I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I'm trying something new tonight - I'm making Ropa Vieja, thanks to some help from Darcie on ingredients! Also yellow saffron rice, a black bean and corn mixture, and fried sweet plantains, plus some fresh pineapple.

Eddie is a little nervous. LOL! We'll see how it turns out in about a half hour.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Oh... I misread that and thought maybe you were finally able to do to Ricky Ricardo what Fred and Ethel Mertz had always threatened.

Old Clothes?

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

How about mojitos? ;)

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Sounds awesome! Hope it turns out edible. ;)

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

hey folks all are invited...

probably could get a few busloads from here but it is a little too far...

and I am hungry..

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Ropa vieja is very good
I love Cuban food

Rellenos de papa is one of my favorites

also, I know it is not TRUE Cuban but, I love Cuban sandwiches like the ones in Tampa, FL. THEY ARE THE BEST

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

that is what the dish is called yes
very good though

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I think it's called that because the meat is shredded like old clothes (rags).

By the way, it was AWESOME!! Eddie ate seconds, so I knew it was good. I'm having leftovers tomorrow. The plantains were sweet, which I was a little worried about - I have a hard time knowing when they're fully ripe. Eddie grew up on these in Liberia, so he loves them fried in a little olive oil and butter.

We ate at a famous Cuban restaurant in Tampa (actually Ybor City) last week. It was called the Columbia and it was amazing. We had some beef dish there that was made from eye of round with a stuffing of some kind of Cuba sausage. I also ate tostones, but Eddie doesn't like those. We had black beans, rice & boiled yuca. Then for dessert - churros with chocolate, caramel and guava sauces. I think I gained like five pounds at that one meal!!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Oh I forgot - we also have Pina Colada cake (NO ALCOHOL) that is a lot like Tres Leche, only with coconut. Yummmm!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Are there recipes you might be free to share? I'd love to see what is in these dishes.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Well then, Skip it!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Isn't that a bit like serving beer -without the barley, hops, and delicious alcohol?

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

So is "Cuban" food any different then any other Caribbean island?

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Here is how I made the Ropa Vieja:

You put a couple tablespoons of tomato paste in the bottom of the crock pot. Add about a 1/2 c. of water and mix it up. Put the whole slab of meat on top of that. I used a sirloin cut, but the actual recipes online always call for Flank Steak. Darcie actually used a chuck roast when she made it, but I wanted something really low fat. Then you spread this stuff all over the top of the meat that she made for me - it's basically a food processor blend of onion, green pepper, cilantro and garlic. Add seasoned salt and a packet of Sazon Goya (from Mexican grocery store), and a little bit of cumin, and let it cook for hours until it just falls apart. Then you take two forks and shred the meat till it's "ropey". Serve over yellow saffron rice; it's kind of soupy.

I also had a can of Southwestern Corn (which has black beans, onion, & red pepper) and I mixed another can of black beans into it. I added about a teaspoon of Darcie's mixture - I think she calls it "sofrito". The flavor is wonderful!! I mixed all mine together when I ate, as I have a tendency to do - the rice, the bean/corn mixture and the meat. Eddie eats his in nice little piles.

The plantains I have to buy at the Mexican grocery store too, and you have to get them when they are mostly black on the outside. You just slice them and fry them in a little olive oil and butter. They should be sweet, if they are ripe.

The cake is super easy. You just make a yellow cake like the box says in a 9 x 13 pan. When you take it from the oven, poke holes all over it and pour in a mixture of 1 can Eagle Brand and 1 can coconut drink mix - I believe it's Goya also, but it's in a blue can and is with the other alcohol mixes in the grocery store. It's not coconut milk - that won't work. It comes out really thick, and usually separated, so I put it in the blender with the E. Brand. Anyway, you pour it over the cake and let it all soak in as it cools. Then top it with Cool Whip and sprinkle on coconut. It's amazing!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Well, I think some things are distinctly Cuban, but I don't know about Ropa Vieja. I used to get it at Bahama Breeze, and then they stopped carrying it.

The black beans and saffron rice are a Cuban feel, I think. At least that's what we had at the Cuban restaurant!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

We'll be in Jamaica in June. So I suspect that I will see this stuff on the menu. :)

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

That's one Caribbean island I haven't been to. Most of the resorts there tend to be all-inclusive, and we always want to get out and explore the islands and find all the local spots. I love the Caribbean, even better than Hawaii.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

We ate at a small locally owned cuban restaurant in Cassselberry, FL a few years ago but I don't remember what I had. I do recall the plantains, which were very good. In fact it was all good.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

This thread really doesn't make me think of food.

Instead, it makes me think of "Cuban Pete".

http://images.usatoday.com/life/gall...ky-ricardo.jpg

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I just ate leftovers for lunch! Even better warmed up the second time!!!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I lived in the Miami area for couple of years and my Dad had lived there for over 30 years he loves Cuban food. His favorite resturant is Padrinos we have to go with him every time we go.I don't care for it much.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I will remember that name! I love just about any foreign food that is served over rice.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

There 4 or 5 in the South Florida area this man escaped Castro and has had these resturants for years. My Dad who loves Cuban food says they are some of the best in the area. He eats there a couple of times a week. He loves their Lamb shank with rice.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

You would love my wife's gumbo-jambalia-red beans & rice-steak & rice-chicken & rice and we ain't Canjun.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I make awesome Garbanza Bean Soup. & yellow rice, black beans, and chicken. I'll have to cook for you sometime...that is a Florida thing!

Blessings, Rhoni

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Nothin' better than a warm cuban sandwich!:thumbsup

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Chorizo's cuban sausage! I love Ybor City. Now you went and made me homesick!:sad

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

we don't eat black beans in Puerto Rico. I'm not an expert on cuban food but I think the dishes are similar yet distinct. There may be differences among the "afro caribbean" and spanish populations. We for instance do not eat cocunut rice while afro-caribbeans do.

it is refreshing to see Americans explore new cultures. Thumbs up Sherri.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

True Jamaican and Haitian food is not the same.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I actually love garbanzo beans! When we were in Costa Rica on missions, our meal one night was garbanzo beans cooked in spices and served over rice. I thought it wouldn't be that great, but the flavor was unbelievable! You didn't even miss the meat.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

When we were in Puerto Rico a few months ago, we stayed at Rio Grande (Rio Mar resort). I fell in love with the food!! I ate mofongo in this amazing chicken/creamy garlic sauce twice. Then some famous soup called Asapao, or something like that. Also tostones, which I had eaten before, but there was just something about eating them in Puerto Rico that made them special!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I like to put garbanzo beans in a bowl (minus the juice), sprinkle them with Cajun spices, and eat them one by one. Good when you have the munchies, and healthier than chips!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

In the Bahamas, they serve "Peas and Rice" with everything. I loved that too. They are tiny little black peas, so they're alot like black beans, but they make the dish with tomato paste and spices and it's very good.

I also love anything made with yellow curry - I ate that alot in St. Thomas and also in Kenya. It's just that "missions" thing that comes out in me!!!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Ybor City, wow. Yes that place is really good. You sure you were in Ybor to eat and not PARTY??? =)

I think you are correct on the reason for the name.
I like the plantains also.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Yes actually I think it is. At least from my experiences. Similar but different.

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Sounds yummy to me! I love trying new dishes from other regions of the world-sometimes makes American food look boring!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

We sat down to eat it the other night, and I started praying over the food in Spanish, only it turned into a mixture of Spanish and Swahili, because I couldn't remember all the words. Eddie was cracking up!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Sherry, I buy and fry up plantains pretty regular. Problem is, they never make it to the dinner table! LOL! we just eat them as fast as they cook before dinner is ever done. LOL!

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

Plantains - you just slice them (peel them first?) and then fry them in olive oil?

Re: I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!
 

I'm going to try this next week. I'll let you know if we all survive. ;) We love flavorful food.