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Category Archives: Recipes
A snowy day and roasted chicken and black bean burritos
Well, it isn’t 2:00 am but rather 3:30 am and I can’t sleep. A perfect time to share a pretty sunset and a really YUM burrito recipe I made up.
That is the sunset taken from my living room window. Pretty, huh?
Linda’s Yummy and Easy Burritos!
2 lbs chicken thighs
1 jar fajita marinade (I have been moving and wanted to cook so I just picked up a jar of marinade at the grocery store in the mexican food isle)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 can black beans
1 8-oz container fresh pico de gallo (I picked up mine from Whole Pay Check…lol…aka Whole Foods (which I love, just pricy)
tortillas – Mission has an artisan tortilla out that is a blend of flour and corn (LOVED THEM)
Shredded Mexican cheese blend
salt
pepper
cumin
oregano
garlic salt
Green chili – I usually make my own (of course)….but this time I picked up some from Breakfast Inn and Dinner too…..a FAB diner- ish place close to where my Dad is living. I discovered it not too long ago. Point is? make it easy. Their green chili is to die for. Breakfast Inn
1. Marinate the thighs in the jar of fajita marinade, 3 tbsp olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, cumin and oregano for 3 -5 hours.
2. Roast in a clay pot, if you have one, or a small roasting pan, in marinade, at 350, for 30 – 40 minutes (don’t worry, you will finish the cooking later)
3. Remove from oven, cool room temp or chill overnight in the fridge. (Just make the chicken ahead and it is ready when you are)
Note: You can either make this a family casserole or simply wrap the burritos individually, as I did, for heating later on.
4. Pull meat off bones, discard skin and remaining marinade.
5. sauté 1/2 cup chopped onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic in a couple tbsp olive oil until opaque.
6. Add chicken, sauté for until warmed thru
7. Add 1 can black beans, drained. Cook for a few minutes
8. Add chopped spinach and pico de gallo and cook until spinach is tender.
Make burritos:
Sprinkle cheese in tortilla, add filling, fold, and either place in casserole or individual foil wraps.
If casserole, add green chili and more cheese to top. Heat thoroughly in 350 oven.
If individual, store in fridge. I unwrapped mine, added cheese and green chili and microwaved. Oven works just as well.
Enjoy. And if you make them, tell me how you made this idea even better!!!!
Cheers for now!
Cuban Black Beans, Yellow Rice, and Masitas de Peurico
Part Two: (Basically, saute onion, chopped red pepper, onion and garlic till caramelized and add to pot and start cooking beans in oven. Add Roast. Monitor and prepare rice.)
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Remove coarsely chopped onions from bean marinade, chop, add to sauté pan with chopped garlic, chopped red pepper, and bit of olive oil and 1 tbsp butter for flavor. Sauté on a lower heat until caramelized. Add back to beans.
3. Ideally, you have soaked the beans in a pot you can use in the oven. Cover the pot. Start cooking beans 1 hour before you add pork roast. Stir frequently. Take the pork roast (DISCARD THE PORK MARINADE) and place in the pot with the beans, add water if needed for beans, and replace lid and place in the oven. (remember, hot pot in the oven MEANS THE lid is HOT too!! …..as my fingers and brain have been reminded!!)
4. Cook, until the roast is slightly underdone, about 125 – 130 degrees at the ends and 115 in the middle. This will allow you to serve a variety of moist but fully safe cooked and fried pork at different doneness based on your preference. Check and stir the beans occasionally.
(The point of this technique is to allow the beans to absorb the pork flavor and the pork to continue to absorb the amazing marinade flavors. If you like, just continue cooking the pork until it reaches an internal temp of 135 and slice and serve. Otherwise:
5. Continue to cook beans in oven until pork is slightly underdone. Remove pork. Cover and place is refrigerator to cease cooking the pork. My beans took a couple hours more to cook the way I wanted them. Check and taste frequently. Season and add liquid of your choice as needed. Use a potato masher to mash beans to thicken beans.
6. RICE: Sauté 1/2 chopped onion, chopped garlic and chopped orange pepper in olive oil and and 1 tbsp butter. Stir in 1 1/2 cups gourmet brown rice. Slightly brown the rice. Add 3 1/2 cups made up of 2 cups water and 1 cup of your choice of broth and 1/2 cup orange juice. Salt, Pepper, add 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp oregano. Cover and steam. You are on your own after that. I am not the best rice person. But is was AMAZING. Nutty, slightly crunchy, and so so flavorful.
7. When you love your beans, your rice is close – heat grape seed oil in pan to a high temp. You just want to brown the pork on the outside. Brown sliced or cubed pork in hot oil. Drain. Serve.
Summary:
The beans are even better as leftovers, like spaghetti. I FORGOT TO LET YOU KNOW TO ADD A BAY LEAF TO THE BEANS AND THE PORK MARINADE!
Why is it, a woman with a mechanical engineering degree and years of hi tech sales and marketing experience cannot write a succinct recipe?
Please try your own version and tell me how it turns out! I am going to publish my Abi’s original recipe in my next post.
Enjoy a taste of Cuba!!
Cut into slices or traditional 2-inch cubes.
Aeracura Woman Style
Cuban Black Beans, Yellow Rice and Masitas de Peurico – Aeracura Woman Style
This is what I made and will serve 4 -6.
Take ONE 16-0Z PACKAGE BLACK BEANS OR USE FRESH IF YOU CAN! Fresh beans take less time to soften than older packaged beans. Soak for 6 -8 hours. Do NOT soak until they have fully softened. Cover beans to at least 1 -2 inches above the beans in the following:
1/3 water
1/3 broth of your choice (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
1/3 Spanish red wine
Juice of one lime
Juice of 2 oranges – use juicing oranges over naval if you can
1 coarsely chopped spanish onion
4 – 6 minced fresh garlic cloves. (I have tried jarred minced garlic. I use it in a pinch but nothing is better than fresh – in my humble opinion – lol.)
Tellicherry Pepper
Kosher salt - no…it will NOT make the beans tough – AT ALL
Cumin and 1 Bay leaf
Florida Pepper Seasoning from Penzy’s or similar. (I shopped SEVERAL local markets for Saffron and ended up going to Penzy’s for the Saffron and stumbled upon this blend and used it throughout my cooking project! It is a salt-free blend of pepper and citrus. I am sure you could easily add zest from a lemon lime and orange to create your own blend. EXPERIMENT!)
Oregano – healthy Tbsp
Chopped fresh basil – 1/4 cup
Stir…….and smell….YUM….
FOR THE PORK MARINADE:
A MORE FATTY CUT OF PORK ROAST. I thought I would be very smart and use a pork tenderloin. Didn’t love it. Too lean. And too hard to leave lean enough to brown at the end. Keep reading and you will understand.
3 lbs Pork Roast (but do consult with your butcher for your needs)
Rub first with a mix of the following (this is not a rub in the traditional sense of the word)
1 freshly minced onion (and, yes, I minced it in a mini – chopper and I used a yellow onion)
5 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp cumin and 1 Bay leaf
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp dried oregano
healthy sprinkle of Tellicherry pepper
healthy sprinkle of kosher salt
Florida pepper mix or more pepper and citrus zest from a lemon, a lime, and an orange
Rub with mixture, place in bag or a dish, cover with 1/2 red spanish wine and your choice of broth. Marinate over night
Remaining ingredients:
1 1/2 cups gourmet brown rice mix (It is NOT traditional, I know. I wanted to use a more healthy brown rice. It does change the texture for sure. The flavor was AMAZING!!) TRY IT. I found that I needed a bit more saffron to season the nutty brown rice.
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 orange pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 spanish onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Olive oil for sautéing
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
High smoking point, healthy cooking oil such as Grape-seed (high in omega-6)
Spanish Coupe Saffron – just a couple of pinches.
More pepper and salt to taste
I am going to post this now. And come back with the rest. Happy Tuesday! I have been so busy packing and working on my move details I apologize for not getting this up sooner!
It turned out so so good. My sister and I discussed freezing a portion and overnighting it so she could try it! lol. Trust me. Come back for the final part of my recipe!
I will take more pics and get more precise in my ingredients. BUT….this is about all of us experimenting!
Happy Tuesday!
Cuban Black Beans, Yellow (brown) Rice and Masitas de Puerco
