Please be patient!

To whatever few readers I have had recently, I have not posted for several days now because I am still trying to wade through the "how-to's" of blog publishing, specifically HTML text editing.  While not as complicated as some of you may think, to a newbie, it is daunting.  I want my blog to reach as may followers as possible and that means leting others find me through search engines.  That involves HTML text editing and as soon as I figure it out, I will be posting again....So please, be patient.  Thanks!

What to do with leftover Picadillo

This is one of my favorite dishes and although I don't often have occasion to eat it, the memory still recalls the textures, aromas and the taste.  Kids love this dish because it is very basic...meat and potatoes, with a twist.  I was very asthmatic when I was a child and I often refused to eat.  My mother would make this recipe and it would be the  only way she could get me to eat.  I've given this recipe an unexpected twist by coating them in panko bread crumbs, which when fried  really bump up the crunch factor of anything.  So you have this incredibly golden fried exterior of the potatoes and the initial crunch when you bite into them followed by the creaminess of the mashed potatoes themselves and then the surprise of the different textures of the Picadillo in the center. Your tastebuds will explode!
 

Papas Rellenas (Stuffed Mashed Potatoes)


4-5 medium potatoes (about 2 lbs.)
oil for frying
1 cup leftover Picadillo
2 eggs lightly beaten
panko bread crumbs

The best method of preparation for the potatoes is to boil them with their skins on until they are fork tender.  Drain the water and let the potatoes cool.  Once cooled, peel the skins off and mash them.

Take a handful of the potatoes and make a ball about 3-4 inches in diameter.  With your thumb or the back of a teaspoon create a hole or well inside the potato ball.  Fill the well with about 1-2 tbsp. of the Picadillo.  Cover the filled well with the potato ball.  Run the potato ball through the lightly beaten eggs and then through the panko bread crumbs.  Heat the oil thoroughly in a heavy skillet or saute pan.  Drop the potato balls in the hot oil and fry on all sides until golden brown.  remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.  Serve.

Peccadillos and Picadillo

Image via Wikipedia

Don't get one confused with another. "Peccadillo" is s small sin, like lying to protect some one you love.  "Picadillo" (pronounced pea-ca-dee-yo) is one of those simple but grand Cuban dishes that conjure up a myriad of memories.  There are tons of versions of this dish.  Some recipes call for three kinds of meat, others call for turkey, some even are made with tuna.  The meats can vary as can the other ingredients.  Picadillo is a type of hash, if you will, made with anything you can find in the kitchen.  However, this dish has become so entrenched in the Cuban psyche that no matter who makes it or what they put in it...it can only please.

Piccadillo:

Here is what you will need

1 lb. ground beef (80% to 85% fat content is okay for this dish)
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1/2 a green bell pepper (chopped)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup of tomato sauce
1/4 cup dry, white wine
a splash of white vinegar
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp. of capers
6 green olives (roughly chopped)
2 tbsp. sultanas (golden raisins)

Method of preparation:  Heat the oil in a heavy skillet or saute pan.  Saute the onion, garlic,  and pepper pepper.  Cook until slightly golden, but do not burn as the garlic will develop an acrid taste.  Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink.  Add the salt, black pepper, bay leaf, cumin, and oregano.  Stir.  Deglaze the pan with the white wine and then add the tomato sauce, vinegar, capers, olives and raisins.  You want to reduce the liquid somewhat, but still have enough to create a bit of sauce when serving...almost like a slightly dry Sloppy Joe.  This dish is best served with white rice and tostones or fried sweet plantains.

This dish will permit you to be a little experimental.  Don't like beef...try it with pork or veal.  Don't like raisins, olive, or capers...substitute with other ingredients.  The key here is to maximize flavor and all of the ingredients listed here have very intense flavors of their own.  You might want to try adding a chopped chili for heat.

Rice Is Not Just For Throwing At Weddings

Image via Wikipedia

I used to swoon when my mother made her rice pudding.  It was creamy, warm, with hints of lemon peel and cinnamon.  She never put raisins in it.  Then her sister, my aunt Lydia made her rice pudding and I never looked back.  Sorry Mom, hers beat yours out by a knockout punch.  The difference between my mother's rice pudding and my aunt's is that my mother only used whole milk.  My aunt used whole milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and a generous pat of butter at the end.  Aunt Lydia's secret was that she cooked the rice in the milk instead of water.  Wow!  The difference was incredible.  It was twice as rich, twice as creamy and delicious.  Que rico!  To those health nuts out there I say, "If you are going to make this recipe with skim milk and butter substitute, FORGET ABOUT IT."  You don't eat rice pudding every day so do this recipe justice and make it as it should be made.  Waddle in the calories.

Lydia's Arroz Con Leche


1 qt of whole milk
1 can of sweetened, condensed milk
1 large can of evaporated milk
2 cups of short grain rice
1 lemon peel
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup sugar
1tsp. vanilla extract or a vanilla bean
a pinch of salt
1/2 a stick of unsalted butter

Start be cleaning your rice of any grit and thoroughly rinsing it.  Place the rice in a heavy 5-6 quart dutch oven.  Add the whole milk, lemon peel, cinnamon stick and salt.  Cook the rice until it reaches a boil and then turn down the heat to a low simmer.  Stir constantly.  Because you are cooking the rice with milk instead of water, the milk will tend to rise and attempt to boil over, constant stirring will prevent this. When the rice has started to absorb the liquid add the evaporated milk and the condensed milk.  Taste the mixture for sweetness and add as much sugar as you need up to a cup.  Stir constantly.  Add the vanilla or split and scraped vanilla bean.  If you find that the pudding starts to absorb too much liquid, add more whole milk.  When the pudding has reached a velvety consistency, take it off the heat.  As a finishing flourish add the butter and stir.  Ideally, this rice pudding is served best when warm with a dash of powdered cinnamon or some whipped cream.

The Flim Flan Man

Image via Wikipedia

Let's discuss Flan.  This oh, so favorite of Cuban desserts had it's humble beginnings in France and Spain, and because it so much a part of those two cultures I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that geographically it was born the region where those two countries meet (anywhere from Galicia and the Basque Country in Spain to Aquitaine and the Languedoc-Rousillon regions of France).  This is a dessert that is simple to make because it only contains a few ingredients: milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla...That's it!  However, as simple as it is to make it can also be ruined very easily by cooking it too much or not enough.
I will present several versions.  Most purists will swear by the original version that contains just the ingredients above.  There are versions out there with coconut & cream cheese, or pineapple, or even condensed milk.  I happen to love the version that has condensed milk in it.  Not only is it a richer dessert, but it is more velvety in consistency and it holds up better in the caramel sauce.


Now, about the mold.  The mold you use should be metal, not glass.  Because you are working with melted sugar at a high temperature, the melted sugar could potentially crack and break the glass.  My mother always used a lightweight aluminum loaf pan.  But you can really use any shape.  A ring mold works well.  I do not recommend spring form pans as the custard will seep through the seams in the bain-marie and create a soup in your oven.


Flan de Leche (the Original)


2 cups whole milk
1 lemon peel 
1 stick of cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
6 egg yolks
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar, plus additional sugar for coating your mold (about 1/2 cup)
1tsp. vanilla


First prepare your mold:  Pour the 1/2 cup sugar in the mold and over medium heat melt the sugar.  When the sugar starts to turn amber in color, turn the heat down to low and work quickly to coat the entire inside of the mold with the caramel.  Please Note: sugar can very quickly turn from amber to brown to black.  You don't want the carmel to turn to brown.  It should be the color of maple syrup.  When the mold has been completely coated, set it aside and let the caramel cool and harden.


Boil the milk, lemon peel, cinnamon stick, and salt.  Let cool.  Lightly beat the egg yolks with the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla.  Add the cooled milk.  Strain the mixture and pour into your prepared mold.  Put the mold in a bain-marie and bake in the oven at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about an hour).  Cool the flan in the mold and then chill.  When serving, unmold onto a serving tray.  The caramel that hardened around the walls of the mold has now become a caramel syrup.


Flan with Condensed Milk


1/2 cup sugar
5 eggs
1 can of sweetened, condensed milk
1 cup of whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla

With the 1/2 cup of sugar, follow the steps in the first recipe (above) for coating your mold with caramel.  Beat the eggs, condensed milk, whole milk, and vanilla.  Pour mixture into the prepared mold.  Bake in a bain-marie at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Tocino Del Cielo (Bacon from Heaven)

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cups water
4 to 5 drops of lemon juice
1/2 cup of egg yolks
1/2 cup of whole eggs (when measuring, if you have more than 1/2 cup remove a little of the egg whites)
1 tsp. vanilla

In a heavy sauce pan combine the water, sugar, and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil and reduce syrup to about a cup.  Let cool.  Beat the egg yolks and whole eggs until thoroughly combined.  Add the cooled syrup and the vanilla.  Stir and combine the ingredients thoroughly.  Strain the mixture.  Pour into a caramel coated mold  (see recipes above).  Bake in a bain-marie at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 1 1/2 hours).

A Few Words About Mentors

Chefs, amateur cooks, housewives, and foodies will often make reference to those major influences that shaped the way that they cook.  Budding French chefs and those who are already established will refer to Julia Child, the books of Auguste Escoffier, or today the culinary magic of Guy Martin of Paris' "Le Grand Vefour".  Italian chefs often make reference to Marcela Hazan in Venice or Lidia Bastianich in New York.   For Cuban cooks and chefs there is only one name in the hallowed halls of the Chef's Hall of Fame.  That name is Nitza Villapol.  Who was and still is, undeniably, THE authority on Cuban cuisine.  Although she is deceased, her tomes on Cuban cuisine live on in many printings.  My mother stepped onto a plane in Havana to come to America with the clothes on her back, one suitcase, and her cookbook by Nitza Villapol, "Cocina Al Minuto"  She still has that cookbook, albeit torn and tattered, yellowed from age.  But it still produces for its reader some pretty knockout recipes.  Before, Giada, before Mario, before Iron Chef and even before Julia, Nitza was playing in thousands of Cuban homes via television.  Cuban households had television before any other Latin American country.  Nitza had her own cooking show and she was worshipped and adored by Cuban housewives in the 40's and 50's.  She never left Cuba for the kinder, gentler political climate in the U.S.  And even after the Cuban Revolution, the Castro Regime still allowed her to have her show on government controlled television.  During and after the Revolution, Nitza adapted her repertoire of recipes to the tough times that followed as a result of the trade embargo and later the fall of the Soviet Union when Cuba lost alot of resources.  So occasionally if you are Cuban and you are reading this blog, you may see recipes that look familiar because your mother or grandmother cooked a similar dish.  My mother, as well as your mother, or your grandmother, or your aunt read those recipes and adapted them to the family needs and tastes.  We owe it all to Nitza...Thanks, girl!

Manna From the Gods, Pt. 3

Image via Wikipedia

Mantecado Ice Cream


This recipe closely resembles an Italian semi-freddo.

6 egg yolks
1 cup of sugar
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp. flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp. good vanilla extract
----------------------------------
3 egg whites
4 tbsp. sugar
1 large can evaporated milk (chilled thoroughly)

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until they reach the thick ribbon stage and are pale yellow in color.  In a food processor combine the whole milk, flour, salt, and cinnamon.  Pulse so that the flour does not form clumps in the milk.  Add the beaten egg yolks.  Pulse again until well combined.  Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer and cook over a double boiler (you may substitute a glass bowl over simmering water).  Cook custard until it thickens.  Add the vanilla and let the custard cool.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites adding the 4 tbsp. of sugar a little bit at a time.  Beat the whites until they have reached the stiff peak stage.  Slowly fold in the cooled custard.  Cool this mixture in the refrigerator thoroughly.  While the custard is chilling in the fridge, pour the chilled can of evaporated milk into a bowl and beat until thick.  Add the custard mixture and pour the combined ingredients into the chilled bowl of your ice cream maker.  Operate the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  The ice cream should be ready within 20-25 minutes.

Note:  As the ice cream is churning, you can add some of the homemade "Dulce de Leche" or pour it over the finished ice cream if  you wish.