Kara & Michael’s Blog

Ardent followers of this blog (all three of you) will remember that Kara and I used to live in Frederick, Maryland, just down 3rd Street from a great little local restaurant called That Cuban Place. Unfortunately, their landlord was a crappy absentee landlord like most of the landlords in Frederick, and allowed their building to fall into such disrepair that they were forced by the city to move out. So, the restaurant is no more, but their food was awesome enough that I remembered it vividly.

It’s too bad that here in Missouri, Cuban food is not exactly easy to find. When I had a hankering for it earlier this week, I decided to approximate it at home as best I could. More specifically, I tried to approximate 2 of the great dishes that TCP served in its heyday: Cuban black beans and rice (moros y cristianos) and Jamaican beef patties, which are like curry-flavored empanadas stuffed with spicy curried beef. Only the beans and rice are really Cuban.

I think they both turned out pretty well, so I’m going to share the recipes here. I made a few corrections based on some things I think I screwed up the first time, so you get the benefit of my mistakes. I did veganize the Jamaican beef patty recipe to better align with the way Kara and I are trying to eat, but nothing says you have to.

I also made way too much of the beans and rice, so reduce this recipe if you are feeding fewer than 12 people (or 2 people until they become totally sick of beans and rice):

CUBAN BLACK BEANS AND RICE (MOROS Y CRISTIANOS)
“Not as good as Narcisa and Alfredo’s, but it’ll do”

1 pound dry black beans
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp canola or soybean oil
1 large onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/3 cup crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 tbsp sugar (or agave nectar, or whatever hippie sweetener you approve of)
2 bay leaves
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
4 cups uncooked white rice
salt and pepper

Cook the beans however you like. My process is to add the beans to 6-8 cups of hot water, bring to a boil for 2 minutes, remove from the heat to soak an hour, drain and rinse, add 6-8 cups of fresh water, re-boil, and cook at a low simmer for 40 minutes. Drain the beans and set aside.

In a big-ass stock pot, maybe even the one you cooked the beans in, sauté the onion and garlic in the oil, adding the cumin and oregano about a minute before you’re done. Add the vinegar, sugar, tomatoes, bay leaves, and a little of the stock, and cook for a couple minutes more. Add the rest of the stock and bring to a boil. Add the rice and reduce heat to low. Let cook for 30 minutes or so, or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is done, stirring a couple of times during the first few minutes to prevent sticking. Add salt and pepper to taste. Eat and eat and eat.

…and the second recipe:

JAMAICAN “BEEF” PATTIES

Filling:
2 tbsp canola or soybean oil
1 pound vegan mock ground beef crumbles, or 93% lean ground beef
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp prepared yellow curry powder
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder, more if you’re feeling lucky
3/4 cup vegetable or beef stock
3/4 cup plain bread crumbs

Crust:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour + 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, or just 3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp prepared yellow curry powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
4 tbsp shortening
4 tbsp margarine or butter
an indeterminate amount of very cold water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make the filling first. Saute the onion, garlic, and meat/”meat” in the oil. Add the curry powder, thyme, cayenne, salt and pepper, and saute for a minute or two more. Add the stock to deglaze the pan, then add the bread crumbs to absorb the rest of the stock. Remove from the heat.

For the crust, mix the dry ingredients (flour, curry powder, turmeric, baking powder and salt) in a bowl and cut in the shortening and margarine, or just rub them in with your fingers if you like to get messy. Mix in water until the mixture forms a workable dough. Roll the dough out into circles that are both larger and thinner than would be appropriate for an empanada (1/8 inch thick at most, and maybe 5 or 6 inches across). Fill with the filling mixture, fold over and seal. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until just beginning to brown on top.