Cuban Frita Burgers

When I lived in Miami, there were burgers of all kinds--Korean Fusion burgers from Sakaya Kitchen and their delicious food truck, there were Colombian burgers with sweet and savory sauces of all varieties imaginable, and Cuban burgers, called fritas.  While Colombian burgers were probably my favorite, the frita (free.tah) is the most practical to make at home with ease.  These burgers are smoky and garlicky with a nice sweet zip from the ketchup.  You definitely do not need any sauces or anything like that on these burgers, as they are packed with flavor.  Cheese is optional, but potato stix are a must.

These red-tinged burgers are aromatic and irresistible and are sure to please your guests.  Even the pickiest eater will be won over by this Cuban treat.  If you're lucky, you can go old fashioned and sub the ground pork for Spanish chorizo.  Be careful here as it must be Spanish, not Mexican chorizo.  You want that nice paprika-laced sausage that isn't the least bit spicy.  In Miami, they sell ground Spanish chorizo in the pack, just as you can buy ground beef here.  If you can find Spanish chorizo around, it's even better.  Either way, you're in for a real treat!  I hope this delicious frita becomes a staple in your home, just as it is in mine.  For me, it's the only way to eat a burger at home, well...this and portabella mushroom and beef combo.  Enjoy!

Cuban fritas

Ingredients
1/2 - 3/4 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
2-3 TB ketchup (or 2 TB tomato paste can also work)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 onion, finely diced
1 tsp cumin
1-1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 TB cilantro leaves (measure before chopping) then chop (most people don't use this, but I love it)


Procedure
1.Mix together by hand all ingredients above and grill as normal.

2. Top the burgers with shoestring potato stix, a slice of cheese.  Typically, you use American cheese, but I like provolone too.  In fact, I like to use one slice of each, yum!

References for inspiration
http://insightcuba.com/blog/2013/02/08/recipe-of-the-week-frita-cubana-the-cuban-hamburger

Hearty Ground Beef and Veggie Chili

Hearty Ground Beef and Veggie Chili

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef

1 handful baby carrots and 1 stalk celery, sautéed until softened and pureed with a couple TB water

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper, chopped

 3 red serrano peppers, thinly sliced

3-4 cloves garlic, smashed

3 fresh tomatoes, chopped                         

2 heaping TB tomato paste

½ TB cumin

½ tsp cinnamon

1 pinch oregano

1 tsp chilli pepper

¼ tsp Mexican style hot chili powder

A few dashed Hungarian hot paprika

2tsp cocoa powder

2  maggi chicken bouillon cubes, dissolved in ½-1c water

2 TB maseca

1 cup chopped portabello mushroom

Lots of salt

Few Dashes of pepper

Procedure:

1. In a small pan, sautee the onions, bell pepper, and serrano peppers in a TB lard or vegetable oil until translucent.  Stir in garlic and sautee until fragrant.

2. Meanwhile, over medium heat, sautee ground beef, being sure to break up the beef with a spatula, until it begins to brown.  Strain oil off.  Stir in onion mixture, tomato paste, and carrot mixture.  Sautee for a few minutes.

3. Stir in dry seasoning and continue cooking.  

4. Once beef is almost done, taste for salt and stir in chicken bouillon and maseca.

5. Once beef is done, stir in portabello and chopped tomatoes.  Continue cooking until veggies have softened a bit, but still have bite, and the beef is fully cooked.

Smoky and Zesty Cameroonian (Central African) Beef Kabobs/ Brochettes a la camerounaises

I love Cameroonian food!  I love the deep, smoky, spunky flavor of the grilled meats with the sweet plantains, the everything!  The blend of ginger, garlic, onion along with tomatoes and hot peppers give Cameroonian food its unforgettable punch.  I have loved it and I have dreamed of recreating the delectable Central African flavors at home from the time I tried this lovely cuisine at the old Roger Miller restaurant that was once in Silver Spring, MD.  I was finally able to get my hands on some great recipes.  Although I searched for good recipes before, to no avail, I never thought to search in French.  Hello!  I had much better luck this time.

Below is one of the first Cameroonian recipes that I tried at home.  It is super easy to make and you can do it with things that you likely already have in your kitchen.  The flavor is deep, smoky, not-too-spicy, and has the perfect bite from the vinegar.  You'd never recognize the cayenne.  The blend of spices creates a delicious flavor that you and your family won't forget!

Cameroonian Beef Kabobs/ Brochettes a la camerounaises
1 lb beef (cut into bite-sized pieces) (use a cut that is good for kabobs)
1 white or vidalia onion
1 TB fresh ginger
5 cloves of garlic
2 chopped tomatoes or 1/2 can tomatoes in tomato sauce
1/4c apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 TB oil

1. Blend all marinade ingredients into a homogeneous paste with a mortar and pestle or in the blender.  You do not want any chunks.

2. Pour marinade over meat and allow to marinate under refrigeration for a minimum of three hours, but ideally overnight.

3. Grill along with chopped onion and bell peppers on skewers that have been soaked in water for at least an hour (prevents burning).  Don't forget to brush your veggies with oil so that they cook nicely.  Enjoy :).

References:
http://www.mmmmmmmmdouceurs-maison.com/article-poulet-braise-a-la-camerounaise-69300932.html
http://www.sportingparties.com/Recipes/Africa/Cameroon-1.htm
http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Brochettes_a_la_Camerounaise
http://fr.recidemia.com/wiki/Brochettes_un_la_Camerounaise

Zesty Sloppy Joes!

Who loves sloppy joes?!  I do, I do!!!  I absolutely love sloppy joes!  There are few American beef dishes, if any, that are anywhere near as tempting as a well-made sloppy joe.  After watching Rachel Ray make sloppy lou's on "Week in a Day" a few weeks ago, I absolutely had to make sloppy joes right away.  This was my first attempt at homemade sloppy joes, and they were everything I wanted them to be and more.  Bye bye Manwich, there's a mean sloppy joe in town, and you better make room!

Zesty Sloppy Joes

1.5 lbs ground chuck
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 c - 1 c ketchup
1/4 c tomato paste
1 TB yellow mustard
1 tsp honey dijon or deli-style mustard
1 TB worcestershire sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder and/or chipotle powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt
1 tsp Tony Chachere's or other creole seasoning blend (or use similar seasons that you blend yourself)
1 small pinch of oregano
1 dash cider vinegar
1 tsp black pepper
salt to taste


Procedure:
1. Sautee onions and green pepper.

2. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sautee ground beef, draining off excess fat.

3. Once excess fat is drained, add in onion, green pepper, garlic cloves, dry seasoning and brown sugar.  Continue cooking for about 2 minutes.

4. Add in vinegar, ketchup, tomato paste, mustards, and worcestershire sauce.

5. Continue cooking until beef is done and sauce thickens.

6. Serve on toasted sesame seed buns.  For an extra indulgent sloppy joe, top with stretchy white cheese like provolone, mozz, or even leftover string cheese strips, YUM!

Triple Cheese Beef and Pasta Casserole

This deliciously simple casserole was born of a need to clean out my cabinets before moving (can you tell?), but let me tell you, it might not be the prettiest, but it is delicious and bursting with flavor!  If you're anything like me, you love hearty, comforting, one-pot meals, and this is a super all-in-one that's packed with flavor and nutrients, mmmm, mmmm!  The fresh veggies and spicy bite are the icing on the cake for this tasty soon-to-be-favorite.  Whether you're trying to use everything in the cabinet or looking to whip up a quick meal after work, this one is sure to please.

Let me not forget, this dish is 100% boyfriend approved.  He called me after he got home and says, "Man, what was that you made?  It was SO good!  I should've taken some home!"

Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (I used zitti,  but shells, bowties, macaroni, and other tubular pastas are fine)
1 lb ground beef
2 ears' worth of fresh corn
1 medium carrot, chopped into small cubes
1 small can of sliced olives (the short can)
1 or 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
6 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 TB tomato paste
1 TB Tony Chachere's or other creole seasoning
2 tsp paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
black pepper and salt to taste (you will need the meat sauce mildly on salty side before adding pasta)
generous 1/4 c + 1 rounded TB flour
1-1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup or so of cheddar and a stretchy white cheese (I happened to have shredded cheddar and a slice of provolone around)

olive oil and butter blend for sauteeing

Procedure:

Boil pasta in salt water until al dente.  Bear in mind that it will not cook much in the oven.  Drain pasta and coat with oil to prevent sticking.  Set aside.

Sautee onions and peppers over medium heat until soft.

In a separate pan, sautee  carrots until  halfway done over medium heat in a 1TB or so of butter and enough oil to prevent butter from burning.

Once halfway done, add in corn and salt vegetable mix.

Add in tomatoes and garlic a few minutes before onion mix is ready.  Once soft and translucent, turn heat to medium high.

Heat an oven to 400 degrees

Once pan temperature is up, add ground beef, breaking up the meat and incorporating the onion and pepper mix with a wooden spoon.  Season the meat generously with all of the spices and continue stirring occasionally.

Once the meat is cooked, incorporate tomato paste and cook for a minute or so more.  At this point, gradually stir in the flour to absorb all of the liquid.  If more liquid remains, add more flour.  Stir in the flour until you have a thick meat paste.

Once fully incorporated, gradually stir in the milk until homogeneous.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.  Be sure to keep it slightly salty to compensate for pasta.

At this point, blend pasta, meat sauce, corn, carrots, and sliced olives in a pot or bowl.  Layer the mix in a pan (I used ceramic, and I'd recommend that or glass) and place spoonfuls of ricotta throughout.  Once all pasta is in pan, top with more ricotta and cover with a layer of cheese blend.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Enjoy!


*Again, sorry for not having photos, I did take them but my crazy computer's memory card drive has been damaging my cards :(*

Nicaraguan Fajita with rice

Hi guys!

I wanted to share a quick recipe I made this weekend. This recipe is uber easy, full of flavor, and is surprisingly low in fat. The meat used is very lean and the red peppers used are packed with vitamins. Red peppers are among the highest sources of vitamin C and actually have three times the vitamin C of their green counterparts. It is not at all a bad habit to choose your foods based on color. Foods that are orange, yellow, or red, tend to be higher in vitamin C and beta carotene, while dark leafy greens, for example, are rich in fiber, folic acid, potassium, and magnesium, and are surprisingly high in vitamin C. Folic acid and potassium are especially important in the diets of women. Women who have adequate amounts of folic acid in their diets both before and during pregnancy significantly decrease the risk of birth defects. Potassium also plays a key role in cardiovascular and bone health, as well as muscle contraction.

Pregnant women often experience an increase in the frequency of charlie horses because of an increased need for potassium. If you find yourself getting charlie horses often, it is typically due to potassium deficiency. Try to eat a banana for the moment to help it. Also, try to increase your overall consumption of foods such as leafy greens and bananas, as well as beans, which are all good sources of potassium, as a permanent solution to frequent muscle cramping. So whether you are pregnant, have high blood pressure, or frequent muscle cramps, being intentional about incorporating more of these foods into your diet may be just what the doctor ordered.

Below you will find some useful websites for further reading on the topic of potassium and folic acid and their roles in the health of our body's systems.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/folicacid_before.html
http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/benefits-of-green-leafy-vegetables.php
http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/folic-acid.cfm#b
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/potassium-000320.htm
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/potassium-000320.htm

Here are some regarding the relationship of fruit and vegetable color to vitamin and mineral content:
http://www.fruitandveggieguru.com/ExtraSections/ProduceandYourHealth/NutritionInColor/tabid/91/Default.aspx
http://ezinearticles.com/?Choosing-the-Best-Fruits-and-Vegetables---Why-Color-Counts!&id=5165572

I hope you enjoy this deliciously tasty recipe that I've adapted from Nicaragua en mi Sazon with Maria Esther.

Fajita Nicaraguense (Nicaraguan Fajita)

Ingredients:
1 lb of top round steak, sliced into strips and marinated for 1 hour - overnight

Meat marinade
2 cloves, smashed into a paste or grated
2 TB Worcestershire sauce
Salt (maybe a teaspoon or so)

Vegetables:
½ onion, julienned
bell pepper*, julienned (use what you like. I used green and red (red is among the best sources of vit. C)
Celery, ½ cup*
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt

*the measurements for the celery and bell pepper really don’t matter. Simply go by your own preference. I just provided approximate measurements for any novice cooks out there.

! TB of vinegar (any type you like, I used white)
3 TB water

Procedure:
In a very lightly greased pan (either with non-stick spray or by spreading the oil over the pan with a napkin) sautee the onion over medium heat until softened. This will not take but a few minutes. Since there Is very little oil, it will not become transparent. At this point, add in the other vegetables, including the garlic, toss, and cook until they start to soften. Once the vegetables are slightly softened, add in the vinegar, water, and salt to taste, lower the heat to low and cook until desired doneness.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan over medium heat, greased in the same manner, cook the beef. Be sure to cook the meat in a single layer so that all of the meat cooks properly. This means that, depending on the size of the pan, you may do two or three panfuls of meat. With this in mind, start cooking the meat when you start the veggies off.
Once everything is done. Toss the veggies and meat together and enjoy!

I had mine with Nicaraguan-style white rice, which I tried for the first time. There really was a significant difference in flavor that I very much enjoyed. The rice was very flavorful and had that slight tanginess that I always enjoy in Nicaraguan food. What makes it Nicaraguan style is that it is toasted first, but not everyone seasons it with garlic and green pepper.  The recipe is below.

Nicaraguan-style White Rice

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups of long grain white rice, rinsed (swish it around in a pot of cool water with your hand then drain the water. Repeat one to three times until the water is almost but not all the way clear.
2-1/2 cups of water (I don’t like the 1:2 ratio of rice to water. It is too wet for me.)
1 slice of green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 slice of onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 TB butter, olive oil, or half a TB of each (this usually turns out nicely)
Juice of ½ lime
A pinch of salt

Procedure
Gently stir all of the ingredients together in a medium-sized pot. Bring the rice to a boil, stirring. Once it boils, cover it and take the heat down to low. Let the rice steam on low for 20 minutes. Do not open the pot during this time. Remove from heat and let steam for another 10 minutes. Again, do not open the pot. Once the 10 minutes are up, fluff and enjoy!

Authentic Italian Meatballs in Sauce - Polpette al sugo

Hi fellow foodies!

Sorry it's been so long. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been having fun using my fake Italian learn authentic Italian recipes. My most recent endeavor was polpette al sugo or Italian meatballs in tomato sauce. You all will be seriously amazed at how easy this recipe is and how great the simple, yet flavorful ingredients taste together.

Typically, I'm the last person you'll catch craving meatballs and definitely the last one to make them, whether it's the American style, the Italian style, or that weird hybrid found on the average meatball sub. Wait, um...I just remembered that there is one exception. Sino-Khmer Krom (Chinese-Cambodian-Vietnamese) style meatballs are really good. Here's the recipe (http://www.khmerkromrecipes.com/). But yea, like I was saying, meatballs in the typical sense were so not my thing until I discovered this recipe.

NOTE: These are appetizer meatballs, not spaghetti and meatballs. Spaghetti sauce also has 1/2 -1whole glass white wine and 1 chopped onion and you use more tomato (500 grams--about 2-1/4 cups). For spaghetti sauce, follow this whole recipe with these changes. Mix Hunt's brand crushed tomato (their brand is more of a crush than a chop, as opposed to the overly-chunkiness of other brands, which renders less sauce) and their sauce.

What you'll need:

for the sauce:

1 small can tomato sauce (the short can)

2 - 14.5 once cans of crushed tomatoes (diced will work if that's all you have, but bear in mind that there is still some skin in there, unfortunately) (I highly recommend Hunt's brand for best results in taste and texture)

12 leaves minimum of FRESH basil (yes, the fresh is a must. Otherwise, you totally crock the flavor. It's all about the freshness of your ingredients for simple recipes like this one)

3 cloves garlic, smashed

extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

For the meatballs

Just over 2lbs of ground meat (mixing the meats is tasty. I did mostly beef with maybe 1/4 of the amount in pork since that's what I had, but veal would be nice, too)

7/8 cup breadcrumbs (you can just do fresh ones with your own toasted bread if you like)

7/8 cup grated parmesan cheese (the bottle is fine)

3 eggs

1 clove pressed or finely minced garlic

a bunch of parsley, minced

a dash of nutmeg

Oil to fry in (if you opt to fry, not bake)

Here is the video in Italian that I watched and here's a website I used for comparison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbwmc-RIWxM

http://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Polpette-al-sugo.html

Preparation

Mix the three eggs into the meat mixture

Add in fresh minced parsley and mix in

Add grated parmesan and incorporate into mixture

Add a pinch of nutmeg, 1 garlic clove, salt and pepper to taste and mix into mixture

Add breadcrumbs (fresh or store-bought) and incorporate well until mixture is smooth

Sprinkle a baking sheet, cutting board, or tray with breadcrumbs to avoid sticking. Form meatballs with a handful of meat mixture and place on tray. In this process, some people opt to rolls the balls in bread crumbs before frying (if they opt to fry). I fried the first go-round, but I will likely never fry them again. It's time consuming and wastes lots of oil, while adding tons of unnecessary fat. You can bake these in the oven on 400 degrees for 20 minutes (maybe 30, but I think 20 was perfect, if I am remembering correctly). This works especially well with a pan that allows fat to drip to the bottom pan.

Another option used by the text recipe in the link above is to just to add three tablespoons olive oil to a sautee pan over medium high heat and and once it's sizzling, add in the three cloves of garlic (smashed or sliced is fine) and give it maybe 10-20 seconds to cook, depending on how thin the garlic is. Then add in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and when it's just about to boil, add in the meatballs. Move the pan (we're using a deep pan here, not a pot) around to get the meatballs covered and evenly cooking. Let them cook in the sauce for twenty minutes. Once there's five minute left, add in the basil (just throwing in the whole stem with leaves attached is perfectly fine here). DO NOT add basil before this point or you will cook the flavor out and have a bland sauce. Move the pan around a bit to get the basil flavor distributed. Cook for the last five minutes and enjoy!

If you've opted to fry, simply fry the meatballs and toward the last batch, get your 3TB of oil and three garlic cloves (sliced or smashed) and let the garlic cook as mentioned above. Add in your tomato sauce and tomatoes. Cover the pot and allow it to reach a rapid boil. Add basil leaves whole (attached to stem is fine). Stir in the basil and let it reach a rapid boil. Add in the meatballs once the basil flavor is incorporated. They don't all need to be covered in sauce. Let boil on high for 10 minutes. It's not necessary to cook it any longer than that. The sauce need not be thick. Enjoy!

Garlic Herb Steak

Do you guys ever randomly dream up recipes? I'm assuming I'm not the oddball out on this one. I do all the time and the ones I dream up are always the best. Last weekend I thought up this garlic herb steak marinade and it turned out to be amazing! It was so tasty! It really tasted like something from a fine restaurant's menu of gourmet foods. Try it out, my friends! I'm sure you'll love it!

Garlic Herb Steak (for 1lb of meat - I had ribeye)
3 cloves of fresh peeled garlic (add more if the cloves aren't a good size)
3 sprigs of fresh cilantro
a pinch of dried sage (about a teaspoon)
dried rosemary (this should be the predominate flavor, so maybe about 1/2 TBSP - I didn't measure)
about 10 black peppercorns (this is necessary to get a great spiciness)
1-2 teaspoons salt

about 1/2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil


Place all of the ingredients in a mortar and pestle and pound into an even paste until well blended. Once paste is well blended, stir in extra virgin olive oil. Prepare meat by tenderizing with a fork, salting, and coating with a generous amount of the marinade. Add more olive oil, if necessary, to coat the steak evenly. Massage the marinade into meat. Let marinade for at least two hours, up to overnight.

Sear the meat on both sides over medium high in a hot skillet. Place uncovered in an oven heated to 425

Tip: I didn't have any fresh basil at the time, but I recommend adding two or 3 leaves of sweet basil, depending on the size of the leaves

Enjoy! If you try this recipe out, let me know what you think. I don't really use precise measurements, but they don't really matter in this recipe anyway, so it will turn out fine regardless.