I'm Cooking Cuban Food Tonight!

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by Sherri

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

Well then, Skip it!

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by Sherri

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

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

[RandyWayne]

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

[Sherri]

Originally Posted by Margies3

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

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!

[Sherri]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

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

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!

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by Sherri

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!

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

[Sherri]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

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

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.

[commonsense]

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.

[RandyWayne]

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

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

[Sherri]

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