And now for Something Different

If you live in Miami, have you ever had guests from out of town that are here for a short time and want to sample ALL the Cuban food and you don't want to cook it? Or have you ever wanted to play tourist during a staycation?

If you're not from Miami, maybe you'll stop by for a day before or after a Caribbean cruise or drive down after the family trip to Walt Disney World, and want to get an authentic sampling of Cuban food smack dab in the middle of Little Havana.

And maybe soak up a little Cuban culture between all the good food?

If any of those scenarios apply - or may apply some day - have I got something for you!

Last weekend Cris - my partner in Cuban Home Cooking crime - and I took a fantastic culinary walking tour right in our own backyard, my old 'hood, Little Havana!

Miami Culinary Tours' Little Havana Food Tour, offered by Grace Della and her wonderful staff was a lot of fun, with great food and after living in Miami - part of it in Little Havana - for 45 years I learned new things about the area!

We met Saturday in the heart of Little Havana. After our fabulous guide Steven wrangled the group of 17 of us, our first stop was the charming Mildrey Guillot Gallery. The artist herself welcomed us and briefly chatted about her work.

We left the gallery and walked around the corner away from "Calle Ocho" and a into the surrounding residential area where Steven gave us a short but informative talk about the history and architecture of the neighborhood.  From there...it was time to eat!

The first stop was the Little Havana mainstay El Pub (pronounced in Spanglish as "El Poob") Restaurant. At the entrance to the restaurant we were greeted by this handsome fellow

Once inside, amid the bustling lunch crowd, we were seated immediately at a table reserved for our group and prepared to have some appetizers. We had "Tostones Rellenos con Pollo" and "Empanadas de Picadillo".

The "Tostones" are smashed fried green plantains stuffed with a sort of chicken fricassee, and the "Empanadas de Picadillo" are savory turnovers stuffed with Cuban-style ground beef. Both were delicious and served to whet our appetite for more. The vegetarian option at El Pub consisted of Cuban-style Black Beans with white rice and un-stuffed "tostones" with Cuban "mojo" - a delicious mix of garlic, sour orange and olive oil used as a dipping sauce.

On our way to our next stop, we walked on Little Havana's very own Walk of Fame, a Latin-flavored replica of the Hollywood version.

What's a tour of Little Havana if you don't include a cigar factory and store? We stopped by Cuba Tobacco Cigar Factory, where the founder, and reputedly most photographed man in Little Havana, Don Pedro Bello sat outside smoking a cigar. Inside the delicious smelling store, Cuban seed cigars were being rolled.

After a brief stop at the cigar store, and a little shopping by some, it was time to eat again! Off we went to Exquisito Restaurant.  

There were several tables reserved for the group, so we were seated and served immediately. Our main course was half a Media Noche sandwich, which was as Cubans say "con todos los hierros" - roughly translated as "with all the trimmings".  A Media Noche or Midnight sandwich is made with ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles (the pickles are, in my opinion, the magic ingredient) inside an egg sandwich roll which is pressed in a "plancha" - a kind of panini press. They even added potato sticks with the sandwich and also served "Mariquitas" which are green plantain chips, again, served with Cuban mojo dipping sauce. The sandwich was excellent. The Exquisito's vegetarian option was a choice between a Fish Sandwich or a Spanish Omelet Sandwich.

To walk off the delicious sandwich we strolled over to Maximo Gomez Park - a.k.a Domino Park - to watch some serious domino playing. This place is definitely one of Miami's must-see treasures.

Next it was time for Dessert - Part 1 at Ysell Bakery where we enjoyed "Pastelitos de Guayaba" or guava pastries and some elixir of the gods - "Cafecito" or Cuban coffee - one of the true pleasures of life.

There's Steven, our tour guide, tending to our culinary and cultural needs.

Since apparently we hadn't had enough sugar with the pastelitos and the wonderfully sweet Cuban coffee, we next went to Fruteria Los Pinareños where we had "Guarapo" which is sugar cane juice. It's not as sweet as you would think and it is a fantastic thirst quencher.

Above is a "guarapera" or guarapo machine. The sugar cane is inserted at the top and the juice comes out the little spigot on the side. It's then poured over ice, and yum! While at the "fruteria" Steven told us about several traditional Cuban fruits and vegetables that were for sale. Some in the group bought some to take home.

Behind the fruteria, we saw some chickens and roosters, adding to the "local color"...

Across the street from the fruteria stands the Bay of Pigs Memorial. We took a moment for Steven to give us a brief overview of that historical misadventure.

From there we walked to Azucar Ice Cream Company, for Dessert Part 2 and the end of the tour.

In addition to having what is arguably the coolest storefront on Calle Ocho, their variety of flavors and originality is amazing. The huge menu displays the huge variety they offer (availability varies), but don't be surprised if they've run out of some of them, as they are made fresh daily.

As part of the tour we were given one scoop of whatever flavor we wanted, I went with Avocado, which was creamy and refreshing, with a subtle avocado aftertaste - really delicious.

The Little Havana Food Tour is a great way to taste the tastes and learn a bit about this uniquely Miami neighborhood. It runs every Saturday at 12:30, but you have to make reservations as the tours fill up quickly. Grace likes to keep the  groups small so that it's a fun and friendly experience. As I mentioned, they happily accommodate vegetarian diets. I also liked that it wasn't only a food tour, participants learned about Cuban culture and the neighborhood's history.

We had lots of fun, ate and drank all kinds of Cuban treats, met some very nice tour-mates and learned stuff! What better way to spend an afternoon?

Check out the Miami Culinary Tours web site for details on the Little Havana Food Tour, as well as other culinary tours in the Miami area.

¡Buen Provecho!

Arroz con Leche de Nora

On Sunday we spent the afternoon learning how to make Nora's arroz con leche (rice pudding). She made a point of specifying that this was "Spanish style" arroz con leche, which works for us because the Spanish influence is, of course, huge in Cuba's culinary tradition. So this recipe does not include evaporated milk or condensed milk which we often see in "Cuban" arroz con leche.  In my case, my grandmother who was Spanish, made it like this - a blast from the past for me!

While the arroz con leche cooked we snacked on cheese, pepperoni, "bocaditos" (Cuban-style ham salad sandwiches), a yummy salad that Nora prepared, and of course wine! A couple of us even had a shot of Dominican Barceló rum!

Then as if Nora wasn't doing enough with the hosting and teaching - she had a little "raffle" for those of us there, where the winner (me!) got a beautiful scarf knit by Nora herself! She does it all! And as always, there were lots of stories and reminiscing - it was a great time.

Now let's get to it!

Ingredients

1/2 cup short grain rice (also known as pearl rice)

6 cups whole milk

3 cups water, more if needed

1 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Lime peel without pith (the white part)

1/4 tsp salt

Ground cinnamon to taste

Process

• Peel the lime in as long a piece as possible, taking care to avoid the pith.

• Add water, rice, sugar, cinnamon stick and the lime peel in a non-stick pot. Set it on high and bring to boil.

• Once it comes to a boil, stir occasionally. The rice will begin puffing up.

• Once the water is evaporated check the rice's texture, if it isn't soft enough continue adding water in 1/2 cup increments and letting it evaporate until the desired tenderness is reached.
• Once the correct consistency is achieved, add the milk. Once the milk warms through, add the salt.

• Still on high, bring the milk to a boil. Once it starts boiling, lower the temperature to Medium. Stir occasionally as it thickens.

• Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, remove the cinnamon stick and lime peel.

• Pour the rice pudding into a large bowl or into individual serving dishes. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap allowing the plastic to lay on the surface of the pudding, this will avoid a film from forming on the top.

• Chill.
• Add ground cinnamon upon serving.

This traditional dessert tastes good both chilled and room temperature - and yes, even warm!  It's a great finishing touch to a traditional Cuban meal or as a mid-afternoon snack followed by a cafecito.

¡Buen provecho!

Papas Rellenas de Miriam (Fried Mashed Potato Balls)

We spent a fabulous Sunday afternoon at Miriam and Gladys’ house when we went for the Papa Rellena lesson - it was a big group this time. As usual, before and during the cooking lesson we drank wine and enjoyed snacks - this time it was Spanish omelet, cheese, olives and crackers. Yum!

This time Miriam’s triplet granddaughters joined us, so the recipe and lesson were truly shared with two generations!  There's two of the granddaughters, Michelle and Kristen in the picture with Miriam.

While you can find larger Papas Rellenas or stuffed potatoes in restaurants and bakeries, traditionally they are a staple for parties or as a “merienda” or snack. If you want to make a meal of these, you can serve them with rice and salad.

At parties they’re usually smaller than these and are served alone as finger food. If you’re eating them as a snack they’re often accompanied by Saltines or Cuban crackers. Some people have them with ketchup.

This recipe makes approximately 20 golf ball sized papas rellenas.

Ingredients

Oil to Fry (Miriam used Canola)
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbs Grated Parmesan
3 Lbs Red or White Potatoes
1 Egg
3 ozs Cracker Meal
½ Lb Picadillo (Cuban Style Ground Beef)
Salt
Pepper

Process

Set aside ½ Lb of left-over Picadillo, or prepare it using this recipe , the picadillo portion of this recipe, or your own recipe.

Peel and lightly salt the potatoes.

Steam - DON'T BOIL - the potatoes to fork tender.

• Mash the potatoes while adding the butter and cheese. Taste the mix and add salt and pepper as needed.
• Place the mash in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

• Beat the egg adding salt and pepper to taste.
• Roll the mashed potatoes into golf ball-sized balls.

• Make a thumbprint dent into the potato ball.

 

• Stuff with about a tablespoon of picadillo.

• Reroll the potato to enclose the picadillo

 

• Dredge the ball in the beaten egg.
• Roll the potato ball in the cracker meal

 

• In a frying pan heat oil to about 350 degrees. Add potato balls leaving enough room so they can be rolled easily.

 

• Roll the balls continuously in the hot oil until evenly browned.

 

• Place the fried potato balls on paper towel to drain.

 

The final product should have a firm consistency with enough picadillo so you can get a good burst of flavor.

Try the papas rellenas and share with friends!

 ¡Buen provecho!