Cuban Style Picadillo, White Rice & Fried Plantains

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 lbs. ground chuck
1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup Stuffed Manzanilla Olives
1/4 cup olive juice

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried whole oregano

2 bay leaves

1 package of Sazon Goya con Azafran seasoning

Salt & pepper to taste
1-8oz. can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup Edmundo golden cooking wine
2 cups of long grain white rice
2 really ripe plantains

1 cup vegetable oil for cooking plantains
4 Servings

Oop's, I forgot the cooking wine and the bay leaves.

Please note: This cooking wine is not for drinking, I repeat, not for drinking! I know, I know, you should always use wine that you can drink in recipes. But this is the wine that the Cubans used for their recipes, and it really gives the dish the authentic Cuban flavor, and that's my story and I'm stickin to it!!!!!

Okay, dice the onion and the garlic.

Start browning the meat on medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic to the meat, and cook until meat is no longer pink. I throw the onions and garlic to flavor the meat as it cooks.

Drain out as much of the oil that you can.

After you drain out the excess oil, add all the remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil. Then, turn down the heat and let it simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes, that way the juices will evaporate and it will thicken up a bit. Don't forget to add salt and pepper to taste. Then you can turn the heat down to low, put a cover on it, and let the flavors blend together while you make the rice and fry the plantains.


The plantains should be brown and soft like this, very ripe.

Now, cut off the ends of the plantain.

Make a slit with a knife from one end of the plantain to the other and take the peel off carefully not to smash the plantain, as it will be very soft.

You want to slice them about a half inch thick and cut on an angle like this.


Now they are ready to fry.


Fry the plantains in the oil on medium heat, turning them a few times so they don't burn.

You want them to be crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.

That's why I turn them 2-3 times.

When they are done, drain them on a paper towel.

I use an electric rice maker for my rice. All I do is take 2 cups of rice and put it in the rice maker pot, rinse it with water 5 times, until the water is clear. Then I add 2 cups of water to the rice, 2 teaspoons of salt and a teaspoon of olive oil, stir, put on the top and push the cook button. It cooks itself in about 20 minutes.

Cooking the rice on top of the stove in a pot with a tight fitting lid will work just fine. Just remember to rinse it and use the same amount of rice and water, l teaspoon of salt for every cup and a little olive oil. Bring to a good boil, place the lid on and lower the temperature to simmer and don't touch it for at least 20 minutes.


When it's done I fluff it with a fork.

Now to plate it, you put a good helping of rice in the center of a plate like this.


Put some picadillo on top of the rice and spread the fried plantains around like this.

Serve with a side of Cuban bread.

And, that's all there is to it.

Muy Delicioso!!!!!!!!

If you have any questions about my recipes please send me an email at jomat25@yahoo.com, or if you want to leave a comment, that would be great!!!

I hope you enjoy these recipes.

With Love,

Joyce

Sheperd's Pie

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 lbs. of ground chuck

1 medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

1-2 cans of corn

1 cube beef bouillon

3 cups instant mashed potatoes

1- 8 oz. bag of cheddar cheese

1/2 cup of flour

Salt & pepper to taste

Serves 6-8

Brown the ground chuck until all the pink is gone and drain.



















Add diced onion and garlic, cook 5 minutes.

Dissolve beef bullion in 1 cup of hot
water.
















Add water to meat, and then sprinkle the flour on top and stir, cook a few minutes until it thickens.


Add salt and pepper to taste.

Make the mashed potatoes.

Put the meat in the bottom of a baking dish. Cover it with a layer of the corn. Salt and pepper the corn, and add a little butter if you like on top.

Cover the corn with mashed potatoes.

Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of the mashed potatoes. Place in a 350 degree oven and cook until the cheese is melted.




A good side dish for this is corn bread. I know, but I am a Southerner and we like corn bread!!!!








Easy Peasy & Yummy Yummy!!!

I hope you enjoy this comfort food. You can substitute the ground chuck with chicken, beef or pork, or really any left over meat you may have. And if corn is n
ot your favorite, you can use whatever vegetable you like. So go for it, your family will love it.

Sending you all the love, from my kitchen to yours!!!!!!!
Mimi

Mimi's Flan Recipe Repost

Here you have the ingredients.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of sugar

8 extra large egg yolks

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup whole milk

1 cup evaporated milk

1 can condensed milk (14oz.)

1 -8 oz. cream cheese (room temp)

Unsalted butter for pan

The first thing you want to do is caramelize 1/3 cup if sugar on low heat.

While the sugar is melting, butter the bottom and sides of an 8x8 pan. Please excuse my scratchy pan. I promise I will buy a new one. It's just my favorite "flan pan".

Stir it and stir it, so it doesn't burn.

It should look like this.

As soon as it's completely melted (don't over cook) and has a nice color like this, poor it into the pan. Don't try to spread it around, just poor it in and set aside. It's going to get hard right away, but don't worry.

Now combine the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl.

Whisk well.

In another bowl combine room temperature cream cheese and whole milk. This step is very important because you want to make sure the cream cheese and the milk combine well. You can warm the cup of whole milk slightly so that it helps melt the cream cheese and there's no lumps.

Then add evaporated milk and condensed milk, (do not heat), and combine well.

Now combine the egg bowl with the milk bowl and whisk well.

Pour into pan right on top of hardened caramelized sugar. As it cooks in the water bath the caramelized sugar melts and spreads all over the bottom of the pan. Place pan inside a much larger pan and fill with hot water half way up the sides. Cook at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from the of oven and let it cool. After it cools cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight.

Next day invert the flan onto a plate and this how it should look.

Serve in small squares and spoon some caramelized sugar on top. Other toppings you could use would be a dab of cool whip, or a spoon full of sweetened coconut is also very good. One more thing. You can make the flan without the cream cheese. You just combine all ingredients together in one bowl and continue from there. It is also very good!!!!

I hope you enjoy this creamy custard dessert.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

I Wish You Love and Happy Cooking,
Joyce