Rabo Encendido (Cuban Oxtail Stew)

My Tata's recipe for this delicious stew is composed of oxtail braised in a rich tomato and red wine based sauce with carrots and potatoes. Yes, yes, you might think "Another Cuban tomato based dish? They are all the same!" Well WRONG! Slight changes really make a completely new dish.

Rabo Encendido literally translates to "Tail on Fire" but "Rabo" can also refer to in slang, a male's... well you know penis a.k.a. "dick" so it could also be translated to "Dick on Fire" ha ha. My family and I were laughing last night. We were like, "Mañana vamos a comer Moros, Rabo Encendido, y Platanos a Puñetazos." ha ha. It sounds so rude, "Moros" means "Moors" (as in Moroccans but we actually mean white rice steamed with black beans) and I explained the oxtail already and the "Platanos a Puñetazos" translates to "Punched Plantains." Word play is funny. I have no idea who came up with these names originally. So for dinner we're having some Moors, dick on fire, and some punched plantains! We ended up eating it with just white rice (I was tired to make any other sides that day, I went to sleep like at 2 AM and didn't get much of it.)

Any who, the name is deceiving because although "Rabo Encendido" means "Tail on Fire," this dish is not spicy at all. I have not seen any Cuban that makes this dish spicy. Cuban dishes traditionally (or at least what I have always had) are always absent of spiciness. They are not spicy, but hot from the smokey flavors of cumin, black pepper, and Spanish varieties of smoked paprika. Although having Tabasco sauce as a condiment on the table is not rare, in my household (having a Mexican mother), very spicy homemade sauces used as condiments are common things that are always available at the dinner table regardless of what meal we are having.

Ingredients:
-4 1/2 lbs. oxtail
-1 large green bell pepper (minced)
-1 large onion (minced)
-1/2 head garlic (peeled, mashed to a paste via mortar & pestle or through a garlic press)
-1/2- 1 cup red wine
-3-4 ripe tomatoes (pureed or blended, or 2 cans of 8 oz. tomato sauce, or 1 can that is 15 oz.)
-2 large whole bay leaves
-1 teaspoonful ground cumin
-25-30 whole black peppercorns
-1 1/2- 3 cups water (depends how thin or thick you like it)
-salt to taste (at least 2 teaspoons)
-2-3 medium potatoes (peeled and cut in 4)
-5-7 carrots (about 1 pound, cut into 1-2 inch rounds)
-1/2 a bunch of parsley or cilantro (washed, stems removed, minced well)
-extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
(1) Cut some lines to make gap between the firm outer skin on the oxtail because it shrinks and you don't want it to constrict the meat in a weird way. Heat a large metal pot on very high heat WITHOUT ANY OIL until it's really hot. To see if it's hot, just sprinkle some water on it and if the water dances or instantly disappears, it's ready. Add the meat it on the fattiest side down. It should make a screaming like noise from the high heat, not a sizzle, but a thunder like sound. Do not move the meat! Let it brown and set it aside on a plate or bowl.
(2) The pan should have a blackish browning on the bottom. This is gonna lend the dish a great, strong, meaty, smokey flavor. The meat has also rendered plenty of fat so you don't need to add any oil yet unless you don't have enough. Now add the onions with bell peppers and sautee them over medium high for 7 minutes until they are see through and fragrant. At this point, add more olive oil if it is needed, then add garlic and sautee for an additional 3 minutes. Add wine and reduce the heat in half. Let it bubble and stir to deglaze the bottom. Add tomato, bay leaves, cumin, salt, and black peppercorns. Bring it to a boil and reduce 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally. Feel free to click on the picture of the pan with the oil to see how much oil it rendered.
(3) At this point, add the oxtail and stir, and then add water to barely cover meat (so you could still see the meat, should be about 2 cups to 3 cups of water, 16 oz.- 24 oz.). Swish it a bit and bring to a strong boil. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Towards the last 20- 30 minutes of cooking, add the potatoes and carrots. When the potatoes and carrots are tender, turn off the heat and sprinkle cilantro or parsley over.
It already looks mouthwatering! This picture came out really clear. Feel free to also enlarge this one. Yes, yes, I know I am a bad photographer, sorry I didn't take classes and am not educated in the subject of photography. I still think it looks damn good though!Goes great with white rice and can be served with moors, fried plantains or a salad, etc.

PLEASE NOTE:
* My Tata makes a really delicious type of Chinese Cuban fusion dish that can be called "Rabo Encendido Estilo Chino Cubano," (Cuban Chinese Oxtail Stew). You can check out the post for it right here:

http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/2008/08/rabo-encendido-estilo-chino-cubano.html

* Also I really enjoy this hot chili garlic paste that my mother makes. We have at the table as a condiment. I actually had some with this dish (I just enjoy the kick):

http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/2008/10/chile-y-ajo-en-aciete-chili-garlic.html

P.S.
*I was sooooo tempted to add a tablespoon of "Hot Smoked Spanish Paprika from La Vera" (Pimienton Picante de la Vera) or some Sweet Smoked Spanish Paprika. Maybe next time I'll give it a try with this but I wanted it to be as traditional as possible.

(Heck! I ain't gonna go kill my own cow, grow my own vegetables, press my own olive oil, and cook it over a wood fire outdoors in a clay pot just so I could make this as old school as possible!)

Potaje de Garbanzo Con Pata y Panza (Beef Foot and Tripe Stew with Chickpeas)

This is my grandmothers recipe (my Tata from my fathers side she's a small Spaniard woman from Madrid who settled in Cuba and then eventually ended up in the States). I had no idea that my grandmother even knew how to work with beef foot and tripe, this came up in a conversation I had with her when I called her up on the phone. I told her I saw in other Spanish blogs stews that combine chickpeas , beef foot and tripe such as "Callos a la Gallega" (from Pilar Lechuza's blog it's a Galician Tripe Stew)and the famous "Callos a la Madrilena" (Tripe and Beef Foot Stew from Madrid, Spain) all these Spanish stews have several versions. There is also a Mexican version that is flavored differently (with "Chile Colorado" and depending where your from in Mexico it may or may not have hominy added to it) but I'll show you guys that stew some other time.

Today I present my Tata's version of this dish which is delicious and flavorful, if you love tripe than this is the stew for you give it a try and you'll be pleased. The stew is rich and full of smokey flavors from cumin, hot smoked paprika, and spanish chorizo's in combination with a powerful aromatic sofrito with lots of garlic that is what makes this dish shine and sets it apart from the rest. It is slowly simmered for several hours and has delicious comforting chunks of calabaza and potatoes all married well together with chickpeas.

Surprisingly though my Tata hates tripe, beef foot, and most organ meats (except for liver) and it's one of the reasons she never made it for me or the household, she told me the only one who loved it was my grandfather and she would only cook it for him and eat something else. I just feel really glad and lucky my Tata is still alive to share this hidden treasure of a dish.

But before you even start preparing this dish BE WARNED this is a very time consuming dish, it takes about 5 hours total cooking time from beggining to end, good thing most of the time is simmering so you can relax and do other things at the house but just keep an eye on the clock.


*Ingredients for Part One:
-3 lbs. beef foot cut into large chunks
-1 lbs. Beef Honeycomb Tripe (Menudo de Panalito) cleaned, cut into bite size pieces
-1 lbs. Beef Book Tripe (Menudo de Librillo) cleaned, cut into bite size pieces
-1 lbs. Beef Tripe (Menudo Regular) cleaned, cut into bit size pieces
-1 large green bell pepper cut into thick strips
-salt to taste (about 3 tablespoons)
-water just enough to fill a large pot half way (just eye ball it)
-1 lbs. chickpeas cooked

*Ingredients for Part Two:
-1/2 cup more or less extra-virgin olive oil
-4 medium Spanish Chorizo's casing removed cut into rounds
-1 large green bell pepper minced
-1 large onion minced
-1 head of garlic peeled, mashed to a paste in a mortar or through a garlic press
-3 ripe medium tomatoes pureed or 1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
-1 teaspoons ground cumin
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-2 bay leaves (I had run out at the time of this post and didn't add it but if you have it use it)
-1 1/2 teaspoons hot smoked spanish paprika (optional my grandmother doesn't use it)

Ingredients Optional:
-1/2- 1 lbs. calabaza cut into large chunks (butternut, Banana, or Caribbean squash are good choices)
-3-4medium potatoes peeled halved

*Directions for part One:
(1) Soak chickpeas overnight if making from scratch, next day drain and boil in water until tender in pot for about 1-2 hours. When they are cooked drain and set aside (if you want to make your life easier buy some cans of chickpeas and drain well and set aside I made it from scratch though)

(2) Meanwhile while chickpeas are cooking get the beef foot and tripe already cut (ask your butcher to cut it for you, trust me you do not want to cut this at home, they are very tough to cut on your own) and rinse them once, then put them in the sink with plenty of salt, vinegar, and some lime juice and limes to clean them well, let them soak for atleast 15- 20 minutes.

(3) Meanwhile in a large pot bring water to a boil with 1 large green bell pepper cut into thick strips, salt, and whole black peppercorns if using. When water boils rinse beef foot that's been soaking several times and add to water, cover and simmer on low for about 2 hours (I am not kidding yes 2 hours it takes a long time to cook)

(4) Meanwhile rinse the tripe cuts several times, and drain well, after beef foot boils for 2 hours add tripe and boil for atleast 2 more hours.

*Directions for Part Two:
(1) Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium high heat, then add Spanish Chorizo and cook until thet oil turns red, lower to medium heat add minced onion and bell pepper cook down for 7 minutes then add garlic and cook an additional 3 minutes, add cumin, oregano, black pepper, and hot smoked paprika, stir for about 30 seconds then add tomato and cook tomato down for about 5-7 minutes. After the beef foot and tripe are tender add this sautee mixture to the stew.
(2)Add potatoes and calabaza (squash) and chickpeas, boil together everything for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour uncovered over medium low heat to let the stew reduce a bit and the broth to thicken.


(3)Serve in large bowls with good bread and a raw salad dressed in olive oil, lemon or lime, and salt.
PLEASE NOTE:
*Depending on your preference this stew can be thick or thin depending on the amount of water you add, mine was somewhere inbetween. Be sure to taste the stew towards the end to insure that it is properly salted.

*In the old days or in some countries Tripe is sold unclean and one must wash well and leave in vinegar over night, fortunately here the tripe is very well cleaned and one could buy it already cut up all it needs is a quick rinse and some soaking in vinegar and lime for a short time to be all ready.

*You can use 3 lbs of any part of the tripe you like, I just wanted to use a mixture of different parts of it.

Costillas de Puerco En Salsa Con Pimienton Agridulce (Pork Ribs in Sauce with Bittersweet Paprika)

For my birthday I received some Spanish bittersweet smoked paprika (La Chinata Brand) in addition to sweet and hot paprika as well as some good quality saffron from La Tienda. I knew how to use sweet and hot smoked paprika but had no idea how to use the bittersweet paprika, nor did any of my fellow Spanish bloggers I asked knew.

So I came up with this recipe to test the flavor of the Spanish bittersweet paprika. It's very simple and straightforward and I wanted it to use the bittersweet paprika as the main spice dominating the dish so I could see what it tastes like. I simple browned some pork ribs with salt and very little pepper; made a sofrito (garlic, onion, bell pepper) with tomato and wine and seasoned with some of the Spanish bittersweet paprika. I then added some potatoes to make the dish more comforting and some cilantro or parsley for freshness.

The conclusion I've reached after testing it is that it tastes very much like the Spanish sweet smoked paprika, but it's less strong, more like a more mellow version of it, like a lighter taste. Hm mm... I'd have to call it a type of "mild sweet smoked paprika." It doesn't really dominate dishes too much or have a super strong taste but is very subtle. I think it is very well suited for fish and seafood because it wouldn't overpower fish the way sweet smoked might or it could be used in a dish that is highly spiced but you want to add a subtle taste that won't compete with the other spices. So I believe it should be used when one wants to add subtle flavors to a dish.

If anyone knows any other uses for bittersweet paprika (Pimienton Agridulce) please tell me.

Ingredients:
-2 1/2 lbs Pork Spareribs washed, cleaned, and cut into small pieces
-1 green or red bell pepper minced
-1 yellow onion minced
-1/2 head garlic peeled and mashed (like through a press or mortar)
-3 ripe tomatoes pureed in a blender or grated (or 1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce)
-1/2 cup dry white wine
-salt to taste (about 2 tsp.)
-black pepper (very little just enough to dust over meat)
-1 1/2 teaspoons Spanish bittersweet smoked paprika
-1/2 a bunch of fresh parsley or cilantro leaves chopped well (optional)

Directions:
(1) Season pork with salt and black pepper and brown on medium high heat in olive oil for about 10-15 minutes on all sides stirring occasionally. Browning takes about 20 minutes, meanwhile chop and prep everything. When pork is browned, add onion, and bell peppers and sauteed stirring occasionally and cook down 5-7 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, then throw in white wine and raise heat. Let it bubble and reduce a bit, then add tomato and let it cook down another 5 minutes.


(3) Finally add some water to thin out the sauce and bittersweet paprika. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low for about 30-40 minutes. Then add potatoes and cook for an additional 15- 20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Turn off heat and garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro.

(4) Serve with rice or crusty bread and a salad if desired.

PLEASE NOTE:
*You can substitute the bittersweet paprika in this dish with sweet smoked spanish paprika and it would still be super delicious maybe even better (I prefer the stronger sweet paprika for pork) and if you like spicy you can add some hot smoked paprika :)