Erasmo's Black Beans and Fried Sweet Plantains

(Transferred from the old blog, Numeenum)

While putting together the last meal, I also started preparing the following black bean dish. It takes a few hours to get prepared, then it is best left in your fridge for 3 days. After all of the flavors have melted together, this makes an absolutely delicious meal that can last you a while.

Take 1 and 2/3 cups of dried black beans, wash well. Soak overnight in a covered pot with 4 1/2 cups water (or if you are pressed for time, heat them in a pot to boiling, cover & remove from heat, letting sit for an hour)

After this transfer to a large dutch oven or sauce pan, cook over medium heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until tender.

In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, then saute 2 minced onions and 5 cloves of minced garlic.

Add to beans along with 1/8 lb roast pork, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp granulated sugar, 2 tblsp chopped cilantro or culantro, and 1 tsp salt or to taste. Cook 1o to 15 minutes longer, adding more water if the mixture becomes too thick. Be careful not to split the skins from the beans.

Cool to room temperature and store in the fridge for 2-3 days. I actually did 4, and they were great. A mild but flavorful dish. The recipe has you add chopped white onions on the top of your dish, but I preferred not to have too many onions. We added some crushed red pepper to the top since we like our food spicy. Cuban food carries on the spanish influence of not being spicy, but it is full of flavor.

For a side dish I fried up some sweet plantains. They are such a yummy side dish, and a relative to the banana. Make sure the plantain is very ripe, otherwise it will be hard and similar in flavor to a cucumber if it is green. Peel the plantain, cut diagonally, then fry in oil in a skillet, browning the sides. Restaraunts I go to tend to heavily fry these, but I prefer to lightly fry them just to where they are golden brown. While frying you can add sugar to the sides, or after frying sprinkle with salt and lime juice. I prefer the sugar, but I'm sure it is just as good the other way.

Kenna loved both the beans and plantains, calling them "nanas" and "chips". Always good to get her approval!

Cuban Steak with baked Yuca and Arroz Armarillo

(Transferred from the old blog, Numeenum)

One of the great things about living in Florida is the access to Cuban cuisine. I experienced the best I've had yet while on vacation with my Mom, Ry, & Kenna in Miami a few months ago.

We were recommended a little place quite nearby our oceanfront hotel. We weren't in touristy South Beach, so everyone at this restaurant was a local except us. The food was absolutely divine. My mom ordered snapper in a red sauce (which after looking through recipes I believe it was a paprika sauce), I had Cuban fried chicken, an amazing dish of well seasoned thin chicken layered with ham, cheese, and a tomato based sauce, and Ryan ordered what I have here: Cuban steak.

Needless to say that memorable restaurant visit inspired me to go to the library and pick up some Cuban cookbooks. I have many recipes now, and just started my effort at them in the past week.

My first try is this thin beef steak, marinated with onions, garlic, cumin, and sour orange juice (think sour like a lime), grilled, then seasoned with a bit more lime. Way good! The following recipe is from the book Cuba Cocina by Joyce Lafray, as with all of the Cuban recipes for the week to follow.

Cuban Steak 4-6 servings
8 (1/4 inch thick) slices top round or top butt steak, butterflied
3 tablespoons olive oil or salted butter
1 onion thinly sliced
1 lime cut into 8 thin wedges
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Marinade:
8 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 cup sour orange juice ( or 1/2 cup orange juice and 1/4 cup lime juice)
1 large onion, diced

Using a metal meat mallet, pound steaks on both sides to tenderize. Mix together marinade ingredients well and pour over steaks in a large glass bowl. Put in refrigerator, turning often as to get the juices evenly distributed.

Heat olive oil in large heavy skillet. Place onions, steaks, and just enough marinade in the pan to make a sauce. Cook until done, and until onions have wilted. Place steaks on a plate and pour the sauce over them. Garnish with parsley & lime wedges, squeezing the lime juice on the steak when ready to eat.


For the side dishes I had baked Yuca and yellow rice. The yellow rice I simply bought in the Hispanic isle at the grocery store. Yuca is a root, and may or may not be available in your area. If you can get it and want to give it a try, was the root off well, coat with vegetable oil, then bake in an oven at 375 for at least 45 minutes or longer. Yuca will be soft when done.

I accidentally did not cook mine long enough, and the parts that were still hard were quite bitter.

Everything else turned out well enough and quite yummy. Kenna adored the rice, asking for 2nds.

Kisses

Today Zelda gave me a kiss, then she pressed her nose to mine, so I gave her an 'eskimo' kiss. After that she banged her forehead against mine, putting her right eye as close to my right eye, and said "Eye!", then she moved her head to the side of mine, lightly touching, and said "hair"...after this she moved her right ear to my right ear, saying "ear". Guess she thought all parts of the head should have their own kiss ;)

Nigh Nigh

Typically Zelda likes to say goodnight to certain things before she goes to bed. This usually consists of "nigh nigh Mickey" & "nigh nigh Kitty". This started several months ago, when after putting pictures of Mickey in her room, I suggested she say goodnight to him before putting her in her crib (got her in a better mindset for going to bed).

Anyway, last night she came into the living room, waving to her sippy cup, saying "Nigh nigh Nilk" , her way of saying "goodnight, Milk".

:D

Smoked Sausage Pasta

(Transferred from the old blog, Numeenum)

Pasta is a frequent meal at our house. Its cheap, good, and easy to make a variety of it. This dish was originally made for us by Ryan's brother Rodney while he was visiting us last year. He cooked up some smoked sausage and diced green peppers, added the sauce, then cooked bowtie pasta. He let it all simmer for about 10 minutes. I loved it! I have made it quite often ever since.

This time I added mandarin oranges to the mix, a recommendation from Rodney. I didn't have bowtie pasta, but any will do, and spaghetti was what I had on hand. This is my favorite twist on pasta sauce.




PS...a few days ago my friend Jen, a vegetarian, came over and made a sauce using zuchini, yellow squash, and green bell peppers. This was great as well!

How to Make a Mojito with Cap'n Rich

This past Sunday our neighbors came over and we introduced them to the lovely drink now pretty well known: a Mojito. While enjoying the refreshing drinks I entertained them with the following instructional video featuring my family. If you have seen this, then here is another chance to enjoy, and if you haven't seen it, then I hope you have fun. It really does teach you how to make a delicious Mojito, but it also shows what a day in the life is like back home @ my parents' place in Utah.

"Floridian" Arizona Green Tea

(Transferred from the old blog, Numeenum)

So, I love a good, refreshing iced tea. Arizona's brands are delicious, except I really do not care for the high fructose corn syrup that they put in them. So because of that and the fact that making your own tea is significantly more affordable, I decided to come up with a way to make my own.

I simply brewed some green tea, and figured about 1/4 of local honey (here it is orange blossom, naturally) added to it would do it right, and it did. So there you go...make your own "Arizona" green tea with honey (I guess you could add ginseng if you want, but that stuff makes me twitch!) and enjoy the remaining days of summer, which for us in Florida is about another 2 months. ;)

Grilled Cheese made Numee

(Transferred from the old blog, Numeenum)

Ok, so, a staple most everyone loves is also one of my favorite quick fix meals: grilled cheese. There are two 'trick's I recommend to everyone that will get you the best results.
1) Use olive oil - I heat my pan slightly, drop a bit of olive oil, just enough to dip one side of each slice of bread into it, lightly covering the side you'll be cooking. This makes the bread crispy and flavored nicely. It cooks faster than butter or margarine, and is much better for you.
2) Use multiple flavors of cheese, and have fun with it! Its best to use cheese that melts quickly if you can, because the bread will cook pretty fast at medium heat. If however your cheese isn't melted all the way, pop the sandwich in the microwave after it has been grilled...just long enough to melt the cheese but not to make the bread soft.


The sandwhich I made had a shredded italian mix, a small amount of smoked gouda, and some horseradish cheddar. The horseraddish gave it a great kick...I love some heat, and this gives just the right amount where you still get to enjoy the food.

Cheers!
Heather