Empanada de Carne

I have a weakness and I can't deny it - meat wrapped in any kind of pastry. Boil it, steam it or fry it, I will eat it and I will love it. This is why I make 120 dumplings at a time, even when there are only four people eating them. Of course, if I ate 120 (or even 3 for that matter) of these empanadas, I'd probably look like an empanada myself. So the numbers were a little bit more respectable this time around.

These are perfect little coffee time snacks and work with just about any kind of filling - a little make over for left overs really. These empanadas are made with a delicious picadillo filling. Much as I'd like you to think that I had leftover picadillo sitting in my refrigerator, it is simply not true. When I make picadillo, there are NO leftovers. Ever. So I cooked some especially for these chubby little babies. These empanadas are baked not fried so there's a saving grace! I had posted my go-to picadillo recipe some time ago, click here and follow along for the filling recipe.

Yield - Makes 8 
Time - 1 Hour

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5 comments LABELS: Appetizers, Latin, Meat, Snack

Shrimp Diablo with Mexican Rice and Homemade Refried Beans

I am not in Florida anymore. I can't just drive down to El Jalesco #5 (I love saying the name) and order my favorite mexican meals for less than $15 and then proceed to to stuff myself on chips and salsa. You don't know what you're missing New Zealand! No, that stuff you get at Mexicali does not count. As a side note, the last time I went to Mexicali in Auckland for a quick bite, I counted 5 tortilla chips on my plate. Five. Cinco. Not cool, Mexicali. Not cool. So what do I do when I crave me a mexican fiesta? I cook some of course!

Shrimp Diablo roughly translates to 'happiness'. Ok fine, it translates to 'devil shrimp'. But it is pretty close to happiness. It is super spicy. The kind that makes you sweat. The kind that makes tears flow freely from the eyes of grown men. If you are not too hot on spicy food (see what I did there?), I'd suggest checking out other recipes on this blog.This one is not for you my friend. There is no shame in admitting it.

If you are still here, you will be richly rewarded. I cooked everything at home, including the refried beans so this post has three recipes. What a bonanza! You do have to multitask a bit so give yourself about an hour or maybe an hour and a half - you know...to avoid kitchen fires. 

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8 comments LABELS: Latin, Seafood

Cuban Black Beans On Rice

Don't be fooled by its humble name, beans are some of the most satisfying meals to put together for a weeknight. They are easy, healthy and hearty enough for the most die hard carnivores to not miss meat. A fantastic source of protein, beans are a vegetarian staple and true comfort food.

Though cans of beans are really easy to use, cooking beans from scratch is not nearly as labour intensive as commonly believed. I usually soak the beans overnight but there are many that skip this step, swearing by the flavor of un-soaked beans. 

This recipe is adapted from Nydia's Kichen, which incidentally has several really good tutorials on Cuban recipes. 

Yield - Serves 3

Prep Time - 10 Minutes and Overnight Soak

Cook Time - 30 Minutes

Cuban Black Beans on Rice

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Cuban, Latin, Vegan, Vegetarian, Weeknight Lifesavers

Pico de gallo

Pico de gallo, or very simply "pico", is a fresh mild salsa that is a must have on taco nights. No chiles were harmed in the making of this salsa. It is mild enough for the meekest of Mexican food lovers.

Pico takes me back to warm Florida summers. Scratch that. HOT Florida summers. 

Tomatoes are the real star of this show, so make sure the tomatoes are ripe, firm and fresh. In this recipe I have used lemons instead of limes, just because I had them on hand. If you have limes, use limes. If you have Key limes, use Key limes. And give Florida a kiss for me. 

Pico de gallo

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4 comments LABELS: Dips and Spreads, Latin, Salads, Vegetarian

Abraham's Bolivian Hot Chocolate

The weather has been playing ping pong lately. Warm days followed by chilly nights. I am still getting used to the weather in New Zealand. Definitely a change from the long hot and humid Florida summers. This hot chocolate recipe is one that will warm your soul on those chilly in-between nights. One of our friends, Abraham, makes this deliciously spiced hot chocolate using cacao from Bolivia, which is to die for.  I always demand request a cup when we visit him and his beautiful family. And he always graciously makes some. This is his recipe, except I have used Whittaker's dark chocolate (50%) bar instead of the Bolivian cacao. You can add any dark chocolate that you prefer. Even with the substitution, it turned out to be absolutely decadent. 

Yield : 3 Cups

Time : 20 Minutes

Bolivian Hot Chocolate

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2 comments LABELS: Drinks, Latin

Game Night Beer Chili

I love game nights! They are a fantastic way to get a group of people to relax, unwind and have an absolute ball of a time. My voice is still a bit hoarse from all the screaming and laughing during our last game night. Food, wine and 'Taboo' are sure shot ingredients for a smashing fun evening. 

Chili is an easy choice for game night food. It can feed a crowd and you can mix things up with a variety of toppings. Best of all, it tastes better the next day, so you can make it ahead of time for a stress free game night. 

The only thing to watch out for is the average heat tolerance of your guests, so you might need to go easy on some of the ingredients marked '*' below.

Yield : Serves 6-8

Prep Time : 15 Minutes

Cook Time : 1.5 Hours

Game Night Beer Chili

Ingredients

2 LB (1 Kilo) Ground Beef

1 LB (0.5 Kilo) Pork Sausage

2 Onions, diced

6-7 Cloves Garlic, minced

2 Bell Peppers, large dice (1 green and 1 red)

3 Cans Kidney Beans (dark red)

1 Can Crushed Tomatoes

2 Tablespoons Tomato Puree

1-2 Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce*

1-2 Green Chilies (Fresh)

2 Tablespoons Cumin (Ground)

2 Tablespoons Oregano (dried)

1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder*

1 Tablespoon Black Pepper (Ground)

16 Oz Dark Beer
2 Tablespoons Oil

Salt to taste

Cilantro, for garnish

Scallions, for garnish

Sour cream, for garnish

Lime wedges, for garnish

Method

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Latin, Meat

How to make Guacamole - like a boss!

Avocados are becoming plentiful again here in New Zealand and you know what that means? Guacermoles!

That's right, I like guacamole so much I have a nick name for it. It is not a very good nick name and I am aware of that but it is always spoken with much love. Guacamole has previously featured on this blog pretending to be a salad and hanging out in the background in my picadillo and lechon asado posts and I expect it will keep coming back over and over again greeting us like an old friend. 

Now this is not a historical or cultural lesson so I will not explain why I have guacamole as a side with Cuban food when it is very clearly Mexican. It just works, okay?

Serve it as a side, as a topping on tacos, as a dip or just grab a spoon and eat it plain! This guacamole recipe is really that good.

How to make Guacamole

Ingredients

3-4 Avocados
2-3 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Red Onion (Small)
1 Lemon
A few sprigs of Cilantro (Coriander)
1 Jalapeno Pepper (or any other fresh green chili pepper)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Dice the onions, mince the garlic, chop the cilantro and the green chili pepper. You can use less onion if you find it too strong. I usually add some of the cilantro stocks in as well. The stocks have a lot of flavor, it is a shame to waste it.

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit.

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5 comments LABELS: Dips and Spreads, Latin, Vegan, Vegetarian

Lechon Asado - Slow Cooker Cuban Pork

Lechon Asado is a timeless Cuban roasted pork dish. Traditionally, a whole pig is slow roasted over hot coals. This, unfortunately, is not always practical when you live in an apartment, are feeding two people and it is a weeknight. 

Enter - the lechon asado loving busy professional's best friend - The Slow Cooker (or crock pot, if you are from the south).

Get your own Crock-Pot Here

I have a love-hate relationship with my slow cooker. I love that I can come home after a busy day to a cooked meal, but I hate that sometimes it just tastes like hospital food (No disrespect to hospital cafeterias around the world). I am therefore, on a mission to learn how to cook delicious and easy slow cooker meals and post the recipes here when I have a winner. (This is a different mission from this one, I set a lot of culinary missions, okay?)

So without further ado, here's presenting Lechon Asado!

Lechon Asado served with Yellow Rice and Guacamole

Three guys from Miami are my go to Cuban recipe gurus, and this recipe is heavily influenced by their Lechon Asado recipe.

Instead of cooking a whole pig, I used pork shoulder, or Boston butt. Marinated it in a lovely garlicky citrus marinade (Mojo) . And slow cooked it for about 10 hours on low. 

Ingredients

2 - 3 Lb (1 to 1.5 kg) Pork Shoulder 

12 - 15 cloves, Garlic (The more the better!)

2 - Oranges 

1 - Lime 

1- Onion

1 Teaspoon, Black pepper

1 Teaspoon, Oregano

3 Tablespoons, Olive Oil

Salt

Method

Gather and prep your ingredients:

Clean the garlic.

Juice the oranges and limes.

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4 comments LABELS: Cuban, Latin, Pork, Weeknight Lifesavers

Cuban Picadillo

As you start to read recipes on this blog, you will notice that certain words pop up fairly often. "Easy" is one of those words. When you work 8 - 5 and need to keep your weeknights stress free, 'easy' is not a cop out. You need easy. 

Picadillo is a delicious Cuban dish. Dried cranberries add an unexpected kick to this flavorful dish of spiced ground meat.

And guess what? It is easy-as.

Ingredients

1 lb - Ground Meat (Beef is traditional, you can also try turkey)

4-5 - Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 - Onion, chopped

1/2 - Green Bell Pepper/ Capsicum (if small then use whole), diced

2 - Tablespoons, Tomato Puree

1 Teaspoon - dried Parsley

1/2 cup - Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup - Spanish Olives, sliced

1 cup - Red Wine

A few sprigs of Cilantro (Coriander leaves)

2 Tablespoons - Oil

Seasoning

1.5 Teaspoon Cumin

1 Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika

1 Teaspoon Mild Chili Powder

1.5 Teaspoon Oregano

Salt to taste 

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Leave a Comment | LABELS: Cuban, Latin, Meat, Weeknight Lifesavers

Easy Flan/ Creme Caramel

This recipe is extremely easy (I don't make desserts and even I made it successfully) and it makes rich and creamy flan. It has been adapted from this recipe. Be careful not to make it too often. It is pretty high in calories! 

Yield: 6 individual servings

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Baking: 50 Minutes

Cooling: 2-3 Hours

Ingredients

4 eggs, whole
1 can (395g/ 14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (370 mL/ 12 fl.oz) evaporated milk
1 table spoon vanilla essence
1 cup sugar (to caramelize)

Method

1. Caramelize the sugar in a pan on low heat, let it melt and thicken. Coat the bottom of the ramekins (6). I added a couple of table spoons of water to the sugar to help it along.

2. In a big bowl, whisk the egg nice and fluffy, add the evaporated milk and whisk. Add the condensed milk and keep whisking. Add the vanilla essence.

3. Pour this custard into the ramekins. 

4. Preheat the oven to 150 C. Put the ramekins in a water bath and let it bake for about 50 minutes. 

5. When done, take them out and let them cool to room temp for a while and then refrigerate for a couple of hours. 

6. When ready to serve, carefully turn a knife around the edge of the ramekin to loosen the flan and invert onto a plate, the juicy caramel should pour out.

2 comments LABELS: Dessert, Latin