Tamal en Cazuela (Cuban Polenta w/ Pork)

For those not familiar with Cuban cuisine, or those not exposed to the really down home, not in Cuban restaurant type dishes or the more rarily occasionally prepared dishes let me introduce you to "Tamal en Cazuela" it is essentially polenta/ a creamy corn porridge made from either course or fine cornmeal or freshly ground corn stewed with generous fried pork pieces and a sofrito (the base of Cuban cooking onion, garlic, bell pepper sometimes tomato) kissed with cumin and oregano.

Of course there are tons of variations, but I think mine kicks ass he he and is pretty simple and awesome (I've tried other Cubans "Tamal en Cazuela" and find it to acidic I really don't think it needs wine, or vinegar, or sour citrus as many Cubans like to add, or an excessive amount of canned tomato which I feel is what makes it too acidic...) the name of the recipe literally translates to "Tamale in a Pot/ stew" and Cuban tamales aren't sour so my tamale in a pot won't be either...

Anyways so I prepared this yesterday not really using a recipe but just what I believe would make it taste good or how it should be he he. Like I prepared it the same way my grandmother explains Cuban tamales to me except it was in the form of a corn porridge/ stew and it was a big hit, my family went gaga for it, and my Spaniard/ Cuban grandmother whom is hard to please or never really compliments food unless it's amazing let out a approving "mmmmmmmm quedo muy bueno mijito" which she rarily does (translates to "mmmmmmm came out real good son") lol. and her approval is all that matters in the dinner table when she's with us anyways lol. (I love my Tata/ Abuela :)

At the same time I wasn't really surprised she likes it because my grandmother is a sucker for any type of Cuban style polenta dishes, or puddings.

Ingredients:
-2 lbs. well marbled pork meat (from the leg or thigh often sold as pork butt) cut into small cubes
-1 onion minced
-1 bell pepper minced
-6 cloves garlic finely minced or through a garlic press
-1/2- 1 cup tomato sauce or 3 fresh grated or pureed tomatoes
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1 fat pinch ground oregano
-ground black pepper to taste
-salt to taste
-1 1/2 cups coarse or finely ground cornmeal
-10- 12 cups water
-1 can of creamed corn

Directions:
(1) First thing you want to do is wash your cut pork, put it in a deep-pan cover with water not alot just enough to barely cover, add 2 tsp. salt, black pepper to taste, and a fat pinch of cumin. To this add 2 tablespoonfuls of lard or olive oil. Bring to a boil on high, stir and leave uncovered
(2) Meanwhile chop all the stuff for your sofrito (the onion, garlic, bell pepper) and prep everything. Then get a large pot and add your 1 1/2 cups of cornmeal, cover with water generously (don't measure at this point we are just washing it) give it a good stir, and wait 3 minutes or less for the cornmeal to settle at the bottom, then slowly and carefully pour most of the water out, repeat this once or twice. This is just a habit my grandmother taught me, she likes to wash the cormeal.
(3) Now after doing that add about 10- 12 cups water, 1 tablespoon salt, and I like to add 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar so it has the sweetness of fresh corn (really depends how thick or thin you want your stew), and put on the stove over high heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a boil (this takes awhile) then lower heat to low and stir occasionally scraping bottom while you do other stuff.
(4) At this point like seen above the water you covered the pork with should evaporate or is close to and allow meat to brown all over, and add you onion, garlic, and bell pepper, allow to cook down and stir the pork occasionally for about 8 minutes on medium high heat til onions are translucent and garlic very fragrant stir in ground cumin, then add tomato and stir let cook an additional 2 minutes. Meanwhile stir your cornmeal to make sure it doesn't stick to bottom of pot while you were doing all that.
(5) Now add your pork, onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomato and spice mixture you had all frying up together in the seperate pan to the cornmeal, along with the can of creamed corn. Raise heat to medium and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, add salt to taste (I added about 1 teaspoon more) if needed.
(6) Turn off heat and ready to serve
I served it with a nice salad of thinly sliced tomato, lettuce, onion, tossed in lime, olive oil, and salt.

P.S.
Yeah I know the pictures look "shitty" it's because I just moved, have no "real camera" and yeah, but just wanted to share anyways for those who wanna enjoy it anyways :)

Also for those interested in another type cuban polenta type dish check out my post for "Harina de Maiz Con Pata de Cangrejo" (Cuban Polenta with Crab legs) by clicking the link below

http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/2009/02/harina-de-maiz-con-patas-de-cangrejo.html

Pollo al Vino de Ivonne (Ivonne's Cuban Chicken in Wine Sauce)

"Pollo al Vino" translates to "Chicken in Wine" I learned this recipe through my blog buddy/ friend Ivonne from her blog Cuban in the Midwest (which is one of the must check blogs along with mine if you like Cuban Cuisine, besides my blog her's is the most complete I've seen dedicated to the Cuisine of Cuba, so like I said a must check if your trying to explore Cuban culture through a culinary perspective)

Anyways back to the recipe, this stew is a nice change from the other typical Cuban stews in that it contains NO TOMATO products in any form (no tomato sauce, or paste, ketchup or fresh tomatoes) most Cuban meat stews are stewed in a red tomato based sauce with wine, and this one offer's a nice change. It does have a reddish color, but that color is achieved from using paprika in the dish, the sauce is simply formed by stewing meat in very low heat with simply wine, and the Cuban holy trinity (onion, garlic, bell pepper) with spices, the meat will release it's own juices when simmered for awhile and the steam and stuff will cook everything perfectly and all everything just marry's well. It was a hit in my house :)

Growing up my grandmother always talked about Cuban meat stews that her father used that were made without tomato, they were used to stew meats like goat, lamb, duck, rabbit, and chicken, however my grandma never really made them so I never had the opportunity to try it, so when I saw a recipe that resembled what my grandma had spoken about I was like "I need to try it!" my grandma has shared a recipe with me from what she remembers, but I was doubtful of them because I was like "well if it has no water just wine and stuff won't it evaporate and the meat kinda burns idk) but it turns out it didn't lol. from trying Ivonne's recipe that technique works, but yeah i have never gotten to making it. (it's similar to Ivonne's but spiced different and the result seems to give you a dark brown sauce I will share it someday)

I did modify the recipe a bit but overall it's the same way she made it, only difference, I stewed the potatoes and carrots from the very beginning with the meat, and browned the meat prior to stewing it and sauteeing aromatics :) I recommend this dish to anyone ya'll need to try it! :)

Ingredients:
-1 whole chicken (cut into segments, remove skin, wash, drain and rinse several times, I have hte habit of cleaning it like 2 times, then giving it a last wash with vinegar, salt, nad water then drain and pat-dry. I do this because I like getting rid of the little taste some meats may have...)
-ground black pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp.)
-sweet smoked Spanish paprika (1 1/2 teaspoons)
-salt to taste (I used 2 teaspoons to rub all over the chicken)
-1 green bell pepper chopped
-1 onion chopped
-6-8 cloves garlic minced
-1 cup dry white wine or dry sherry
-2 bay leaves
-3 large potatoes, peeled cut into 3 sections or cut in two
-3 carrots, peeled and cut horizontally, or in rounds your choice
-6 large Pimiento stuffed green olives cut into 3 sections, or 12 small one (I think canned black one's seedless would work too)

Directions:
(1) Place cleaned chicken in a bowl and run in/ toss well and coat well with salt, pepper, and paprika.
(2) Brown it in batches in olive oil, over high or medium high heat. Afterwards i set it aside in a deep pot
(3) In the same pan you browned the chicken sautee onions, garlic, bell pepper over medium high stirring occasionally making sure to scrape any browned bits, de-glaze with 1 cup of wine, and bring to a rolling boil
(4) Toss the sauteed onion, garlic, bell pepper and wine mixture into the pot with the chicken, throw in potatoes, carrots and olives. I added 1/2 cup water to this just incase it needed more liquid to cook. Bring to a rolling boil covered, for about 1 minute or 2. Then lower heat to low and simmer covered for about 45 minutes. And ta-daaa you should end up with this

Salpicón (Mini Cuban Meatloaf )

I first heard of Salpicón which is another variety of Cuban Meat loaf at one of my favorite Cuban blogs called "Cuban in the Midwest" it was 2 small meat loafs, simmered in a typical cuban style tomato based sauce (you the know the drill the sofrito of onion, garlic, bell peppers, lots of olive oil, tomato, etc.) Growing up my Tata/ grandma NEVER made "Cuban" style meat loaf, so it has always been something unknown to me until I started reading other Cuban blogs.

My first introduction to Cuban-style meat loaf was Marta Darby from the blog "My Big Fat Cuban Family" she posted a large fried meat loaf, that was simmered in another variation of the cuban tomato based sauces, except it wasn't called "Salpicon" it was called "Pulpeta" it seems Salpicon and "Pulpeta" are cousins ha ha both seem to be loafs of meat that fried and simmered in those cuban creole sauces on stove top.

The main difference is that "Salpicon" are little loafs, and the Pulpeta are huge meat loafs usually with hard boiled eggs in the center. (Btw I've already cooked my own version of Pulpeta if anyone cares to see the post here's the link: http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/2009/11/pulpeta-cuban-meatloaf.html) my Pulpeta is awesome ;)

Anyways back to the Salpicon, these small fried loafs, reminded me of a large sausage in a savory creole sauce (don't thing wrong perverts ha ha) and so the recipe I came up with was inspired by the recipe I saw in the blog "Cuban in the Midwest" but this is my version/ variation. The way I made it was I wanted these fried meat loafs to taste like a spicy version smokey Spanish chorizo (like the Spanish chorizo's from La Rioja region of Spain) who's main elements are hot smoked spanish paprika and lots of garlic, thus I seasoned my ground meat mixture like that, and the ground ham in the meat mixture I used gives it that cured salty taste in addition the sauce I wanted it to accent the flavors of the loaf so I added to the sauce oregano because oregano and smoked spanish paprika really get along well together, not to mention I've noticed ground meat goes very well with oregano (of course this is just my opinion from messing around in the kitchen)

So here's my recipe hope you guys enjoy it :)

Main Ingredients:
-1 lbs. ground beef
-1 lbs. ground pork
-1/2 lbs. ground sweet ham
-5 eggs
-1 1/2 cups bread crumbs or cracker meal
-1/2 head garlic (peeled, through a garlic pressed or mashed to a paste in a mortar)
-1 tablespoon 1/2 hot or sweet smoked spanish paprika
-salt to taste (I used 2 teaspoons depends how salty your ham or bread or cracker meal is)

Ingredients for Sauce:
-1/4- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
-2 large onion julienned
-2 large green or red bell pepper julienned
-1/2 head of garlic finely minced, or through a garlic press or mortar
-2 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
-2 cup of water
-1 cup dry white wine or red wine
-1 tablespoon ground oregano
-salt to taste (about 1 1/2 teaspoon)

Directions for loafs:
(1) Mix all the main ingredients together, but do not over mix the mixture or it will be tough.

(2) Mold into 3-4 small loaves like picture below. Allow loaves to rest in fridge about 1 hour in a container, or plate with plastic wrap, so they marinade, and firm up.

(3) Pass the loafs through beaten egg, then bread crumbs. Pat the loaves so the bread crumb mixture sticks.

(4) Heat a large frying pan with about 1/4- 1/3 cup olive oil and carefully fry the loaves on all sides til browned.
Set aside in a large deep pot.
Directions for sauce:
(1) In the pan where you fried the loafs, sautee julienned onions and bell peppers until translucent, add the garlic and stir a addition 2 minutes until fragrant.
(2) Add dry white wine or red and de-glaze, and tomato sauce, and thin out the sauce with some water (I use about 1 cup) stir in oregano and bring to rolling boil.
(3) Add the sauce to the pot where you have the fried loafs.
Put that pot over high heat and when everything comes to a boil,
cover and simmer on medium low for about 25- 30 minutes, then flip the loafs carefully and simmer an additional 25- 30 minutes.

(4) Turn off heat, and garnish with finely minced parsley or cilantro if you have it.
(5) To serve remove loafs, when serving serve a 1 inch thick slice of the loaf, and spoon sauce over it. Goes very well with white or yellow rice or mashed potatoes and a salad of your choice

PLEASE NOTE:
(1)Yeah camera is still messed up, I can't see what I'm taking a picture of ha ha... anyone wanna buy me a new one?
(2) I made a lot as you can see I used a real large pan to braise all of meat loafs. You can cut the recipe in half. This recipe made like 16 servings. 4 of us ate one of the loafs (my Dad was missing otherwise it would've been 5) but it makes great leftovers, one day eat it with rice, other day eat it with mashed potatoes, and it would be great cold inbetween some french or cuban bread or simply sliced and inside whatever sandwich or cold with crackers.

Potaje de Colorados #7 Con Malanga, Calabaza y Maiz (Cuban Red Bean Stew with Malanga, Calabaza, and Corn)

Ha ha yes sorry yet another red bean stew. Thing is I just love making hardy Cuban and Spanish bean stews (which are typically in my house made w/ meat, sometimes sausage, potatoes, and Calabaza married with a sofrito and spices) and since red beans weren't a family favorite I loved messing around with them and preparing them in different ways my family would enjoy them. Plus overtime just grew on me ha ha, now my family loves it when I cook a pot of red beans.

Ok so all that said and done this isn't your "typical" Cuban red bean stew with potatoes and calabaza. My grandmother (Tata) told me her step mother use to make bean stews using "Malanga" (a type of Caribbean taro) in combination with Calabaza back in Cuba. Also friends from "Oriente" (Eastern Cuba) makes Potajes with Malanga usually, and something that I found surprising was one of my readers Mamey told me he had a red bean stew with rounds of cobbed corn in Oriente. So pretty much from hearing all this I was like "Mmmm sounds yummy and a nice alternative to the typical Cuban bean stews. Ooooh have some cobs in the freezer... then I open the bottom drawer and some Malanga yummy all that was left was to buy some Calabaza" and that's how this recipe came to be :)

Try it, the results were silky smooth beans, a rich stock from the ham bone, and chunks of ham, hints of sweetness from the Calabaza and Corn, and everybody trying to find and gorge down those delicious chunks of Malanga, which are rich, starchy, and have a slight nutty taste. My Tata whom came to visit said it reminded her of Ajiaco (a rich stew/ soup made with meat and just about every tuber n delicious starchy veggies found in Cuban cooking something I will share in the future)

ok... ok... so before I begin I gotta tell you guys I recently broke my wrist and a small area below it when I went snowboarding... but yeah live n learn I guess. So I'm not able to cook as often or maneuver a bunch and was at the hospital most of my day. So I made this stew with the help of my mom, she chopped all the veggies for me and I did it "a la Crockpot" lol. but you can adjust the recipe to stove top. I'm going to need her when I make "Empanada Gallega" (a huge Galician meat pie) with chicken something I'll post later :)

Ingredients:
-1 lbs. small or large red beans (washed and drained twice, then cover with 2 inches water bring to a boil 20 minutes, then turn off and soak at least 4-6 hours or overnight)
-1 ham bone
-1 lbs. ham steak or chunk cubed
-5-6 small "aji cachucha" peppers minced
-1 green bell pepper chopped
-1 onion chopped
-6 cloves garlic chopped
-1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce (or fresh chopped tomato)
-1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-3 small or 2 medium or 1 large bay leaf
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1/2 teaspoon dried crumbled oregano
-6-7 freshly ground allspice berries or 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
-1 lbs. Calabaza cut into 1 inch pieces (butternut or kabucha squash are good alternatives since carribean squash isn't available here easily)
-2 medium malangas cut into 1 inch chunks (taro root)
-2 ears of corn sliced into 1 inch rounds
Directions ( now I'm going to include directions for both crockpot and stove top it's similar procedure for this recipe):
(1) Do not drain the red beans or you'll lose color, throw the already pre-soaked beans in a large pot on stove-top, or throw in crockpot, add ham bone, ham chunks, cachucha peppers, bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, olive oil, bay leaves and corn, if using crockpot add calabaza and malanga if using stove- top don't add it yet. If using crockpot set on low for 8-12 hrs. or high for 6 hrs insuring you added enough water to cover all ingredients. If using stove top, bring to boil, cover and simmer about 1 1/2- 2 hours checking occasionally until beans are tender.

(2) When beans are tender add salt to taste about 2-3 tsp, the cumin, dried oregano, ground allspice if using crockpot allow to cook an additional 30 minutes with spices, if you made the stove-top version when beans are tender add salt, spices, and cubed malanga and calabaza to the stew and cook 30 minutes, add more water if necessary.
(3) When calabaza and malanga is tender remove one cup of calabaza and mash it to a paste, stir it back in, this will make the stew have a delicious sweet hint and thicken it. Turn off-heat, and serve over white rice :)
this was all that was leftover from that huge pot :)
P.S.
I'ma say it again... and again hehe if you'd like to help me out please vote for me to win a chance to have my own recording and be feautured on the cooking show Delicioso on "Univision" by voting for me in the below link. It is one of my dreams to be in something like that :)

http://cocina.univision.com/delicioso/episodios/article/2011-01-05/el-bloggero-delicioso

Fricase de Puerco (Pork Fricase)

I had a good chunk of pork meat, well marbled good for stewing so I was planning on
making a stew with it, but not sure how I wanted to make the stew

I wanted a Cuban or Spaniard tomato based stew, and I knew the variations were endless.

However I remembered that some Cuban restaurants have something they call "Fricase de Puerco" which is a pork version of the Cuban "Fricase de Pollo/ Chicken Fricase" (which is chicken stewed in a tomato based sauce, traditionally/ typically chicken is marinaded in garlic and citrus first, browned, cooked in sauce and is somewhat sour with olives sometimes some capers but often balanced by stewing with the addition of raisins or sometimes instead of raisins some people add sliced carrot or leave it as is without the sweetness)

So here's my way of preparing a cuban-style "Pork Fricase" and let me tell you it came out delicious!!!! What made it special was marinading the pork in sour orange and garlic giving it that special cuban garlic sauce taste, but it married into the typical tomato based sauce made with the holy trinity of Cuban cooking (onion, bell pepper, garlic) the two married and gave birth to this, it was just amazing :D

-Ingredients to marinade pork-
-3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder cut into 1 inch cubes
-3/4 cups sour orange juice (you can substitute with 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 white vinegar or a mixture of 1/2 lime and 1/2 orange juice)
-1/2 head of garlic, peeled, mashed to a paste in a mortar or through a press
-2 tsp. salt

-Ingredients for for the rest-
1/2 cup lard or extra-virgin olive oil (I use lard for this)
-1 onion chopped
-1 bell pepper (red or green or both) chopped
-1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
-1/2 cup dry white wine
-3 cups water
-2 bay leaves
-1 tsp. whole black peppercorns (or black pepper to taste)
-1 tsp. ground cumin
-4 potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
-7-8 olives cut in half (black or green spanish olives)
-4 tablespoons capers (optional)
-1/4 cup raisins (optional)
-salt to taste (towards the end because the olives and capers tend to be very salty, also the wine depending what you use, like if you use a typical cuban cooking wine like Goya or Edmundo it also has salt)

Directions:
(1) Mix pork with all marinade ingredients allow to marinade at least 2 hours. When done marinading drain it BUT reserve the marinade, pat the meat dry.

(2) In a large pot, heat lard on very high heat, when it's real hot, add pork and brown on all sides (do not panic if the pork releases some juices and everything starts boiling, leave it uncovered and stir occasionally until everything reduces and it starts browning)

(3) When browned add bell peppers and onion and cook until translucent, add tomato sauce stir well and when the tomato sauce bubbles throw in bay leaves, peppercorns, and cumin, along with wine, and water. Bring everything to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour.

(4) When pork meat is tender (to check doneness pierce with a fork) add your potatoes, olives and the optional capers and raisins bring back to a boil on high, and cover simmer on medium low until potatoes are tender (about 20 - 30 minutes) turn off heat and it's ready to serve over rice :)

PLEASE NOTE:
(1) For a very delicious variation, cut your potatoes into large cubes, and deep-fry them on medium high heat until inside is tender, and then crank the heat up and get them all well browned, drain and set aside. When the meat is fully tender, turn off stew and toss it with the deep-fried potatoes.

I learned that technique/ variation in these type of stews from "Maruxa Moíño" a wonderful home cook originally from Galicia, Spain now residing in Catalunya region of Spain. Her son created a blog documenting and making videos of her home cooking. So a big thanks and shout to them :)

http://www.enezeta.com/lacocinademispapis/?p=6

Estofado de Pollo Con Hierbas Aromaticas (Chicken Stew with Aromatic Herbs?)

Lately in Southern California this week it's been nothing but cold and rain rain rain, something not so common down here. So in my house it's been nothing but hardy bean and meat stews, soaked with crusty warm bread and or hot rice as well as creamy vegetable soups we just consume as a hot drink. Mmmmm... and my mom's been making lots of hot chocolate for me when I come from school.

Anyways with this weather I felt like eating a hearty stew with chicken, potatoes, carrots, and meaty mushrooms in a thick soupy sauce of course to eat with my rice or bread.

I had/ still have tons of fresh herbs (a grip load of thyme I need to use up soon because it will go bad this week) and I decided to make this chicken stew throwing a bunch of fresh herbs I had. Let me tell you this chicken was so flavorful and aromatic, but yet mellow and pleasant.

I don't know what to call this dish honestly... it's not traditional or authentic anything, it's prepared like very typical Cuban and Spanish tomato based meat stews except I threw a bunch of fresh herbs that somehow married with the sweet smoked Spanish paprika really well, my boyfriend however felt that this harmony made it feel like it was missing something? (he's use to more bold tastes I guess, or that was just his personal opinion... I did feel it very mellow and not over powering so maybe that's his interpretation of missing something)

So back to not knowing what to call it, well it is a stew made with chicken and has tons of aromatic herbs so I guess it's okay to just label it "Estofado de Pollo Con Hierbas Aromaticas"/ Chicken Stew with Aromatic Herbs, not very creative I know if any of you think of another name let me know :)

Ingredients:
-3 1/2- 4 lbs chicken
-1 large onion minced
-1 medium bell pepper minced
-1/2 head garlic, peeled, minced
-1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
-1/2-1 cup red wine or white wine (your preference)
-2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
-4 small sprigs fresh thyme
-4 small sprigs fresh oregano
-12- 15 whole black peppercorns
-2-3 bay leaves
-1 teaspoonful sweet smoked Spanish paprika or cumin just something smokey (optional I just felt like adding it, I used smoked Spanish paprika)
-4 medium potatoes peeled left whole or cut in half
-1 lbs. carrots, peeled cut in half or left whole
-1 lbs. fresh or reconstituted mushrooms (I used shitake mushrooms I rehydrate)
-1 cup fresh or frozen peas (I use frozen and add it the last 5 minutes of cooking)
-salt to taste
-2 teaspoons chicken bouillon (optional)

Directions:
(1) Cut chicken into segments, wash really well, pat-dry set aside. (in my house we usually wash the chicken by washing once with water, then drain, then we submerge in water in sink with fresh squeezed lime and squeezed lime halves, as well as salt and drain twice more then pat-dry and set aside, this gets rid of that "chicken taste" and any slimy residue most chicken has)
(2) Heat a large pan on high heat, when hot add olive oil, lower to medium high and immediately add chicken pieces one by one, sprinkle with salt and let brown on all sides.

(3) Set chicken aside, and now saute onions, bell peppers until tender about 5-7 minutes, then add garlic together with rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, black peppercorns and stir well until fragrant about 1-2 minutes., add wine and allow to bubble and reduce a bit, then add tomato sauce.

(4) Add chicken back, along with potatoes and carrots, add enough water to barely cover everything.
(5) Now bring to a boil on very high heat, remove any scum, add chicken bouillon powder or cube crumbled in, cover and cook on medium heat or medium low for 25 minutes, add peas and fresh mushrooms and cook an additional 5 minutes.
(5) Serve :)
(6) If using dried mushrooms add them together with the chicken, potatoes, and carrots. I soaked dried shitake mushrooms in water for 6 hours (well I just left it over night) then drained, washed, and cut ready to use in my recipe.

Please Note:
-I threw all the fresh herbs whole, you can tie it into a bouquet so you can remove later, or remove all the rosemary, thyme, and oregano leaves from the stems and chop them finely then add, and if whole black peppercorns bother you, you can throw ground I guess. Heck I think you can substitute all the fresh herbs with 1 teaspoon of the dried version of them and still get similar results.
-you can probably use chicken stock instead of water if you wanna avoid bouillon.

Aporreado de Tasajo (Dry Salted Beef Stew)

Tasajo is dry salted beef, the beef is salted, dried, and preserved in a coating of beef fat or lard. Another one of those ancient foods that use to be consumed before refrigeration (just like Bacalao a.k.a. dry salted cod) although it is not well known in Spain. Seems to be more well known in the Caribbean and certain parts of South America. Tasajo use to be consumed by the slaves and peasants but became popular over time, now days it is not considered poor people food nor is it consumed often since it is expensive (it is hard to find in Southern California and the only place that I can find it here sells it at 10.99 a pound) It is seen as an occasional treat in my household.

However I must say Tasajo use to be made with horse meat or at least the Tasajo Cubans consumed back in the day, until it was banned in the U.S.A. by raging P.E.T.A. and others... I think the ban on horse meat is completely stupid... but that's just my opinion... (why would killing a cow, calf, or intelligent pig be any different than killing a horse for consumption?)

Last time I had real horse meat was probably when I was around 5 or 6 years old a Taiwanese friend brought back an assortment of dry horse meat jerky. Horse meat is earthy and has a natural sweetness. Also no matter how much it cooks it will retain it's red color... I do find it odd how the Tasajo sold here imported from Uruguay behaves the same even though labeled as beef (no matter how much you cook it it retains the red color, and is earthy with a natural sweetness) because of these characteristics and it's sweetness it is still popular in the "black market" in Florida where it can sometimes range from 7- 40 dollars a pound" if you know where to look you'll find it. This may seem a shock to some people, but horse meat is popular in many European countries (such as Germany, Belgium, Sweden and other parts, and can even be found as Sashimi in Japan since it is considered very clean and healthy and way less prone to disease than beef.)

HOWEVER before I begin I must warn you, Tasajo isn't for everyone I believe it's an aquiered taste, my mother dislikes it, so does my Travis, and my father isn't too fond of it. Only me and my grandmother love it. To us it has like I said an earthy, sweet taste, and salty addictiveness, the texture is soft but chewy? Hard to describe like a moist beef jerky? Although my mother say's it smells like dog food.. Travis agreed with her.... well if you ever wanna try something different give this a try :)

And so I leave you here with my favorite way to prepare Tasajo (their aren't many) I only know 3 ways, one the meat is shredded and stir fried in hot lard with onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin until it is crispy and browned. The second is it is cut in steaks seasoned with lime, garlic, salt, and cumin then pounded and pan fried in lard or olive oil, onions are fried in the drippings then the steak is served with onions over it. Lastly and thirdly my favorite way is having it simmered in a savory cuban style tomato based sauce.

Ingredients for desalting tasajo:
-1 lbs. Tasajo
-water enough to cover tasajo 2-3 inches
-1 bay leaf

Ingredients for sauce:
-1/4- 1/2 cup lard or olive oil
-1 green bell pepper julienned
-2 onions julienned
-6 cloves garlic minced finely
-1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
-1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
-2 cups tasajo boiling liquid (reserved from the desalting process)
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
-salt to taste (if necessary the tasajo and it's liquid is already pretty salty)

Directions:
(1) Get tasajo, remove yellow coating of fat by scraping down with a spoon, throw away fat (I've been tempted to save it and use it to cook the tasajo but I thought lard or olive oil tastes better anyways).

(2) Put the tasajo in a large pot, cover with cold water and let soak at least 12 hrs. (24 is better) change the water whenever you remember (maybe every 4-5 hrs.)
(3) The next day, drain the water, cut tasajo in 2 or 4 parts, cover the tasajo with about 3 inches of water, throw a bay leaf in there and boil a total of 2 hrs more or less until tender (tender enough to shred or to be pierced by a fork). RESERVE THE COOKING LIQUID YOU WILL NEED IT TO MAKE SAUCE!
(4) When tender remove and shred by hand, discard fatty pieces. Set aside, if the tasajo seems to salty you may rinse it and drain.
(5) Now begin sauce. Heat a large shallow pan on medium high heat with lard or olive oil, when grease is hot add julienned onions and bell peppers sautee 5-7 minutes, add garlic sautee an additional 2-3 minutes, when fragrant add tomato sauce, dry white wine, cumin, stir and bring to bubble.
(6) Add shredded desalted tasajo, stir well, add the reserved liquid (about 1-2 cups depends how thick or thin you like your sauce), and cover to simmer 30 additional minutes. Turn off heat.
(7) Serve with whatever you'd like, either white rice, moros (rice steamed with black beans and its broth), or congri (rice steamed with red beans and it's broth) go really well with it along with either a simple salad (like Ensalada de Aguacate, Ensalada de Aji, or a simple tossed salad my friend Tita makes, "Tita's Salad", boiled root vegetables with mojo (yuca, malanga or name, calabaza or boniato), or fried root vegetables or other veggies (fried yuca, fried ripe plantains, tostones, boniato or sweet potato rounds, or even french fries still waiting to be posted haha)
PLEASE NOTE:
(1) I juliened everything thickly to make the sauce the onions and bell peppers because I wanted the pieces like that, I didn't want them to disappear into the sauce. You can julien everything thinly if you wish. My grandmother likes to use less onion only 1 or 1/2 of one and 1 or 1/2 a green bell pepper that she prefers to have it minced, it is up to you and your personal preference.

(2) Here's another recipe for Tasajo from my friend IDania from El Aroma de IDania (mil gracias por el pimienton dulce y picante de la vera) which she learned from another wonderful Cuban cook Marilyn from her cooking blog "My Cuban Traumas"

Chicharrones (Fried Pork Rinds)

Chicharrones are fried pork rinds. Which is like fried crispy pork fat and skin sometimes with some meat on it. Chicharrones are the product left from rendering lard, you literally render all the fat from the pork belly or rinds and then they fry to a golden crunchy crisp.

It's a great deal and not expensive at all it was only 49 cents a pound when we bought it, for 5 bucks we got 8 pounds of the pork belly, rendered it's fat and had enough Chicharrones for about 6 of us with leftovers, and in addition we get 1/2 a gallon of rendered delicious flavorful lard to cook with great deal in my opinion (yes yes I am frugal)

These fried pork meats are popular in many many cultures, Mexicans, Cubans, and I believe almost any culture that renders pork fat for cooking. I am labeling the recipe as Mexican however since my mother taught me how to make it, it was the first time she ever made it she told me she learned from watching neighbors make them when she lived in Mexico in these large copper wok like pots called "Caso's"

Ingredients:
-8 lbs. Pork Belly (we by a cut in Spanish called "Lonja de Puerco" I don't know the English name I think it's pork belly, but with very little meat and mostly skin and fat)
-water (enough to barely cover pork belly)
-salt to taste

Directions:
(1) Clean pork belly into thick strips, then shave those thick strips just in case there is still hair on the skin... (I know sounds gross) now cut into large squares. Clean really well with water, my mom likes to clean them with lime and salt and water then rinse several times, you can just rinse if you wish.
(2) Put in a large wide copper pot Mexicans call this a Caso it's like a wok made of copper, we didn't have that so used a large NON-STICK wok. Put cut and cleaned pork bellies, cover with enough water to barely cover season liberally with slat (I put like 4 tsp.), and leave on high heat until it comes to a boil, let boil uncovered on medium high.
(3) Let boil uncovered for about 2 1/2 hours, the meat will start rendering it's fat, you need to carefully stir occasionally maybe every 30 minutes the first hour then every 15 once the water evaporates BE CAREFUL it will pop sometimes and throw bursts of hot boiling pork fat so it's dangerous, be careful, and don't over also. I stir from a distance firmly holding the woks handle. I still get a little splatter here and there but no bad burns.
(4) When the Chicharrones (pork rinds) are golden brown and crispy, turn off heat and take them out. They will have literally released about at least for me 1/2 a gallon of lard/ pork fat they will be deep-fried in their own fat.
(5) Set the Chicharrones aside and lightly salt them if necessary. You can enjoy them with any meal you wish as a meat dish, or a snack, we ate it at my house served over some boiled Yuca/ cassava root smothered in Mojo sauce (we call it Yuca Con Mojo), served with a mixed steamed yellow rice with corn (we call it Arroz Con Maiz), and some sauteed green beans (no recipe posted, but my mom stirfried green beans with finely chopped pork cracklings in the flavorful pork fat with onions and garlic seasoned with soy sauce and oyster sauce I know not very Cuban for this meal but damn delicious and went well with it). For dessert we had an Almond Flan and for beverage some chilled Hibiscus tea.
(6) Let the fat rendered from the chicharrones cool a bit, then you can strain it, and save it in containers so you can cook whatever you want with it. That's the main reason we make Chicharrones, to have some fresh rendered flavorful lard to use in certain dishes.

IMPORTANT TIPS TO READ DO NOT COOK WITHOUT READING THIS:
(1)Don't use a regular metal pot, the chicharrones will stick to the bottom and burn you'll end up with a mess.
(2) Don't cut them to small they will fall apart since they shrink about more than 1/2 their size.
(3)Don't stir so hard you break them.
(4)Be careful for splatters you may burn yourself it's risky I'm warning you but the rewards are great.
(5)Use something non-stick, or a large copper pan.
(6)You don't need measurements or exactly 8 lbs. just be sure whatever amount you have that it fits in a pot, cover with enough water to barely cover, and salt to taste.