D's Sharebook 

This is Caribbean comfort food at its best! I just want to curl up and purr after eating this drizzled with Puerto Rican hot sauce and a side of garlicky fried green plantains along with red beans and rice.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled, deveined, rinsed

1/2 pound yuca, peeled, deveined, chopped, boiled tender (30 minutes)

1 teaspoon adobo 

3  tablespoons olive oil 

1 large cooking spoon sofrito

1 medium sized onion, chopped

3 whole scallions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced 

1/2 cup spanish style tomato sauce (or 6 plum tomatoes, chopped)

1 cup clam juice (or more coconut milk)

13.5 fl. oz. can coconut milk  

cilantro, chopped for garnishing

red bell pepper, julienned for garnishing

DIRECTIONS:

• Season shrimp with adobo. Set aside.
• Puree yuca with coconut milk and clam juice.
• Heat oil in large pan over medium heat.
• Stir in onion and garlic. Sautee until browned.
• Stir in sofrito, tomato sauce, and scallion. Sautee 5 minutes.
• Stir in yuca mixture and bring to boil.
• Immediately lower heat and let simmer 5 minutes.
• Stir in shrimp. Cook 5 minutes.
• Serve over your preference of rice and garnish with cilantro and red bell pepper.

BUEN PROVECHO!

There are all types of fritters in Puerto Rican cuisines. And we Puerto Ricans do have a sweet tooth. Buñuelos are very common in Puerto Rico. I would describe a buñuelo like a fried donut hole or zeppole.

This particular sweet buñuelo uses a Taino staple food which was also used to make flour and bread. Yuca, also called cassava or manioc, is a thick root with tough brown skin. The flesh should be white and firm; cut away any pulpy or weepy bits. It is sold in many supermarkets, as well as, Caribbean and Latin American grocery stores.

Currently this dessert is one of those recipes that is on the verge of being lost in Puerto Rico.In fact, some have argued that this recipe is not a Puerto Rican dessert and had been intergrated from areas such as Cuba, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic where it is more commonly found. Ohhhh. I smell a history lesson again.

Well, the earliest reference I was able to find about this dessert was in a book written by a Spanish-born Catholic priest, Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra, who became secretary to the bishop of Puerto Rico in 1773 and remained on the island for ten years. Abbad's Historia, originally published in Spain, is considered the first modern historical work on Puerto Rico. It begins with the Spanish discovery and conquest of the island and ends in the late eighteenth century. Abbad referred to this dessert as being an obligatory gift during the holiday seasons of Easter and Christmas.

I've had these in Caguas filled with guava! Sinful!!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 pounds yuca, peeled, boiled until tender, veins removed, mashed

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

oil, for frying

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cup water

6 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

DIRECTIONS:

• Once yuca has been mashed to a smooth consistency, thoroughly mix in egg yolks, sugar, and salt.
• Using a teaspoon to scoop up mixture, form mass into small one inch balls.
• Heat oil over medium temperature.
• Place yuca balls in oil, do not crowd, and fry until browned on all sides.
• Remove from oil and place on paper towel lined plate to soak excess oil.
• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, cloves, and cinnamon.
• Let simmer over medium heat until mixture becomes syrupy.
• Strain.
• Serve syrup over yuca balls or on the side for dipping.

                                        BUEN PROVECHO!

This is a very quick, healthy, and simple dish to make when you are in a hurry, and it tastes GREAT!

Don't waste the oil left in the pan after cooking the fish...it's too tasty! Get a few more garlic cloves, mash them to a paste. Sautee it in the oil then add rounds of your favorite crusty bread until toasted on both sides and infused with garlic and olive oil mixture. We call this "Pan Frito" (fried bread). It's very good served with the salmon!

You can do this with any fish fillets but Salmon tastes particularily very rich prepared this way, if using a "white" fish filet you can rub some paprika on it for color.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets, rinsed (with or without skin)

1/2 garlic head, mashed to a paste

adobo powder, to taste 

ground black pepper, to taste

extra virgin olive oil 

1-2 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted)

1 tablespoon cilantro, minced, to garnish

fresh lime or lemon wedges, to garnish

DIRECTIONS:

• Rub fillets with garlic, salt, and black pepper.
  

• Over medium high heat olive oil and butter.

• Add fish and cook on one side until browned and raw color is gone half-way up the fish.

• Carefully flip fish to fry on other side.
• Remove and set aside. Do this in batches if you must.
  

• Serve with lime wedges, cilantro to garnish, rice and a salad. It's shown above served with "Habichuelas en Escabeche" (pickled green beans).

BUEN PROVECHO!
 

There are two kinds of guanimes in Puerto Rico. The more widely known guanime is made with cornmeal. More widely known on the southern coast of Puerto Rico are the guanimes made with flour.

Just like its cornmeal cousin it is usually served with vegetable or seafood dishes. Unlike it's cousin it's usually not wrapped in banana leaves, it's simply boiled as is.

If you'd like to get a little of the banana taste, simply add a green banana to the boiling water after the guanime has been cooking for the 20 minutes and allow to the banana and guanime to boil for another 10 to 15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 cups flour 

½  cup hot water (not boiling....just hot) 

salt, to taste

1 tablespoon oil (preferable vegetable)

DIRECTIONS:

•  Bring a pot of salted water to boil.
•  Meanwhile, place flour in a bowl and make a well in the center
• Place the water, salt, and oil in the well:

• Mix well by hand, the mixture will be very sticky. 
• Slowly keep adding more flour until dough is no longer sticky and you can form a ball:

• Roll several golfball sized balls from the dough.
• Roll each ball on a flat surface until they elongate:

•  Gently place guanimes in the boiling water.
• Cook 20 minutes. 

BUEN PROVECHO!

Carne Mechada (Stuffed Beef) is prepared only on special occasions, and when you hear how it's made you'll know why:

Large holes are made with a long knife in a roast or rump of beef so that olives, capers, tomatoes, ham bits, peppers and white onions can be stuffed inside. The roast is seared until brown on both sides to seal in the ingredients, then cooked again in a pot for about an hour or until melt in your mouth tender. Sliced potatoes may be boiled separately and added to the beef, resulting in a complex, tasty meal.

It's a special dish — mostly either for Sundays or when you have company — not every day.

To make achiote oil for this recipe, simmer 1/4 cup achiote seeds in 1/2 cup vegetable oil or olive oil for 5 minutes or until oil is deep red. Strain. Store in refrigerator. Dried achiote seeds can also be found in markets under the name annatto.

3 pounds beef roast

1/4 pound ham, diced

1 large red onion, peeled, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeds removed, diced

3 garlic cloves, peeled, minced

6 spanish style stuffed olives, chopped

1 tablespoons capers

1/2 teaspoon salt or adobo

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons achiote oil (see note)

1 cup water

1 cup spanish style tomato sauce

6 potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks

6 carrots, peeled and cubed

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine ham, onion, pepper, cilantro, garlic, olives and capers.
• With a sharp knife, make deep holes all over roast.
• Stuff mixture into holes in roast.
• Season with adobo and pepper.
• Heat achiote oil in deep pot
• Brown meat.
• Add water and tomato sauce.
• Cover and cook on low for 1 hour to 90 minutes, or until REALLY tender.
• Add potatoes and carrots.
• Continue cooking until potatoes are done and sauce is thick.

                                                           BUEN PROVECHO!

The guava lends a fruity sweetness to the fish. I personally prefer a savory sauce but this makes for a refreshingly interesting change. Serve with a simple salad and a side of your favorite style of rice to make the meal complete.

INGREDIENTS:

Marinade:

1/2 cup olive oil

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup Sofrito

1 tablespoon adobo

• Lightly season steaks on all sides with adobo and rub into fish.
• Combine marinade in bowl.
• Add fish.
• Refrigerate 3 hours, turning frequently.
• In saucepan, melt butter.
• Add remaining ingredients, except oil, bell pepper and cilantro.
• Bring mixture to boil.
• Reduce heat, then let simmer until reduced to 2/3 cup. Set Aside.
• Drain fish and discard marinade.
• Heat oil over medium heat and brown fish on both sides.
• Serve fish with the sauce over it.
• Sprinkle with bell peppers and cilantro to garnish.

                                     BUEN PROVECHO!

The trick with this refreshingly light and tasty fritter is that it can be eaten as a side with any pork dish or it can be eaten as a dessert snack by serving as is, drizzling with honey or sprinkling with confectioner’s sugar and/or cinnamon.

Zest of 1 lemon
½ cup milk
oil of your preference, for frying
Pineapple rounds  

DIRECTIONS:

·          Combine flour, sugar, and salt.

·          Mix in egg yolks, lemon zest, and milk.

·          Beat egg whites until staff peaks form.

·          Fold egg whites into batter.

·          Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat.

·          Gently dip pineapple rounds into batter then place in pan and fry until golden on both sides.

·          Place on paper towel lined plate to soak excess oil.

BUEN PROVECHO!

• Mix together lerenes, onion, pepper, cilantro, flour, adobo, pique, and sofrito. 
• Stir in eggs and mix well.
• Heat oil until surface ripples in large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Scoop batter by tablespoons into skillet and flatten with back of spoon.
• Fry until batter is crisp and brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
• Drain on paper towels while repeating with remaining batter.
• Serve hot.

                                                   BUEN PROVECHO!