Pastelitos De Carne (Meat Pastries)

Today I am making Pastelitos De Carne.  These meat pastries are delicious and almost like the ones you buy at the bakeries in Miami.

For the meat filling I used the same recipe as I did for the Papas Rellenas.  You can also use the classic Cuban Picadillo, if you have some left over.

Ingredients:
Meat Filling or Left over Picadillo (Recipe for Meat filling below)
1 Package Peperidge Farms Puff Pastry Sheets
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Meat Filling Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
half an onion minced
3 cloves garlic finely minced
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 small can of tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup beef broth

Directions:
Brown ground beef with minced onion and garlic, drain excess fat and add oregano, cumin, beef broth,  tomato paste, salt and pepper, combine well. Cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat. Let the meat cool off to room temperature.


 Pastelitos Directions:
Thaw Puff pastry in the refrigerator over night or on the counter top for a couple of hours.
Lightly beat egg and tablespoon water in a small bowl and set aside
Lightly spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray
Remove pastry from package 
Place one sheet of pastry on greased cookie sheet
With a spoon, place meat mixture on the pastry sheet in rounds about 1 inch apart
(should get 9  mounds of meat on the sheet)
Place the 2nd sheet of puff pastry on top
With a sharp knife cut in between the meat mounds and press pastry together with fingers to seal
NOTE: (The pastelitos de carne you get in the bakeries in Miami are usually round but I prefer to cut these in squares so non of the pastry is wasted.)
Spread out the 9 pastries on cookie sheet 
Brush each with egg wash
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes
While the pastries bake make a simple syrup by placing 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted and it has become syrupy
Keep syrup warm while the pastries finish baking
Remove pastries from oven after 25 minutes of baking and brush them with the simple syrup
Place back in oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes.
Remove from oven let cool for a couple of minutes and enjoy.


 

Papas Rellenas (Stuffed Potatoes)

On the menu today is one of my favorite Cuban snacks, Papas Rellenas.  It has been a long time since I have had these and I have never made them before but my mom and my grandmother made these all the time.  It is also one of those things you can get just about anywhere in Miami.

Ingredients:

Instant mashed potatoes (about 8 servings) (you can also use fresh mashed potatoes)
1/2 pound ground beef
half an onion minced
3 cloves garlic finely minced
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 small can of tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup beef broth
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs (or more as needed)
2 egg
2 tablespoon water
1 cup flour (or more as needed)
vegetable oil for frying  (canola oil works also)

Directions:

Make mashed potatoes according to package directions and let cool in the refrigerator over night or at least 2 to 3 hours until they are firm.

NOTE:  You want the mashed potatoes to be on the thicker side. 

Brown ground beef with minced onion and garlic, drain excess fat and add oregano, cumin, beef broth,  tomato paste and salt and pepper, combine well. Cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat. Let the meat cool off to room temperature.

Take some of the cooled mashed potato in your hand and form a little scoop in your hand with a indent in the middle. Take about a tablespoon of the ground beef (if the beef is saucy take the beef and leave the sauce out you want a dryer meat mixture in these) and put in the middle of the mashed potato scoop, take a little more mashed potato and cover the ground beef sealing over the edges and form into a ball, set aside and repeat with the rest of the potatoes and ground beef until you are out of either potatoes or ground beef.
Should make about 12 medium sized potato balls.

Take 3 bowls and add flour to one, 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of water to the other (lightly beat the eggs and water together), and seasoned bread crumbs to the last. Heat a pan with oil over medium high heat to about 350 degrees. (Use enough oil so that it covers the potatoes about half way up). Dredge potatoes one at a time first in flour then egg wash and lastly in bread crumbs. Repeat with all the potatoes.  Place potatoes  in pan a few at a time and fry in batches making sure not to overcrowd the pan.   Fry till golden brown on all sides.

Serve and enjoy!

If you have left over meat it works great for empanadas or pastelitos.  Recipes for these will be coming soon.

NOTE:  You want the mashed potatoes to be on the thicker side.
NOTE: You can also use fresh made mashed potatoes instead of instant, if you do leave out the butter and follow the same directions as above.
  

Cuban Sandwiches

Today I went to do my shopping and found Cuban bread! This is the first time in 5 years of being here that I have found any Cuban bread, so to say the least, I was very excited and bought a few loaves! So on the menu today will be Cuban sandwiches! Now I have made these many times before but would have to use French or Italian bread instead of Cuban.  I still have some pork left over from my "Lechon Asado" so I will not have to make that tonight.

Ingredients:

Cuban Roast Pork (Lechon Asado) (thinly sliced)
1 loaf of Cuban Bread
1/4 pound thin sliced ham (I am using honey ham but Virginia Ham works well also)
8 slices Swiss cheese
mustard
sliced dill pickles
softened butter

Directions:

Cut the bread open from one end to the other
spread mustard on top side
on the bottom start to layer sliced roast pork, ham, cheese and top with pickle slices
close the bread and cut into three to four pieces (depending on how big you would like your sandwiches, I cut mine in 3)
 butter both sides of the bread
if you have a panini or sandwich press place the sandwiches in and close the lid . Cook until golden brown and crunchy on both sides (should only take a few minutes)
if you do not have one, no matter, place sandwich in a skillet and weigh it down with something heavy ( I use a plate and place a large can of crushed tomatoes on it) (you can also use a cast iron skillet or other heavy item)  brown on one side then flip and brown on the other.
Cut the sandwich diagonally and enjoy!

Lechon Asado

On the menu today is Lechon Asado.  (Ivon's version)

Ingredients

3 pound pork Loin
1 1/2 cups Goya Mojo Criollo
3 garlic cloves finely chopped


With a knife cut slits into the pork loin and pour the mojo all over it.
Take the chopped garlic and insert into the slits in the pork.
Marinade in the refrigerator preferably overnight , but for at least a minimum of 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325  F.

Place pork loin in the oven and cook for 3 hours
baste every 30 minutes or so .

Introduction

Hello all I am a Cuban-American who grew up in Miami and am now living in northern Ohio.  This blog will be my way  of connecting back to my Cuban roots.  The one thing I miss most about Miami is the food!  I grew up eating Cuban food made by my mother and grandmother.  I did not even realize how much I loved and appreciated Cuban cooking until I moved away from Miami and could not find the food I had grown up eating.  Those of you who grew up in Miami, or have lived there can imagine my surprise when I discovered that I could not go to the local bakery and pick up a box of pastelitos, croquetas, emapanadas, papa rellenas, and all the other goodies available on almost every corner in Miami.  Not only could I not go to the local bakery and get these goodies but my local grocery stores are seriously lacking in good old Cuban staples such as malanga, yucca, tasajo, bacalao and the all important Cuban coffee!  I have now decided that I am going to try and cook as many of my old favorite foods as I can (with the ingredients I can find here).
I will be posting my experiments as I go along.