Ropa Vieja

A word of warning before I begin this recipe. First, if you go into a Cuban restaurant and they don’t have some variation on this dish – RUN! This is a classic dish and I’ve only gone to one place that didn’t have it. Of course, that place also didn’t have any plantains on the menu and the bartender didn’t know how to make a mojito. It turned out to be a big mistake.

Also, this dish takes time, but it does triple duty as you’ll see from the recipe.

Fun Fact: Ropa vieja means “old clothes” in Spanish. When you think about old clothes being thread-bare and shredded, it kind of makes sense since this is a shredded beef dish.

Ingredients

Preparing the beef for shredding

2 lbs lean brisket (or flank steak) cut into quarters against the grain
2 coarsely chopped onion
2 celery stalks cut in half
2 large carrots – cut in quarters
2 garlic cloves chopped
2 bay leaves
black pepper to taste
Enough water to cover the meat and other ingredients in your pot

Boil the brisket until fork tender. Do not do a hard boil as it will cloud the water, but a soft rolling boil. When fork tender, take the meat out and let it cool. Take out the celery and carrots. Toss the celery *yuk I hate celery*, but save the carrots. They make a nice cold carrot salad.

Preparing the tomato sauce for the beef

1 cup chopped red pepper
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes and one small can tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil

Start by sauteing the red and green peppers in the olive oil until they begin to soften. Then add the onions and cook until translucent. Do not brown.

Add the garlic and cook it for just a little bit.

Then add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaves and oregano. Simmer for at least half an hour.

While this is simmering, shred the beef. Brisket and/or flank steak have a very pronounced grain and you can just pull and it will come apart into shreds. Keep them small. No longer than about 2 inches and not very thick either. You want the meat to absorb some of the tomato goodness.

When the beef is shredded, add it to the cooked tomato sauce and then simmer this again for about an hour or so to allow the tomato and beef to marry.

That’s it! I usually serve this dish over white rice with a side of ripe plantains.

Now why did I say this dish does triple duty?

Well, you’ve got that beef broth for starter. In my house I reduce it, add caramelized onions and make onion soup.

Also, I always make extra beef so that I can make another Cuban dish, vaca frita (fried cow).

I hope you’ll try this out one day!

Thanks to Marc Averette for releasing his ropa vieja photo into the public domain.

January 7, 2014October 10, 2019

Deviled Ham Sandwich #Recipe

I really don’t know how the deviled ham sandwich, also known as a bocadito, got started in Cuba. All I know is that it was a staple of every party we ever had and it is always a favorite. The best thing: It’s EASY to make.

So here goes!

Deviled Ham Sandwiches

2 (two) 4 oz cans deviled ham spread (I use Underwood)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup ketchup
1 8 oz bar cream cheese
Your choice of sandwich rolls or bread

Soften the cream cheese with the milk and ketchup. Blend until smooth and then add the deviled ham. Mix.

That’s it! There are variations that add mayo and/or chopped pimentos. I love pimentos so I may add them the next time to half of the mix for a little variety.

I like to refrigerate the mix for a couple of hours so it’s not so runny. Once it’s a little firmer, spread on the rolls and/or bread.

We love it on potato bread and we always cut off the crusts.

Hope you liked today’s nice and simple recipe!

December 10, 2013March 11, 2021

Roasted Brussel Sprouts & #Giveaway

I know brussel sprouts are a love-em or hate-em kind of vegetable. In our family, it’s a love-em relationship with these little green sprouts! One of the reasons is because of how versatile they are.

Today’s recipe is downright easy. If you want to dress up the brussel sprouts once they’re roasted, trying adding some bacon, dried cranberries or walnuts. Maybe even a balsamic glaze. Whatever you do, don’t add fresh cranberries. We did that one year and ruined a wonderful batch of brussel sprouts.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1 pound brussel sprouts, washed and sliced in half
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking dish or large cookie sheet. You want to have only one layer of brussel sprouts on the dish.

Place oil in a bowl together with the salt and garlic. Use a fork and mash the garlic a little to release the oils. Add brussel sprouts and toss to coat them with the oil. If they look too dry, add a little more oil, but you don’t want them swimming in oil, just coated.

Spread brussel sprouts across the baking dish and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the brussel sprouts and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the brussel sprouts are getting a little caramelized.

And that’s it! Easy, right?

November 26, 2013November 24, 2013

Strawberry Vanilla Cake #Recipe & #Giveaway

Neither my hubby nor I are big fans of buttercream and we had no doubt that for our big day we wanted one of our favorite desserts as a wedding cake, namely strawberry shortcake. Of course, that troubled the chef prepping our wedding reception meal because you can’t really make a strawberry shortcake ahead of time. All worked out well eventually and hubby and I had our strawberries and whipped cream with a delicious vanilla cake instead of the traditional shortcake.

I’m sure Diana and Ryder would love to have something similar on their special day! So here’s a simple recipe for you, but you can also substitute a vanilla cake mix if you’d like.

Come back tomorrow for Diana and Ryder’s video wedding album! Remember, leave comments on the blog this week for a chance to win a backlist copy of one of the books in THE CALLING/REBORN Vampire Novels.

Strawberry Vanilla Cake

Ingredients for the cake

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Beat sugar and eggs in a bowl until slightly thick. Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium for about two minutes. Pour into floured and greased cake pans. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cake pans rest for about 5 minutes then turn out onto racks to cool. Once cool, brush off any excess flour.

Strawberry Filling

1 pint strawberries, washed and sliced

Place 3 tablespoons sugar in the bottom of a bowl. Add about 1/2 cup of the strawberries and mash them together with the sugar. Add the rest of the strawberries, add another tablespoon of sugar and let the mix sit in the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes. If you’d like, you can add a little rum, amaretto, Grand Marnier or some other sweet liquor.

Place one cake layer on a plate. Cover with the strawberry filling. Add the second cake layer and cover with whipped cream.

Whipped Cream Icing

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla until you get soft peaks with the cream. About 1 to 2 minutes.

Spread the whipped cream over the sides and top of the strawberry filled cake.

November 12, 2013October 10, 2019

Grandma’s Chicken Soup #Recipe Kind of . . .

Before I begin with this tribute to grandma and her fabulous cooking, a question for you. I’ve been thinking about compiling all the recipes into a cookbook that I would make available for sale. Any thoughts on that? I’d love to hear what you think about it.

And now, for a little bit about my grandma. Her name was Nieves which is now my middle name. Her father was a blacksmith so that meant her family was a little better off than those in her little village in Galicia in Spain.

Nieves was a very determined lady. She followed the love of her life to Cuba to find a better way of life and then took care of her daughter’s two little girls (my sister and me) for nearly two years as we tried to make our way out of Cuba and to the United States.

She was loving and cared for us daily since my mom worked. We were very lucky to have her and granddad living with us. He was a kind, loving and gifted man who could make or fix anything with his hands. They both sacrificed a lot for us and for my mom and for that I am eternally grateful.

My grandma could cook something truly delicious with what she had at home. Nothing went to waste. Nothing. So today’s recipe is my grandma’s recipe for soup, but with some changes. First, however, a picture of my grandparents and my mom!

Grandma’s Chicken Soup . . . Kind of

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
chicken parts if you have them (necks, wings and backs)
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped celery greens (the inside part of the hearts)
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
32 oz chicken broth
32 oz water
1 leek, sliced
2 or 3 sprigs of fresh parsley
1 cup sliced carrots (on a bias for a little nicer look)
4 small corn cobs (or 2 large ones snapped in half)
egg noodles (as many as you like! I like my soup really noodlely)

Directions

Saute chicken breasts in a large stockpot until just starting to brown.

Add chopped carrots, celery and onions and sweat until onions are translucent. Do not brown.

Add broth, water, leek, parsley and bring to a slow boil. Do not make it too hard a boil as it will cloud the broth.

Let simmer for at least one hour. If you used chicken parts also, now is the time to remove them, take off any chicken meat and return just the meat to the pot.

Add carrots and corn and cook for another hour. Taste for salt and add if necessary. Remove parsley sprigs.

Add noodles when you are just ready to eat. Too far ahead and they will be soggy and soak up all the broth. One trick to consider is to boil the noodles in some chicken broth on their own and add to the plates as you serve. This will let you keep the rest of the soup for longer and also adjust noodlelyness (LOL!) to each person’s likes.

For an added zip of taste, serve with lemon slices and squeeze a little juice into the soup.

For another added zip, dice up some ripe avocado and spoon about 1/3 cup into the soup bowls. Yummy!

You can also substitute cheese tortellini for the noodles for a change of pace.

Hope you enjoyed today’s recipe.

November 5, 2013February 23, 2021

Fridge Cleaning #Recipes

Everyone has that moment. They have no clue what to make. The fridge is either filled with stuff or half-empty and the brain just isn’t putting together any kind of items for that day’s meal.

Here are some sites that I hope will help you in one of those challenging moments. We call them Fridge Cleaning moments in our house ’cause we just want to empty whatever is in there and make it before it goes bad.

These sites let you plug in your ingredients and provide a list of recipes for things you can make with those ingredients.

Supercook

My Fridge Food

Recipe Key

If you prefer hard copy versions of recipes, here are some recipe books that I would highly recommend be keepers in your cooking library to help you with your daily meals.

The Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Betty Crocker Cookbook

Silver Palate Cookbook

Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook

Julia Child: The Way to Cook

Hope this helps you solve your meal planning dilemma!
fridge

October 29, 2013April 28, 2021

SlowCooker Chorizo & Pork Red Bean Chili

I’m learning lots about cooking in a crock pot. Apparently it seems that the order of things matters. Also, you can’t just dump raw beans into your pot the way you would if you were cooking it on the stove.

This weekend I had lots of running around to do and so I decided to use the crock pot to make some chili since I didn’t want to have to keep an eye on something on the stove. I also decided to take some step-by-step photos for you!

Chorizo & Pork Red Bean Chile

Ingredients:

1 lb red beans
2 lbs pork loin chopped
2 small chorizos chopped
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped leeks
3 chopped garlic cloves
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomato and chile
3 tablespoon chile powder
1 tablespoon cumin
3 bay leaves

Directions:

You’ll add the ingredients to the crock pot in the order shown above.

Wash and check red beans for stones and debris. Place in small cooking pot with enough water to cover them and a pinch of salt. Boil to soften. I started these when I began prep for the rest, so they cooked for about 30 minutes before I added them to the crock pot. Add water as necessary, but not too much. You’ll want to put the beans and their water into the crock pot once they are softer.

Place a little oil in a non-stick pan and add the chopped chorizo. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the chopped pork loin. Why chopped pork loin again? Well, Cubans and pork go together like peanut butter and jelly. Also, it was on sale and I’m counting pennies. Finally, it’s lean and has a lot less fat than a chuck roast, so I could use those calories for the tastier chorizo.

Brown the meat and transfer to a plate. Leave some of the oil from the pan in there to cook the onions and leeks.

Saute the onions, garlic, and leeks until just browning. You want the brown on both the meat and veggies since these are the sugars caramelizing on them and will add flavor to your chili. Why leeks? I love them and I had some in the fridge that I had to use. Feel free to also clean out your fridge and add carrots, celery, etc. during this step.

Now it’s time to put everything into the crock pot in the order listed above. When it’s all in there, add the cumin, chili powder and bay leaves and set your crock pot to cook. I did mine for 6 hours on high.

We ate it with some chopped fresh tomatoes, onions and grated cheddar cheese. A hearty and warming meal for a chilly day.

I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe!