Zingiberis in the Kitchen.

I made a quick crockpot Chicken and Dumplings recipe.  It was so delicious.  This is the "healthy" version and loaded with flavor. Healthy Crockpot Chicken 4 flash frozen breasts of chicken OR regular chicken breasts 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 stalks of celery, sliced 4 carrots, sliced 1 pkg of sliced mushrooms OR a pound of mushrooms, sliced 1 red pepper, julienned 4 cups of chicken stock 3 sprigs of thyme 1 bay leaf 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional for a warmth) 1 cup of milk mixed with 3 tablspeoons of corn starch.  (or more if you like it very thick) 1 tbsp of vinegar Salt/Pepper to taste (the red pepper and carrots will sweeten the soup considerably) Biscuit dough, your choice. See below for ideas  Throw all ingredients except the milk, vinegar etc to the crockpot.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.  When done, take lid off, turn on high.  Remove chicken with a slotted spoon.  If...

Since I had such great success with the Spanish Garbanzo Soup, I decided to recreate another childhood favorite of mine.  Caldo Gallego.  This is a white bean soup from Spain with a Cuban twist.  I am limited in obtaining locally my typical cuban ingredients so this is my "version".  If you want to use an authentic version and able to get ingredients easily, try this one  Three Guys from Miami Recipe .  Mine is loosely based on theirs.  There are alot of sites out there that have their versions but they are a bit too out there and away from the original flavor profile I am used to.  Their site is the most consistent and closest to the Miami cuban flavor profile I grew up with.  Onward to the soup.  A note here on Chorizo.  I use the dry/cured chorizo specifically from Spain.  They make theirs with wine and paprika.  Other versions, especially from South America isn't the same or remotely similar.  Especially the fresh...

I had 2 cups of dried garbanzo beans that I was going to transform into hummus when family requested soup.  So soup it is.  Now here is a little tidbit about soaking dried beans.  There are 2 schools of thoughts on this.  Some like to soak beans overnight or do a quick soak which is 10 minutes in boiling water and then turn off heat and cover for 1 hour.  Or they just cook from dried beans.  I have grown up cooking without soaking.  Some say the soaking help make beans less gastro.  So it's up to you.  The following recipe I didn't soak.  If you do soak, just reduce the time to about 3 hours on high and 8 hours on low.  Chorizo is a beloved sausage of Spain/Cuba etc.  But it's always cured and dried.  Do not substitute for Mexican version of Chorizo, it's a complete different taste and texture.  Also, you can add Serrano ham to this in place of the ham seasoning.  The ham seasoning isn't of your typical american ...

I can go on and on the beauty that is Cuban Rice Pudding which has no relation to the American baked rice pudding.  It's served cold and creamy.  I grew up eating this and it's truly comforting and indulgent.  Now onward to the rice.  I have tried this with many variations of rice.  Some are too firm, others are too soft and some that is just right.  (I couldn't resist the reference!)  I am a snob when it comes to rice preferring the premium brands, but gosh darn it.  The cheap medium grain rice is best for this recipe.  So I buy it just for this.  And please don't substitute lemon for the lime, just omit outright.  Lemons do not belong in any Cuban cooking and it's the bane to my existence.  If you do sub lemon, don't tell me.  Ever. :)  Link to see the grain is at the end of the recipe. 1 1/2 cup of medium grain rice 3 cups of water 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half 1 inch peel of a lime peel, only the green par...

I had been on a search for the ultimate oven crispy fries.  I have tried many and narrowed on two favorites.  One is a bit labor intensive, the other easy.  Both are different but both give you that crispy almost deep fried taste.  Pictures coming soon of each step. The labor intensive (not really that much) version. 4 potatoes 1/2 Tsp of salt, pepper 4 tbsp olive oil 2 well oiled (with olive oil) cookie sheets Preheat oven to 400 First start a pot of water to boil. Meanwhile cut 4 white or yukon gold potatoes into thin planks.  Not too thin or too thick.  Toss into pot of water as you chop. Let it boil for about 5-7 minutes till just softened.  Drain thoroughly.  In a bowl toss 4 tbsp of olive oil with a 1/2 tsp of salt, pepper.  Shake out on to both trays till you have an even layer of fries with plenty of space.  Place in oven. Cook for 15 minutes, shake pan and using a spatula, turn over fries.  Then rotate cooki...

We moved to a city that thinks all Spanish people are Mexicans and cook spicy.  I have endlessly told people that Cuban/Spanish cooking isn't spicy across the board.  In fact most common dishes don't have a lick of heat in them.  Hispanics cuisine is so widely varied it's amazing at the span of the dishes ranging from meats, heat index and ingredients.  Cuban cooking tends to be very island influenced cooking from Spain.  Island as in use of citrus and tropical herbs like Cilantro etc. Below is a beloved staple that can be find in most Cuban households in Miami.  Because I live in a place that is limited in finding my "ethnic" ingredients, I have to use what's available to me locally. If I still lived in Miami, the recipes would be very different.  However I made do with that I have and it's still tasty.  * Will lead you to the notes/ingredients link at the end of the recipe. Black Beans from canned, Feeds 6 2 cans of plain black beans, rins...

Staples in the kitchen and common ingredients I cook with.  I will put links to Amazon/Other stores of what they are at the end of each recipe.  You can try subbing, but please realize some are essential and will drastically alter the flavor profile I am looking for.  Especially if you are trying to recreate the same dish from memory and it doesn't quite taste the same with the sub.  And I can tell you right now that I hate green peppers with a passion.  So I don't cook with them but alot of Cubans do, feel free to sub the peppers back to green peppers.  And if any questions whatsoever, please post in comments.  I will answer any and all questions.