Frita Cubana

Here's that 3rd Cuban recipe I mentioned in a previous post. Wow! These burgers were so full of flavor! They were really good and unlike any hamburger I've ever had. I was afraid they would taste really greasy, since the recipe calls for you to fry them in oil but they really weren't. I made sure to pat them with a paper towel when they were done and the outcome was a crispy, delicious burger.

I did sway from the recipe at the very end. It calls for you to make 4 patties (out of the 2 pounds of meat!!!). I thought those would be way too big so I made 8 smaller patties and served them on these cute little slider buns I found at the grocery store. I served our Frita Cubanas with chips and apple slices from our trip to the orchard the day before.



Frita Cubana
Also Known As the Cuban Hamburger
Source: In a Cuban Kitchen by Alex Garcia

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 white onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 T. paprika
1/2 t. ground cumin
1 t. dried oregano
2 t. salt
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 Kaiser or white bread rolls, cut in half
2 med. tomatoes, but into 8 slices
1 sm. red onion, cut into 8 thin slices
French fries for serving (optional)
4 T. yellow deli mustard (optional)

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the beef, pork, onion, garlic, paprika, cumin, oregano, and salt. Divide the meat equally to make 4 patties, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat 3/4 inch of oil in a skillet. Pan-fry the patties, turning once, until cooked through, for about 4 minutes per side.

To assemble each hamburger, place a patty on the bottom half of a roll and top with a tomato slice, an onion slice, and serve with French fries. Spread 1 T. of mustard on the inside of the top half of the roll and place over the patty to close.

Vaca Frita

Here I go on my Cuban kick again. I just love that Cuban food! As I mentioned in a previous post, my favorite restaurant in New Jersey was called Cuban Pete's. I would always either order Vaca Frita or their Churrasco Steak. EVERY time!!!

We went to the Ann Arbor library last weekend and I always find myself migrating straight back to the cookbook section. Imagine that, right?! Low and behold, this Cuban cookbook caught my eye.

So now I know how to make both of my favorite Cuban entrees! I have one more I want to try but I'll save that for another week. This recipe was very good and reminded me a lot of Cuban Pete's. It needed some extra salt and some extra squeezes of lime juice at the end to make it just perfect.

Vaca Frita
(Also known as Crispy Shredded Beef)
Source: In A Cuban Kitchen cookbook

3 lbs. flank steak
2 bay leaves
1 carrot, cut into 3 pieces
1 medium tomato, cut in half
1/2 T. cumin
1/2 T. dried oregano
1/4 c. olive oil
1 lg. Spanish onion, sliced fine
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to season

In a small stock pan, add the meat, bay leaves, carrot, tomato, cumin, and oregano and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 1 and a half hours until the meat becomes tender. Remove from the heat, drain, and shred meat.

Heat a skillet until it is very hot and add 1/8 c. of the olive oil. Add the shredded meat, being sure to spread it evenly over the pan. Flip the meat and cook until both sides become crispy.

In a separate pan, add the remaining olive oil and cook the onion until caramelized. Mix in the meat, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with extra lime wedges.

Churrasco Cubano Cuban Skirt Steak

Wow! Tonight's dinner was off the charts! I would definitely give it 11 out of 10 stars!



In New Jersey, our favorite restaurant was Cuban Pete's and we almost always ordered their Churrasco. Now that we live in Michigan, I decided to Google "churrasco" and see what kind of recipes were out there. It didn't look that hard so I tried it and my hubby threw it on the grill when he got home from work. We LOVED it!!! Who needs a Cuban restaurant when you can do it yourself? I even served it with beans and rice so the only thing missing were plantains. Maybe I'll try frying up some plantains next time...

A couple things you'll need to know for this recipe:
1) To make sour orange juice, use 2 parts orange juice and 1 part lemon juice.

2) I looked in 3 different grocery stores and none of them had skirt steak. The butcher told me that the next closest thing to that cut of meat was flank steak, so that's what I used.

Churrasco Cubano Cuban Skirt Steak
Source: www.grouprecipes.com

3 lbs skirt steak
1 c. olive oil
30 garlic cloves (minced)
1 c. large onion (minced)
2 t. oregano
1 c. sour orange juice
2 t. salt and black pepper



Ingredients for chimichurri sauce:
3/4 c. cilantro (chopped)
6 garlic cloves (minced)
1 T. salt
1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. oregano (chopped)
1/3 c. olive oil

Lime Wedges

To make marinade for the steaks: Add the sour orange juice, garlic, salt, onion and oregano into a bowl and stir well. Pepper is optional. Heat the olive oil in a pan for 3 minutes over medium-high heat, then pour oil into bowl and stir. Let cool for half an hour.

Add the steaks into the bowl, covering the steaks with the marinade. Cover and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

In the meantime, prepare the chimichurri sauce. In a blender, place the vinegar, cilantro, salt, oregano and garlic and pulse until the ingredients are well blended. Pour the sauce into a medium bowl, and add the olive oil, whisking it as you add it. You may also add lime juice to taste.

Grill on barbecue - cook until medium rare to medium. Serve with chimichurri sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.