Cuban Recipes 

by Cindy Santiago

Hannibal's girlfriend Cindy is one heck of a cook, especially when she gets down to the Cuban cuisine she learned from her mother.

 

This year she's treating Hannibal to a totally CUBAN THANKSGIVING, and we got her to share her menu and recipes.

Cindy says, "Back home, Thanksgiving was the fall's big gathering. The kitchen is always crowded, with Papa passing the daiquiris, mama putting the bird in the oven and me reaching for a boniato (kind of a white sweet potato). handoff from Angela. The table is a long one on this day. We gave this very American holiday a total Cuban flavor. Here's how. We'd start with

Steamed Yuca with Mojo (recipe is elsewhere on this page)

Cumin-and-Oregano Rubbed Turkey with Chorizo-and Cornbread Stuffing


16-pound turkey
3-4 cups Cornbread Stuffing
Kitchen string
Cumin Rub
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

Start the night before, making the CORNBREAD STUFFING

4 8½-ounce boxes cornbread mix
1 cup toasted pine nuts
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 large Spanish onions, chopped
10 cloves garlic, minced
4 small (7 ounces) chorizo sausages, diced
2 roasted red bell peppers, chopped
1 cup fresh oregano, chopped
Salt and pepper

Bake the cornbread according to package directions. While the bread is still warm, cut it into small cubes in the pan. Let the bread sit at room temperature, uncovered, for 12 hours or overnight. Remove the bread from the pan and crumble to make coarse breadcrumbs.

To toast the pine nuts, bake them on a baking sheet in a 300-degree oven for about 5 minutes until they turn golden brown. Watch carefully - they will burn fast. Immediately remove the nuts from the pan to a clean dish to stop them cooking.

In a medium sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, pine nuts, sautéed onion and garlic, sausages, red pepper and oregano, mixing well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reserve 3 to 4 cups of the stuffing to stuff the turkey.

On Thanksgiving Day, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Clean out all the extra crap they package with the turkey, rinse it inside and out with cold water and pat it dry with paper towels. Loosely stuff it with the stuffing. Pull the legs together so that they overlap. Use the kitchen string to tie the legs together. Spoon any leftover stuffing into a buttered ovenproof casserole dish. Bake in a 350-degree oven, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown.

While you wait, make the CUMIN RUB

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cumin
5 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons smoked paprika (hot)
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons fresh-cracked pepper
¼ cup olive oil

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Combine the seasonings and olive oil in a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter and stir to mix well. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Gently rub about half to three quarters of the cumin rub over the outside of the turkey with your hands, working it lightly into the skin. Keep the rest for basting the turkey during roasting. Put the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan. Roast uncovered for 30 minutes until the skin starts to brown, then cover with aluminum foil.

Meanwhile, melt the 3 sticks of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the remaining rub. Set aside, covered, to keep warm. Use a pastry brush to baste the turkey with the seasoned butter every 30 minutes during roasting. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees and roast the turkey for about 4 ½ hours, or until the juices run clear when the meat is pricked and the leg joints feel loose.

Finish with a PUMPKIN FLAN (recipe is elsewhere on this page, exept for slightly different ingredients:

1¾ cup sugar
1½ cups whole milk
½ cup unflavored canned pumpkin puree
1 cinnamon stick
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Steamed Yuca with Mojo
Cindy says, "Yuca is a root, a crunchy tuber native to South America. In my house growing up it was the first sign that Thanksgiving was coming up. Try it a few times to get it right before you add it to your Thanksgiving table." You'll need:

3 pounds frozen yuca
10 cloves garlic
4 cups oregano leaves
Juice of 2 limes
¾ Cup olive oil
¼ Cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/8 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper
Steam the yuca in a vegetable steamer for about 30 minutes.

While the yuca is steaming, puree the garlic, oregano, lime juice, olive oil, orange juice, cumin, salt, and pepper in a blender. Once you taste this treat it wil replace the yams on your holiday table.

MOJO PORK

Cindy says, “To make pork really Cuban-style you have to season it just right, and then show it respect with homemade salsa.”

Ingredients:

1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
10 garlic cloves, chopped fine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
1 teaspoon salt
4 bay leaves
1 pound piece boneless pork loin

Stir everything listed above in a small bowl and chill it for at least an hour so the flavors become one.

Trim all the fat from the pork. Marinate the pork in the mojo sauce in the refrigerator for at least three hours. I recommend putting everything in a sealable plastic bag.

When it’s time to cook, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Drain the pork and roast it in a small roasting pan for 30 to 40 minutes. If you use a meat thermometer, you’re looking for 160 degrees at the center. Here’s the only secret to this recipe. When it’s done take the port out of the oven and leave it alone for 10 minutes. After that you’ll be able to cut it into thin slices and serve it with some

Papaya Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

1/2 firm ripe papaya
1 medium firm ripe mango
1/2 medium red onion, chopped fine
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 small jalapeno chili, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander

Seed and peel the papaya. Peel the mango and cut the flesh from the pit. Cut both into 1/4-inch cubes and toss them with the onion and lime juice. Stir in the diced jalapeno and coriander and add salt and pepper to taste. You should chill the salsa for a couple of hours before use.

Do it right! Believe me, all the time and effort will be worth it.

Vaca Frita

Cindy says, "The direct translation of this dish would be "fried cow" but it's so much more than a hamburger. This is how you give a steak that authentic Cuban flavor."

2 pounds flank steak
2 whole bay leaves
6 black pepper corns
3 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, sliced
lemon wedges
2 medium green bell peppers, sliced
Seasoning rub
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoon salt

Place the steak in a covered pot with just enough water to cover it. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Simmer covered until tender, about 1 ½ hours, then leave it in the liquid to cool. I like to put the entire covered pot in the fridge overnight.

When it's time to cook, mix the dry spices. Then cut the meat across the grain into serving size pieces and pound it with a meat mallet until it's increased in size by 25-50%. Rub each piece with a bit of the dry rub and splash it with dry sherry.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet or griddle. Fry each piece of meat until it barely browns. Fry the onions and peppers too. Put it all on a plate with the lemon wedges as a garnish and you'll be serving up one of Hannibal's favorite dinners.

Pollo Con Quimbobó y Platanos (or Chicken with Okra and Plantains)

This chicken dish relies on adobo, which you may be unfamiliar with. Cindy says, "Adobo is the ultimate all purpose Latin seasoning used in Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican and other Hispanic cuisines. It will make just about anything taste better. What's in it? Sea Salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, pepper, oregano, annatto, maybe some coriander. Trust me, just find it and use it, okay?"

You'll need:
· 1 cup of fresh chopped okra
· 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (about 3 pounds)
· 2 tbsp of adobe seasoning
· vegetable oil
· 1 large onion chopped
· 4 cloves of garlic minced
· 1 green bell pepper, chopped
· 1 ½ cups of water
· 2 medium ripe plantains
· 2 medium tomatoes coarsely chopped
· 2 tbsp of lime juice

First, season chicken with the adobe. Brown the chicken pieces in hot oil on all sides In a heavy cast iron skillet. Move the chicken to deep stewing pot. In the remaining oil, stir fry the onion, garlic and bell pepper for about 2 or 3 minutes. Cut the okra in 1 inch size pieces, but toss out the tips and caps. Peel the plantain and cut it into 1 inch pieces. Add the water and all the other ingredients to the stewing pot with the chicken. Cover and simmer until the chicken is very tender, about 15 minutes.

Cindy says, "Serve this with, not on, white rice for a genuine Cuban supper.

The Mojito

When it comes to drinking, there's only one summertime winner from Cindy's home island.

Cindy says: "The Mojito was born in Cuba in the early 20th century, that requires you to assemble a few simple ingredients in the proper order. To do it right you must have a muddler, that little miniature baseball bat you usually only find in bars. Believe me, it's worth the investment, because this drink is all about technique.

3 ounces light rum (I prefer Bacardi Light)
1 lime
2 teaspoons sugar
Mint
Ice
Soda water

Put the sugar in a pint glass with a large pinch of mint  (or a small handful if you're a woman.)  Add a splash of soda water. Use your new muddler to lightly press the mint and dissolve sugar until it smells like spearmint gum. Squeeze both halves of a lime into the glass. Add the rum, stir, and fill with ice. Top with soda water, garnish with mint sprig and serve.

The other key to successful Mojitos is letting one half of your squeezed lime bob in the mixture. The oils from the rind add a faint bitterness that just cuts the sweetness and gives this drink a most complex flavor. much like Cuba itself.

Sit and chew on your mint leaves after you've finished your drink and it will even freshen your breath, so nobody knows you've had so much rum.

Ensalada de Aguacate Y Piña 

If you want a salad to really taste like a Cuban dish, you just have to include the right ingredients.  Aguacante means avocado, and you cocktail drinkers would probably guess correctly that pina is Spanish for Pineapple.  Here's the right mix.Shredded iceberg lettuce 2 cups of pineapple chunks 1 large avocado, peeled and cut in slices 1 small onion, sliced thin olive oil red wine or cider vinegar Do this one by feel, and taste, add salt and pepper until you like it, and just toss it lightly to mix the flavors.

Cuban Black Beans

Despite her high level professional career as a business attorney, or perhaps because of it,  Cindy Santiago loves to let her hair down in the kitchen and whip up the kind of stick-to-your-ribs meals her mother taught her how to make back in the old country, before she passed away.  The basis of a lot of her good Cuban eating is black beans, and it's not so much what she does to them as what Mama Santiago taught her to add to them.

1 pound black beans, washed
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 minced hot green chile peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Cindy says: Soak the beans in water overnight.  Then rinse them and put them into a large stock pot. Add the onion, bell peppers, bay leaves, paprika, cumin, oregano, chile peppers and enough water to cover them.  Bring it all to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Once the beans are tender add the garlic and balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste.  Now they're ready to eat.

Moros Y Cristianos

Translated literally, the name of this dish means "Moors and Christians." Cindy, very aware of her heritage, has explained to Hannibal that it's a reminder of a war between the dark-skinned Moors and the lighter-skinned Spaniards that took place in 1744.  This blend of black beans and white rice, almost a daily feature on tables back on the home island, is a reminder of the Spanish influence on Cuba.

2 cups of cooked white rice (1 cup of dry uncooked rice)
1 cup of cooked Cuban black beans (recipe above)

Cindy says: Make sure you drain the beans, just enough to get rid of the excess liquid. Stir with the white rice until they're evenly mixed.  I like to let the Moors outnumber the Spaniards by just a little bit.

Cuban Style Flan

Arroz Imperial

In Collateral Damage, she treats her man to a supper of arroz imperial, a chicken dish also known as arroz con pollo and a few other names in other Latin countries.  If you'd like to really experience his joy at that meal, here's how to do it:

1/2 cup olive oil
1 or 2 whole chickens cut into parts 
             or 5 boneless chicken breasts cut into chunks
3 cups long grain rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 jar green olives (pimento stuffed)
Salt, garlic, and pepper, to taste
1 can baby peas

Add salt, garlic, and pepper at the end. Add peas just before serving.  Then arrange chicken pieces around platter and rice in the center.

A good dinner for four or five people.