The Monster Island Theater Cuban Recipes

Picadillo Soup

Brown the meat and onions in the olive oil in a large saucepan. Stir in the garlic after the meat is brown, then add the stock, reserved tomato juice, and all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

When ready to serve, ladle the soup into festive bowls and sprinkle with the toasted almonds. Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

Recipe courtesy of Soup of the Evening.

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Sopa de Frijol Negro (Black Bean Soup)

Cook 1 cup onion and the garlic in oil in Dutch oven until tender. Add remaining ingredients, except chopped egg and onions; heat to boiling. Boil 2 minutes; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 2 hours. Serve with chopped eggs and onions.

Serves 8.

Recipe courtesy of RecipeSource.

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Fricase de Pollo (Cuban-Style Chicken Fricassee)

Combine the sour orange juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a container suitable for marinating the chicken. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade, cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours. Remove the chicken and blot in on paper towels. Reserve the marinade.

Warm the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat and brown the chicken pieces. Do this in batches rather than overcrowd the pan. Then return all the chicken to the pan. Add onions and green pepper, sauteing with the chicken until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add reserved marinade, tomato sauce, wine, capers, olives, raisins, and potatoes. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large serving dish and spoon the sauce over it.

Serves 8.

Recipe courtesy of RecipeSource.

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Pork Tenderloin Cubano

Mix first 10 ingredients in large resealable plastic bag. Add pork to marinade. Close bag and turn pork to coat. Refrigerate overnight, turning pork once.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Transfer pork to baking pan; discard marinade. Roast until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150°F, about 25 minutes. Let pork stand 5 minutes. Cut pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange on platter. Garnish with orange slices and cilantro sprigs and serve.

Serves 8.

Recipe courtesy of Epicurious.com.

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Platanos en Tentacion (Plantains Temptation Style)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter (or spray) a glass pyrex dish. Peel the plantains and place in the dish. Sprinkle half the sugar over them. Add the dry wine and stick little pieces of the cinnamon sticks into the plantains. Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar and the powdered cinnamon. Cut the butter in little pieces and dot over the plantains. Bake for approximately one hour.

*Choose plantains that are VERY ripe, i.e., so ripe that most people would be tempted to throw them away! The blacker the skin (sometimes even with a whitish cast to it) the sweeter the plantain.

By the way, this is a side dish, not dessert. It is very good served along with a roast and fluffy white rice.

Serves 6.

Recipe courtesy of Taste of Cuba.

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Rice Pudding

Cook the rice by bringing to boil 1 1/2 cups of water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Add rice and cook over low heat until the grains are soft.

Add the milk, salt, vanilla and sugar and cook over medium heat for over 1 hour or until thick. Stir periodically to prevent sticking. Pour into serving cups. Refrigerate and sprinkle cinnamon powder on top before serving.

Serves 4.

Recipe courtesy of CubanFoodMarket.com.

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