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Food

Party playmakers

On the field, the team that scores more points wins. At your house, the home team and visitors alike will win with this Cuban feast.

By JANET K. KEELER
Published January 31, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Brian Cassella] Spice up your Super Bowl party with a Cuban theme. Kick back with a mojito and a cigar. Making Mojito cocktails video QuickTime | Flash

Break out the rum and start squeezing the limes. The Super Bowl is in Miami, and we're celebrating Cuban-style.

We'll toast the kickoff with tall glasses of minty-sweet mojitos, on the rocks or as blender drinks, and then dive into sandwiches inspired by traditional meat stews, picadillo and the long-simmered ropa vieja. Maybe we'll even pass out cigars, real and bubble gum.

It's tough to compete with the television when the game is on. Even the commercials are must-see TV. But later, when no one remembers the final score between the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts, people will be talking about your football feast. And fishing for an invitation for next year's game.

Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m., so have the food ready when guests arrive, or soon after, so they can eat during the game. Halftime and a performance by Prince will be around 8:30 p.m., and that's a good break for dessert. Or another sandwich. Often, people head home hours before confetti blankets the winners. It is a school/work night, you know.

Thank the culinary gods that there are plenty of markets, bakeries and Cuban restaurants in the Tampa Bay area that sell authentic ingredients or takeout dishes. Most grocery stores carry Cuban bread, an integral part of the traditional three-pork sandwich. Many sell bolillos or other sturdy, torpedo-shaped rolls that can be easily handled when stuffed with a savory meat mix, a requirement for a multitasking football crowd.

Serve party Cuban sandwiches unpressed and cut from a long loaf into manageable 2-inch slices. Secure each mini-sandwich with decorative toothpicks. An authentic Cuban includes yellow mustard, thin dill pickle slices, Swiss cheese, mojo pork, sweet ham and Genoa salami. At the deli counter, ask for roasted pork, Black Forest ham, the salami and mild Jarlsberg Swiss, sliced thin.

Black beans and rice - called moros y cristianos - are a fitting accompaniment to any sandwich you might serve. Start the beans in the slow cooker earlier in the day and serve them out of that vessel too. Set out sour cream and chopped onion for toppings and cooked white rice to cradle the beans. Bottles of hot sauce, for sure.

For something sweet, make Coconut Brownies or a cake-mix version of Tres Leches Cake, dairy rich with whole, evaporated and condensed milk.

Two meat dishes, picadillo and ropa vieja, are usually served with rice and fried plantains. They can also be served on rolls, sort of like Cuban sloppy joes. Add sweet plantain chips to the usual snack offerings.

Picadillo, popular in many Spanish-speaking countries, is a sweet-and-sour dish powered by chili powder, cumin and vinegar and sweetened by cinnamon and raisins. It begins with ground beef and takes less than an hour to prepare, including prep time. Pile it high on Cuban rolls or toasted hamburger buns.

Ropa Vieja is a longer affair. Ropa vieja means old clothes and refers to the "rags" of meat that the beef becomes after hours of cooking.

Flank steak is typically used. It's marinated in a citrus bath after stewing for 90 minutes in water and aromatic vegetables. The final step is to simmer the shredded meat in a tomato sauce, heady with island spices. Ropa Vieja is juicy enough to soak into a hearty roll.

Get a jump on the day's preparations by making Ropa Vieja the day before. The flavors intensify with time.

Big flavors, big game. How lucky that the people coming to your house will get a plateful of both.

Janet K. Keeler can be reached at (727) 893-8586.

MAIN DISH

Ropa Vieja

2 pounds flank steak

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, quartered

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

4 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into thin strips

1/2 red bell pepper, stemmed seeded and cut into thin strips

2 small jalapenos, seeded and minced

3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 cup tomato sauce

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon round cumin

Pinch ground cloves

2 tablespoons capers, drained

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro 

- Put the steak, carrot, celery and quartered onion in a pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Let the meat sit in the cooking liquid until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat and reserve the stock.

- Using your fingers, shred the beef into thin strips and place in a mixing bowl. Whisk together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lime juice, orange juice, one-quarter of the minced garlic, the salt and pepper. Toss with the beef and let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.

- Meanwhile, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, remaining garlic, the pepper strips and jalapenos. Saute until the vegetables are softened, abut 5 minutes. Add the plum tomatoes and cook 1 minute more. Add the tomato sauce, 1 cup of the reserved stock, the cinnamon, cumin and cloves. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes. Stir in the shredded beef with the marinade and the capers; simmer 15 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the cilantro just before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Source: Cold-Weather Cooking by Sarah Leah Chase (Workman, 1990)

1 pound meat loaf mix or ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

5 teaspoons chili powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes in juice

3/4 cup beef broth

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

4 Cuban rolls or hamburger rolls, split

- Heat heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meat and onion; cook until meat loses pink color, breaking up with fork, about 5 minutes. Spoon off excess fat. Mix in chili powder and cinnamon; cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with juice, beef broth, raisins, vinegar and tomato paste. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until liquids thicken, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

- Lightly toast rolls. Divide meat mixture among rolls and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Bon Appetit, March 2004

1 pound dried black beans (2 cups), sorted and rinsed

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

1 large bell pepper, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 dried bay leaves

2 cups diced tomatoes (from 28-ounce can), undrained

5 cups water

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

4 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno chilies

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups hot cooked rice

- Mix all ingredients except rice in 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high setting 6 to 8 hours or until beans are tender and most liquid is absorbed. Remove bay leaves. Serve beans over rice.

Source: www.about.com

1 yellow cake mix (with pudding)

Topping:

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup rum (or to taste)

Whipped cream, to cover cake

5 ounces sweetened coconut

Icing:

Whipped cream, for cake

5 ounces sweetened coconut

- Bake cake according to package directions in a 9- by 13-inch pan.

- Poke holes in the cake with a fork all over. Pour topping mixture over cake. Let mixture absorb in refrigerator.

- Cover with whipped cream or Cool Whip and sprinkle sweetened coconut over top of cake.

Source: Food Network

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, divided.

- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

- Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in medium bowl. Add eggs; beat with spoon.

- Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended.

Stir in 3/4 cup coconut. Spread batter evenly into pan.

- Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup coconut over top.

- Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares.

Makes about 16 brownies.

Source: Hershey

1 pint lime sorbet or 1 can limeade from frozen juice section

8 shots light rum

1/2 cup mint leaves

1 tray ice cubes

- In a blender, combine 1/2 pint sorbet or 1/2 can of limeade with 4 shots of rum, 1/4 cup mint leaves and 1/2 tray of ice. Pulse, then blend on high until lime-mint slush is smooth. Pour drinks into 2 large cocktail glasses using a long-handled spoon and repeat with remaining ingredients.

Makes 4 drinks.

Source: Rachael Ray

DRINKS

Mojito

2 to 4 mint sprigs

2 teaspoons sugar

Soda water

Juice of 1 lime

2 to 3 ounces light rum

- Lightly muddle (crush) the mint and sugar with a splash of soda water in a mixing glass until the sugar dissolves and you smell the mint. Squeeze the lime into the glass, add rum and shake with ice. Strain over cracked ice in a highball glass. Top with soda water, garnish with mint sprig and serve. Makes 1 drink.

Source: www.webtender.com

[Last modified February 1, 2007, 05:54:25]