Mofongo de Yuca

mofongo
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I had a Yuca root sitting around and decided to make a mofongo with it. It's the same technique as when making a plantain mofongo. Frying the yuca in two steps and combining it with pork chicharron garlic and salt. So I cut up the yuca in pieces.






then fried the Yuca first at 350 deg till soft, around 10 minutes



Then at 400 for just a couple of minutes



I had a piece of roasted pork (head in this case)



I fried up the skin to make the chicharron



I then combined two cloves of garlic, some peppercorns, salt and oregano in the mortar and created a paste. The yuca was then pounded in the mortar in 3-4 batches and turned into a chunky mash. I mixed in the pork crackling and roughly molded it



Turned out very tasty with a garlicky pork taste.

Stuffed potato fritter, papa rellena

papa rellena
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

This is a modified recipe from my well worn Puerto Rican Cookery cookbook. My mother gifted me this book when I moved out of the house. She wrote some of her own recipes on the blank pages. So it's never going away.



I followed the recipe, but I think I used more flour than the recipe calls for, and I made the fritters pretty huge. Potato boiling, with added pumpkin...



Potato and pumpkin mashed, mixed with flour and stuffed with savory meat filling.



Then fried, they where very tasty.

Kenn-Tico Cuban Bar & Grill

Yuca
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

My wife and I went to Kenn-Tico for lunch today. We had seen the write up in the RTD, and I've walked by the food cart at VCUHS many times noticing the cuban accent of the owners, so we decided to try it. My wife grew up in South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale) and loves cuban cuisine, and is something of a black bean connoisseur, so I was excited to have her try the food and tell me what she thought. We arrived at 11:30 and had the place to ourselves, but by 12:30 a nice crowd had filled the restaurant. There was only one server/waiter, which was fine when we were alone, but it took him a bit to get the check as he was much busier at the end, but he was not harried and was always pleasant.

We had a very hard time picking a dish to order as everything sounded appetizing, we decided finally on an appetizer of fried yuca with mojo dipping sauce to start. The yuca was very tasty my only complaint would be that it was cut rather generously, maybe smaller strips would be easier to handle but even as a handfull they were delicious.



I ordered the chicken chunks (Chicharron de pollo)



My wife ordered the pork chop



we both had white rice and black bean soup as sides (plenty of others to choose from!)



Both dishes were excellent, the beans where very good, not the best she has ever had, but some of the best she has had in Richmond. (she ordered a side of chopped raw onions to eat with the rice and beans, which was graciously provided)
I can't wait to go back with the kids as both of them would enjoy the varied accesible menu. Check it out.

http://www.kennticocubanbargrill.com/
204 E. Grace St.
Richmond VA 23219
804 225 9216

Mofongo

Mofongo
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

The fortunate combination of fried green plantain and crispy pork is a delicious dish. I deep fried pieces of green plantain till cooked but not crisp then combined them with pieces of pork sauteed till crispy. This is actually pieces from my baked pork head.



I added a homemade chicken stock



mixed in the food processor till it all came together I molded it in a bowl and served it.



It is great with a saucy shrimp scampy (as I served it) or roast chicken or pork.