Congri Con Coco (Coconut Red Beans with Rice)

My grandmother never made "Congri" like other Cubans did. She would always add coconut milk to , but she would also always tell me "Cubans don't make it like that".

She said she learned to make it like this from some Haitian friends that lived in Cuba at the time she was there.


This is not an authentic "Congri" but very similar to it, I know how to make a more authentic "Congri" but I will make it some other time.

Honestly I will almost always pick my "grandmas way" over authentic, because her cooking when I make it reminds me of her and brings up child hood memories of her food and comfort. I want to preserve that and share my cooking with others and pass it to future generations of my family.


I guess this dish is an example of Haitian influence on Cuban cooking. When I make the "authentic" "Congri" I will explain the whole story about "Congri" and how in Western Cuba "Moros y Christianos" done with black beans is more popular and in Eastern Cuba (El Oriente) prefers red beans and makes Congri usually instead of "Moros"

Ingredients:
-2 cups rice
-1 cup red beans (like red kidney beans or something similar)
-1 cup coconut milk
-2 cups red bean broth (I'll show how to make it)
-9 cups water (to cook red beans)
-1 medium to small green bell pepper minced or 1/2 a large green bell pepper minced
-1/2 onion minced
-4 cloves of garlic crushed and finely minced (preferably through a garlic press or a mortar)
-salt to taste (I used like 3 teaspoons for the whole dish)
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-2 tabelspoons Coconut Oil or Lard/ pork fat to fry/suatee "sofrito" (You can use Extra-Virgin Olive Oil to but this dish is at it's best with Coconut Oil or Lard I used Extra-Virgin Olive Oil this time because I didn't have Coconut Oil and forgot I had a tub of lard in the fridge)


Directions:

(1)Sift rice on a strainer to get rid of tiny broken grains. Rinse about 3 times until water runs clear swooshing and rubbing to get rid of any excess starch. Now place back on the strainer and let it drain well leave it alone until your beans are ready for the rest.

(2)In a medium pot rinse red beans well, add 9 cups of water stir, bring to a boil on high then cover and simmer on medium low for about 60 minutes. (IMPORTANT DO NOT PRE-SOAK OR OVERCOOK BEANS OR MAKE THEM SUPER COOKED BECAUSE YOU WILL RUIN THE WHOLE RECIPE BECAUSE IF BEANS ARE OVERCOOKED THEY WILL RELEASE STARCH WHEN COOKING WITH RICE AND THE RICE WON'T ABSORB LIQUID AND OU WILL END UP WITH A MESS! IT'S HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE!)
(3)The beans should be soft but not really mooshy and falling apart easily. They should be able to hold it's shape because you will cook them an additional 30 minutes with the rice.(4)Drain beans and SAVE the red bean broth (this will give the rice a nice color and has to be used to cook rice)
(5)Pur rice in rice cooker, add red beans, 2 cups of red bean broth, and 1 cup of coconut milk (you can freeze any leftover coconut milk use in any other dish). Set aside.
(6)Heat Coconut Oil or Lard in a frying pan on medium high or medium and then when warm enough sautee minced onions, bell peppers, and garlic until fragrant and onion is translucent (this may take like 5 minutes or more) stir every now and then.(7)Add the sauteed onion, bell pepper, and garlic mixture with oil and all to the rice and beans and stir in gently.

(8)Season with salt (I used 3 teaspoons the liquid will taste salt but once it is fully cooked it will be just right, because rice absorbs lots of flavor and you gotta have enough salt to flavor rice, beans, and sofrito (sautee). Then add ground cumin and also stir in gently I fold carefully I don't want to break any of the beans and have it release stach.

(9)Cover and turn on rice cooker, when done fluff rice and everything and it's done.

I love it the rice is a very light redish pink color because of the red bean broth and coconut milk mixture. The rice was perfect it was moist but not mooshy. It was very slightly al dente but it's suppose to be like that.

If your final dish is slightly dry in your opinion then just splash a little bit of leftover bean broth fold in gently and cover for awhile it should moisten (I always get it perfect now days though ;) If it ends up to moist, simply get a paper bag, cut it place it on top and press slightly then cover for a while turn rice cooker back on and wait for like 10 minutes.

If it's still not right then you are screwed love ;) BUT IF YOU FOLLOW EVERYTHING EXACTLY AS I STATED THEN YOU SHOULD GET A PERFECT RESULT. (assuming you used regular long-grain white rice like Mahatma or something)

ALSO sometimes my grandmother would add unsweetened shredded coconut or fresh grated coconut to this

Bistec de Puerco Empanizado (Breaded Pork Steak)

This is a really thin cut pork steak, seasoned with some spices, passed in egg then cracker meal and pan-fried.


I love this, and when we pan-fry meats or just brown them in a pan we always make them "Encebollado" meaning in the drippings left in the pan we sometimes add more oil and sautee lots of thick cut onions, and deglaze with lime and season with a little salt and then garnish with some cilantro or parsley. We serve it over the meat.

My mom does this exactly how my grandma taught her, except she adds all the seasoning to the beaten egg and passes every single piece of meat well until there is no more egg left and everything is well coated, she say's it better like that because, "Si le pones el sazon a la carne y lo pasas por huevo se le queda el sazon al huevo" (if you season the steaks directly and pass them through egg the seasoning will not stick or some crap like that it doesn't make sense to me because you end up using the whole egg anyways so the seasoning still stays with the meat regardless but I do it like her anyway just in case)

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 lbs. thin cut pork steaks

-5 large cloves of garlic mashed to paste in a mortar and pestle or pressed through a garlic press. (yes we love garlic that much)

-1 teaspoon ground cumin (to taste you can use more or less)

-1/2- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

-salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

-1 large egg

-Some well crushed Saltine Crackers or Crackers (if unsalted season em with salt)

-1 whole onion sliced into rings, or thickly julienned

-1 or 2 limes

-Some Cilantro or Parsley to garnish.

Directions

(1)Firstly before ANTHING using crackers as bread crumbs will make this really crisp and good, JUST when you are breaking the bread crumbs put them in a bag and crush well with a cup or something heavy even your hands. This will make a crispy crust.

DO NOT PUT CRUMBS IN A BLENDER THEY WONT BE CRISP!!! THEY WILL JUST BE POWDERY!

(2)Okay now, beat 1 egg, add cumin, salt, pepper and garlic now smother each steak and dip and swish around beaten seasoned egg, do it to all thin steaks, then if you run out and still have some steak smother them all together to get everything seasoned (I know messy) now wash your.

(3)In a plate dump the cracker crumbs, roll each steak in crumbs and coat well. Set aside.

(4)Heat oil on medium high until heated (we use extra-virgin olive oil). Now lightly fry each steak until browned on one side, then flip to brown on the other.

(5)Set aside cooked steaks on a plate with paper towels. And repeat.

(6)When all steaks are done, now add the cut onions and sautee until you get rid of raw taste, squeeze lime juice into the pan and stir to deglaze some and give them some tang, season with salt (optional) and toss with some parsley or cilantro. When serving steaks put this on top.

PLEASE NOTE: You can do this with really thin cut sirloin steak.

Curtido de Repollo (Pickled Cabbage Salad)

A Nicaraguan family friend made this for a a reunion me and family attended because we hadn't seen this family or friends from that area in years.


She made this delicious spicy pickled cabbage salad. My mother later asked her if she could please share the recipe with us, and she did (along with her family recipe for the BEST Tres Leches Cake I have ever had in my entire life posted somewhere on my blog but it has no pictorials)

Well we made this dish just how she told us and since then it has been a hit in my house we make this REALLY OFTEN it is perfect because it makes a LARGE portion and can last in the fridge for over a week or longer since it's pickled. We just pull it out of the fridge for any meal of the day and eat tons of it as a side dish.

PERFECT FOR SUMMER HEAT also because you don't have to use the stove or oven :)


Ingredients:
-1 cabbage head (shredded)
-2 Serrano chili peppers or other green spicy chili peppers or milder ones like Jalapeño
-1 1/2 cups white distilled vinegar
-1 cup of water
-1 tablespoon salt (if using a giant cabbage hear or a fairly large one use 2 tablespoons)
-2 medium tomatoes diced
-1 medium or small onion minced
-2 spicy Serrano chili peppers or other green spicy chili pepper minced finely (OPTIONAL this is for adding way later)

Directions:
(1)Put shredded cabbage in a large bowl.

(2)In a blender, add water, vinegar, salt, and 2 chili peppers. Blend until chili peppers are destroyed and liquefied.

(3)Add blended contents to shredded cabbage and toss well together. Let rest in refrigerator AT LEAST 3 hours and toss every 1 hour if possible or every now and then. You can also just leave it OVERNIGHT to pickle in the fridge and toss every now and then.


(4)After pickling toss with the tomato, onion, and Serrano chilies or other green chilies.



(5)This is COMPLETELY optional, after tossing with everything you may drain all the excess liquid if desired, I simply use a giant spoon or something with openings to scoop out the pickled cabbage, I also like to leave the liquid because it pickles the tomato, onion, and chili pepper overtime and gets stronger and more intense.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is really spicy for some people so it is optional to add 2 extra chili peppers, taste it first, you may want to add less chili peppers if you find you can't tolerate heat. But in my household and many others here WE LOVE SPICY!

Also be careful with your hands, when handling the chili peppers they will get spicy and if you touch your eyes it will burn, I don't wear gloves or anything I don't mind the spicyness on my hand, I just don't rub my eyes and am careful.