DF4: Cuban Porkchops

I am continuing to get better. I have more energy (YAY!) and was even able to work 9.5 hours today! I talked to someone today whose mom has had Bell's Palsy for TWO YEARS! She is definitely on my prayer list. Oh, I can't imagine.....

Wondering what on earth to fix for dinner, as I am running low on lots of stuff and haven't had time to get to the store, I remembered I had 3 succulent pork chops in the freezer. Gloria's Mexican Porkchops!! was my first thought. My second was: Cheese. Bummer.

Then I realized it has been quite a while since I fixed my dear friend Nathan's Smothered Cuban Porkchops! Oh, happy day! Well, Nathan doesn't call them smothered, but here in the South when you serve something covered with a pile of richly browned, caramelized onions, we say it's smothered. Which is really just another way to say, Yum-O!

I served them with Cuban-style yellow rice and a medley of Silver Queen corn and lima beans from the freezer. We luuuuuvv lima beans at my house-- at least, the baby ones you can get frozen. I don't do canned limas. (Yucky!) The baby ones are tender, mealy, and sweet, a nice texture contrast to the corn. And of course, butter. Seasoned salt too if you have it (we are out). I have tried for years, I really have, but I just can't stand the taste or texture of margarine. I feel like I'm eating a hunk of Crisco. I think margarine is supposed to be almost as bad for you as butter is, so pick your poison, I guess!

I am sure I have shared this recipe before, but it's so good I'm gonna share it again. Here is the one, the only, the fantastic

Nathan's Smothered Cuban Porkchops

4 pork chops
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t. salt
juice of 2 fresh limes
1 t. ground cumin
Extra-virgin olive oil for panfrying
2 large onions, halved and sliced into thin rings (half-rings, I guess!)
juice of 1 more fresh lime

1. Wash the porkchops and pat dry with paper towels. They need to be nice and dry for the spice paste we're going to make to stick to them.
2. Put the crushed garlic in a small bowl and add 1 t. salt, then mash them together thoroughly to create a paste. If you have a mortar and pestle, that's ideal, but a bowl and the back of a spoon works too. Add the cumin.

Add enough lime juice to make a thick slurry-- you may not need all the lime juice, depending on how big or how juicy your limes are.

3. When everything is all mixed up, start slathering your porkchops with the spice mixture on both sides, and rub it in well. Give those babies a good massage!
4. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. It needs to get good and hot to panfry the chops. You can test it by sticking a wooden spoon in the hot oil. Hold it there for a few seconds. If little, tiny, sizzly bubbles start to appear around the edges of the spoon, the oil is hot enough.
5. Add the slathered pork chops to the pan and cook for 10-12 minutes per side. The garlic paste may burn a little, but Nathan says that's ok.


When the chops are done, remove them from the pan and set aside on a plate.

6. If there is more than a tablespoon or two of oil/drippings in the pan, pour out the excess. Add the sliced onions and a generous amount of salt, and saute until the onions are starting to get soft. Deglaze the pan with the remaining lime juice, scraping up all the yummy browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and keep cooking until the onions are nice and tender and just starting to brown on the edges.

Mine are always brown all over from the deglazing, so maybe I should say until the edges are brown-er!
7. Time to eat!! You can serve the porkchops on a bed of onions, or smothered under a pile of onions, or next to a heap of onions, ever-how you like it (as my Mom would say).

DC's plate:


Closer:


Everything came out great, and we really enjoyed it! Sadly, the rice is only "Cuban-style" because I had no bell peppers for the sofrito. Yep, that's pepper-less rice. We found it will do in a pinch :) !

And What is the Matter With Mary Jane?

What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She's perfectly well and she hasn't a pain,
And it's lovely rice pudding for dinner again!
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
A.A. Milne

I just love this poem from A.A. Milne! I couldn't resist starting my post on Arroz Con Leche with this quote. Trust me, after one bite, all will be well with your world. For those of you wondering what Arroz Con Leche is, it's Rice Pudding. In this case, Cuban-Style. Or, as we are prone to say here in the South, rice puddin'.

I am really behind on posting this week! I wanted to share the recipe for the DREAMY Arroz Con Leche I made from Nathan's blog. It's Nathan's Grandma's recipe, so I promise you, it's out of this world! DC declared it is now his new FAVORITE dessert. (Whew!! I think we may be out of our apple rut!)

Here is what you need to make

Nathan's Grandma's Arroz Con Leche

2 c. short-grain white rice (such as arborio, CalRose, Valenica, etc.)
4 c. water
1/4-1/2 t. salt
Peel from 1 medium lime
2 cinnamon sticks
3 c. whole milk
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 14 oz. can sweetrened condensed milk
3/4 c. sugar
4-8 T. unsalted butter
1/2-1 cup raisins (optional)

1. Wash the rice well in several changes of water, until the water runs clear. Washing the rice gets rid of any excess starch that would make the rice sticky and gloppy, NOT what we want for our lovely rice puddin'. I couldn't find ANY regular short-grain rice at the Teeter, so I sprang for their expensive $4/box arborio rice. Because I KNEW this was going to be the world's BEST EVER rice pudding!


2. Place the rice, water, lime peel, salt, and cinnamon sticks in a large pot. Doesn't the pot look so pretty with its spiral of fragrant lime peel? The water looks cloudy here because I've sprayed the pan with non-stick spray, something I highly recommend you do.

3. Bring the rice to a boil, stirring. Cover and reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cook unil the rice absorbs all the water, 25-30 min.


Here we are, the rice is all done. Again, doesn't that lime peel look cool, how it's all curled up on top? Now that is a 4 qt. sauce pan. And I'm realizing, dude, this pan isn't big enough for all the milk too!
4. In a large bowl, combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Since, when picking my puddin'-cookin' pan, I chose poorly, I ended up just putting my milk mixture into the new pan. Which I forgot to spray with non-stick spray. (So, naturally, my puddin' stuck.)

Ooooooh, here is the good stuff. As Nathan so astutely points out, if, oh, tragedy!! all your sweetened condensed milk doesn't come out of the can, just get a spoon and enjoy a little treat juuuuust for the chef. (I won't tell! :))

5. You're supposed to add the milk mixture to the rice pot, but I was afraid my pot was too small, so I added the rice the milk. It doesn't matter! Just combine them.

6. Bring the rice and milk mixture to a rolling boil, stirring frequently.
You'll be smart, unlike me, and will not get distracted, thereby letting your milk boil away unattended long enough for the pudding to stick to the pan.
7. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice and milk for about 10 min.
8. Check to see if the rice is tender and is absorbing the milk. If so, add the 3/4 c. sugar, more, to taste.
OK, my lovely fellow cheffies: I can't stress this enough. DO NOT ADD THE SUGAR TO THE RICE UNTIL IT IS TENDER. If you add the sugar too soon, it will take the rice forever and a day to get tender. This is where many a rice pudding derails: right here with the sugar! Thanks to Nathan for the heads-up.
9. Cook the puddin' for about 5 more minutes.
10. Add the butter and the raisins, if desired, stirring until well-incorporated.
I have to tell you, I am officially a raisin-hater. But it appears I'm in good company, as Nathan reports that his dad and sister detest them as well. Now, Nathan is kind and sets aside some raisin-free pudding for them. I'd be more inclined to make everyone go raisinless, 'cause I'm just ornery. However, as I have no objection to dried black currants (Zante Currants), I went ahead and added some to the pan.
11. Remove from the heat. You can either dust the whole pan with cinnamon, or dust each individual serving with the cinnamon.

Nathan says you can eat your puddin' hot, warm, cold, or room temp.

We had ours warm with some cream poured on top. (Except, of course, DS didn't have any cream on his.) Of course, we waited several hours after dinner to have our dessert, so that we would still be able to walk! This is the most gloriously ethereal rice pudding in the world, but let's face it, as a desserts go, light it ain't!

I'm thinking maybe I'll have some cold for breakfast. :)

If you aren't a fan of rice pudding, I urge you to give this one a try! The lime peel adds a whole new slant to it, giving it a sort of exotic, floral taste. Then of course there is the magic that the 3 milk mixture brings to the pudding, making it smooth and rich.

You gotta try this! It's wonderful! So wonderful in fact, that THIS is what you will look like eating Nathan's Grandma's Fabulous Arroz Con Leche:

(This is DS, eating solid food for the first time. He's about 6 months old here.)

Nathan's Cuban Meatballs and, Key Ingredient

Last night for dinner I made Nathan's Cuban Meatballs (Albondigas) for the second time, and served them with Barilla Plus Angel Hair pasta. They were every bit as delicious as last time! DS and DC were some happy campers!

I would like to give a shout out to one of my favorite new blogs (new to me, anyway), My Tasty Treasures. If you haven't checked it out, RUN, do not walk: you'll be glad you did! Unless you are reading this from your comfy pool-side lounge chair, and the pool deck is wet, then of course, walk. However, if Federico, your breathtakingly gorgeous and supremely devoted cabana boy, has just arrived with a mai-tai and your suntan lotion, we will forgive you if you delay your visit to Donna's site for a teensy bit. But it is only fair to warn you we are now insanely jealous.

From looking at Donna's hilarious and fabulously funny blog My Tasty Treasures , I discovered a COOL new tool! I have been looking for a way to create and proivde a link to a text-only, printer friendly version of the recipes I share here, and this tool does that, and a lot more, too! :) What can I say? Donna is one smart cookie!

It's called Key Ingredient and it is a GREAT way for you to create an online cookbook. You have to join the site, of course, and once you are a member, you can either key recipes in, or (how cool is this?) you send them your recipe cards and clippings and for a fee, they will key the recipes in for you.

The other wonderful thing about Key Ingredient is that you can share your recipes with other members and you can search the site for other member's recipes as well. You have the option to make your recipes "open," "linked," or "locked" on a recipe-by-recipe basis. "Open" means that other members can view your recipe, link to it and create new recipes ("deriving") based on it. "Linked" lets others to link to your recipe only. "Locked" does not allow either linking or deriving.

Nathan's Cuban Meatballs is the first recipe I have entered on Key Ingredient. When you key a recipe into Key Ingredient, you can link to the source, as I did with this recipe from Nathan. Since this is not my original recipe, I have set this particular recipe to be "linked." We want everyone to able to see and link to Nathan's fantastic recipe!

And finally, Key Ingredient allows you to organize your recipes and PRINT your own cookbook on demand! You can add a cover photo, and preview your cookbook online. Order however many copies you want, and they'll arrive printed and bound at your doorstep! You can check out more details at the Key Ingredient website.

Now onto the important thing: Nathan's Meatballs, from his amazing, stupendous, blog La Cocina de Nathan

Nathan's Grandma's Albondigas con Salsa de Tomate (Meatballs with Tomato Sauce)

Here are the ingredients you will need:
1 1/4 lb. ground sirloin
1/2 c. cracker meal
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 lg. bunch of Italian parsley, leaves only
1 large onion
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 orange bell pepper
1/2 head of garlic
2 t. cumin
2-3 t. salt
2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 c. Italian tomato sauce from a jar (like Prego, Newman's Own, etc.)

1. Get your veggies and seasonings ready: mince the onion, crush the garlic, chop the bell peppers.

2. Here's a tip for peeling garlic: lay it flat on your cutting board. Then lay your knife flat side down on top of it, and give it a good SMACK! with your fist. This will loosen the peel so you can get it off.

You don't have to peel your garlic before putting through a decent garlic press, but I do anyway.



My homemade pestle: It's the handle of a pasta-cutting wheel (which I wrapped in saran wrap so the wood wouldn't absorb as much garlic)

3. Wash and dry your parsley thoroughly. The best way I know of to do this is to fill a clean sink or a bowl with lukewarm water. (Lukewarm water removes the dirt much better than cold water). Place your parsley in the sink or bowl and let it sit for a few minutes. The dirt will fall to the bottom of the sink/bowl. Carefully lift the parsley out of the water, leaving the dirt on the bottom, and place on paper towels to drain.

4. Remove the parsley leaves from the stem (I know, tedious-- but IMPORTANT, those stems are bitter)

5. Mince the parsley leaves.

6. Make your cracker meal. Take about a half a sleeve of regular saltine crackers and place them in a ziptop bag, and seal it. Pulverize the crackers into crumbs by rolling over them with a rolling pin. You CAN use dry breadcrumbs, but cracker crumbs taste so good in here!

7. Assemble the meatball ingredients in a large bowl : ground sirloin, 1/2 the chopped parsley, 1/2 the minced omion, 1 t. cumin, 1 t. black pepper, the cracker meal, and the 2 eggs. While you are assembling, get your meatball skillet heating over medium heat.

8. Add 1/2-3/4 c. water to the meatball ingredients. This will help to make the meatballs nice and fluffy, so they won't be like little hockey pucks. Mix gently, and shape into meatballs.


9. Spray your meatball skillet (which should be nice and hot now) with non-stick spray and add the EVOO, enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan.
10. Add the onions and bell peppers, sautee over medium heat until translucent and fragrant, about 6 min.

11. Add the garlic and sautee for another 2 minutes, watching carefully so it does not burn.

12. Add 1 t. cumin, 1 t. black pepper, and the tomato sauce.


13. Dilute the sauce with 1-1 1/2 c. water, and bring to a boil. Taste, and add salt.

14. Add the meatballs in a single layer. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.

15. Turn the meatballs, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Test a meatball for doneness by cutting in half.
16. Garnish with the remaining parsley.


We enjoyed our meatballs served over spaghetti: how's that for some fusion cooking? Cuban Meatballs and Spaghetti!



To go along with our meatballs, I made some Pan Frito, fried Cuban bread.

To finish off the meal, we had some warm Homemade Applesauce with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with homemade caramel sauce.