cuba cocina: The Tantalizing World of Cuban Cooking-Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

by Joyce Lafray

Overview

Traditional classico dishes to exciting nuevo Latin foods, ¡Cuba Cocina! is filled with recipes that incorporate the bold flavors of the Caribbean. You'll recognize favorites like ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, and seviche, and be enticed by the new tastes of dishes like Baby Back Ribs with Guava Sauce, Lobster and Stone Crab Creole, and Fresh Mango Coconut Cake. Don't forget to round out the meal with a tall, icy mojito!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060785857
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/05/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	7.94(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

Joyce LaFray, one of Florida and the Caribbean's foremost food experts, is the author of Tropic Cooking: The New Cuisine of Florida and the Caribbean and a dozen other popular cookbooks and guides. As "The Tropical Gourmet," she has been the host of Tropic Cooking, a food and wine television show, and is the food and wine editor of Creative Loafing, a popular newspaper in Tampa, Florida. She lives in St. Petersburg, where she tends to her collection of tropical fruit trees and exotic herbs.

Read an Excerpt

cuba cocina

The Tantalizing World of Cuban Cooking-Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

---

By Joyce Lafray

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2005 Joyce Lafray
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0060785853

---

Black Bean Cakes

Tories de Frijoles Negros

Serves 4 to 6

Here is still another use for leftover beans.

7 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped green bell popper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 caps cooked or canned black beans, rinsed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 egg beaten with 1/3 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup fine dry brand crumbs, mixed with 1/2 teaspoon confectioners' sugar
Sour cream
Chopped fresh parsley

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a saucepan, add flour, and whisk to a light roux. Set aside.

In another pan, make a sofrito by sautéing the onion, garlic, and peppers in 2 tablespoons olive oil until just translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cumin and combine well, then add the cooked beans. Stir in the roux and continue to stir until the mixture becomes thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Add the chopped cilantro. Form into 6 to 8 cakes and refrigerate until firm.

Coat each cake with the egg mixture and then with bread crumbs. Sauté cakes in remaining olive oil until nicely browned. Top each cake with a dollop of sour cream and chopped parsley.

---

Pork Tenderloin with Mango-Ginger Sauce

Filetillos de Cerdo con Salsa de Mango y Jengibre

Serves 6

The sauce for this recipe can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days, or frozen and kept for up to 2 months.

Be sure to choose mangoes that are soft to the touch and smell aromatic at the ends. The flavor is similar to a combination of peach and pineapple.

2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, or I teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
Salt, to taste
4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut In half lengthwise

Sauce

3 pounds mangoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup dry sherry
3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

Preheat the oven to 425 °F.

To prepare the pork, brush with olive oil. Using your hands, coat well with herbs, pepper, and salt. Make slits in several places in the tenderloins and insert garlic pieces. Place on a rack sprayed with olive oil and put in a roasting pan. Roast about 12 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 °F. Roast 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until internal temperature registers 160' F. Turn roast and cook another 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a carving board and allow to stand for about 10 minutes to cool.

To prepare mango-ginger sauce, purée the mangoes in the container of a food processor or blender. Pour into a medium saucepan. Add the brown sugar, vinegars, sherry, and ginger. Heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.

Carve loins into thin slices. Spoon sauce over and garnish with sprigs of fresh herbs. Serve with yuca with Creole Seasoning Sauce (page 183) and fresh green beans.

Continues...

---

Excerpted from cuba cocina by Joyce Lafray Copyright © 2005 by Joyce Lafray. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xi
	Introduction	1
	Ingredients and Techniques	5
	Basic Recipes	27
	Appetizers, Dips, and Snacks	39
	Soups, Chowders, and Stews	65
	Eggs and Cheese	79
	Beans and Rice	87
	Salads	97
	Fish and Shellfish	111
	Poultry	139
	Meats	151
	Fruits and Vegetables	181
	Salsas	199
	Breads and Sandwiches	209
	Desserts	219
	Beverages	243
	Index	254