Vaca Frita (Cuban Stir-Fried Beef)

{vaca frita + roasted cauliflower}

Vaca frita is a standard Cuban dish, and one of the first that I learned to make. It's a dish that you have to plan ahead for, but it's worth it, and it's really tasty as leftovers. It's really good served with seasoned cauliflower, whether it be roasted, in "rice" form, or mashed. This recipe came from Memories of a Cuban Kitchen, a really great collection of Cuban recipes.

{boiling the meat}

{shredded beef, pre-stir frying}

{stir-frying}

Vaca Frita
makes 4-6 servings
one 2 1/2 lb. flank steak, cut into 1/3s
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, cut in 1/2 and each 1/2 thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Put the beef and bay leaf in a large saucepan, cover with salted water, and cook over low heat, covered, until the meat is tender, 1-1 1/2 hours. Then remove the meat from the stock and allow to cool at room temperature. When the meat is cool, cut it into 2-inch chunks, shred it using your fingers, and place in a large nonreactive bowl. Add the citrus juices, garlic, salt, and pepper, cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.

2. Remove the meat from the marinade and squeeze out the excess liquid. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until fragrant and cook the onions, stirring, 5-6 minutes. Add the beef shreds and cook, stirring, 10 minutes more, until the beef is crisp. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Sometimes, depending on what I have around, I'll also add in a little orange juice or sherry when I'm stir-frying, they both add really nice flavor to the dish.

Batidos de Melocotón

Peach shakes! Seeing as how the husband is Cuban, this is the first of many recipes adapted from Cuban flavors and cooking styles. These shakes are amazing. Although I used peaches for our batidos, you could use any tropical fruit (guava, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, etc.) as long as you make sure it's starch free. I know that mangoes and bananas are starchy, so people keeping starch free should stay away from those. I think berries and melons would work too, they're just not traditionally used in batidos. But neither are peaches, so there you go. I used this recipe from Cook's Illustrated, The Best International Recipe cookbook.

Batidos (Fruit Shakes) 
serves 4
3 1/2 cups ripe fruit, cut into 1-inch chunks (I used unpeeled peaches because I don't mind the skins, but if that bothers you, just peel them first)
2 cups ice
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 tablespoon sugar, plus extra to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

Purée the ingredients in a blender until smooth and frothy, 20-30 seconds. Add additional sugar to taste and serve immediately. With colorful straws!

Drained canned fruit and frozen fruit can be substituted for the fresh but if you're using frozen fruit, don't thaw and substitute water for the ice.