mexican caribbean dinner
Queso Relleno
Ingredients
1 bunch episote leaves
1 French baguette
1 cup cherry tomatoes
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup red raisins
3 hard boiled eggs
3 banana peppers
1 bunch chives, chopped
1 white onion
¼ cup whole garlic, peeled
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound ground beef
6 slices gouda cheese
olive oil
white vinegar
1.) Cut the French baguette on a bias into ¼ inch slices. Spread out on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
2.) Dice half the onion and garlic and all the raisins and sauté on medium heat with a little olive oil for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat. Separate the whites and yolks of the hard-boiled eggs and dice up the whites. Add whites to the cooled skillet of onions, garlic and raisins. Toss together.
3.) Add the skillet mixture to the ground beef and mix together with your hands. Form into patties about the same shape and size as the baguette slices. In a skillet on high heat, sear the beef patties on each side for several minutes. Do not cook through.
4.) Set the seared patties on a baking sheet and wrap each patty with a slice of gouda cheese. Bake the patties at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
5.) Roast the banana peppers over an open flame and let cool in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then rinse, peel, and roughly chop them. In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté cherry tomatoes and the remaining onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, add the chopped banana peppers and the heavy cream and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes and remove from heat.
6.) Add the leaves of episote to the sauce pan, stir, and pour contents into a blender. Blend for about 2 minutes until very smooth. Pass the blended sauce through a sieve into a smaller sauce pan, and add a teaspoon of white vinegar.
To plate, lay down several spoonfuls of sauce as a base. Place a baked cheese-wrapped patty into the middle of sauce. Sprinkle with chives. Place your toasted baguette slice on top at a right angle to the patty. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Tikin Xic Fish
Ingredients
6 banana leaves
6 six-ounce pieces of skinless cod or grouper
6 cloves while garlic, peeled
2 yellow squash, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 cups red and yellow cherry tomatoes
½ white onion, roughly chopped
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
¼ red onion, roughly chopped
1 cup achiote paste
2 pounds fingerling potatoes
1 tablespoon white vinegar
3 roasted red peppers
1 egg
chopped fresh chives as garnish
1.) To create the fish marinade, add onion, achiote paste, garlic, white vinegar and 1 cup water to blender and blend until smooth.
2.) Run the banana leaves over an open flame waxy side down until they turn darker and become soft. (It only takes a few seconds.) Place a piece of fish in the middle of a banana leaf. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover with marinade and fold banana leaf around fish, tucking in sides, so marinade will not leak out. Place wrapped fish pieces in fridge for about 6 hours to absorb flavor. Then bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.
3.) Boil fingerling potatoes for about 20 minutes until cooked through. In a skillet over medium heat, sauté squash, zucchini, thinly sliced red onion and cherry tomatoes in a little olive oil. Add the cooked fingerling potatoes and a little water and sauté for a few more minutes, then remove from heat.
4.) To make the fish sauce, add chopped red onion, roasted bell peppers to blender and blend until smooth. In a sauce pan over low heat, add a tablespoon of water and the egg and whisk until smooth. Add the contents of the blender. Salt to taste. Heat until warm but do not boil.
To plate, allow cooked fish to rest for 5 minutes. Cut off the ends of the banana leaf and spread open on a plate to expose fish. Spoon a serving of sautéd potatoes and vegetables onto the plate. Spoon fish sauce over everything and garnish with chives.
Sweet Potato Beignets
Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 can condensed milk
2 cups flour
3 habanero peppers
¼ cup honey
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
fresh peppermint leaves to garnish
powdered sugar to garnish
1.) Peel sweet potatoes. Add 2 cups sugar to a pot of boiling water and let dissolve. Add sweet potatoes and cook until tender to a fork. Set aside to cool. Cut potatoes into six rectangular pieces and save the trimmings.
2.) Slice up habanero peppers and simmer in 1 cup boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat and add honey. Simmer for a couple of minutes, remove from heat, strain liquid into a bowl and set aside to cool.
3.) In a large mixing bowl, add sweet potato trimmings and mash up. Add cream, condensed milk, flour, and baking powder and mix together thoroughly. Let rest for 2 hours.
4.) In a large saucepan, heat several inches of canola oil until hot (220 degrees). Using a melon baller or small ice cream scoop greased with oil, add small balls of raw dough (about one inch diameter) to hot oil. Cook for about two minutes, flipping with slotted spoon, until all sides are golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
To plate, warm up potato rectangles in a 350 degree oven for 4-5 minutes. Place a rectangle on the plate, glaze with habanero honey, and garnish with a fresh peppermint leaf. Add beignets to plate and dust with powdered sugar. Add a scoop of your favorite ice cream and serve.