Eric's studio Art

renesaince drowning
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

These are all originals by Eric Monasterio, as seen in his own apt/studio

Pernil

pernil
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

I bought half a ham (11 lb) I scored the skin and fat on top then marinated it overnight in a rub of:

8 tbsp salt
10 peppercorns
10 cloves of garlic
6 tbsp oregano
the juice of one lime
1/2 cup olive oil
2 roasted red peppers

and put it on a roasting pan





I chopped some onion carrot and peppers hoping for a sauce, but with that much salt load it's probably not really worth it.



I roasted it at 350 deg farenheit for 3 hours then turned the oven off for another half hour then removed and covered with foil to rest.
It looked like this prior to carving:





Tasted great, moist and flavorful. In the future I would try to get a cut with more skin on it as the skin turned out crispy and perfect.

We served it with arroz con gandules, unfortunately no pics of that.

2 cans gandules undrained(pigeon peas)
2 cups sofrito (onion, cilantro, cumin, tomato paste, garlic, celery, carrot, salt, pepper, bell pepper)
2 tbsp achiote oil
http://eatingvideogames.blogspot.com/2008/07/achiote.html
6 cups of water
Salt to taste

4 cups of rice
roasted red bell pepper julienned

place first five ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil, add rice and cover turn to low heat for 20 minutes, distribute ingredients and serve with roasted pepper as garnish.

(usually one should add some of the fatty portions of the pernil to this dish, but my timing was off)

feliz navidad!

The Many Faces of Dante

The Many Faces of Dante from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

A Boy Tries Escargot

Escargot
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

As documented by his younger sister, my son perused then menu and emerged with a sly grin.



His Choice of appetizer... Escargot



I later asked him if he knew what he was ordering and he nodded and confirmed that yes, he knew they were snails. Upon receiving them he inspected them.





And he went with it.



The reaction casual, he said he loved them, he ate them all and I guess I'm going to have to learn to make them.

chicken red curry dish

chicken red curry dish
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

very similar ingredients to the green curry, but cooked in the rice cooker instead. Browned the chicken and onions, added the coconut puree till it thickened then added it all to the rice cooker with rice and water and some fish sauce.



The red curry paste



The rice cooker



and the finished product

chicken curry with Palak Paneer

chicken curry with Palak Paneer
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

I had a lot of leftove coconut after making coconut milk so I decided to use if for dinner. I browned some chicken thighs in butter then added the shredded coconut with a some of the milk mixed with thai green curry paste.



I let it simmer for 10-15 min while I made rice and served it with palak paneer from an instant bag (spinach with cheese). It was outstanding.

Coquito

cocos
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

Coquito is the puertorican equivalent of eggnog. It is generally drunk around the holidays. Tradicionally it is made with eggs (like eggnog) but I grew up making it this way. At my parents house I would have harvested and peeled the coconut myself. These I bought at the supermarket. Cracked and cleaned them.



I used to clean the meat with a knife and a lot of patience but I discovered that a microplane works great. It is reccomended that you bake the coconut at 350 or 400 deg F for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to remove the meat. I tried but maybe I left it in too short of time, as I was afraid the meat would brown. Anyways cleaning the coconut meat off the shell is the most time consuming part of the deal.



I then grated the coconut in the food processor



I had reserved the coconut water and made a simple syrup with it adding nutmeg, cinamon and clove



I added the coconut to this



I then added water to cover and brought it to a boil.



From here I strained it, and put the coconut in a rag to press it. the remaining coconut milk I mixed half and half with rum and set to chill. Will drink later.

Pork Ribs

Pork Ribs
Originally uploaded by chuborupert

Picked up some ribs from Buz and Neds ( http://www.buzandneds.com/ ) on the way home. It is excellent. Smokey tender and fatty. I'll leave you with some more pictures, (Boy barbecue and blogging don't go together, I need to wipe down my keyboard.)