Starting our Nochebuena right - Thank you, Avocados from Mexico. Nochebuena preparations are in full swing around here. The pig is happily marinating in the Mojo Criollo I told you about a few days ago. The Matervas are chilling in the fridge. Lucy is out in the world on a hunt for Turrones. Every time the phone rings or there is a text, it is ...
Pan Con Bistec (Cuban-style Steak Sandwich) Recipe
Cuban Pan con Bistec Recipe (Cuban Steak Sandwich) Working Smarter I’m lazy. There, I said it. No, it’s really okay. I freely admit it. Yep, L-A-Z-Y. Which is why I’m not a big fan of spending hours in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guessing that there aren’t a whole lot of fans of ...
Cuban Pizza Recipe
Cuban Pizza Recipe When I say I'm making Cuban pizza, no one believes it's a real thing. What makes it Cuban, you ask? Well, it starts, just like all good Cuban food, with a sofrito. A Cuban "sofrito" is the beginning and end of all that is good and holy about Cuban food - onion, garlic, bell pepper perfectly sauteéd in olive oil with a hint of ...
Arroz Imperial Recipe
Arroz Imperial Recipe Written on September 11, 2008 I tend to feel extremely patriotic on this date in history, hence the following story and recipe. Years ago, my big, fat, Cuban family moved to a sleepy peanut-butter-and-jelly neighborhood in Anaheim, California. Our house was at the end of a cul-de-sac where the other families had been living ...
Spanish Hot Chocolate Recipe
Get REAL. I posted my churro recipe here a couple of days ago. And the people who know stuff about churros also know that it is a sin (maybe not mortal, but certainly venial) to make churros without hot chocolate. Sorry, my faux pas. Of course, we make hot chocolate. Spanish (as in, from Spain) Hot Chocolate. The thick, super-sweet, rich, ...
Pastel de Pollo Recipe
Pastel de Pollo Viva La Difference! I started grade school here in the U.S. without speaking a word of English. In fact, I was one of only a handful of newly exiled Cuban kids at the time. Yes, only a fewCubans in Miami. I know. Weird. I tried hard to fit in and learned to speak English pretty quickly (I’m a living argument for English ...
Picadillo Pies Recipe
Cuban Picadillo Pies® Recipe I have a recipe today that was kind of a happy accident. Ever since I went up to San Francisco a few months ago to cook my Picadillo, my family has been clamoring for it. Yes, there's been clamoring. For the past few years I've been making my picadillo with ground turkey. It's just become a thing. When I cooked for ...
Panetela Borracha Recipe
Rum and Cake? or Rum and Coke? from Marta’s Cuban American Kitchen One year ago, Val sent me an email asking if I would consider posting recipes here on Babalú. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure my feature, Marta’s Cuban American Kitchen, was going to go over very well. I confess I was a little intimidated. We Cubans, as you know, are extremely ...
Churrasco Estilo Cubano Recipe
Churrasco con Chimichurri Recipe A Simple Barbecue - Churrasco Steak My husband, Eric, invited one of his clients over for dinner the other night, and he asked me not to make a fuss. “Let’s just barbecue,” he said. “Fine,” I said, “I’ll just do a simple Cuban-style barbecue.” So, I didn’t make a fuss . . . I made a mouth-watering Churrasco ...
Oven-Baked Spanish Tortilla Recipe
When is a Tortilla NOT a Tortilla? from Marta’s Cuban American Kitchen Every now and then I get a craving for something that appears unusual to my kids but was just part of a regularly scheduled menu item in my Cuban American household when I was growing up. And I realize just a beat too late that they haven’t had the same upbringing that I have, ...
