Cuban Style Pork Chops

This is absolutely incredible! The flavors feel like you are in the Carribean or at least Florida.  I served it with the Cilantro Lime Rice and what a combination.  Again, quick and easy.  You can grill it outside or in the broiler of your oven.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup orange juice (fresh squeeze if possible)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbsp dried oregano
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup olive oil
4 boneless pork chops or pork loin (aprox 6-8 oz each)
8 slices of swiss cheese
4 thick slices of cooked ham
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs of chopped cilantro

Set broiler to low in oven.  If grilling outside, heat grill on high then reduce to medium when hot.

Combine 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1tbs oregano, garlic, cumin and 1/4 cup olive oil; mix until marinade is well combined. Slice each pork chop or pork loin in half through the sides to create 4 additional chops; these need to be thin (if not, pound with a meat mallet).  In a large dish, add the pork and marinade; allow to marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

Remove pork from the marinade and place on a flat surface. Place a slice of cheese, then ham, then another slice of cheese; cover with another pork slice. Do the same with the others until you have created all four bundles. Season with salt and pepper. 

Place pork chops on the grill and cook until golden brown (approx. 3 to 4 minutes). Flip the pork chops and continue to cook until the flip side turns a golden brown and the cheese melts (approx. 2 to 3 minutes). Remove from the grill or oven.

Combine the remaining orange juice, lime juice, oregano, cilantro and olive oil; whisk until well combined. Spoon over pork chops and serve with cilantro lime rice, jasmine or basmati rice.

Cilantro Lime Rice

This goes great with any latin dishes. With a rice cooker, it practically cooks itself. I've made this without the wild rice and found it does not change the flavor. The wild rice adds a great texture. If you do not have a rice cooker, you can still make this on top of the stove.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetables oil
1 small onion (minced)
5 garlic cloves (minced)
3/4 long grain rice and wild rice mix
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 lime (juiced)
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan, add onion and garlic, stir constantly until translucent.  Add the rice and continue to stir (approximately 2 minutes). With a rice cooker: move the content of the pan to the rice cooker and add the broth. Turn the rice cooker on and and allow the rice to cook.

On the stove: add the broth and allow to boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover.  Simmer on low for approximately 15 minutes.

When rice is done, add the lime juice and cilantro; mix and fluff up the rice.  Add salt to taste. Serve with your favorite latin entrees.

Coconut Shrimp with Sweet and Sour Guava Sauce

This is really wonderful. I think it is better than what you get at the restaurants.  It is not as sweet which I prefer.  It is another easy recipe to fix and so very impressive when done. People will think you have gone "gourmet" on them. The recipe calls for "Panko" which is Japanese bread crumbs. This is what make this really great. You can find panko at any Asian grocery store. I am also starting to see it at some high end American grocery stores as well (Central Market, etc.) You need to measure it out and not go by weight, if you don't, you will end up wasting a lot. So make sure you measure.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs shrimp (16/20 count)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup coconut flakes
1 cup toasted cashew nuts (crushed or finely chopped)
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
4 cups vegetable oil, for deep frying

Sweet and Sour Guava Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup guava juice
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water, for thickening

For the sauce:
In a medium saucepan, heat the garlic stirring constantly.  Add ketchup and all the ingredients, except cornstarch mixture. Stir sauce until well blended, bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly to make sure no lumps develop. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently until thickened.

For shrimp:
Shell and devein the shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Put the flour in a shallow bowl. Beat the eggs in separate bowl. Third bowl, mix the coconut flakes, cashew nuts and panko together.


Dust the shrimp with flour, shaking off excess, then dip them in beaten egg. Roll them in the coconut breading, making sure it is totally covered. Bread all the shrimp at the same time. Heat oil in a deep pot or wok over medium heat. Check to make sure it is hot before adding shrimp by dropping a little of the breading. If it sizzles, you are ready. Fry the shrimp, 4 or 5 at a time, for about 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Do not over crowd in the pan or they will stick together; drain on paper towels. You can serve it with the sweet and sour guava sauce on the side for dipping or you can toss in the sauce.  It is great with fried rice or steamed white rice.  You can also serve this with the sauce on the side as an appetizer. Enjoy!

Egg Fu Yung (Shrimp Omelet)

I love egg fu yung, but not a lot of Chinese restaurants prepare this dish. When I order it, the owner always tells me that this dish takes a while to prepare. One day, I asked the owner of my favorite Chinese restaurant why not many restaurants have this on the menu. She told me that this can only be prepared by a true Chinese Chef. That egg fu yung is time consuming and not easy to prepare. During one of my forages through a second hand book store, I found a Chinese cookbook that had the recipe with 1 problem.......part of it was written in Chinese....I don't read Chinese. I bought the book and kept it on my book shelf for almost 4 years. I kept wanting to try to make this dish, but kept remembering the Chinese proprietress' comment about the difficulty. One day, I stopped at the restaurant and found it closed for remodeling. No egg fu yung!!!! So, I went home, took the cookbook out, squared my shoulders and started to make it. After several attempts (remember, I don't read Chinese) I found it....and it was no where near as difficult as she said it would be. It is as simple as fixing an omelet. So, below is "my translation".

Ingredients:

8 eggs

2 tbsp water

8 fresh mushroom (chopped)

1 1/2 cups bean sprouts

1 1/2 cup cooked shrimp (chopped)

4 green onions (finely chopped)

1 celery stalk (finely chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

oil for frying

Sauce:

2 cups water

6 tsp cornstarch

3 tsp sugar

5 tsp soy sauce

2 chicken boullion cubes

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the sauce by disolving the 2 cubes of chicken boullion in 2 cups of water. In a sauce pan, combine the chicken boullion in water, sugar and soy sauce. Heat thoroughly. In a small bowl, pour a small portion of the heated liquid, add the cornstarch and stir until completely disolved and there are no lumps. Slowly stir it back into the pot, continually stirring so as not to create lumps (stirring with a whisk reduces the chances of lumps). Gently boil until sauce thickens; reduce heat to keep warm. Season with salt and pepper.

Beat eggs and 2 tbsp water in a bowl and season with salt and pepper until it froths; set aside. In a bowl combine mushrooms, shrimp, onion, celery and sprout. Stir until well combined; add beaten eggs and stir until well mixed.

In a skillet heat oil (approx. 1 tablespoon at a time) for frying. Using a ladle, pour a portion of the mixture in the pan. Cook until it starts firming up and edges are light brown (2-3 min). Flip the egg omelet and cook other side. When light brown, remove and place into a warm plate. Continue cooking each omelet and stack on top of each other when done. Pour warm sauce over stack. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve while hot with your favorite rice - long grain, jasmine or basmati.

Note: the filling is flexible in this dish. I've used peas and carrots. You can also use ground pork instead of shrimp. Be sure to season the pork with salt and pepper and brown first before adding to the omelet.

Brazillian Fish Stew

This is incredibly easy and delicious. If you love foods cooked in coconut milk, cilantro and lime juice, then this is it! It combines different national influences into one incredible dish. My husband and I love this dish. Though the original recipe called for the basic - cod and haddock, I actually tried it with Mahi-mahi and it was great!!! I have also tried it with tilapia and it works as well. Since tilapia is not as firm as the other fishes, you will need to handle gently when preparing. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2lbs cod, haddock, mahi-mahi or tilapia

5 tbsp fresh squeeze lime juice

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion (minced)

1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)

4 garlic cloves (minced)

1 lb ripe tomates (chopped) or 1 (16oz) can of chopped tomatoes (drained)

1 cup fish stock (homemade or boullion) or bottled clam juice

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/3 cup cilantro (chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl toss fish and lime juice together; set aside to marinate. In a skillet, on medium heat, add the oil until heated. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Stir often until onion has softened (approx. 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes, continue stirring until heated, then add stock and coconut milk. Simmer, then reduce the heat to med-low. Cover and allow to cook for another 10 minutes. Add the fish and the marinating lime juice and cilantro. Cook for another 5 minutes or until fish is opaque and firm. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice in a bowl to ensure you get the wonderful broth.

Note: you can change it up a bit and add shrimp to give it some variety. If you want to do a reduced fat version - reduce the coconut milk to 2/3 cup. You can add red pepper flakes to give it some "heat" as well.

Picadillo

Comfort food. This is what this dish means to my family. It must mean the same to so many different cultures since they have their own version (Spain, Mexico, South America, Philippines, the Caribbean). Another very easy and adaptable recipe. You can serve it over rice or encase it in pastry dough, fry or bake and you have a Latin pastry called "empanada".

Feel free to change it up a bit. It is one of those "can't fail" recipes. That's what I did and came up with our favorite version.

Ingredients:

1 calabasa or pumpkin like squash (i.e. acorn)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 lb of good ground beef

1 onion (minced or chopped)

1 bellpepper (seeded and chopped)

4 garlic cloves (minced)

1 1/2 cups beef broth

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup pimiento stuffed olives (sliced)

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cut the squash into bite size pieces; discard seeds. Heat olive oil in a skillet, add ground beef, onion, bellpepper, squash, and garlic. Brown the beef, stirring constantly breaking up the beef. Cook vegetables until softened; remove any excess fat. Add cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook spices until heated. Add beef broth, tomato paste and sugar. Stir constantly until tomato paste disolves; bring to a boil; add raisins and pimiento olives. Reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for another 15-20 minutes until squash is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Spoon over rice and enjoy.

Note: sweet potato can be substituted for the squash. For a Philippine version use potatoes. For a Caribbean touch, add a 1/4 cup of rum when adding the broth. Any long grain, jasmine or basmati rice works great with this recipe.

Lamb with Spiced Cardamom Rice

Don't let the list of ingredients scare you. This is an easy dish to prepare and what wonderful aromas it generates during cooking. Once done, the presentation and the flavors are great. The original recipe called for clay pot cooking. The preparation was time consuming. I experimented using a crock pot and my trusty rice cooker and found an easy and convenient cooking method that did not require me to stay in the kitchen the whole time. I think you will find this dish easy and impressive.
Ingredients:
1 large onion (quartered)
2 garlic cloves
1 small green chilli (halved) optional
2 inch fresh ginger root
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) or regular butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil or light olive oil
11/2 lb leg or shoulder of lamb cut in chunks
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick broken into at least 3 pieces
2/3 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup rice
1/3 cup dried apricots (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
For the rice:
1 1/4 cup basmati rice
6 cardamom pods (split)
2 tbsp butter (cut into pieces)
3 tbsp cashnew nuts or sliced almonds
Garnish:
1 onion (sliced thinly and fried golden brown)
Sprigs of fresh cilantro
In a food processor, add the quartered onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and blend to a smooth paste. Heat ghee and vegetable oil in a pan. Fry the lamb in high heat in batches until brown. Remove from pan and set aside. In the hot pan, add the paste, ground coriander, cumin and broken cinnamon sticks. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Return the lamb to the pan and gradually add the yogurt stirring constantly to ensure lamb is well coated. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Transfer the content of the pan to your crock pot and set the temperature to low and allow to cook for 3-4 hours.
Prepare rice during the last 30 minutes of the lamb's cooking time. Rinse the basmatic rice several times until water runs clear. Soak the basmati rice for 20 minutes in cold water. Drain and in a pot add the water, salt and rice. Bring to a boil until liquid has evaporated (approx. 10 min); remove from heat.
If using a rice cooker, rinse the basmati rice until water runs clear. Add 2 cups of water and the rice to the rice cooker. Turn rice cooker on and let rice cooker complete the cooking process. When all water has evaporated and before the rice cooker "clicks" over to "warm", follow the transfer process to the crock pot.
Add split cardamom to rice and stir. Add chopped apricots to lamb. Pile the rice ontop of the lamb in the crock pot, dot with butter pieces and sprinkle with cashnew nuts. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes.
Uncover and combine the lamb and rice together. Spoon to a bowl and garnish with the fried onions and sprigs of cilantro. Enjoy!
Note: I've prepared this without the green chilli. The other spices provide so much flavor you don't miss it.

Vegetable Pulao

This is a wonder dish that my friend Nita shared with me. I served it with a Morrocan style game hen. The flavors complimented each other, creating a wonderful "fusion".

Ingredients:

1 cup - mixed vegetables ( carrots, peas, beans and potato)

2 tbsp - fenugreek

2 cups - basmati rice

3 cups - water

2 tsp - cumin seeds

1 tsp - cardamom

1/2 tsp - cinnamon

1 tsp - red chili powder

2 - bay leaves

1 - onion (sliced in rings)

1 - tomato (chopped)

1/4 tsp - tumeric

2 tsp - coriander powder

4 tbsp - butter

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup - coriander leaves (roughly chopped) optional

Heat butter in a pan until melted; add the onions and cook until translucent. Add cummin seeds, cardamom, cinamon, chili powder, tumeric, fenugreek, bay leaves and chili powder; stirring constantly (approx 2-3 min or until onions are brown). Do not allow the spices to burn. Add tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Once tomatoes are done, add the vegetables. Continue stirring until vegetables are hot. Add rice and mix well. Add water and allow it to boil. Stir the pulao and reduce the heat to low or simmer and cover until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender (approximately 15 min.) Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy.

Note: you can control the "heat" by reducing the amount of chili powder and replacing it with paprika. If you prefer a much spicier dish, increase the amount of chili powder to taste.

Rice Cooker: The final cooking stage can also be completed in a rice cooker. If you are planning on using one, move the rice mixture to your rice cooker and add the water. Stir and cover and let the rice cooker finish the cooking process.