November 11, 2014 - Radio Kitchen - Puerto Rico Recipes
I just got back from a lovely week in Puerto Rico and as always, I kept my eyes open for some interesting new ideas. It wasn't hard to find a lot of fascinating dishes, including the legendary mufungo. I tried a few things that will take advantage of the last of our local peppers and onions that are available in the markets.
The first dish I tried was ubiquitous: Churrasco. This is a grilled skirt steak that was marinated overnight. The skirt steak comes from the "plate," or more accurately, the diaphragm of the cow. It's a long, thin, narrow cut of meat that has incredible flavor. The chef at the Cuban restaurant where I had it shared some ideas with me.
The steak has some fat and a membrane that need to be trimmed off. Next you pound the steak with a tenderizing mallet until it really starts to give up its toughness. You marinate the steak overnight, and then you grill it over high heat, very quickly. Season with your best fleur de sel and your best pepper, and that's it.
As flavorful as the Churrasco is, you may find yourself craving a sauce. This is quite understandable, which is why they invented chimichuri sauce.
Here are recipes for the marinade and the chimichuri sauce featuring local produce:
Mojo Marinade
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs fleur de sel salt
1 tbs ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, cut up
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lime juice
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1. Combine ingredients in a food processor and lightly pulse until the solids are well reduced.
Chesapeake Chimichuri
1 large bunch parsley leaves, chopped
the leaves of 6 sprigs of mint
1 tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
1/4 cup finely diced sweet red pepper
1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper
1 finely diced jalapeño pepper
1 small tomato, skinned, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup cider vinegar
the juice of two limes
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Process all the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor until a thick paste is formed. Empty the paste into a bowl and stir in the olive oil. Do not process the olive oil! Sprinkle the salt and pepper into the sauce and mix. Adjust the acidity with more vinegar.
2. Refrigerate overnight.
Another ubiquitous entree makes use of another under-utilized cut of beef, the flank steak. The dish is called Ropa Vieja, which is Spanish for "old clothes."
The flank steak is similar to the skirt steak. It too is a long thin piece of meat that has great flavor, but a pronounced toughness that needs to be addressed.
The answer here is long, slow cooking. Because the meat has such a pronounced grain, it produces long succulent fibers when slow cooked and shredded. Once again, our recipe calls for some of the last of the summer produce, including Maryland grown herbs.
Ropa Vieja
Braised, shredded beef
oil for cooking steak
2 1-pound flank steaks, trimmed, cut into 6"x1 1/2" strips
3 cups sliced sweet onions
2 cups julienned sweet red pepper
1 cup julienned green bell pepper
1 cup julienned anaheim pepper
1 tbs minced garlic
12 pitted green olives, sliced thin crosswise
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
3 cups sodium free beef broth
2 medium tomatoes, skinned, seeded, coarsely chopped
2 tbs tomato paste
12/ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1. Working in batches in a skillet, brown the strips of flank steak in oil. Set aside when finished.
2. In the skillet, cook the onions and peppers until tender. Add the garlic, olives and spices and stir well for about 30 seconds. Transfer the vegetables to a slow cooker.
3. Add the vinegar and broth to the slow cooker, along with the tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir well. Add the steak strips and their juice to the slow cooker. Cook covered for 6 hours.
4. Shred the beef with two forks, and toss in the fresh chopped cilantro and mix well.
