For 4 servings

Ingredients

8 slices boiled ham
100 gr ground toasted hazelnuts
1 lemon
100 gr butter
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
50 gr soft grated cheese

Preparation

Mix soft butter with ground hazelnuts and chopped eggs. Add grated cheese and a stream of lemon juice.

Spread mix over ham slices and roll. Wrap rolls with aluminum foil and put on the fridge.

When cold, remove from the fridge and slice.

For 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cabbage (2lb)
2 medium red peppers
5 tbsp sunflower oil
5 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 parsley sprout, chopped
Salt and pepper at taste

Preparation

Remove external leaves. Cut cabbage in four and remove trunk. Cut leaves into thin strips and place on a salad bowl. Add salt at taste.

Clean peppers and cut into thin strips. Mix them with cabbage and chopped parsley.

Mix vinegar, salt and pepper and pour over salad. Mix and leave aside for a couple of minutes. Re-season if necessary.

For 4 servings

Ingredients

2 lb potatoes, cut in cubes
Olive oil
Sal

For the alioli (garlic mayonnaise)
3 garlic cloves
Olive oil
1 yolk at room temperature
Salt

Preparation

Boil the potato cubes in water for a couple of minutes, until they are tender. Drain and fry in olive oil until brown.

Crush garlic and a pinch of salt on a mortar. Add the yolk and mix slowly, checking that the yolk binds. Add olive oil as a trickle and never stop mixing. The alioli will grow while adding oil.

Serve potatoes while hot with the alioli on top. If you want to spice the taste, add some tabasco sauce to the mix.

For 6 servings

Ingredients

6 fresh figs
2 garlic cloves
3 fresh clean anchovies
24 olives filled with anchovies
Some drops of sherry vinegar
Toasts
Butter

Preparation

Peel the figs and grind them with garlic, anchovies and vinegar.

Spread butter on toasts and cover with a tablespoon of the mix.

Put an olive over each toast.

For 4 servings

Ingredients

4 mature plantains
Vegetal oil
2 cups of prepared chopped meat or your favorite filling
½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
2 big eggs, whisked

Preparation

Peel plantains. Cut two of them in four vertical pieces and the other two in round slices.

Heat oil on a big pan at 350ºF and fry the big pieces. Remove plantains and drain them with paper towel.

Grease 4 medium ceramic moulds (3.5” approximately) and cover the bottom with the round pieces and the edges with the vertical ones. Fill each mould with the chopped meat. Add a layer of grated cheese and spread whisked egg with a brush on top of each mould.

Put on a metallic tray and bake 25 minutes.

Let cool down at room temperature and detach the pinonos from the moulds with a sharp knife.

For 6 servings

Ingredients

2 lb beef ribs
2 cups beef broth
4 cups water
1 onion, chopped in small dices
2 garlic heads, chopped in small chunks
1 tomato, chopped in small dices
1 lb potatoes, sliced in medium chunks
3 corncobs, sliced
1 lb yucca, chopped in medium dices
2 green plantains, chopped
4 tbsp coriander, chopped
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp cumin
Salt and pepper at taste
Juice of 1 green lemon

Preparation

Put ribs on a deep pot, pour tour cups of water, two cups of beef broth and a big tablespoon of salt. Boil for an hour over a medium heat.

Sautée onions, garlic, tomatoes and two tablespoons of coriander. Mix with oregano, cumin and pepper and set aside.

After an hour and a half of cooking, let the broth settle and remove grease from the top.

Add the stew to the pot.

Heat broth over a medium heat, add plantains and corncobs and cook 15 minutes. Add yucca and potatoes and cook 10 minutes.

When the broth is ready, add the rest of coriander and the green lemon juice.

Serve very hot on casseroles with one serving of white rice and one of avocado and enjoy your meal!

For 6 servings

The perfect side dish for fish, red meat and chicken.

Ingredients

2 lb small confetti colored (three skin color small potatoes-purple, red, Yukon)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 fresh rosemary sprig leaves, chopped
1 tbsp salt
Pinch of pepper

For the sofrito
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 small red pepper, julienned
1 small yellow pepper, julienned
3 scallions, finely cut
1 teaspoon salt
¼ tsp crushed red peppers
½ tsp sherry vinegar

Preparation

Pre heat oven at 375º F.

Rinse potatoes. Place in a bowl with oil, salt and pepper and rosemary. Toss well.

Roast the potatoes, checking once until done, approximately 25 minutes. Place in a serving bowl.

For the sofrito, heat a frying pan at medium-low heat, add oil, when warm, add shallots and sauté 1-2 minutes. Add bell peppers, scallions, and salt. Cook one minute.

Turn off the heat, add crushed red peppers and vinegar. Stir and pour on the potatoes. Mix gingerly and serve.

For 15 alcapurrias

Ingredients for the dove

1 lb white malanga
1 malanga coco –or malanga madre
3 green plantains
7 green bananas
2 tbsp annato oil (achiote)
Salt to taste
Canola oil for frying

Ingredients for the meat filling

1 tbsp canola oil
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp chopped onion
1 garlic clove
1 sweet ají
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp sliced pitted olives
1 tbsp raisins
¼ cup tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper to taste

Dove preparation

Prepare the filling (see below).

Peel the malangas and remove the rinds from the plantains and bananas.

Grate to a fine paste in a food processor. The mixture should be slimy and wet. Place in a large bowl.

Add annato oil and salt to taste. Stir well and refrigerate 15-20 minutes.

On a piece of wax paper lightly brushed with canola oil, spread out 1 to 2 tablespoons of the masa mixture and make a cavity in the center.

Put 1 to 2 teaspoons of the filling into the cavity and cover it with some more masa mix.

Use the back of spoon to smooth the surface so no meat is showing. Shape the alcapurrias like an oval. Fold the wax paper to close all sides. You may freeze the alcapurrias at this poin.

Heat oil in a fryer or deep frying pan and carefullly slide the alcapurrias. The oil should be heated to about 360º F. Deep fry for 4-6 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Do not crowd the pan. Drain the alcapurrias on paper towels and allow to cool.

Filling preparation

Add the canola oil to a large sauté pan, over medium-high heat. Brown the ground beef. Drain off the fat. Set aside.

Lower the temperature to medium, add onions and cook for 2 minutes, add garlic and ají and cook another minute.

Incorporate the meat and the rest of ingredients, stir well and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook uncovered for 20 minutes or until the meat is cooked through but not dry. Remove the bay leaf and let cool for a few minutes.

For 4 servings

Ingredients

4 slices of salmon
½ lb mussels
1 lb shrimps
1 lb potatoes for a purée
1 onion
1 garlic
Fennel
White pepper
½ chilli
2 eggs
Flour
Bread crumps

Preparation

Sauté salmon with salt, pepper and fennel. Sauté shrimps on a different saucepan and steam mussels on a pot. Sauté onion, garlic and chilli. Add salmon, peeled shrimps and chopped mussels.

Aside, cook a thick potato purée.

Mix the purée with the other ingredients and do small 2” balls. Coat the balls in flour, egg and bread crumps and deep fry. Once ready, set the balls on a paper tower to expulse the excess of oil.

For 4 servings

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins (10-12 oz each)
1 tsp thyme
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano, chopped or fresh
1 celery steam

For the guava sauce
8 oz guava marmalade
1 tbsp green lemon juice
½ tsp mustard
¼ tsp paprika

For the malanga pure

1 lb malanga
1 tbsp salt
½ gallon water
1 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove

Preparation

Pre heat oven at 375º F.

Whisk thyme, garlic, celery, salt, pepper and oregano. Mix until you have a dove. Marinate the pork with the mix 1-2 hours on the fridge.

For the guava sauce, mix the ingredients in a bowl and leave aside.

Remove the pork from the fridge ½ hour before cooking it on the oven. Cook the tenderloins covered with aluminium foil 15 minutes. Uncover and cook 5-10 minutes, with the guava sauce spread with a brush on the meat. Remove from oven when the meat temperature raises 145º F. Leave aside 5-10 minutes before carving.

Peel the malangas and boil them with salt and water on a pot, until they are tender. Remove them from water and mash them.

Heat oil on a saucepan; add the crushed garlic and sauté until it turns brown. Add this oil to the malanga and mix.

Serve the tenderloins with the malanga puré and enjoy!