Authetic Cuban Black Beans

I have posted a shortcut version to Cuban black beans here before, but I thought I'd also post the real way my mom and grandma have made black beans for years.  Let me just state that black beans are one of, if not the most important or common dishes in Cuban cuisine. We serve them over rice, eat them alone, cook them into the rice to make "moros"- another typical Cuban side dish.   Black beans are served from parties to weekday dinners, and are always a welcomed addition to any meal.  There are tons of recipes for black beans, but I tend to be a bit of a purist when it comes to the ingredient list.  I think the flavor of the beans when you're not using the canned variety really lends a totally different taste that doesn't need much "help" as opposed to the doctored up version I've posted here before.  Some people add vinegar, or bay leaves or even olives which I add to my shortcut version, but for my family's traditional recipe I omit all three. In the picture above there is a really typical side dish called "tostones" which is made with green plantains.  I will post that recipe next.

Ingredients:
1 package dried black beans
water (for soaking the beans and later cooking them)
2 onions
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
5 garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

The first thing you do is open the package of beans and dump it into a fine meshed sieve to rinse them, and remove any little particles like twigs or rocks.  Then put the beans into a bowl and cover with water.  Let the beans soak for about 2 hours.  If you're not using a pressure cooker, you'll have to let the beans soak overnight.  I used a pressure cooker and it cut my cooking time dramatically.   Once you're ready to cook the beans, add them to the pot along with the water they were soaking in. Make sure that you have enough water in the pot to cover the beans and come up about 2 inches from the beans.  Next remove the outer layer of an onion and cut it in half.  Add that to the pot along with one green pepper (seeds removed) and 2 cloves of garlic.  Place the lid on the pressure cooker an cook until the beans are soft and tender- about 30 minutes in the pressure cooker or 2 hours in a regular pot.  Once the beans are tender, remove the onion, pepper and garlic and take some of the liquid from the beans and add to a blender. Add 2 raw garlic cloves to the blender and whizz it around until you have a smooth puree. Add it back to the pot with the beans. This would be a good time to add salt to the beans.

Now we begin to build the aromatics for the beans.  A trick my mom showed me was to add a roasted green pepper.  The way to do this is by simply putting the pepper on the burner and allowing it to roast.  Really, it's more like a char, but you get the idea.  You can also broil them like the Pioneer Woman does. Once you have a nice char throughout, cut the pepper in half and put it in a zip lock bag.  The steaming action that forms in there will make it much easier to peel the skin.  After about 15 minutes, remove the black skin to reveal the smooth layer underneath, and add the pepper to the pot.

Next dice up the other onion, red pepper and green pepper and saute olive oil until nice and tender.   Add this to the blender taking a little more liquid from the beans and adding the remaining garlic cloves and pureeing. Add the puree back into the pot with the beans and stir to combine everything really well.  Taste to make sure it's seasoned to your taste and allow for the liquid to thicken up by simmering lightly for about 20 minutes uncovered.  Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the top before serving.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

My mom asked me to make the lettuce wraps I recently posted, so I decided to make an Asian inspired meal.  In addition to the lettuce wraps, I made jasmine fried rice, Veggie egg rolls, and these lighter and healthier Vietnamese style spring rolls.  Like a doofus, I forgot to take a picture of the dipping sauce, but I included the recipe below as well.  Enjoy!

For the spring rolls:
1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
1 cup thinly sliced green cabbage
1/2 cup thinly julienned carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 package rice paper
2 cups rice noodles (i like thin noodles like vermicelli- make sure to use rice noodles!)

Slice all of your veggies and set aside.  Next add about 5 cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil.  Break the rice noodles in half before adding to the pot.  Stir to make sure the noodles don't clump together.  After the noodles are cooked, drain them and add to a bowl of ice and water to shock them , and cool them before putting them in the roll. If the noodles are too hot, they'll wilt the veggies and the beauty of these spring rolls is how fresh and crunchy the veggies are.  Once the noodles are cold, drain them and set them aside.  Now we're ready to begin assembling the rolls.  Take a bowl and add warm/hot water to it.  Make sure the rice paper fits completely into the bowl you use.  Take a piece of rice paper and soak it for 5 seconds.  Transfer to a flat surface and place a mixture of each veggie in the center of the wrap, as well as some noodles.  Fold in the two vertical sides and then roll the  wrap horizontally.  Make sure you have a tight roll, otherwise all of the ingredients will fall out.  It's the same concept as folding a burrito.

For the spicy peanut sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 garlic clove grated
1/4 tsp. Sriracha
1 cup boiling water

Add all of the ingredients to a blender and zip until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Butter Chicken

My mom was in town last week and every time she comes over, there are certain things she eats which she doesn't eat too often back home.  Curry is one of those dishes.  She had already had some Thai curry, but thought I'd make something a little closer to Indian curry this time. This dish is simple to make, and great for folks who haven't been exposed to the wonderful world of curry.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 large onion
6 cloves garlic
1 piece of ginger (about 2 tbsp. worth)
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. Garam Masala
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
1 can tomato sauce
1 can evaporated milk or half & half
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

First wash all of the chicken breasts and pat them dry.  Cut them into chunks, trimming all of the fat.  Next chop your onion, a medium dice works well.  Grate the ginger and garlic and toss into the pan along with the onion and butter.  Add in the Garam Masala, curry powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper and continue to saute with the onions, garlic and ginger.  Stir around to mix all of the spices.  Next, add the cut up chicken breasts and allow for them to simmer with the spices and onions.  Once the pieces are somewhat browned, add the tomato sauce and chicken stock.  Allow for the chicken to cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat.  Add the half and half and combine well, allowing the dish to simmer for another 10 minutes.  Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and serve over basmati rice.

Chop Chop

One of my favorite fast food restaurants in Miami is Chicken Kitchen.  It's really not fast food, more along the lines of a Chipotle of sorts, but with a different menu.  For those of you who've never had it, it' Caribbean marinated chicken that's grilled.  Then the skin is removed and this guy with two cleavers chops it up into little pieces.  Then it's served on top of a bed of yellow rice. You then mix it with your choice of sauce.  There are about 8 or 9 different sauces, but my favorites are the Cilantro-lime sauce, the mustard-curry sauce, and the sweet and sour sauce.  At least that's how the original one started years ago. Now there are all kinds of versions to the original chop chop, like the Cuban Chop, the South of the Border Chop, etc.  Check out their menu.  I tried to re-create my beloved Chop Chop since its one of the places I miss the most now that I don't live in Miami.  Below is my attempt.

For the Yellow Rice:
2 cups white rice (I think they use parboiled)
2 & 1/3 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. bijol or annatto powder

Finely chop up the onion and saute in the butter.  Make sure to do this in a pot that has a lid for steaming the rice later.  Next wash the rice to remove the excess starch. Drain of all the water and add to the pot with the onions.  Saute for a little will, stirring occasionally to lightly toast the rice evenly, but it should not be brown or change color at all.  Next add the chicken stock, salt and annatto powder.  Stir well and allow for the rice to cook on high until the liquid is about half evaporated.  At this point, bring the heat to low and cover with a lid. Cook for about 15 minutes covered.  Fluff with a fork.

For the Chicken:
2 chicken breasts (with skin and bones)
5 garlic cloves
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 lime (juice)
garlic powder
2 tbsp olive oil
salt- enough to sprinkle over each piece of chicken

Marinate the chicken at least four hours in advance, but it's even better if you do it overnight.  Grate the garlic into a bowl, add the olive oil, oregano and lime juice and blend well.  Add the chicken to a plastic zip-lock bag and add the marinade.  Massage it into the chicken well and put the bag in the fridge to do its magic.   When you're ready to cook the chicken, season with salt and grill (I like mine on the bbq so that it gets that grilled taste).  Allow the chicken to cook through undisturbed on either side for about 8-10 minutes.  Let the chicken rest before cutting it.  Remove the skin and chop it into little pieces.

For the Cilantro, Garlic and Lime Sauce:
1/2 cup light mayo
3 tbsp. water
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 garlic cloves
1 lime (juice)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Wash the cilantro and remove the stems.  Add the mayo, water, lime juice and soy sauce to a blender and combine.  Next roughly chop the garlic and add it to the blender along with the cilantro.  Blend until you have a light green colored sauce and no large chunks of cilantro or garlic are present.  Drizzle over your Chop Chop and enjoy!