Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Ropa Vieja (Old Clothes)
Ropa Vieja (Spanish for “Old Clothes” is a traditional caribbean (Cuban) dish. It’s a meat stew in which the meat is slow cooked and shredded (taking on the appearance of cloth strips, which explains the name.)
Last week I spotted an ad for Goya that described this recipe, so I decided to make it. It’s pretty easy as all of seasonings are supplied by Goya, but it was delicious so I decided to list it here. I cooked up some jasmine rice to accompany it, and cut back the olives and capers by 1/2 the indicated amount. Comfort food!
Recommended!
Ropa Vieja (Cuban Meat Stew)
Ingredients
2 ½ lbs Flank Steak, Cut in Approx. 3 inch x 4 inch strips
2 tbsp of Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Goya Adobo with Pepper, to taste
3 tsp. Goya Minced Garlic or 6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 ½ cups onions, finely diced
1 ½ cups green bell pepper, finely diced
¼ tsp. Goya Ground Black Pepper
1 can (8oz.) Goya Tomato Sauce
1 jar (6 oz.) Goya Sofrito
3 cups water
1 Packet Sazón Goya with Coriander and Annatto
1 Packet Goya Powered Beef Bouillon
1 tbsp capers, drained
1/2 cup Goya Manzanilla Stuffed Olives, Sliced or similar
2 cups cooked Canilla Extra Long Grain Rice
Directions
1. Season meat with Adobo. In skillet, heat oil on medium high. Brown meat on both sides. Remove and keep warm.
2. Lower heat to medium, stir in garlic, onion, and green pepper and cook stirring often until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in black pepper and tomato sauce and cook, stirring often for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in Sofrito, water, Sazón and Bouillon and bring to a boil. Return meat to pan, cover, lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the Capers and Olives and continue to simmer, covered until meat is very tender and shreds easily, about 1-1 ½ hours. Add more water, ¼ cup at a time, if sauce gets too dry.
4. To serve, shred meat with 2 forks, mix back into sauce. Serve with white rice.
Thanksgiving Feast
Thanksgiving Prep…
The prep-work is underway for this year’s Thanksgiving. The turkey is in a brine bath, and it’ll sit there for 16 hours or so. The giblets and neck were used to make a gravy stock. I’ll combine that with pan drippings and some wine and flour tomorrow to form the final gravy (recipe here.) The sweet potatoes are mashed and in the fridge, ready to add to the casserole. Great quantities of carrots and celery have been chopped. The mise is “en place”.
Now it’s time to sit back with a scotch and watch the fireplace.
Skirt Steak with Creamed Corn and Poblanos
INGREDIENTS
2 poblano chiles
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
1 cup sour cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
DIRECTIONS
Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame or under a broiler, turning, until charred all over. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 minutes. Peel, core and seed the chiles, then cut them into thin strips.
In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the corn and poblano strips and cook until the corn is tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in the sour cream and season with salt and pepper. Keep the corn warm over very low heat.
Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Rub the steaks with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill over high heat, turning once, until lightly charred, about 6 minutes. Let the steaks rest for 5 minutes, then thinly slice across the grain. Serve with the corn and poblanos.
Recipe from Food & Wine magazine.
Note, I marinated the steaks for about 8 hours in a marinade of 1/2 cup soy, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp oregano, 2 tbls brown sugar. While this deviates from the original recipe, it was delicious.
The poblanos are warming, but never painful. However if you’re a pansy you may consider substituting 1 similar sized red pepper for one of the poblanos. SHAME ON YOU.
Fettucini Alfredo & Veal Scallopini with Brown Butter and Capers
This was a fantastic, delicious and easy to prepare meal. I’ll be making this again…
Recipe via Gourmet Magazine.
Veal Scallopini with Brown Butter and Capers
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 pound thin veal scallopini (less than 1/4 inch thick)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons drained small capers
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Preparation
Heat a 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over high heat until hot, then add oil and heat until it shimmers.
Meanwhile, stir together flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then pat veal dry and dredge in flour, knocking off excess.
Cook veal in 2 batches, turning once, until browned and just cooked through, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.
Discard oil from skillet, then add butter and cook over medium heat, shaking skillet frequently, until browned and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in vinegar, capers, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Return veal to skillet just to heat through, then sprinkle with parsley.
Ingredients
8 to 9 ounce egg fettuccine in nests
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Preparation
Cook fettuccine in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain pasta.
Meanwhile, bring cream and butter to a simmer in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-low heat, adding 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Add fettuccine, 1/4 cup reserved water, and cheese to sauce and toss. Add more cooking water if necessary.
Seared Scallops with Bacon-Braised Chard
Used the wrong pan on the scallops, so the crust wasn’t formed. Still, it was delicious.
Recipe: Food & Wine Magazine
INGREDIENTS
2 thick slices of bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1 3/4 pounds rainbow chard—stems sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick, leaves cut into 1-inch strips
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
12 large sea scallops (1 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
DIRECTIONS
In a large, deep skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat until crisp, 4 minutes.
Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, 3 minutes.
Add the garlic and stir until tender but not browned, 2 minutes.
Add the tomato and cook until it begins to break down, 2 minutes.
Add the chard stems and cook until crisp-tender, 4 minutes.
Add the chard leaves and cook over moderately high heat, tossing, until wilted, 5 minutes; drain off any liquid.
Add the soy sauce and cook until the leaves are tender, 2 minutes longer.
Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Season the scallops with salt and pepper. In another large skillet, heat the oil until just smoking.
Add the scallops and cook over high heat for 30 seconds.
Reduce the heat to moderate and cook until golden on the bottom, about 3 minutes.
Turn the scallops and add the butter. Cook, spooning the butter on the scallops, until just white throughout, about 3 minutes.
Spoon the chard onto plates, top with the scallops and serve.
Wine suggestion: a dry Gewurztraminer.
Pokka Xpress Coffee
I carried a few drinks back with me from Malaysia to test with the family. First up is “Pokka Xpress Coffee”. The label assured me that this drink was brewed “from Coffee Beans”. Always a good thing when dealing with the part of the world that brings you Kopi Luwak.
The color when poured was an unappealing brown. The taste, although watery, offered up decent coffee flavor with little sour or bitter aftertaste.
Unfortunately, I’ve no way to know the caffeine content of this drink. The label was wonderfully vague about the specifics, rather referring to some obscure measure called “Tenaga” or “Energy”.
Whatever Tenaga is, Pokka Xpress has 95 kcals of it.
I suspect I expended more than 95kcals lugging this can back with me.
UPDATE – Tenaga is the largest utility company in Malaysia. It’s all beginning to make sense now.
The rear of the can lists the ingredients as “Water, Freshly Brewed Coffee, Milk, Sugar, Permitted Stabilizer, and Permitted Flavouring.
Hrm. Permitted Flavouring.
