Our trip to Cuba

If you haven't had good Cuban food then you are missing out.  But where can it be had?  If you are in Florida you'll find it all over the place.  In Massachusetts, as I know of very few.  When I want Cuban food I'll drive to Jamaica Plain, a 4.4 square mile neighborhood of Boston.  There, you'll find a gem of a restaurant called El Oriental De Cuba.  I would highly recommend a trip here if you want to truly know good Cuban food.  When there, you have to have a Cuban sandwich.  This sandwich has been around since the turn of the century, and you won't find one better than this one.  While they have an extensive menu, my favorite item, which I have gotten many times, is Fricase De Pollo (Chicken Fricassee).  This is not like a European fricassee.  It is more of a chicken stew cooked in a tomato chicken broth.  I have always wanted to try to duplicate it at home, so here is our attempt. 

For this meal are making:


Fricase De Pollo - Chicken Fricassee
Arroz Amarillo - Yellow Rice
Plantanos Tostones - Fried Green Plantains

All of these are very easy to make, and are impressive to serve. 

Unlike last week, this meal does not need all day to cook, because of this you should prepare the items in this order:

·         Cut up Chicken

·         Cut up all items (for both chicken and rice)

·         Assemble chicken and get cooking

·         Assemble rice and get cooking

·         Prepare plantains

This is what you’ll need (but rememeber, don’t dwell to much on hitting the measurements exact.  Almost never necessary.):


Fricase De Pollo
1 chicken cut up, and cleaned
1/2 onion ( medium to large size)
1 red pepper
3 cloves garlic
3 tbs. olive oil
A bay leaf
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 jar Spanish olives stuffed with red peppers or pimentos (about 4 oz.)
a pinch of cumin
1 tbsp. flour (basically enough to flour chicken)
2 cups of chicken broth

Arroz Amarillo

1 c parboiled rice (like uncle ben's)
1 red pepper
The other half of the onion
3 small cloves garlic
2 - 3 tbsp vegetable oil (less is better I found – see below)
1/2 c frozen peas
1/8 tsp ground saffron (or you can cheat)
1 tsp salt
pinch of cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
ground black pepper
2 c chicken or vegetable stock

Plantanos Tostones

Green Plantanos

Frying oil (I used Canola)

Ok, so let’s start on the chicken.  I will almost always start with a whole chicken.  It is just better.  You can buy parts, but it is never as good.  Once the store cuts a chicken up and packs it, it immediately seems to lose its freshness.  My grandmother use to make chicken most Friday (Shabbat) evenings.  She made the best chicken.  I have never had better.  For years I tried to duplicate it without success.  It just never tasted the same.  Then I started cutting up my own chicken.  I still don’t think I ever hit her mark, but it is much closer, and certainly a good meal.

So, cut up the chicken yourself.  For this dish I cut the chicken in half length-wise.  All of this is done with shears.  I then cut off the wings.  Then remove the leg/thigh sections.  Then remove the legs from the thighs.  This dish requires smaller chicken parts, so I then cut each breast into 3 or 4 pieces, then each thigh into 2 or 3 parts.

That’s it.  Next, pat dry the chicken, put it all in a big plastic freezer bag with the flour, and toss to coat the chicken.  Lay the chicken out to dry for a few minutes, and then brown the chicken in a large pan with a couple of tbls. of olive oil.  Set aside (do I have to say in the fridge?).

Next, chop up all of the vegetables from both recipes.  If the olives are small keep them whole, otherwise cut them in ½ or 3rds depending on the size.

In a good sized pot (see picture), Sauté the onion, garlic, and red pepper (not all of it, just the portions for the chicken) in a bit of olive oil.  Add the chicken pieces.  Add the tomato sauce and the 2 cups of broth.  Throw in a bay leaf, a pinch or so of cumin, and the olives.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 40 minutes (longer won’t hurt anything).

Then get started on the rice.

The Arroz Amarillo gets its yellow color from the saffron.  Traditional recipes may use something called annato oil instead, but I couldn’t find any.  So, start by prepping the saffron.  Put the saffron in a small bowl with a few tbsp. of boiling water.  This will create a deep orange mixture.  Careful, because it stains!

NOTE (this is where you can cheat): Saffron is expensive!  If you do not want to go this route then buy a box of traditional yellow rice like Goya or Vigo.  If you do this cut out all spices from the rice recipe, because it’s-a in there.

Sauté the onions, garlic, and red pepper in a bit of olive oil.  Be careful!  Only use a little.  I used a couple of tablespoons and it was to much.  The rice will come out oily.  Ours was still really good, but a bit oily.

Saute only until onions become translucent, then add the rice.  The rice needs to cook dry first.  This gives it a nice nutty flavor.  It will become brittle and a bit translucent.  Add the spices (if you didn’t cheat) and the saffron mixture.  Mix it up and cook for about a minute.

Add the broth and the peas, and mix well.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes.

While everything else is cooking prepare the plantains!  I was originally going to make Maduros instead of Tostones.  Maduros are fried ripe plantains.  The sugars from the ripe plantains caramelize and produce a very sweet sticky plantain.  They are fantastic, and I do recommend them.  But… we bought the plantains the same day we cooked, so… they were green.  Tostones, fried green plantains, are not as sweet, but they are still very flavorful, and make an excellent accompaniment for these dishes!

So… remove the ends and skin the plantains (by the way, bananas work almost as well).  Slice them into 1 – 1.5 inch segments.

Tostones are sometimes called “Twice fried” plantains.  The reason for this is… well… you fry them twice!  Heat enough canola oil in a pan to cover about ½ the plantain slices (so about 1/2” – 3/4” of an inch, and put in the plantains.  You probably want to do these in batches, so they don’t have to be to close together (see picture). 

Cook a couple of minutes, the flip them.  Cook another couple, and then remove onto paper towels.   

Once they are all done you need to smash them.  Yes… smash them!  Put each piece onto a cutting board and hit them with a can of peaches (or beats, tomatoes, or any other unopened can you have in the cupboard.  This should flatten each piece, and squish the uncooked stuff in the middle out the sides.

 

After you smash each piece fry them again!  That is it.  Some people like to put salt or garlic salt on them.  I have heard that other Hispanic countries serve them with some type of sauce.  We like them plain.

Put everything on the plate and enjoy!