Huevos Cubanos

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings


INGREDIENTS:
8 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon cream
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 medium onion, minced
1 green pepper, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil for sautéing
1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
cilantro leaves, chopped

 

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks. In a small bowl, mash the yolks and add a little cream to make a thick paste. Mash in the seasonings and half of the cheese. Use a spoon (or pastry bag if you want to be fancy) to stuff the yolk mixture back into the egg halves.
Sauté the onion and green pepper in olive oil until limp. Add the minced garlic, sauté an additional two minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce and cook briefly. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as necessary.
Place stuffed eggs in shallow baking dish or cake pan. Pour the sauce over the stuffed eggs and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes.
Traditionally served over white rice.

Pescados Asado

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings



INGREDIENTS:
Fish Fillets:
3 pounds salmon, snapper, swordfish, yellowtail anything you like with the skin on. We love to make this with a large 2 to 3-pound salmon filet. If you use smaller fish, consider grilling an individual filet for each of your guests.
Marinade
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of one lime
Juice of one lemon
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

 Put everything (except the fish!) in a non-metallic bowl and mix with a spoon.
Place fish in a shallow non-metallic pan and cover with the marinade. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for no more than 2 hours. Remove fish from marinade.
Make sure your grill surface is clean and well oiled. Set up your gas or charcoal grill so that you have a section of grill surface with no source of direct heat beneath it. (Bank the coals to the side of a charcoal grill, or turn off the middle or end burners on a gas grill.)
Drizzle a little olive oil on the fillet and place it on the hot side of the grill skin side up just long enough to put some nice grill marks on the flesh.
Then carefully use a steel spatula to flip the fillet skin-side down on the cooler section of the grill. Try to cook the fish at a low heat – "low and slow" is definitely the way to go!
Cover your grill and continue cooking until the fish flakes with a fork. Keep an eye on the fish so it doesn't burn. Salt and pepper to taste.
Allow approximately 1/2 to 3/4 pound per person depending on your side dishes. The marinade recipe makes enough for approximately three pounds of fish fillets

Camarones para una boda Cubana

Prep time: 9 minutes
Cook time: 6 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings



INGREDIENTS:
Sauce
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Shrimp
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup onion, slivered
1/2 cup green pepper, slivered
4 tablespoons olive oil (enough to thinly cover your pan)
8 jumbo shrimp (8-12 count size per pound), peeled, de-veined, and butterflied
Salt (to taste)
Red pepper flakes (to taste)

  In a small bowl, whisk together the rum, orange juice, vinegar, brown sugar, and salt. Set aside.
In a large fry pan with a tight fitting lid, sauté the onion and green pepper in the olive oil for just a minute or two on medium-high heat. Toss in the shrimp and the garlic and fry for two minutes longer, NO MORE, NO LESS, turning frequently. Add the mixed liquids, cover the pan tightly, and remove from heat. Let stand for five minutes, away from heat, covered tightly. No peeking!
Next, remove the shrimp and vegetables from the liquids in the pan and refrigerate, covered, until well chilled.
Reserve liquid in the pan and bring to a rapid boil under high heat. Stirring occasionally, boil the sauce until it reduces about 50 percent. The sauce should be thicker than water, but not syrupy! Run the sauce through a strainer and refrigerate until completely chilled.

Serve by plating individual servings – two jumbo shrimp on a bed of the onions and green peppers. Ladle some of the chilled sauce on each plate, just enough to make a small pool. Sprinkle each plate with a pinch of salt (trust us on this one) and some red pepper flakes – just enough to give it a little color.

Avocado and Pineapple Salad

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6-8 servings


INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of fresh pineapple chunks
2 large avocados, peeled and sliced
1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 medium sweet red onion, sliced thin

Combine olive oil, vinegar, orange juice, and sugar in a blender until smooth. Add salt and pepper to this mixture to taste.
Lightly toss the lettuce, pineapple, and red onion together.
Pour on the oil and vinegar mixture until everything is well coated. Adjust the amount used to your own preference, more or less.
Garnish individual salads with several avocado slices lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lime juice.

Torticas de Guayaba – Guava and Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Yield: 2 dozen



INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening (Butter-flavored Crisco works great!)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling:
1 (17-ounce jar) guava jelly (more or less)

  Preheat oven to 375°F.
Beat peanut butter, shortening and both sugars until well blended. Beat in the egg. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
Shape dough into one-inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet two inches apart. Place thumb in center of each ball to make an indentation (or use the handle of a wooden spoon). Bake 8-10 minutes or until just set.
Remove from oven. Immediately fill centers with guava jelly (placing the jelly in a plastic bottle with a cone tip makes filling the centers easier).
Cool 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet.

Canchanchara

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 drink


INGREDIENTS:
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 ounces white rum
crushed ice

Mix the lime juice with the honey and white rum until the honey dissolves.

Put everything into a cocktail shaker with crushed ice.

Shake well with the ice and strain into a champagne glass, on the rocks or straight up, your choice.

In Cuba, the most typical version of this drink uses a very crude, unfinished rum called Aguardiente