Tag: main course
Carne en Palito
Carne en Palito
Carne en palito literally translates to meat on a stick. They can be eaten as an appetizer made on small wooden skewers or as a main course on larger metal skewers. The meat only needs 2 hours of marinating time and 8 minutes in the broiler. Serve the skewers with tomato onion curtido, fried plantains, and cassava cheese bread.
Equipment
- metal skewers
Ingredients
- 1 lb top sirloin sliced 1/4” thick strips
- 4 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp achiote paste
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Mix together the marinade ingredients.
- Marinate the beef for 2 hours.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Skewer up the beef. Place the skewers on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Broil the skewers for 3-4 minutes a side.
Octopus Ceviche
Octopus Ceviche
Recipe #666, on Halloween 2020. Wanna venture out to another type of ceviche that’s not fish or shrimp? Ceviche de pulpo, aka octopus, is the way to go. You can purchase all ready cooked octopus, or buy a whole raw one and cook it yourself like I did. The octopus takes about 2 minutes to cook in a pot of boiling water. Scoop the octopus out and place in ice water to stop the cooking process. It’s really that simple.At this point, cut the octopus into thin bite sized pieces. Mix with hot peppers, some red onions, and lime juice. Let that marinate for 2 hours. Marinate the remaining half of the red onions with salt and lime juice. Once the marinating process is over, mix the ceviche together with the lime-pickled red onions, cilantro, and olive oil. Serve the ceviche with plantain chips.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 12 oz octopus
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 1 serrano pepper thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 5 limes juiced
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rub your octopus with salt. Wash and rinse the octopus in cold water.
- Bring a pot of water to a hard boil. Drop the octopus in. Boil for 2 minutes.
- Place the octopus in an ice bath to shock and stop the cooking process.
- Place the onions in a bowl. Season with salt. Cover with cold water and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse the salt off.
- Chop up the octopus in small bite sized pieces. Mix them together with the serrano peppers and half of the red onions. Juice 3 limes over the bowl. Season with salt. Place in the refrigerator and let marinate for 2 hours.
- Juice 2 limes over the remaining onions. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Mix together the lime pickled red onions with the rest of the ceviche. Mix in the cilantro and olive oil.
Salsa Caruso
Salsa Caruso
Salsa Caruso is a Uruguayan cheesy cream sauce with ham and mushrooms. Uruguayan gastronomy is an influence of Spanish and Italian cuisines. The sauce was created in the 1950’s by an Italian chef in the capital city of Montevideo. The name is in tribute to a famous Italian tenor opera singer, Enrico Caruso, who was widely admired throughout South America. The chef wanted to make an enhanced bechamel sauce to serve with pasta, so he added meat stock to the sauce and added ham, cheese, and mushrooms. Today, salsa caruso is eaten all over South America and has become a huge part of Uruguayan culinary heritage.
Ingredients
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 medium white onion diced
- 4 oz mushrooms sliced
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 1/4 cup pork stock
- 12 oz ham cubed
- 4 oz provolone grated
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb dry pasta cooked according to the package directions
Garnish
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and mushrooms for 5 minutes.
- Whisk in the flour.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Whisk in the milk, creme fraiche, and pork stock until it thickens.
- Add in the cheese and ham. Cook for 5 minutes until the cheese has completely melted and the ham is heated through.
