simple to make such as spaghetti with meatballs. This is a typical recipe for Cuban Albondigas (Cuban Meatballs) that I copied/translated from La Cocina Cubana.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp ground onion

2 tbsp ground pepper

½ cup milk

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tbsp salt

¼ tbsp black pepper

½ oil for frying

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients except of the eggs and bread crumbs. Form your meatballs then pass them through the beaten eggs and next the bread crumbs. Heat the oil and fry the meatballs until they are golden. Remove from the oil.

That's just the meatballs, then you still have to make the sauce. My grandmother used to make them this way, and if you want to try them, they are very tasty. As far as I'm concerned it's too much trouble and way too fattening; after all, it's breaded and fried ground beef! Please, my cholesterol is already through the roof.

Here's how I make them for spaghetti
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 egg beaten
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
seasoned salt

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. (Yes, I boil my meatballs to eliminate the fat). Combine above ingredients and form into balls carefully dropping them in the boiling water as you go. Let the meatballs fully cook in the boiling water.

For the sauce.

1 can/jar spaghetti sauce, traditional flavor
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup red wine
olive oil
a dash or oregano
a dash of basil
a dsh of rosemary
salt and pepper
1-2 cups water from the pot with the meatballs

Heat a little olive oil in a pot and drop in your pressed garlic. Cook on medium heat for just a minute or so and pour in your spaghetti sauce, add your herbs and spices. With a slotted spoon remove your meatballs from the water and drop into your sauce. Add one to two cups of the water from the pot of the boiled meatballs. Let simmer while your pasta cooks. You know how to cook pasta.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. P.S. It took me longer to prepare this post than to prepare the dish.

Cuban Style Pot Roast turned Stroganoff

I can't cook Cuban food everyday, but most of my recipes have a Cuban flavor. This is basically a Stroganoff made with a Cuban-spiced pot roast ... sort of.  It's good. Trust me.

I pulled out the Crock Pot and in went:

3 1/2 lb roast
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, pressed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup sherry
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp orgeno
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Once the roast is done, remove the broth (about 6 cups worth) to make a typical american gravy, and pull the roast apart with a fork. (The roast should be tender enough to do this without effort).

Boil 1 lb of fettucini noodles and drain. Set aside.

For the gravy:
In a large pot melt 4 tbsp butter over medium high heat whisk in 3-4 tbsp flour to form a paste and slowly add in your 5-6 cups beef broth whisking until thickened.
Add the pulled roast and fettucini noodles and mix together. I threw in some green peas for color.

Breaded Steak stuffed with Ham and Cheese

Breaded steak stuffed with ham and cheese with a side of yuca fries with mojo and salad.

Okay, I don't know where this recipe came from. I think it may have been my mother's invention – a culinary spark that extinguished almost as soon as it arrived, but we somehow managed to grasp it and store it into memory. Making this steak is relatively simple. Although Bistec Empanisado or Breaded Steak is very common in the Cuban kitchen, this differs with the additions of ham and swiss cheese (sandwiched between the steak and the ham).

You will need:
Palomilla Steaks (thinly sliced sirloin)
Seasoning (whatever you would normally season your steak with, I use seasoned salt and a little lemon)
Swiss cheese
Sweet ham
All purpose flour
1 egg
bread crumbs
vegetable oil 

I halved my steaks to make them easier to handle. I would have prefered thinner, but these turned out fine.
Lay one slice of swiss cheese on top of each seasoned steak and a slice of sweet ham above that. Now to hold it all together weave a toothpick through it at both ends.

To bread it, you will need three shallow bowls. Pour some flour into the 1st bowl, in the next one beat an egg (you can add a little water to it), and in the third, bread crumbs.

From left to right: flour both sides of your steak, drag it through the egg (both sides), and finish it off in the third bowl by coating it on both side with the bread crumbs.


Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan about 1/4 inch high. Bring the heat up to medium high and carefully place your steaks (steak side down) in the hot oil. If it starts to brown too quickly bring the heat down to medium. Let it fry for a few minutes before flipping. (This is where it gets tricky because you cannot tell how done your steak is, it takes experience and trial and error; however, depending on how thin your steak is, you could probably judge the cooking time correctly.)

Remove the toothpicks before serving. 

Pastelitos de Carne: Meat Pastries

My mother taught me that throwing away food is a sin. You could only toss it out if it had spoiled or was inedible (i.e. tasted so bad that God would forgive us). I have no problem eating dinner's leftovers for lunch the next day, but someone in my household frowns upon leftovers. Little does he know that the leftovers are served to him in disguise.

If you recall last week I made picadillo. The next day I took leftover picadillo and made papas rellenas.  I still had picadillo leftover which I quickly froze until today. We shall use the remainder of the picadillo to make Pastelitos de Carne.

This is a meat pastry that is sweet.  Sounds like an oxymoron.  Meat in the middle and sugar on top... is it the main course or dessert?  Uh ... let's call it a snack.  Live a little; it's good.  Here we go....

1 package of Pillsbury puff pastry sheets

seasoned ground beef or picadillo

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Non-stick cooking spray

Click on picture above to enlarge.

Defrost your pastry sheets and unfold onto a clean surface

Heat oven to 375 F

Slice each sheet in three along the fold lines.

Cut each of these strips into 2 (traditionally meat pastelitos are round, but we don't want to waste any pastry dough, so we'll make them rectangular)

Beat your egg with 2 tbsp of water

Brush the edges of your pastry rectangles with your egg wash

Place a couple of tablespoon of beef in the center of one rectangle and top with another

Press along the edges to seal

Repeat this process.

Grease a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or butter.

Place your pastelitos on the cookie sheet

Brush the top of each pastelito with the egg wash.

Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes.

In the meantime, in a small sauce pan heat the 1/2 cup water with the 1/2 cup sugar stirring frequently until syrup consistency, keep it on warm until the pastries are golden

Remove the pastelitos from oven and brush with the sugar syrup. Return them to the oven for another 3-5 minutes.  Let cool.  Enjoy.

You can divide these in half for a party size portion.

Rabo Encendido - Cuban Oxtail Stew

Oh the tale of the oxtail. The first time I made it for my husband, he turned his nose up at it and refused to eat it. The next time, I took the meat off the bone and served it to him. He eats oxtail now.

I can't believe I'm saying this but ... thank goodness for Walmart. Yes I can find oxtail at Walmart. I'm not sure who buys it because most Americans I've met up here have never had it, and like my husband, stick their noses in the air about it, so I say "Good, more for me!" For those of you who are familiar with this dish and for those of you who are daring enough to try it, here is my version of Rabo Encendido which has won it's accolades... at least in my family.

4 lbs of oxtail (you're going to need about 1 lb of oxtail per serving because most of the weight is bone)

olive oil

2 large onions, chopped (red or yellow, whatever you have in the kitchen)

8-10 cloves of garlic, pressed

2 cups beef stock (read below)

1 - 2 cups red wine

2 - 3 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp capers (you can sustitue with green olives)
1 bay leaf 

a few liberal dashes of hot sauce

a dash of soy sauce
a dash of Worchestershire sauce 

salt and pepper to taste

The trick to make oxtail is to let the oxtail simmer until it becomes tender. This is where the crock pot comes in handy. In the morning I put the frozen oxtail in the crockpot, poured water to cover it, put the lid on and set it on low. (If you don't have a crock pot then you'll have to put it in a pot with water to cover, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for about 3-4 hours until tender, coming back to pour more water as it evaporates... believe me it evaporates even when it's covered.) By late afternoon my oxtail was tender.  I removed the fat from the meat, and refrigerated it overnight.  Friday morning I removed the extra fat that had risen and hardened at the top. Okay now, we have relatively lean oxtail sitting in a beef stock. (The cold stock will be gelatenous - that's okay).

Warm enough olive oil on medium heat to saute the onions until limp. Add the garlic and the oxtail. Saute for a bit and then add all other ingredients. Let simmer on very low heat uncovered for about 40 minutes. Serve with rice, and a side of tostones. (I'm going to get around to plantians in another post. I promise!)

you can click on the above photo for a better view

Papas Rellenas: Meat Stuffed Potatoes

I've been cooking all week. It's Sunday and even though it would be only temporary, I'd like to leave the kitchen spotless. My husband has been bugging me for papas rellenas for a while now. He loves this ... it's meat and potatoes, duh! Unfortunately, this is one of those recipes with which you could make a really big mess. You have been warned, but I'm going to try to make this as simple as I can.

We'll start with instant mashed potatoes. Figure on 1 serving = 1 papa rellena. I'm making enough for 12 (to make it worth my while). Follow directions on the box. You want these mashed to be firm not creamy, so you may need to add a little more potato flakes than called for.  Refrigerate the mashed potatoes for a couple of hours.

Take out the potatoes and sit them on the counter. Remember that picadillo from yesterday? Take that out and sit it on the counter. Grab 3 bowls and line them up: in the first, pour all purpose flour; in the second, beat 2 eggs, add 2 tbsp water; in the third, pour bread crumbs. Wash your hands well, this is a hands on project.

To form a papa rellena, take a large tablespoon (or serving spoon) of mashed potatoes and put it in the palm of your hand. Make a dent in it. With a slotted spoon (we don't want the liquid from the picadillo) take some of the picadillo and press it into the dent. Now take another tablespoon of mashed potatoes and put it as a lid on top. Seal the sides with your fingers to form a ball. Set it down into the flour bowl, roll it around to coat all sides. Dip it in the egg wash (you can use a spoon for this). Gently roll it around then pass it into bowl #3 with the bread crumbs. Coat on all sides. Wash your hands and do the next one.

Repeat this process until you've used up all the mashed potatoes. At this point you can refrigerate them, to fry at a later time or you can freeze them for another day.

To fry, fill your fying pan with about 1/2 inch vegetable oil. Bring the heat up to medium high, Place the papa rellena in the oil. Let it brown on one side (if it's browning too fast, reduce the heat) then roll it, and then roll it, etc. Place on plate with paper towel. Don't fry too many at one time you need enough space to freely roll the papas in the oil.

That's it. They're ready to eat or you can make these in advance and warm them later in the oven, and my kitchen is now clean ... at least until dinner!

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.

Fritas Cubanas and the story of the Humdinger

I had Cuban relatives that ended up straight out of Havana in Highpoint, NC. It was the early 1960's and the population in the surrounding areas was sparse. My uncle had bought himself a car, and with his wife and two daughters decided to explore their surroundings on a Sunday morning. Unaware that all commerce was closed on Sundays, out into the woods they went without packing a picnic. After a few hours of trying to decipher maps, they found themselves totally lost, hungry, and disappointed at finding "closed" signs at every venue they visited. With starvation eminent, they saw a road sign that read Home of the Humdinger! Open two miles ahead. "Hamburgers!" — my English illiterate family exclaimed. Their mouth watered in anticipation of the meal they were about to consume. They arrived at the diner and sat down. A young woman came to take their order. My uncle in his broken English proudly exclaimed "Four humdingers please." Soon the young woman appeared with four huge bowls of overflowing ice cream sundaes. Their chagrin was unparalleled as they slurrped the last bit of their melting slop. This story leads me to the Cuban Hamburger … Fritas Cubanas.

Tonight I'm making this variation of the hamburger for 8, To make less cut the measurments in half.

You will need:

2 lb ground beef

4 Spanish chorizo sausage, ground up

(If you can find them—good for you, but up here, they've never heard of it. When you ask for it they present you with Mexican chorizo. They are not the same. Spanish chorizo gets its distinctive smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked red peppers (pimentón/paprika). Mexican chorizo usually has the consistency of ground beef, though drier, due to a higher chile and spice content.) 

I'm using 1 lb Italian sausage, so there!
2 tablespoons ketchup

1 cup bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1 medium onion grated

2 cloves fresh mashed garlic

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp. sweet Spanish paprika

(pimenton)
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Hamburger buns

Mix all ingredients and form into patties. Cook on the grill or in a frying pan. Top with shoestring potatoes and serve on a traditional American hamburger bun.

Normally Fritas Cubanas are topped with shoe string potatoes, but if you prefer, you can grate them as you would do with hash browns.

4 large potatoes, chopped or finely grated, fried crispy.