March 15
Nick's Really Big Latin Style Meal
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- Cuban-Style Steak [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 1 pound steak
- .67 pound steak
- 1.5 cups onion (chopped finely)
- .25 cup cilantro (cleaned and chopped)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 large limes
- salt & pepper
- 3 tablespoons oil (divided)
Instructions
We start in the early afternoon to marinate the meat. We remove the two kinds of meat from the fridge, and get the marinade ingredients ready.
We divide the onion and cilantro between two resealable plastic bags. We smash our garlic cloves with the backside of our knife, remove the peel, and mince. We add this (about 1½ tablespoons) to the bags. Next we juice the limes into the bags and add a little salt and pepper. We squish the ingredients around from the outside of the bags to mix, and set aside while we get the steaks ready.
We trim the london broil of excess fat and pound it with our meat mallet between two pieces of wax paper to make it about ½ inch thick. We add the sandwich steaks to one marinade bag (they are thin enough so as not to require a pounding), and we add the london broil to the other marinade bag. We coat all the pieces of beef well, seal the bags, and refrigerate them in a large bowl for about 3 hours.
About forty-five minutes before we want to eat, we remove the steaks from the fridge and set them aside in their bags to rid them of their chill.
After 20 minutes, we heat a large sauté pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of the oil. We remove the steaks from the bags, reserving the marinade. We pat the steaks dry with paper towels and sprinkle the london broil with salt and pepper.
When the oil is hot, we add the london broil to the pan. We cook on the one side for 4 minutes and then flip with tongs. We cook for another couple of minutes and remove it to a clean plate. We check the temperature, it is still on the rare side.
The pan has darkened, so we deglaze it with one of the marinade bags. We stir well to pick up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan and lower the heat to medium-low. We cook for a few minutes to soften the onions. We pour this into a medium-sized bowl.
We heat half a tablespoon of oil over medium heat and add the rare steak back to the hot pan. We cook for two minutes on one side and another minute on the other side and remove it to the plate. The temperature quickly rises to a medium-rare/medium doneness.
We heat the remaining oil over medium heat. We sprinkle the three sandwich steaks with salt and pepper and add them to the hot oil in one layer. We brown on one side for a minute and then turn with tongs. We cook for another half a minute (the steaks are very thin and easily overcook) and remove them to the cooked meat plate. We deglaze the pan with the rest of the marinade, cooking for a few minutes over medium-low heat.
We serve the steaks with the onions, slicing the london broil into thin slices.
- Tostones [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 2 plantains
- oil
- salt
- .5 batch [object Object]
Instructions
We start by heating a large pan over medium heat. Using a sharp knife, we slice open each plantain and then, using our hands, we peel them. Lastly, we cut each plantain into 1-inch pieces on a bias (slant).
We pour in about an inch of oil into the pan. When the oil is hot, we add the plantain pieces, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook for 3 minutes on each side. We want the plantains to be fork-tender but not too browned.
We remove the tender pieces one at a time from the pan with a fork, and place into the tostonera. We flatten and then place on a paper-towel lined plate while we continue with the rest of the plantains.
When all the pieces are flattened and the oil is hot again, we raise the heat to medium-high and add the plantains back to the pan. We cook for 2 minutes, turn, and then cook for another 2 minutes. We want them browned and crispy. We remove the pieces to the paper-towel lined plate and sprinkle with kosher salt.
We serve immediately with the <a day="15" label="mojo">mojo</a>.
- Mojo [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- .5 cup oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
Instructions
We start by pouring the olive oil into a 2-cup measuring cup. We smash the garlic on our cutting board with the back side of our knife and remove the peel. Then we mince the garlic and add it to the oil. We pour in the lemon juice and, using our <a href="/tools/appliances/immersion_blender/">immersion blender</a>, we blend until smooth. We refrigerate until needed (at most a few days).
- Sofrito [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 2.5 ounces garlic (peeled)
- 2 medium onions
- .5 large bell pepper (seeds and ribs removed)
- 2 peppers (seeds and ribs removed)
- .5 bunch cilantro (cleaned and patted dry)
Instructions
We start by getting our food processor plugged in.
On our cutting board we mince the garlic. We cut the onions, bell pepper, and cubanelles into chunks. We add these to the processor and turn on for about 20 seconds. We want the vegetables to get coarsely chopped.
Since we have the processor nearly full, we remove the veggies to a bowl before adding the cilantro. We pulse to chop the cilantro and then add the veggies back to the processor. We pulse a few more times until the mixture is green and the sofrito is finely chopped. We do not want it to be finely pureed, we just want it nicely minced.
We pour the mixture into a large bowl - we have about 3½ cups. The mixture can be refrigerated for a few days or frozen in small quantities for future latin-style dishes.
- Pink Beans [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon annatto seeds
- 2 tablespoons [object Object]
- 1 tablespoon onion (sliced)
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- .75 cup water
- 15.5 ounces beans (undrained)
- salt & pepper
- .25 teaspoon cumin
- .125 teaspoon coriander
Instructions
We start off by making the annatto oil. In a small pot, we heat the oil and annatto seeds over medium heat. When it starts to sizzle, we lower it and cook gently for about 10 minutes. We turn off the heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes. Using a fine strainer, we strain the oil into a medium pot and discard the seeds.
We heat the annatto oil over medium heat and add the <a day="15" label="sofrito">sofrito</a> and sliced onion. We cook for a couple of minutes and then add the sauce, water (next time we'll try adding just ½ cup to cut down on the cooking time), beans, salt and pepper. We simmer for about five minutes then taste for seasoning. We add the cumin, coriander, and some more salt and pepper. We continue cooking uncovered for about 20 minutes.
When the beans have thickened nicely, we serve them with <a day="15" label="rice">yellow rice</a>.
- Yellow Rice [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon annatto seeds
- .25 cup [object Object]
- .25 cup onion (sliced)
- .5 teaspoon garlic (minced)
- .25 cup sauce
- .25 teaspoon cumin
- .125 teaspoon coriander
- 2.5 cups water
- 2 cups rice
- salt & pepper
Instructions
We start off by making the annatto oil. In a small pot, we heat the oil and annatto seeds over medium heat. When it starts to sizzle, we lower it and cook gently for about 10 minutes. We turn off the heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes. Using a fine strainer, we strain the oil into a medium pot and discard the seeds.
We heat the annatto oil over medium heat and add the <a day="15" label="sofrito">sofrito</a> and sliced onion. We cook for a couple of minutes and then add the garlic. We stir for 30 seconds and, when we can smell the garlic, we add the sauce, cumin, coriander, water, rice, a good amount of salt, and pepper.
We boil for three minutes and then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about twenty minutes. We want all the liquid to be absorbed and the rice to be tender. We fluff it with a fork and cover it again for a few minutes.
We serve the rice with our latin-style <a day="15">meal</a>.