Tallarenes Verdes (Green Fusilli Pasta)

This is a popular Peruvian pasta dish, it is a type of pasta dish made with Fusilli pasta in a green sauce that is spinach and cheese based very tasty, served with a steak on top it's delicious, leftovers are great with 2 fried eggs on top yum. I learned how to make this from our families Peruvian friend, she cooks pretty yummy.

My mom first learned this from a random person in the store that she bumped into and somehow the conversation led to this dish, he taught her differently but I did it just like my mothers friend, because I was on the phone with her as I was making it.

I apologize in advance I did not measure anything I never do, I always approximate but for this dish I was doing to so fast and eyeballed I can roughly estimate.

Ingredients for pasta main dish:
-1 medium sized bag of Fussili pasta (I didn't check how much it was sorry use some common sense on how much you will you need)
-1-2 bunches of spinach well washed and chopped coarsely
-1 big handful of fresh basil washed
-1/4-1/2 pound fresh cheese about a 1 really large fist sized chunk? Maybe a little more (I use Mexican Queso Fresco) reserve an extra 1 cup crumbled for sprinkling over when eating
-1/2 cup toasted almonds ground (OPTIONAL my friend doesn't add it some do)
-water
-evaporated milk or whole milk not a lot I'll specify in the instructions(optional)
-1/2-1 purple onion minced
-3 cloved garlic minced
-1 aji amarillo (a Yellow Peruvian Chili Pepper OPTIONAL some don't use it, you may sub another spicy chili pepper)
-salt to taste
-pepper to taste I use about 1/2- 1 teaspoon
-1/4 teaspoon monosodium glutamine "Ajinamoto" (optional)
-oil to cook
Ingredients for steak accompanying it:
-1 1/2 pounds thin sliced sirloin steak (any thing cut steak about 1/2 inch)
-1 teaspoon or more to taste salt
-1/4 teaspoon monosodium glutamine "Ajinamoto" (optional)
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1/2- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Direction for pasta:
(1)Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil with generous salt, add pasta and cook according to package instructions, drain and set aside
(2)In a blender in small batches maybe in 2 or 4 blend spinach, basil, cheese, toasted almonds (optional), with enough water to completely blend to a smooth consistency like a creamy liquid kinda, you can stream in some whole milk or evaporated milk in place of some of the water to give it some more richness (this is optional)
(3)Now heat oil in a large pot, sautee purple onion minced, garlic minced, and minced "aji amarillo" (optional) until onions are translucent now pour in blended spinach and cheese mixture, stir and bring to a boil until kind of thickened, add the pasta and stir well and toss well for a while until kind saucy, turn off heat and leave uncovered
(4)Do not forget to set some crumbled cheese aside
Directions for steak:
(1)Season steak with all ingredients listed on the steak part of this post, then heat a lightly oiled griddle or pan on really high heat and brown on each side til well done.
(2)Serve over pasta
Please Note What I Am About To Say Isn't Probably "Authentic" or "Original" but I rather use whole milk in place of water to blend the cheese and the spinach along with the other stuff, and if it thickens to much I dilute with more whole milk but that is probably not the way it should be and way more fattening.

Potaje de Lentejas Con Hueso de Puerco (Lentil Pork Bone Stew)

Before I begin this is not my families recipe, but it is still a pretty good Cuban style Lentil Stew. This recipe is from a book called "Delicias de la Mesa - Manual de Cocina y Repostería" written by " Miss María Antonieta Reyes Gavilán and Moenck" edited in Havana, Cuba in 1925. I know pretty old I guess, it is displayed as close to it's original format in Spanish at guije.com (I love that website it is all in Spanish unfortunately for those whom don't comprehend it, but the website is dedicated to cultural and historical studies of Cuba in order to preserve the history of Cuba and share it with others, it is politically neutral and does not share opinions so yeah, but we all still know Castro sucks and he should rot in hell along with Cuba's communist government that destroyed the Island... anyways let's not get off subject)

So I decided to cook this because I had some pork bones sitting in the freezer that I had neglected to use, and when I bumped into the recipe I was like, awesome I have everything I need, and I need to make some Lentils haven't had those in awhile, plus I need something nutritious and filling so I'll make a big pot of this and tomorrow when I come from college I'll have something filling and strengthening to eat. So without further explanation here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
-2 cups Lentils
-water (enough to submerge 2 inches)
-2 pounds pork bone (I used like 4 medium sized chunks of pork bone with fat and some meat)
-1 whole onion peeled and very finely minced
-1/2 a head of garlic (about 6 large cloves or 10 small ones) peeled mashed to a paste in a mortar or pestle or finely minced through a garlic press
-1/4 of a large bunch of parsley only the NO STEMS only the leafy parts, washed very finely mince
-2 carrots cut into rounds
-1 bay leaf
-1 teaspoons ground cumin
-1 teaspoon saffron toasted and ground to a powder (in a mortar) or you can use "Bijol" which is cheaper
-1 1/2 teaspoons salt more or less to taste
-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
-Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
(1)Wash pork bones, then wash lentils well and drain, place in a large pot with sliced carrot, add water, bring to a boil on high, stir, cover and simmer on low for about 40 minutes
(2)While lentils are boiling heat generous amount of olive oil in a medium pan, on medium high heat, when oil is hot enough add minced onions saute for 5 minutes until translucent, add parsley and garlic, stir and cook down for another 3 minutes, add the bay leaf, cumin, and saffron, stir well and cook another 1 minutes
(3)Now ladle into the pan some of the lentils with liquid and all, stir well bring to boil on high, and reduce and stir and mash with a large spoon the beans (this will help thicken the stew)
(4)Dump it all into the large pot, stir well, add salt and pepper to taste, stir in carrots, bring back to a boil and then cover and simmer on low 20 minutes until carrot is tender.
(5)Your done pretty basic and easy dish. We usually eat these stews with steamed white rice (usually steamed with a bit of olive oil and salt) and a raw salad or even some crusty bread instead of rice.

P.S. The original recipe posted in Spanish doesn't give measurements or anything like that it is written in a few sentences in paragraph form, Cuban cooking doesn't really use any science or measurement, you just use your own judgement and add things to taste and kinda know when it's just right, these are just the ratios I prefer but everything is eyeballed, a good Cuban cook just knows, it's like a grandmothers recipe she will be like "a little bit of this and a some of that" and my grandmother doesn't measure she just knows, same here with me ha ha.

Agua de Tamarindo (Tamarind Drink)

I don't know if "Tamarind" is common in other cultures. Tamarind is like a fruit pod that is long, it grows on trees, it is sort of sour. Mexicans and some other Hispanics/Latinos like to make Candies out of it or a simple drink called "Agua de Tamarindo" other cultures use it differently like Thai people use it to in dishes in combination with a sweetener to make a "sweet and sour flavor" and some Filipinos make Tamarind based soups I think it's called "Sinigang" but I'm not sure.

I learned how to make this today thanks to my mother who always makes beverages we almost never buy juices and drinks from the store my mom always makes drinks and has them in the fridge and she teaches me how to make them to (She makes fruit drinks from Melon, Papaya, Cantaloupe, Guava, Guanabana, Coconut whatever fruit is in season and when we make more hard to get fruit drinks it's usually from the frozen pulp sold by GOYA, she also like to make herbal teas and chill them usually from fresh Mint, Hibiscus flowers, Basil and Lemongrass)

Well today I will show you how to make this Tamarind based drink that is simple. Think of it as a different version of lemonade or lime aid because it is tangy kinda sour yet sweet.

Ingredients:
-10-12 Whole tamarind pods (pods and all when buying tamarind make sure it's not hollow, the pulp has to be touching the shell and you should kind of feel it, it should be firm, and if possible it shouldn't be peeled)
-White Sugar to taste (you will need at least 1 cup then add more to taste)
-Water

Directions:
(1)Soak tamarind pods in a medium container with water for 5 minutes until shells are softer than before then remove outside of pod and just leave the pulp and seeds, drain, now add clean water and soak at least 3 hours (I suggest soaking it over night)

(2)Add 1 cup of sugar to the container with the pods the next day or after 3 hours, rub and grind against each other for a bit to loosen it the sugar will help you loosen it.
(3)Have a container with lots of clean water on around or a pot with clean water.Now put it on a strainer and press and swish around roughly straining it through, adding water little by little to get all the pulp and flavor through, kind of like cleaning it. You want to do this over a large container or the pitcher using clean water.
(4)Now you should add it to the pitcher (if it's not already in there and keep adding water a little at a time until those seeds and tough parts are clean and you removed as much pulp as possible.
(5)Now add more sugar to taste stir well, add ice cubes if you want it colder. Chill in fridge. Until ready to serve