Pollo Borracho and Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Pollo borracho (Cuban style drunken chicken) is one of my favorite party dishes. It's easy to make a day ahead of time, and just re-heat on the stove or in the oven. And! It's great as leftovers days later. Oh, and it's pretty much impossible to mess up, so it turns out delicious every time.

Cilantro lime cauliflower rice has been making the rounds on food blogs and pinterest, so of course I decided to put my own spin on it and give you the recipe here. The flavors go perfectly with pollo borracho, and it's so easy and tasty that you won't even miss your white rice. If you change around the spices, you can serve it in place of white rice in any meal.
 

{browning the chicken}

{letting it simmer}

Pollo Borracho (Drunken Chicken, Cuban style)
Ingredients:
one 4- to 5-pound frying chicken, cut into serving pieces and skin removed (you can also buy pre-cut breasts or thighs, that's what I usually do)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
 1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, thickly sliced
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup large green Spanish olives (with the pimientos), drained and roughly chopped
Directions:
1.) Wash the chicken pieces, pat dry with paper towels, and season with salt, pepper, cumin and oregano.
2.) In a dutch oven (or large oven-proof skillet big enough to hold the chicken pieces without crowding), heat the olive oil over medium heat until fragrant, and brown the chicken pieces well on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Reduce the heat to low, add the garlic and onions, and cook, stirring, until tender, 6-8 minutes, adding more oil if necessary.
3.) Add the bay leaf, wines, and olives and stir to incorporate. Return the chicken to the pan, cover, and cook over low heat until tender, about 45-60 minutes. If you prefer, you can place the covered skillet in a 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes instead. Remove the bay leaf and serve with cauliflower rice.

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients:
1/2 large head of cauliflower
1/2 yellow/white onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
zest of one large lime
juice from 1/2 a lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
a dash of cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1.) Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor or grate it, so that it resembles grains of rice.
2.) Heat a large pan to medium heat and add olive oil, onion, and garlic. Cook until just translucent, then add riced cauliflower.
3.) Cover the pan and let steam for 6-7 minutes, or until cauliflower is softened and gently cooked through.
4.) Remove cover and cook off any excess liquid.
5.) Add in lime zest, cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix well, then transfer to a serving dish. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the rice and serve.

{you can also shred the chicken & mix it in with the rice: delish!}

Maple Flan

Flan is a dessert that I've been wanting to learn how to do right for awhile, since it's one of the standard Cuban desserts. And since we're a little unclear on whether or not caramel is starchy I decided to take a different (but equally delicious) route with our flan and use maple syrup. Roi says that this recipe is more like a "restaurant" version of flan as opposed to a "homestyle" version. I'm not really sure what that means but I'm taking it as a compliment. This recipe makes unbelievable creamy flan, and real maple syrup is the perfect compliment.

This recipe is adapted from the flan recipe in America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two 2009 cookbook. I doubled the recipe and exchanged the caramel for maple, but other than that, the recipe was perfect.

{adding the maple to the ramekins}

{adding the custard to the ramekins}

{in the oven}

{baked custards}

Maple Flan
makes 4 servings
1/4 cup real maple syrup (not a corn syrup substitute! gross!)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup milk (I used whole milk, but you can use any type)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1.) Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Place a kitchen towel at the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking pan. Grease four 6-ounce ramekins, divide maple syrup between the ramekins and place them on the towel.
2.) Whisk the egg and egg yolk together in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Divide the custard evenly between the four ramekins.
3.) Place the baking pan in the oven and carefully pour enough boiling water into the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake the custards until the centers are just barely set, 25-30 minutes.
4.) Carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath and let the custards cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Cover the ramekins tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
5.) Run a small knife around one of the ramekins to loosen the custard. Place an inverted serving plate over the top and quickly flip the custard onto the plate, drizzling any extra maple over the top. Repeat with the remaining custard and serve.

Picadillo Pie: My Quest to Invent a Starch Free Casserole

 
I consider this the first recipe that I ever invented, so I'm kind of (really) proud of it.  Casseroles are classic comfort foods and they're always good as leftovers, when you don't have time to cook dinner every day. But looking through the recipes for casseroles I know and love, all of them had one thing in common: multiple starchy ingredients. So I set out to create one that would work with the diet, and this layered casserole is what I came up with. It's based on Cuban flavors, with an American-style casserole twist.

Picadillo is a pretty generic name for a beef hash containing tomatoes, and many Latin cultures have their own version of the dish. The picadillo recipe I use is adapted from the recipe from Memories of a Cuban Kitchen.

Picadillo Pie
makes one 9x13 casserole

for the Picadillo:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped (sometimes I add in green onions too, it depends on what I have around)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef, turkey or bison (the example pictures are made with bison-it's local and free range!)
1/4 cup dry sherry or dry white wine
1.5-2 pounds fresh tomatoes (about 4-5 medium sized tomatoes), chopped
salt and pepper (~1 tablespoon salt and pepper to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
1/2 cup pimento stuffed green olives, roughly chopped

1.) In a heavy skillet, heat the oil over low heat until fragrant, then add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes. Add the ground meat and cook, stirring, until browned, 10-15 minutes. I usually also add some of the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano at this point as well.  Use a wooden spoon to break up any large chunks of meat.
2.) Add the sherry, tomatoes and salt, and stir, and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Add the olives to the mix, adjust the seasonings to taste and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed, 10-15 minutes.

to make the Casserole:
1 small head of cauliflower (or 2/3 of a large head)
5 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups grated Muenster cheese

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Steam/boil cauliflower in a covered pot with 2 cups of water until soft, about 6 minutes. Drain and let cool for a few minutes. Then use a blender or food processor to process the cauliflower until it resembles mushy grains of rice.
2.) Put the cauliflower in a medium sized bowl. Mix in the eggs and 1/2 cup of the cheese with the cauliflower.
3.) Spread about 3/4 cup of the picadillo over the bottom of the pan in a thin layer, just to cover it. Spread half of the egg/cheese/cauliflower mixture over that, then top that layer with half of the rest of the picadillo. Add the rest of the egg and cauliflower mixture on that layer, then add the rest of the picadillo on top of that. Cover the top of the casserole with an even layer of the remaining 1 cup of cheese.
4.) Bake in the oven, uncovered, until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is starting to brown, 40-45 minutes.

{onions and garlic + green onions + ground bison}

{after adding in the tomatoes}

{I know this looks weird-it's because the farmers market cauliflower was green!}

{before the oven}

{after the oven}

Enjoy!

Mojo Pork Kebabs

 In our apartment complex, you're not allowed to grill anything within 20 feet of the building. But I'm not really a fan of grilling in the middle of a parking lot, so it's lucky that my husband had the foresight to own a George Foreman, as tiny as it is. Actually, I think that must have been all he cooked on before we moved in together, because I know he didn't own any pots or pans.

Anyway, I picked up this summer issue of Everyday Food at CVS when we were waiting for Roi's Rx's one day, and it gave me the urge to grill. Cuban-inspired flavors are always perfect summer recipes. These kebabs are adapted from this recipe.



MOJO PORK KEBABS
serves 2-3 

Ingredients:

1/4-1/3 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

juice from 2 limes (~3 tablespoons)

1/4 cup orange juice

1 orange, cut into 16 pieces

1 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds

cumin

salt and pepper

 Directions:

 1. In a small pot, combine oil and garlic and heat over medium-low. Cook until garlic is soft, 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Make sure your garlic doesn't burn, or your mojo just won't taste the same!) Remove from heat, stir in lime and orange juices and let cool for 15 minutes. Stir in some cumin (about 1/4 tsp), salt and pepper.

2. In a ziplock bag, toss the pork with half of the marinade and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 12 hours) and refrigerate the remaining marinade.

3. Heat a grill, grill pan, or George Foreman to medium-high, making sure that the grill is clean before you start. Thread pork, orange and zucchini onto skewers. Season with a couple of shakes of cumin, salt and pepper. Grill kebabs 4-5 minutes per side for medium-well, and at least until they have the tell-tale grill marks. Brush with your reserved marinade and serve.

These tasted really excellent with a light summer salad. I tossed romaine lettuce with sliced fresh cucumber (peeled) and a chopped fresh peach. I paired the salad with a honey balsamic dressing and it was perfect: sweet and refreshing. For the dressing, combine 1 part honey, 1 part balsamic vinegar, and 3 parts olive oil. I usually heat the honey with the balsamic in the microwave for about 15 seconds so that all the ingredients mix together in the dressing. Toss and serve!

Camarones en Crema con Cilantro (shrimp in a creamy cilantro sauce)

Despite the fact that at least half of the meals I cook at home are Cuban in origin, I haven't shared many of those meals on the blog yet. Maybe it's because we tend to eat those meals so quickly I don't get a descent photo of them before they're gone. Needless to say, there will be many starch-free versions of Cuban recipes in the future.

This is a really simple and delicious recipe to make, and can be a quick dinner if you don't have much time to spend cooking. I used a version adapted from this book.

Camarones en Crema con Cilantro
6-8 servings
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large, ripe tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I usually put in a lot, because we love cilantro)
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 1/2 lbs large raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

for the sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup fish stock, chicken stock or clam juice (I used chicken stock, because I had that on hand)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
few dashes of Tabasco sauce, optional

1. In a large skillet over low heat, melt the first amount of butter. When it begins to foam, add the garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, sherry, and shrimp, and cook, stirring, 4-5 minutes.

2. To prepare the sauce, in a saucepan over low heat, melt the second amount of butter. When it begins to foam, raise the heat to medium and whisk in the stock, milk and cream and cook, whisking, until the mixture comes to a boil. Add the salt, pepper, Tabasco and Worcestershire.

3. Add the sauce to the shrimp, stir to blend, and cook over low heat 3-4 minutes. I like to serve this with either cauliflower "rice" or mashed cauliflower (as in the photo).