The Yuca Diaries

I am embarrassed to say that I have only posted one recipe using yuca, and the fact that this blog is called the YUCA Diaries means I need to start adding more yuca recipes pronto!  So this is a simple yuca appetizer or side dish that is probably the counterpart to American French fries. I rarely fry food, but this is one of those occasions where I made an exception. These were served with a garlicky dipping sauce. Without further ado… here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 package frozen yuca

6 cups water

2 tsp salt

oil for frying (I use canola)

Add the water , 1 tsp. of salt and frozen yuca to a pressure cooker and cook on medium high for about half an hour or until the yuca is really tender. Dump the yuca into a colander to drain. Set aside to cool a bit.  You’ll want to cut the yuca into strips similar to the size of steak fries.   Add oil to a non-stick pan and turn the heat up to medium high.  Once the oil is hot, add the yuca in and let it cook undisturbed until it’s golden brown.  Transfer to a cooling rack and season with a little salt.

For the dipping sauce:

1 cup light mayo

1 bunch finely chopped Italian parsley or cilantro (whichever you’re in the mood for.  I used parsley this time)

2 large garlic cloves, grated

2 tbsp. water

3 tbsp. fresh lime juice

1/8 tsp. soy sauce

salt to taste

First add the mayo to a mixing bowl. Next grate the garlic and chop the parsley and add it to the bow.  Mix well.  Finally add in the water, lime juice soy sauce, and salt and combine well. Enjoy!

If it weren’t for the story attached to this post, I may not have considered this “blog worthy”. You see, pollo a la plancha, or grilled chicken, is a very simple, almost no-brainer of a dish. It’s basically a boneless, skinless chicken breast that is grilled with some onions, and is available in every Cuban restaurant in Miami. It’s healthy and perfect for a weeknight meal. But this dish will forever hold a special place in my heart because of the following story.

When I was very young and growing up, I had a very very dear friend named Dana. Dana and I were inseparable, truly joined at the hip. Dana was, and still is one of the quirkiest people i’ve ever known. She is extremely funny, but the kind of funny that is so without trying to be. One of the best kinds of “funnies” in my opinion. Dana and I were together a lot, and it was not uncommon for her to come to dinner with my family and vice-versa. One day, we went to this very popular restaurant establishment called “Islas Canarias (Canary Islands) for dinner. The waiter comes around and introduces himself, brings the menus and says he’ll be back to take the order shortly. So we’re all looking at the menu and when the waiter comes around everyone starts placing their order. Finally the gentleman gets to Dana and asks, “and what can I get for you, young lady?” Without batting an eyelash, she blurts out “I’d like the “pajaro planchado please”. Needless to say, this started a wave of hysterical laughter in the restaurant that only got louder and louder. I almost choked on my drink, my brothers were cracking up and the poor waiter (whom was an older, serious fellow) had to hold back tears of laughter. Dana was dying of embarrassment which made it all the funnier and the more we tried to stop laughing the harder it was. It was so funny- the kind of funny where your stomach hurts, you can’t breathe, and you’re wiping tears from your eyes. For those who don’t speak Spanish, she had just referred to the grilled chicken breast as an “ironed bird” instead of “chicken on the grill”-and although it doesn’t translate well into English, was one of the funniest things I’d ever heard. It was one of those “you had to be there moments” but suffice it to say that every time I have this dish it is “parajo planchado” and not “pollo a la plancha”.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 lime

1 tsp. salt

1 small onion, cut into thin rounds

2 tsp. olive oil

The trick to making this dish really flavorful and juicy is to butterfly the breast, and then pound it out so that it’s nice and thin. You also don’t want to cook the chicken any longer than you have to, otherwise it can be as dry as the sole of your shoe. Since the chicken is very thin, it wont take long at all.  About 2-3 minutes on each side. Begin by seasoning the chicken breasts on both sides and setting aside.  In a large non-stick skillet or grill pan, add the olive oil and turn up to high heat.  When the pan get really really hot, add the chicken breasts and let them cook until they get nice and slightly golden.  Flip them over, squeeze a generous amount of lime juice over the chicken and finish cooking on the other side.  Transfer the chicken to a plate.   Next add the onions to the pan, season them with a little salt, and saute them for a few minutes, until they’re nice and translucent and have sweetened.  Place a bed of onions on your serving plate and then place the chicken on top of the onions.  Serve with white rice and black beans, or a large green salad for a healthier option.

This is my first attempt at Paella. As I’ve mentioned before, B. and I follow kosher laws so it’s not your traditional Paella.  Traditional Paella has shrimp, fish, mussels, clams, and any other seafood you’d like to add. There are also other varieties that include chicken and even chorizo.  I decided on sticking to a simple fish paella for my first attempt, but if you’re feeling more daring, go ahead and add any protein you’d like.  You could also make it a vegetarian Paella if you’re not into meat by adding lots of fresh veggies like asparagus and artichokes.

Ingredients:

2 onions, medium

6-8 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

2 bay leaves

4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 cups Valencia rice

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 tsp. crush saffron threads

1 1/2 lbs. cod

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp.  fresh chopped parsley for garnishing

1 lemon cut into wedges for squeezing at the end

red pepper flakes for sprinkling at the end, optional

First finely dice the onion and green pepper and grate the garlic cloves.  Add three tbsp. of olive oil to a non-stick pan with a lid and turn the heat to medium high.  While the oil heats, cut the red pepper into slivers.  Add the onions, garlic, peppers and bay leaf to the oil, reserving about half of the red peppers for later.   Stir everything around and cook bring down the heat to medium.  Cook for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a holding plate.  Wash the rice really well, until the water runs clear and drain it well.  Cut the fish into large chunks and set aside.Turn the heat up to medium high and add the rice into the pan.  Saute, making sure to evenly and lightly toast the rice.  Turn the heat to high,   and add in the onions, garlic, and peppers that were in the holding plate and combine well.  Next add in the chicken stock, wine,  and the saffron threads.  Stir everything around and let everything cook until about half of the liquid has evaporated.  Now add the fish gently into the pan, along with the rest of the red peppers and the peas. Cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat to low.  Let everything cook undisturbed for about 15 minutes.  Let the Paella sit with the heat off  and the lid on for an additional 5 minutes before serving.

When serving, plate the paella into a dish and add a little freshly chopped parsley to the top.  Also, squeeze a little lemon juice and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.  For those who like it hot, sprinkle a few crushed red pepper flakes.  Voila…. or should I say Ole?

You know what I love about this dish? The texture of the super ultra thin zucchini and onions and the tang of the lemon juice.  I love how simple this dish is too. Not too much going on and the vegetable is the star of the show here.  The next time you want to make an elegant appetizer that is also healthy, this is an excellent option.

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini

1/4  of a small onion

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. capers

juice of about half a lemon

lots of fresh cracked pepper and a little sea salt

Wash the zucchini well and dry it.  Using a mandolin, begin thinly slicing the zucchini.  Assemble the zucchini on a platter gently laying one slice over the other, overlapping the zucchini in a pretty pattern.  Slice the onion into really really thin slices and sprinkle over the zucchini.  Next sprinkle the capers over the platter.  Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, squeeze a little lemon juice over the top and season everything with some fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. Voila… there you have a beautifully appetizing dish that took about 10 minutes to make.

Also, I noticed when I was looking at the shots, that in the picture below, it looks like there is a sad zucchini face. LOL

Munyeta is a dish my grandmother on my father’s side used to make when I was a kid.  My grandmother was from a rural town in Cuba named Camaguey where this dish was popular. It’s more of an obscure dish, since most people I asked about  it had no clue what I was talking about. It had been years since i’d had it and all of a sudden I remembered it with nostalgia.  Basically, it’s a white bean cake that kind of looks like a Spanish tortilla by the time you’re done.  It’s really easy to make- using only 6 ingredients and the flavors work so well together.

Ingredients:

1 bag navy beans (if you’re really in a rush you can use the canned variety, but it tastes way better using the dry beans)

1 large onion, roughly diced

8 garlic cloves

1 tbsp. smoked Spanish Paprika

1 cup cubed ham and bacon ( I used turkey bacon since I follow Kosher laws)

5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

First wash the beans well, removing any little pebbles or twigs.  Add to a pressure cooker with 6 cups of water and cook until the beans are soft and tender.  If  you don’t have a pressure cooker, soak the beans overnight and then cook them in a regular pot.  Once the beans are cooked, put them in a colander to drain the liquid.   Next use the back of your knife to smash half of the garlic cloves.  Add a little olive oil to your pan and toss the garlic in to infuse the oil.  Cook until the garlic is tender and becomes sweet.  Remove and set aside.  Next dice your onion and add to the pan, sauteing for about 6 minutes.  While the onions cook, dice the ham and bacon into small cubes.  Transfer to the pan and cook until the bacon and ham become slightly crispy.  Next add the beans and the paprika.  Begin to mash the beans with a potato masher or the back of a large spoon until you have a coarse paste.  Don’t worry about getting it perfectly smooth, you’ll want a rustic consistency.  Add two tablespoons of olive oil and blend everything well.  Taste for salt.   The trick to this dish is letting it cook until the bottom of the mix gets browned and slightly crunchy.  Then use a spatula to mix it up, allowing the new layer to get crunchy before mixing again.  Add more olive oil as needed.  You’ll notice that as you continue to cook the munyeta, it will become really pliable and you’ll be able to shape it into a large cake reminiscent of a Spanish tortilla.   Transfer to a plate, drizzle with a little olive oil and garnish with some fresh chopped parsley.

I know this may sound weird, but I didn’t feel like eating this with rice, so I fried up a few eggs- over easy and squeezed some ketchup on the side.  It was delish.

Here are the step-by-step action shots…

This post is dedicated to all my fellow Miamians. This week the temperature dropped to record lows and people have been freezing their butts off. All over facebook, the statuses are about how cold it is, how many layers people are wearing and how people from Miami are not made to deal with such cold temperatures. And truthfully, I don’t blame them; yesterday with the wind chill factor it was in the 20′s. So this post is dedicated to my Miami brethren. This Spanish bean soup is the perfect thing to warm your bones and fill your tummy.

Ingredients:

1 package dry navy beans

1 yellow onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

3 small potatoes

1 turnip

1 head of kale (you can substitute with collard greens or Swiss chard)

2 sprigs fresh thyme

6 slices bacon ( I used turkey bacon because I follow kosher laws)

1 lb. flank steak

6 cups water

3 tbsp. olive oil (plus more for garnish at the end)

salt to taste

The first thing to do is rinse the beans and make sure there are no little pebbles or twigs in the package and set aside. Next finely dice the onions, garlic, celery, carrots as well as the bacon (save one garlic clove to add in at the end). Make sure to cut the slices into small pieces. The traditional Caldo Gallego calls for ham hock and or chorizo or some kind of sausage, but I omitted these ingredients. Add the olive oil to a pressure cooker and toss the vegetables you just chopped and the bacon and saute until the bacon is nice an crunchy and the veggies are tender. Now would be a good time to trim the flank steak of any excess fat and cut it into large pieces. Add the beans, water and thyme, and flank steak to the pressure cooker, giving everything a good stir before putting the lid on. Let the beans cook on medium-high heat for about 30 minutes before checking on it again. While that is cooking, begin peeling the potatoes and turnips and cubing. Next wash the kale well and roughly chop. After the beans have cooked for about half an hour, remove the pot from the stove and run under cold water to release the pressure. You could also just turn off the burner and let it cool enough for the pressure to be released from the pot on it’s own. Taste the beans to see if they’re tender, as well as the saltiness of the soup. Add a little salt if necessary. The beans should be about two-thirds of the way cooked at this point. Stir everything in the pot, and then add the potatoes, turnip and kale and stir well. Put the lid back on and cook for about 20 minutes on medium-high heat. After the time is up, release the pressure from the pot before removing the lid and taste once again. Make sure the the beans are tender and that it doesn’t need any more salt. Grate the last garlic clove into the soup and stir really well. Once the beans, potatoes, and turnips are tender the soup is done. Serve with rice or crusty bread and drizzle the top of the soup with just a little bit of olive oil before serving.

Let the defrosting begin!

Ingredients:

5 tbsp. butter

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tbsp. dry white wine (I used extra dry vermouth)

1/3 cup onion very finely diced

2 cups ground up ham (I used turkey ham)

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

Canola oil for frying

For the breading:

2 eggs

2 cups plain bread crumbs

First thing to do is add the butter to a non-stick pan.

Turn the heat off at this point. Chop up the ham into cubes and toss into the food processor.  Run the processor for about 30 seconds.

Growing up, this dish was not made too frequently because my brother Ozzy was a really picky eater.  Unfortunately, this meant my mom would not make dishes that he didn’t like too often.  This was one of those dishes.  Now, he’s grown up and his palette has changed thankfully.  One day I was making this for dinner and he showed up.  He raised the lid of the pot and said “Oh you’re making Brain for dinner”  He calls this dish “brain” because the center is stuffed with cheese and as the meatloaf cooks in the sauce the cheese oozes out. Don’t let that bizarre introduction turn you off.  This dish is absolutely delicious- and it’s one of those more obscure Cuban dishes that is definitely worth sharing. I think it my duty to preserve these family recipes so that we can continue to pass them down throughout the generations. Oh yeah and did I mention that it’s delicious?

Side note- This recipe calls for ground beef.  Lately I have been using the food processes to grind up my own meats.  It gives me a little peace of mind to know that there’s no “mystery meat” or fillers in the meat I’m using.  I had no idea that the food processor could do this until recently and it’s my new favorite kitchen trick.

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Ground Beef (I ground up my own, using brisket)

4 eggs (two for the meatloaf mixture, and two for the breading station)

2 cups plain breadcrumbs or cracker meal (1/2 cup for meatloaf mixture, and 1 1/2 cups for the breading station)
8 mozzarella string cheese sticks (four per loaf)

2 large onions

1 green pepper

6 cloves garlic

3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

1/2 cup canola oil

2 small cans tomato sauce

1 can petite diced tomatoes

2 tbsp. ketchup

2 1/2 cups dry white wine

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 bay leaf

salt to taste

My first step was grinding up the beef in the food processor. You’ll skip this step obviously if you’re using beef that’s already ground.  Another advantage to using the food processor is that after you’re done grinding the meat, you can just add all of the seasoning and blend instead of having to use your hands and a separate bowl.  This is a shortcut, and it’s the first time I’ve done it this way though.  I added the two eggs, salt, garlic powder, and 1/2 cup of bread crumbs to the food processor and blended everything.  If you’re not using a food pro, then just mix everything in a bowl.  Next remove the beef mixture and transfer to a cutting board.  Press the meat down like if you’re making a massive hamburger and then add four pieces of string cheese in the center of the patty.  Fold the sides and ends over to create a large loaf.   Make sure to seal the sides well so that the cheese doesn’t all ooze out during the cooking process.  You will have some cook out, but that’s just part of the beauty of this dish.  Who doesn’t like cheese oozing out into sauce??

Tres Leches is a traditional Latin dessert that consists of a light spongy cake that is soaked in a mixture of three milks and topped with whipped cream.  I know it is super fattening, but I am hormonal today… don’t judge me! This will yield about 10 servings…. so make it when you know you’ll have company; otherwise you’ll be visiting the fridge at all ungodly hours of the night!

For the cake:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 stick butter

5 eggs (yolks separated from whites)

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all of the dry ingredients (except the sugar) in a bowl.  In a two separate bowls, separate the egg yolks from the whites.  Once the eggs are separated, begin beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Set the egg whites aside for now.  The next thing you’ll do is blend the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and butter.  The color of the mixture should lighten considerably.  I’d say from the color of the egg yolks to a very pale yellow. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes of mixing on high speed.  Make sure to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl if you’re using  a hand mixer.  Next begin adding the flour to the mixture in thirds. After the flour is well incorporated, begin folding in the egg whites.  Add the batter to a greased baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until you prick the center and the toothpick comes out clean.  This will yield a very spongy cake- perfect for the absorption of the milks.  Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely before going to the next step.  I put it on a dish with a lip so that the milk mixture didn’t spill over.

For the milk combo:

2 cans evaporated milk

1 can condensed milk

1 cup half and half (the real recipe calls for heavy cream, but i just couldn’t do it!)

In a bowl or large measuring cup, combine the three milks above.  I used a whisk to dissolve the condensed milk well.   Now you’ll take your cake and using a fork begin to prick it all over.  This will create little holes for the milk to seep into.  Begin to slowly pour the milk over the cake.  Making sure to get the edges. After you’ve used up all of the milk mixture, transfer the cake to fridge to continue to cool.

For the Topping:

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup superfine or powdered sugar

On high speed, blend the cream and sugar until you have a nice and thick whipped cream topping to spread over the cake.  Top with maraschino cherries, strawberries or eat it alone.  Enjoy!

For the Tostones:

2 green plantains (buy them as green as you can find them)

canola or other neutral oil for frying

Salt to taste

First cut the plantain into about 1/2″ thick segments and remove the peel around the outside.  Add the oil to a frying pan and turn the heat up to medium high.  Once the oil is hot, add the pieces of plantain and fry until the first side is golden.  Flip each piece and allow for it to cook on the other side.  Next remove the pieces of plantain from the oil and set them on a plate or flat surface.  To form the disks you will need something flat to smoosh the pieces down until you have a flat, thin, disc.  Add the discs back into the oil and fry until both sides are golden brown and crunchy.  Remove from the oil, season with salt and serve.   You can serve this with mojo sauce if you’re serving as an appetizer.  Enjoy!

For the mojo sauce:

2 limes (juice only)

4 large garlic cloves

1/3 cup grapeseed or light unflavored oil

pinch of salt

Grate the garlic and add to a bowl.  Squeeze the lime juice into the bowl and add the oil.  Using a whisk, blend vigorously until it’s slightly emulsified.  Make sure to stir before spooning over your food.