Cuban Style Salt Cured Beef With Crispy Plantain Chips Recipes

ROPA VIEJA (CUBAN BEEF)

Steps:

• Cut flank steak in half across the grain. Mix salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Season both sides generously with the salt mixture.
• Heat olive oil in a pot over high heat. Add steaks and cook until outsides are well browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove steaks to a plate.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add red onion, garlic, and more of the salt seasoning. Cook and stir until starting to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in cumin, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cloves, and allspice. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Pour in white wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth.
• Return beef and accumulated juices to the pot. Season with salt and add bay leaves. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until beef is almost fork-tender, not falling apart, about 2 hours.
• Remove pot from heat and let stew cool to room temperature, at least 45 minutes. Refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight, for best results.
• Remove beef to a plate and set stew over medium heat. Tear beef along the grain into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-wide shreds; place back in the stew. Add bell peppers, poblanos, smoked paprika, capers, olives, and sugar. Stir together and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until peppers are soft and meat is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off heat, remove bay leaves, and stir in cilantro.

CUBAN SANDWICH WITH PLANTAIN CHIPS

Steps:

• For the sandwich: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have the pork at room temperature. Season it with salt and pepper. Put the roast into a baking pan and roast until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F, 40 to 45 minutes. Cover the pork with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes. If not using right away, the roast can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days. When you are ready to make the sandwich, thinly slice about three-quarters of the pork roast (reserve the remaining one-quarter for Round 2 Recipe Black Bean and Pork Stew).
• Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Spread a thin layer of mustard on both sides of the bread pieces. Place 2 slices ham on the bottom half of each. Top with the sliced pork roast, then the pickles, and then the Swiss cheese. Place the top half of the baguette on top. Brush the grill with canola oil and place the sandwiches, cheese side down, onto the grill. Set a baking sheet on top of the sandwich and weigh it down with a heavy skillet or pot. Cook until the bottom is crisp and the cheese is starting to melt, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the sandwich over, replace the baking sheet and weight, and cook another 3 to 4 minutes.
• For the plantain chips: In a 2-inch deep cast iron skillet, heat the oil to 350 degrees F.
• Peel the plantains by slicing off about 1-inch from the top and bottom of each. With a paring knife, make a slice on each side the length of the plantain, making sure to go just deep enough to cut through the skin but not cut into the flesh. Peel the skin off to expose the flesh. If you have trouble peeling the skin then cut it off in strips with the knife. Cut each plantain in half and, using the slicing side of a box grater, slice the halves into thin chips.
• Cook the plantain slices in batches until they crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on brown paper or paper towels and season with salt.

CUBAN VIA MIAMI FEAST: MASHED PLANTAINS WITH OH, BABY! GARLIC-TOMATO SHRIMP ON TOP, GRILLED FLANK STEAK WITH LIME AND ONIONS, QUICK RICE WITH BLACK BEANS

Steps:

• Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan, and half of the finely chopped onion. Saute 3 minutes, then season with 2 teaspoons cumin, eyeball the measurement in the palm of your hand, and the thyme leaves. Pour in 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock and raise heat to bring to a boil. Add rice and lower heat to simmer when boil resumes. Cover pot tightly. After 12 minutes, stir in black beans and replace cover. Cook another 6 to 7 minutes. Turn off rice and beans, season with salt and stir to combine then let stand until ready to serve. While rice cooks, make plantains with shrimp and the meat.
• Preheat a grill pan over high heat. The meat can also be prepared in a hot, large cast iron or nonstick skillet if you do not have a grill pan.
• Place flank steak in a shallow dish and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil to coat ¿ about 2 tablespoons. Mix grill seasoning with 1 tablespoon cumin, eyeball the measurement in your palm. Add the zest of 1 lime to the grill seasoning and cumin. Rub the mixture over the steak evenly. Wash up and cut lime into wedges and reserve. Place the steak on hot grill or in hot pan and cook 4 to 5 minutes, turn and cook 3 minutes longer. Remove from heat and let juices redistribute 5 minutes.
• Slit the skins of the plantains from end to end to vent them for microwave cooking. Wrap them each in wax paper, twisting up paper at ends. Microwave the plantains 4 to 5 minutes together or 90 seconds each individually on high.
• While plantains and steak cook, place a medium nonstick skillet on the heat over a high flame. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and the sliced onions. Sear the onions up and heat through, but leave a bite to them. Place on a platter and cover with foil to reserve heat. Return pan to stove and reduce heat to between medium high and medium. Add 2 tablespoons extra, 2 turns of the pan, and the remaining finely chopped onion, the bell pepper, garlic and shrimp. Season with salt and pepper and add the zest of 1 lemon. Cook until shrimp are firm and peppers begin to soften, 4 minutes or so. Add the juice of 1/2 lemon, the tomato sauce and parsley. Turn off heat.
• Peel and mash the steaming hot plantains with remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Season the plantains with salt and pile on platter or dinner plates then top with garlicky shrimp and tomatoes. Very thinly slice the cooked steak on an angle, working against the grain. Squeeze lime juice over the meat and arrange over the cooked sliced onions on serving platter. Fluff up rice and black beans a bit, transfer them to a bowl and pass at table.

CHICHARITAS OR MARIQUITAS (CUBAN PLANTAIN CHIPS)

Steps:

• 1. Pour the oil to a depth of 2 or 3 inches in a deep - fat fryer, a dutch oven or heavy skillet such as cast iron. Heat oil to 350 degrees.
• 2. Peel the plantains, slice lengthwise for Mariquitas or in round chips for chicharitas, as thinly as possible, Using a mandolin if you have one, with the blade at it's thinnest opening. Slide them into the hot oil in small batches. You don't want them to clumb together. Fry until golden brown and crispy, about 1 to 2 minutes, turning with a metal skimmer. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and/or mojo. Serve at once.
• 3. Mojo: Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium low heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, do not let the garlic get brown or it will be acrid tasting. Add the sour orange juice, cumin, and the salt and pepper. Stand back; the sauce may sputter. Bring to a rolling boil. taste to see if correct seasoning salt if needed.
• 4. Cool before serving. Mojo is best when served within a couple of hours of making, but will keep in the frig for several days, well capped in a jar. When cool sprinkle over your plantain chips. Can be used to flavor Cuban sandwiches, boiled yucca, grilled seafood and meats and of course fried green plantain chips. Note: I prefer to use more lime juice then orange juice, as I like it very tart. I have seen some recipes for Mojo using cilantro in it, but that is not traditional to the Cuban Cuisine. Enjoy
• 5. Above you see the Cuban Chicharitas and Mariquitas. I have also included some green plantains to show how green they should be. Green Plantains can be difficult to peel if you don't know how to do it. Run a sharp steak knife the point only down the seams of the plantain from the top to the bottom. Make sure you stick the point of the knife down to where you can feel the plantain under the peel. After doing this on all the seams take the point of the knife and gently pry up the peel where you cut working the knife gently all along the cut under the peel and prying up the peel as you go down the cut. The peel will give way and come off all in one piece. Then go to the next seam and do the same thing until you have pryed the peel off all the way around the plantain. Then you can go to your mandolin and start slicing. Good Luck