Cocina Al Minuto de Nitza Villapol

Look what my Aunt gave me.  What a treasure, my Tia Nancy recently move to Spain and among all the wonderful things she gave me, she gave me this priceless treasure, well in Amazon it's priced and it's a pretty little penny.  But I would not sell it for all the tea in China.

Not only does it have all of my favorite recipes that Mi Abuelita use to make for me, it was a special gift from one of my favorite aunts.  

Stay tune, going to start cooking my way through it.  Making a few adjustments to make it a little healthier.  Except when it come time to make those Platanos a Tentacion (Temptation Plantains) that is just what they are a horrible, delectable  temptation.

FU FU or Mofungo

Since I'm Cuban it's FuFu for me.  And although not as tasty as the fried version of my Purto Rican friends, this is a little leaner, I think????

Ingredients

3 Green Plaintains (peeled and cut into small pieces).
1 Yellow Plaintain (not riped- peeled and cut into small pieces)
1 Medium Onion (Diced)
1 lb - Chicharon (Pork Grinds) --- (You can substitute masitas de cerdo fritas with mojo - friend pork chucks with mojo- recipe coming soon)
4 to 6 garlic cloves (minced)
2 Limes
1/4 Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. In a saucepan, cover plantains with lightly salted, cold water and bring to a boil.
2. Cook until plantains are soft (about 10 to 15 minutes).
3. Drain and mash the plantains. Set aside.
4. In a frying pan, add the olive oil sauté the diced onion and chopped garlic . Continue sautéing for about 5 minutes. Set aside and add the juice of the 2 limes5. chop the chicharon/pork chunks.
6. Fold all the ingredients together and thoroughly mixed. Transfer to a dish, cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

You can serve it just like this, with Bacalao a la viscaina (I will work on this recipe soon) or like I did here with Vaca Frita.

Buen Provecho!!

***I did this one with macitas fritas.  I just had a Root Canal I the dentist must of read my mind because the first food he mentioned that I could not eat was mofungo (he is Puerto Rican).  I wanted to cry, so me being my ingenious self  always thinking how to solve the problem at hand I cheated, I stopped at El Palacio del Jugo and bought one pound of already made masitas fritas and a little mojo.  It was scrumptious 

Re-Inventing Hamburger Patties

The other day I went to Publix and they were cooking something amazing, it tasty delicious, but when I went to look at the ingredients of course it was made with a jar of Alfredo sauce, the bugger was dipped in eggs then it was breaded with a box of Italian Bread Crumbs a HUGE NO NO! at our home.

So how did I re-invent this perfectly delicious meal. Here you GO!

Ingredients

4 lean burger patties
2 eggs
2 cups of Panko break crumbs (Japanesse Bread Crumbs)
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 TBS Garlic Powder (got to season those crumbs)
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mock Alfredo Sauce by David Liberman (CLICK HERE)
2 cups baby spinach (uncooked)

Instructions:

Mix together the Panko, Parmesan cheese, Garlic, Salt and Pepper together in a shallow dish.  Mix the eggs add a hint of salt and pepper to the egg, then start breading the burgers.  Once you have all the burgers breaded let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes.  I believe the breading sticks better if you just let them sit for a bit (just my opinion).  Add about 1/4 cup of Olive oil to a saute pan, now you can either saute them in a pan on medium heat  (I do it this way, we all need a little oil) or you can put them in the oven Brush a little Olive Oil on them place in a pre-heated (350) over, for about 15 to 20 minutes depending how you like them cook.

In the meantime place the Alfredo sauce in a large sauce pan in medium heat and add the spinach  just to wilt the spinach once they have wilted remove it from the heat put aside.

Once all the burgers are done place them on a serving tray, pour the Alfredo/Spinach sauce over them, serve with pasta or rice and enjoy.