Tortitas de Atun (Mexican Tuna Fritters)

My mother calls these "Tortitas de Atun". I believe "Tortitas" would refer to anything that's round and "patty" like, however me and my Tata (grandmother) refer to them as "Frituras de Tuna" direct translation would be "Fritters of Tuna" but it is my mother's recipe, and so I'll respect her word choice and name the recipe "Tortitas de Atun" for this post.

The Tuna fritters are delicious, fluffy, spongy, eggy, sinful (because I must admit they are somewhat greasy) easy and quick to prepare fritters that we will make in my household when we want to make a really quick meal it literally takes less that 10-15 minutes to put together and another 10-15 to fry them. You can eat them with any hot sauce you have in the fridge, and some corn tortillas. If you wish a simple salad can be served with them or simply served with rice (probably not traditionally Mexican but heck being raised pre-dominantly in a Cuban food culture rice just feels right with everything)

Ingredients:
-4 egg whites
-4 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste if needed)
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
-1 small roma tomato minced very finely (pulp, seeds removed, only the firm flesh no liquid)
-1/2 onion minced very finely
-3 cloves of garlic mashed to a paste or minced very finely
-1/2 a bunch of Cilantro cleaned pat dried, finely minced (I had very little left in the fridge so I used less)
-2 cans of tuna packed in water
-oil to pan-fry (I used canola)

Directions:
(1) Seperate egg whites from egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and white, they should form peeks when you turn off and pull the egg beater out, when stiff beat in egg yolks, add flour, season with salt and pepper (careful not to over do the salt the canned tuna is salty already).

(2) Gently fold in onion, garlic, tomato, cilantro, and canned drained tuna.

(3) Now that your batter is formed, heat oil on medium high to high heat (not to high it will burn the fritters) when oil drop batter in by large spoonfuls to form patties, and let them fry until golden brown on one side while spooning over hot oil on them, when golden brown flip with spatula and let brown on other side.

(4) Drain them, and place them in a large plate with paper towels or paper bags to drain excess oil.
PLEASE NOTE:
-Do not expect these to be firm, super crunchy fritters, these are somewhat crispy on the outside, fully cooked inside but are tender and fluffy from the eggs, like fluffy scrambled eggs.

Espinacas Guisadas (Sauteed Spinach)

In Mexican cooking certain greens are generally sauteed in a very simple fashion and served as a side to any meal, or sometimes eggs are scrambled together with the sauteed greens to make a simple breakfast with tortillas and a hot sauce and if desired refried beans.

The recipe I present is my mother's it's quick, easy, and healthy here she sautee's spinach, you may substitute the Spinach for Purslane (Verdolagas), any variety of Swiss Chard (including Beet tops), Collard Greens, and cleaned, de- spined cactus pads that are julienned very thinly. My mother sometimes likes to combine the purslane with spinach or combine cactus pads with purslane so feel free to do that to.

Ingredients:
-2 large bunches of spinach, washed well, drained, and chopped
-2 roma tomatoes diced
-1 onion chopped
-1-2 green chili peppers (Serrano or Jalapeno) minced
-2 cloves garlic finely minced
-salt to taste
-fresh ground black pepper to taste
-oil to cook aromatics (my mother uses Extra-Virgin Olive Oil)

Directions:
(1) Heat oil in a large pan on medium high heat, then add onions and sautee until aromatic and translucent together with the green chili pepper, add a little bit of salt add garlic and sautee until fragrant, and add black pepper and stir well until fragrant, then add tomato and cook down a few minutes until it looks cooked.

(2) Add spinach, and cover until it starts to wilt a bit (check on it maybe in 2 minutes) then incorporate everything well together, add more salt to taste , and cook for a little longer until everything is well together.
PLEASE NOTE:
The way my mother washed leafy greens is she trims them and looks through them for any impurities, chops them then gives them a good rinse, afterwards she puts them in the sink with lots of water, vinegar, and salt and swooshes them around several times, drains, rinses again, then puts them in a colander to drain until ready to use. I clean my leafy greens like that to.

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!)