Cuchifritos y Chinchorros (gracias a Jeannette)

la 8
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

This post is in part a response to Jeannette's post on her more than excellent blog Sazon Boricua.

http://www.sazonboricua.com/

Where she posts recipes of great puertorican dishes. In her last post she covers some of the street/beach/neighborhood food a lot of us grew up with. I took my kids over xmas and we hit some of the highlights.



That would be the ubiquitous sign that precludes running a tab.
One of the great street foods in PR are pinchos, which are seasoned pork or beef skewers cooked over charcoal and served with bread and a beer.



These were awesome





Another great place to eat in PR towns is in the local panaderia or bread/pastry/deli



where you can go for a sandwich or more fancy fair, such as white asparagus



Flan



or octopus salad



Along the beach in Luquillo there are some very well known stops for a quick or not so quick meal. We sampled a few such as pionono
(plantain stuffed with beef)



Lobster empanada



alcapurrias (see Jeannette's post for recipe)



and empanadilla (empanada) of chapin (which is a coral reef fish)



Please check out the Sazon Boricua post for excellent recipes.

Bread crumb and crab pasta "Cangrejo con migas"

Crab pasta
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

This is a very quick and easy dish. It is a variation of a dish found in the mediterranean certainly Italy and Spain. Where day old bread is cooked in oil till crisp and combined either with sausage or vegetables or both.
I boiled some pasta till done, drained it and added two taplespoons of crabmeat and set aside.
I grated some day old bread with a large bore grater
I then pan fried the bread with one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil, two cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of ground parmesan and 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley chopped. I tossed it till the bread was brown and crisp. and then seasoned with salt and pepper.
I then combined the bread with the pasta and immediately served it.



The contrast of textures works very well, with the crisp bread and the soft pasta. The crab worked well giving the dish an interesting sweetness. Took less than 25 minutes start to finish.

Tortilla de patata

Tortilla
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

cooked and diced potato (I used 4 small russet and yukon)
1/4 cup of chorizo (I used cantimpalo)
half an onion diced and sauteed
fistfull of fresh parsley
2 cloves of garlic
teaspoon of pimenton
salt and pepper
6 eggs

warm the onion and potato in olive oil, add parlsey and garlic then the chorizo
don't let the chorizo burn, but render it a bit then add the beaten eggs and mix till it begins to set. then let come together,
flip and finish in the oven for 5-10 minutes around 300 deg





let cool and serve with bread

Home made Bagels

hunger
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I read a great blog and recipe for making bagels, I will post the link here in lieu of the recipe.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels

I followed the recipe almost to the point. I didn't quite use the last 3/4 cup of flour and used molasses instead of malt or sugar. I probably should have used the cornmeal on the pan may have cut down on the char a bit. Otherwise the turned out great.

Here they are after kneading resting and shaping.



I put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning I was a bit dissapointed as they had not risen much that I could tell. I let them come to room temp and tried to convince myself that they were fatter although I don't think they were. Having said that they definitely plumped up during the boil in alkalinized water.



The kids helped to top them



I should have incorporated the chocolate and raisins into the dough prior but I didn't think about it. You can see in the next picture how much bigger they look before baking.



They baked at 500 deg for 5 minutes then at 450 till they were brown on top (very brown on the bottom)





Here are all the topped/flavored ones



and the plain ones



They ended up very tasty, with a crisp outer layer and soft crumb



They take some prep, but it's not terrible and the payoff is great. I was amazed at how much flour went into the mix, I ended up with 16 bagels.
Will probably make again but next time will flavor the dough for some of them.

Pig head two ways (part 2)

pig head
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

Ok the second head I boned out,



much to my wifes chagrin, we had an angry skull.



The edible portion though as a bit more agreable



I removed the tongue, I the removed the membrane and stuffed it back in the head.



I seasoned it with garlic, salt, pepper, and wrapped it in cheescloth and tied it up and let it rest in the fridge



I then unwrapped the cheescloth (3 days later) and retied it, and roasted on the grill for 8 hours at as low a temp as I could muster, (ballpark 200-300 deg farenheit)



The skin is very crispy, I tried to render as much fat as I could at a low temp. The meat is tender and flavorfull, better than the head cheese, with awesome crispy skin.

Pig head two ways (part 1)

wash your head
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I bought a share of a cured hog with my brothers from La Quercia (acorn edition 3), the first instalment of the organic berkshire acorn finished hog included two heads (I volunteered for extra if one was available), the trotters, the tail, the heart, ribs, leaf lard, and loin. I decided to make a head cheese with the first head and a porchetta de testa with the second. This is the tale of the first head.
These dishes were greatly inspired by the following videos

Sky Full of Bacon 04: A Head's Tale from Michael Gebert on Vimeo.

along with other sites. For an interesting overview of La Quercia's acorn edition watch this...

Sky Full of Bacon 10: Prosciutto di Iowa from Michael Gebert on Vimeo.

We received a 70lb box full of pig parts



Inside vacuum packed were the pig parts



I washed the head in the sink paying particular attention to the ears and nose



I cut the ears off for a separate dish and wrapped the head in cheese cloth so it was easier to retrieve from the pot after cooking.



the ears I braised in a simple syrup with soy sauce, for 2 hrs, I will then chop thinly and fry,



but that's another post. The wrapped pig head was covered with water in a large pot and two onions, carrot, garlic salt sugar, a bit of pimenton, black pepper, rosemary, and thyme and brought to a boil then simmered for 4 hrs.
I removed the head onto a baking sheet and let it cool, and then further reduced the stock by half.
No pictures, but after cooling I removed the meat from the jowls, temple, neck, and face trimming the fat and skin off. this was rolled in cheesecloth a bit of the stock added then wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the fridge to cool.
The next day we sliced it



and breaded one side and browned it on both sides



The result is an incredibly rich dish, fatty and full of pork flavor. It will benefit from an acid sauce, a chimichurri or other citrus based sauce to cut the fat.
The next head I am going to bone out and roast.

Potato Soup

soup
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

My wife really likes potato soup and I make it once or twice a winter, it keeps well frozen. My recipe changes a bit each time but I don't think I've totally screwed it up yet.

I typically use a ham stock, this time I boiled 4 smoked ham hocks with an onion, 3 garlic cloves, pepper, and a carrot.
I made the stock the day before and the next day I cut up the ham hocks



I tried toasting the skin over some day old bread with only fair results (I was hoping for something like a pork rind but they stayed kinda gummy the bread was good though)



I boiled some russet potatos (I usually cook around 1-1/2 per person which guarantees a lot of leftovers)



I roasted the the same volume of yukon gold potato cut up with the ham hock



I put together the soup by pureing the russet potato in the ham stock with a bit of cream, then added the roasted potato, ham, and a big crouton from the failed pork rind incident. The result...