Thursday, April 11, 2013
2:32 PM
TORTILLA DE PAPAS-Potato Omelet
This type of tortilla has nothing in common with corn or flour tortillas, it is a Spanish omelet, similar to an Italian frittata. My mother made tortilla often, and after my parents came to live with us, she always made extra to share with us. She knew her grandchildren loved it, even if they referred to it as "Potato Pie", to Mamina's chagrin!
After my son Skyler returned from serving as a missionary in Madrid, he thought our tortillas were "not quite right". I had to remind him that ours is a Cuban tortilla de papas, very similar to our ancestors' Tortilla Española, (also called Tortilla de Patatas), but somewhat changed by the magic of the Caribbean!
TORTILLA DE PAPAS
3 medium potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
Enough olive oil to cover the potatoes when frying
½ cup chopped onion
4 eggs
dash of salt
Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut them up in small irregular pieces about 3/4-1 inch in length. I was cubing them, but my mother said they would cook better if they were irregular. They can also be cut in thin slices. Toss with teaspoon of salt.
Heat oil on medium high. Add potato pieces, careful not to add any water as it will make the oil splash and burn you. Cook gently for 5-7 minutes, turning often, until crispy outside and soft inside. You can test by taking out a piece of potato and smashing it with a spoon. Should be easy to smash. You can cook the onion separately, in just a little oil, or add to the potatos half way through cooking them.
When the potato pieces were soft, my mother would fish them out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels. I don't bother to drain them, but rather put them directly into my ceramic non stick pan. That way there's already enough oil in the pan to be ready to add and cook the eggs.
Beat 4 eggs, add a dash of salt.
If you drained the potatoes, then coat the bottom of a non-stick pan with a little oil. Put in potatoes and onions. Pour in the beaten eggs, trying to spread them evenly all over. Cook on medium till the eggs set.
Carefully put a plate on your pan like a lid, flip omelet into it, put it back in the pan 2-3 minutes longer to cook the other side.
My children and husband like to put catsup or salsa on their tortilla. More heresy, as far as my mother was concerned! However, she had no problem adding garlic, spinach, or other vegetables to her tortillas.
Monday, December 17, 2012
4:17 PM
NOCHE BUENA
La Nochebuena means "The Good Night", the night that Jesus Christ was born. It's Christmas Eve, and it is a big deal in Latin America and Spain, much more than Christmas day.
In Cuba BC (before Castro) we celebrated with a "Cena de Nochebuena", a wonderful feast which took place late at night. Then we went to "La Misa del Gallo" or Midnight Mass and continued to celebrate the season until January 6th, El Dia de los Reyes Magos, when the Three Kings would bring presents to the children.
Fidel and his Communist comarades did not allow Christmas, because of that Religion thing totalitarians are so against. However, people stubbornly insisted on celebrating, even under Fidel's oppression and with very little to celebrate with. So the Communists cleverly scheduled other celebrations (harvest, the Revolution) for the same December dates. Just like the ancient Church scheduled Christmas celebration near the pagan winter solstice celebrations.
On our last Nochebuena in Cuba, I remember quietly peaking over the wall that separated us from our neighbors, and watching them celebrate. It was 1967 and our family was not celebrating anything, my father had been sent to a “labor camp” for the crime of wanting to leave Cuba, and my mother was doing all she could just to feed us.
The neighbors had put together tables and old doors on top of barrels to create one huge table, covered with various table cloths, at which all the family could be seated. It was late at night and along with the one spot light at the corner of the roof, which poorly illuminated the concrete patio, there were kerosene lamps illuminating the faces of the people gathered together to celebrate. I thought they looked beautiful, as they laughed and enjoyed themselves.
I couldn’t really distinguish the food on the table, but I pretended it held all the traditional foods, a roasted pig, plantains, rice, black beans, wine…. Not likely since food was rationed and very hard to come by. Our neighbors had probably saved up provisions and pooled resources with other relatives for this celebration. There might have been some cans of eastern European peaches, with strange writing on the label... that was sometimes a special item available for the holidays.
Once we got to the US we resumed celebrating Nochebuena on Christmas Eve with our extended family, eating all the traditional Cuban foods, with roasted pork as the main course. A shoulder roast is great, cooked in the oven, but the real traditional way of cooking pork is by roasting it whole, in a pit in the ground, wrapped in banana leaves…or aluminum foil.
One year, after my parents came to live with us, my father decided he wanted to roast a pig the traditional way. We needed to find a whole pig, specifically a young tender one. My brother in law, Daniel, generously offered to take him to a livestock auction to buy a pig. Daniel doesn’t speak Spanish, and my father spoke broken English, but he and Daniel had often gone hunting together, and they seemed to communicate well enough to manage just fine.
Off to the auction they went. Papillo was very excited, he loved livestock and this was his first auction. A HUGE pig was brought out and Papillo--who had a very expressive face and definitely talked with his hands--made an animated comment about the size of the animal. Unfortunately, Daniel thought my father was saying how much he liked the pig, and so he bid on it!
The more Papillo exclaimed, the more Daniel bid. I think by the time my father realized they were buying the pig, it was too late. They had to borrow a trailer to bring it home!
My father was furious—furious with himself, with Daniel, with the huge job ahead of him. But he was never one to shy away from a difficult task, so he butchered the pig (I was grateful that this took place at Daniel and Nina’s house). However, the beast was prepared for cooking in my kitchen; my whole kitchen was taken over for several days. Every counter top and surface was covered with pork meat. Some of the pork was fried, but most of it was “adobado” (marinated) with mojo for roasting.
We decided to invite the whole neighborhood to join in the feast. A huge pit was dug in a neighbor’s yard; my father got up in the middle of the night, and tended the roasting pig until the middle of the next day. We had a marvelous neighborhood feast. That was over twenty years ago, and we no longer live in that neighborhood, but the other day I ran into one of those neighbors and he talked about “the time we had the roasted pig.”
LECHON ASADO – Roast Pork
I consider this is the centerpiece of Cuban cooking. Every major celebration would hopefully include a roasted pig, preferably roasted in a pit in the ground. Here is how you make lechon on a smaller scale, in the oven. I didn't pay attention the many times my parents prepared lechon, but fortunately my godmother Tia China taught me how to do it, after my father passed away. Tia China is my father’s youngest sister and I love her! We think a lot alike and have had a lot of great times together throughout the years. She even went camping with us at Lake Powell, while in her seventies.
1 Pork shoulder or Fresh Ham
Salt, lots
A whole head of garlic
1-2 cups Mojo (buy at Latin markets, or make your own. Click here for recipe)
Wash the pork and pat it dry with paper towels. Do not remove the fat. Rub with lots of salt. Puncture with a knife all over.
Peel and mash garlic cloves, I use a mortar and pestle. Add a tablespoon of salt. Put this paste into the holes you made in the pork. Pour mojo over the whole thing. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator, at least over night.
Bake uncovered, fat side up. First 15 minutes at 500 to toast the outside, then 30 minutes at 350 degrees, after that turn the oven down to 325. Bake ½ hour per pound, or till meat thermometer says it’s done (180 internal temp). Puncture fat every so often with a fork.
Eat it with all the trimmings (yuca, tostones, frijoles negros, arroz, flan, etc), but most of all with family and friends!
Feliz Navidad!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
8:57 AM
I've been tending grandchildren while their parents are out of town, it's a lot of work but oh so very rewarding. Got me thinking about the wonderful and almost magical bond between grandchildren and their grandparents. My children were blessed to grow up with grandparents that were very available to them.
When my parents got close to retirement, my husband suggested we invite them to come live with us. Not having housing expenses they would be able to stretch their retirement income and do a little traveling. We felt it was a way of thanking them for the sacrifices they had made for us, and their courage in leaving Cuba and starting over in the US to provide a chance for us children to live free.
For a long time they hesitated to accept our invitation. They feared that moving in with us would be too great an imposition. My father used his colorful language as an excuse not to take us up on our offer. He was concerned about the grandchildren picking up his Cuban swearing! But finally, they accepted and came to live in an apartment we created for them in our basement.
For more than twenty years, during Spring, Summer and Fall, our family had the blessing and challenge of having three generations living together under one roof. Winters they would drive to Miami and visit family. Our children grew up enveloped in their grandparents love, this more than compensated for the loss in privacy.
Of course, another great benefit was being able to enjoy Mamina's cooking! Here is one of the stand-by dishes she cooked quite often, because it's simple to make and we all loved it.
I liked Carne Con Papas best when Mamina made it with carrots and potatoes (sometimes even broccoli) from Papillo's garden.
It might seem similar to a stew, but it is not as soupy.
CARNE CON PAPAS- Meat & Potatoes
Sofrito:
Olive oil to coat the frying pan
1 onion
½ to 1 green bell pepper
3-5 garlic cloves
1- 8 oz can of tomato sauce
2 lbs. cubed Stew Meat
4 to 6 Potatoes, cubed
3 to 4 Carrots chopped
1 tsp Salt
¼ cup Cooking Wine (optional-it’s still great without it)
2 cups of broccoli florets- if you happen to have some around
Make sofrito: chop onion, garlic and pepper finely. Sautee in olive oil on medium high, for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the meat and brown it for about 5 minutes.
Cube potatoes, cut carrots in large round pieces.
Add the tomato sauce, potatoes, carrots, salt, and cooking wine to the meat, (broccoli too, if you are including it). Turn temperature down to medium-low, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
Serve with rice and a salad.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
8:12 PM
When I last posted in June I thought I would take a couple of weeks off to do the wedding and reception of my son Skyler and his beautiful French bride, Laetitia, but here we are 2 months later!
With much help from family and friends, especially my wonderful daughter in law Susan, everything turned out beautiful.
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| Table decorations created by Laetitia & Susan |
Even after the wedding was over, there was too much life to be lived and blogging was forgotten. We had family with us most of the summer, which meant grandchildren to play with. I'm just barely recuperating from all the fun!
My parents would have loved it. I find myself looking around for them when the house is full of family, because I know how much they loved being with their children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.
A friend said the newlyweds look like my parents when they were young. I don't see it but they are certainly two very good looking couples. What do you think?
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| My parents on their wedding day |
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| Laetitia & Skyler |
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| Leaving the Church |
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| At their garden reception |
Here is a nice summer dish you could serve at a garden wedding reception. We probably would have, if Mamina were still with us.... I had the food mostly catered.
ENSALADA DE POLLO-Chicken Salad
This is a marriage of chicken and potato salad. It always says “party” to me, because that is when my mother made it.
4 cups Chicken, cooked and diced
4-6 Potatoes boiled, cubed
1 Apple (peeled, cored, diced in small pieces)
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup onion finely chopped
4 hard boiled eggs
1 small jar diced pimentos
1 cup diced celery (optional)
1 ½ -2 cups mayonnaise
½ Tablespoon salt
Shred or cut the cooked chicken in small pieces. Peel and boil the potatoes, cut up into small cubes. Mix with chicken. Add the peeled, cored and diced apple. Chop the onion up in a food processor, so you don’t have to cry too much. Add that in. Peel and dice the hard boiled eggs, drain the pimentos, mix it all together with the salt and mayonnaise.
I add celery, my mother thought that was a heresy, but I like the taste. She liked to add dill pickles, but I leave them out. My cousin MaConcha adds asparagus to her version.
It is best if you refrigerate it for a couple of hours before serving, so the flavors blend.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
7:49 AM
My sister shared a link to a fun article on The Salt, NPR's food blog: The Cuban Sandwich Crisis: Tampa V. Miami.... Tampa and Miami in a battle to claim the Cuban sandwich as their own.
I really enjoyed the article and it reminded me that we all see the world through our own filters. As I read I found myself giving thanks, once again, that my parents took the difficult steps and made the sacrifice to leave Cuba. I am so grateful that we were fortunate enough to get out and I ache for the many others who still cannot. I joyfully gave thanks that we live in a country where we can argue about who makes the "right" sandwich!
Then I said a prayer for the people in Cuba who don't even have the freedom to set up a sandwich shop, buy a traditional Cuban sandwich, or even complain that they can't do so, without fears of repercussions.
Here is how our parents taught us to make "El Sandwich Cubano"
CUBAN SANDWICH
Cuban bread
Ham
Roast pork slices (ideally seasoned with mojo)
Swiss cheese
Pickle slices (very thin)
Butter or mustard
Cut the bread in half length-wise. Spread butter or mustard on the cut side of the bread. If you live where you can't get Cuban bread like I do, you could use French bread, it’s similar.
According to my parents the traditional Cuban sandwich requires butter; they said that in the US mustard is substituted to accommodate the American palate. My father thought this was heresy!
Add slices of ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese and several thin slices of pickle. Warm up in a sandwich press until cheese is slightly melted and enjoy!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
6:36 PM
A special sandwich press is needed to make this grilled sandwich. The press is made up of two round saucers that close over the bread and it has long handles. You can find one at most Cuban markets or on line. Click here to see one on Amazon.
A regular sandwich press would not shape it into a flying saucer, or toast the sides shut. My children loved to make these fun grilled sandwiches. Now I make them with my grandchildren. Be careful not to touch the hot metal parts of the press.
INGREDIENTS:
Ham slices
Cheese slices
Butter (or non stick spray)
Hamburger buns or 2 pieces of bread (the press will cut these into the right shape)
Spread butter on the outside of the bread pieces, or grease the round flying saucer part of the “contraption” with non stick spray or butter. Put ham and cheese slices between the two pieces of bread, a little or a lot, to taste. Put the sandwich in the press and cook over a hot burner or gas grill, one side then the other. The sandwich is done when the cheese is melted. This takes 3-5 minutes per side.
SWEET DISCO VOLADOR
Guava
Cream Cheese
Bread
For a sweet and very Cuban version of this sandwich, use a couple of slices of guava paste and about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese as the filling. If you don’t have guava paste, you could use a tablespoon or two of jam.
Here is a video clip, if you'd like to see how to make these fun sandwiches!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
8:00 AM
This blog is already blessing my life, I am making new friends I have not yet met in person, or at least not since I was a small child. One of these friends is Rosa Hernandez, and I am thrilled to introduce her to you. Rosa also grew up in Tuinucu, right around the corner from my grandparents. Our parents were friends, her mother and my father went to school together. She remembers coming over to my grandparents house to see my little sister Nina who was just learning to walk. Rosa loves to read, books are big in her world. She also loves cooking and photography and never goes anywhere without a camera! She likes the beach but prefers mountains and meadows and fields. Rosa loves animals, specially dogs.
Just like in my case, in her younger years she wasn't very Cuba oriented. She says, "It was something I was born into like being a Hernandez or having dark hair or wearing glasses. But once I moved away from Miami, I became more aware of my heritage and now I am very interested in all things Cuban". She is passionate about vintage Cuban music (and I hope she will post about that in the future). She would love to visit Ireland, says she has a strong connection with that country for some unexplained reason.
Rosa & her friend Alicita, in Cuba
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BACALAO CON PAPAS by Rosa Hernandez
Traditionally, this was made with dry bacalao (codfish). Long, thin, dried as a bone salted fish was soaked overnight. However, in the Cuba I knew (under Communism), dry bacalao was no longer available. Fortunately for us my maternal grandfather worked in the trains that went to Trinidad daily so he was able to bring back fresh fish and shrimp from the coast, often. It always came wrapped in newspapers and hidden inside a milkcan, because it was forbidden to buy anything outside your rations. My mom would use whatever fish was available and she would have to omit some ingredients.
Once we came to the United States, although the salted fish was available in the Cuban markets, she was busy with two jobs and taking care of us all and setting up a house from scratch. So she would buy the frozen cod from the American market and skip the soaking as she had already been doing in Cuba. Sometimes depending on her budget, she would use Pollock fish. It tasted the same and was cheaper. I use the frozen cod to this day. This dish is like a stew or fricasse.
INGREDIENTS:
About a pound or so of frozen cod filets
4 medium red potatoes
SOFRITO:
about 3 tbsp olive oil
1 green bell pepper finely chopped
1 large onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1 bay leaf
A handful of olives (optional)
1/2 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
1/2 tablespoon pepper (she and I used white but it's your choice)
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup white cooking wine
about a cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup of water
DIRECTIONS:
Peel the potatoes and cut them up in medium sized chunks. Set them to boil until they are soft enough to be pierced by a fork. Set them aside when done.
Make the sofrito and add the bay leaf after it's done. Simmer this on low for about a minute.
Add cooking wine, spices and water. Stir, cover and cook for about 3 minutes stirring now and then.
Chop the cod filets into medium to large pieces and add to the sofrito mixture. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes. Keep covered.
Add the potatoes and olives (if using). Stir softly to keep potatoes from breaking up too much. Reduce heat to low. Cook about 5 minutes.
If after 5 minutes it's too watery, uncover and cook another 2 or 3 minutes.
My mother served it over rice. I still do at times but a lot of times I eat it plain with whole wheat rolls.
Monday, March 12, 2012
8:36 AM
I am so excited to introduce a special post from my "oh so talented" niece, Katie Dayton! She is mom to three beautiful little boys (they really are beautiful) and wife to my nephew Adam, who is in law school. Katie loves to cook, refinish furniture and repurpose old things. She agrees with Mamina's philosophy (as do I) that cooking a great meal and feeding everyone around you, is a great way to show your love! Here is her version of picadillo.
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I am Maria's niece, married to her nephew. So unfortunately I am not Cuban, but I say I can claim to be at least 1/4 because my kids have that much Cuban in them. Despite not having Cuban blood, I love Cuban food (and Cubans!)
When Adam and I were first married we would go a few times a week to visit Mamina and Papillo. Adam would do physical therapy with Papillo and Mamina and I would chat or cook.
Cooking with Mamina often involved a lot of laughing. I speak very poco Spanish, so there was a big language barrier between us. She would try her best, often taking a few seconds to think of words. She would sometimes give up, and yell at Adam across the room in Spanish what the word she was looking for was. Many times he was busy, so she would shrug her shoulders, laugh and move on.
Food is something that translates through all languages, it always turned out fantastic and just by watching her I knew what she was doing.
I didn't get that many years with Mamina but I will always treasure the time we shared in the kitchen together. I wish we could have made many more meals, she was an amazing cook!
This version of Picadillo is like Maria's with just a few differences. Mainly that it uses turkey instead of ground beef.
2 lbs turkey
1/2 onion
1/2 green pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup raisins
1/2-1 cup spanish olives
Start to brown your turkey on medium heat. While it's starting to cook, throw the onion, pepper and garlic in the food processor.
It usually comes out like a liquid it's been so processed, but it doesn't matter as long as the flavor is there!
Pour it over your ground turkey, mix it in, cover and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Then add your tomato sauce and wine. I know some of you may be hesitant to use wine, but believe me, it is so worth it! The alcohol does simmer out, so don't worry about that if you don't drink.
Mamina taught me a little trick that I am sure goes back to her time in Cuba using everything available. She would pour out the tomato sauce, then pour her wine in the can. She then would put her hand over the can and shake it up, to get all the tomato sauce off the sides. I can never skip this step because I am sure Mamina would not be happy that I didn't get all the tomato sauce out!
Throw in your raisins and olives right after the sauce and wine. If you like lots of sweetness, add more raisins. If you like more salty, add more olives. It all depends on your taste. I like to add about the same amount of each. Follow it with the salt.
Mix it all together, cover it again and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
And you're done! Serve it up with some rice and black beans, and you are in Cuban heaven.
Condensed recipe:
2 lbs turkey
1/2 onion
1/2 green pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup raisins
1/2-1 cup spanish olives
Brown turkey over medium high heat.
Chop up, blend, or process the onion, green pepper and garlic. Pour over turkey, bring to a simmer and cover for 10-15 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, wine, salt, raisins and olives to the turkey mixture. Bring to a simmer and cover again for 15 minutes.
Serve with rice and black beans.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
7:02 AM
This is a ground beef dish, the name sort of means chopped up, minced. It is an easy every day dish, while at the same time being fancy enough for company.
When we were young children, in Cuba, our father was gone a lot helping his father run their plantation and also working at a distillery. Sundays, however, were family days. I loved Sundays! We would go visit relatives and friends on Sundays, especially those who lived too far for a casual weekday evening visit. We drove for miles along softly rolling hills covered in beautiful, green sugar cane fields and dotted with majestic Royal palms or dark green groves of trees. I loved the long drives, talking and singing songs together, or just listening to our mother sing old love songs in her beautiful voice. Once we arrived at our varied destinations, there were usually other children to play with and my sister Isis and I were able to explore in the hills and groves and recreate the adventures we had read in books. Baby sister Nina was too young to join our play, had to stay near the parents. Almost always there was a meal to share. Picadillo reminds me of those Sundays.
Speaking of Isis and Picadillo. She was a very picky eater as a baby. One day when she had refused every type of baby food Mamina had made for her, our grandfather asked for a small dish of Picadillo and rice and sitting her on his lap hand fed her. She ate every bite. I guess she just wanted grown up food, forget the bland baby mash! Or maybe she felt special being fed by our Abuelo. She still loves and makes delicious Picadillo!
1 lb hamburger
1 med onion
4-5 garlic cloves
½ green pepper
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
¼ cup cooking wine (optional)
1 teaspoons salt
1/2-2/3 cup Raisins 1/2-2/3 cup Green olives
This is a picture of the picadillo before adding the tomato sauce, olives and raisins.
Brown beef with onion, garlic and green pepper. Continue cooking on medium heat. When the onions are becoming translucent, add the tomato sauce and cooking wine. cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes then add the raisins and green olives and continue simmering for another 10 minutes. I add raisins and olives until “it looks right”. My sister Isis is more exact, she stirs them in and aims for 1 raisin per inch of meat and 1 olive every 11/2 inch.
My mother rarely added the raisins or olives. I think she got out of the habit because as the Communists took over Cuba, niceties like raisins and olives were some of the first things that disappeared from the stores. Then when we got to the US she continued to make do without these luxuries, to save money and help our family make it in this country.
I love the combination of sweet and salty tastes, but it was too exotic for my children when they were young. It’s great with or without the raisins and olives.
Serve with rice or mashed potatoes. I like to make a large quantity of Picadillo and use the leftovers to put on top of salads or as taco filling.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
12:39 PM
ARROZ CON POLLO (Chicken and rice)
This is Mamina’s version of a very popular Cuban dish. She simplified it to please her husband and children who did not care for fancy spices, etc.
1 chicken or 5 chicken breasts, cut up
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons Garlic powder
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 medium onion
5 cloves of garlic
½ green pepper
1 8oz can tomato sauce
3 cups Rice
1/3 cup cooking wine (optional)
5 cups water
2 teaspoons salt.
1 teaspoon of saffron (or you can also use bijol-also known as achiote or annatto
Roasted red pepper strips (optional)
Green olives (optional)
If you have planned ahead and have the time to marinade the chicken for extra flavorfulness, sprinkle it generously with oregano, cumin, garlic powder and salt. Cover and let it marinade for at least an hour, in the fridge. If you didn’t plan ahead and need dinner ready in less than an hour, just proceed and add the oregano and cumin at the end. It will still be good.
Brown the chicken in a little olive oil. Enough to barely cover the bottom of the pan. On medium high.
Chop in food processor onion, cloves of garlic, green pepper. Add to chicken and sauté for a few minutes, till onions are translucent. Add rice and stir for a minute or so, then add tomato sauce, water, wine, salt and saffron (to color the rice). My mother always used the tomato sauce can to measure the water, because it uses all the tomato sauce (plus it cleans the can for recycling). Turn heat down to low and simmer for about 35 minutes, till rice soaks up all the water. If you use brown rice, as I often do, cook it for 45-50 minutes.
You can remove the lid, put a spoon in to the bottom of the pan and see if there is still water there that needs to be absorbed by the rice, but don’t do it too soon, wait at least 30 minutes, even if the delicious smell is driving you crazy.
Garnish with strips of roasted red peppers strips and green olives, if you like. Serve with a green salad and if you are after a true Cuban experience, some plantains-in what ever form. Recipes to come in the future!
