My WONDERFUL mother told me that even though my site *rocks* my photos are a little…lacking.
I told her that the problem is that I take all the photos with my iPhone – and there are a lot of limitations inherent in the device (not that I’m knocking the fabulous iPhone!). Anyway, she gave me her old camera to use. I’ll be damned if I can figure out how to use this thing though. I downloaded the manual and read THE WHOLE THING. There are a lot of cool things this camera is supposed to do – there’s even a setting just for food photography, but I can’t figure out how to make it work correctly. All the photos are coming out blurry and the colors are wrong….
Okay.
That’s the extent of my apology.
ON TO THE FOOD!
For lunch today I was craving a little goat cheese-roasted red pepper combo. I grabbed a hunk of fresh baguette, slathered on chunks of goat cheese and layered on drained and dried roasted pepper. It was sooooooo good. I don’t understand how people don’t eat these things all the time…
I actually shoved most of the green beans into the belly of the sandwich. *grin*
Dinner tonight was a whole new world for me. We had CUBAN!
To be more precise, we had Picadillo with Beans and Rice. Picadillo is ground beef sautéed with onions, garlic, peppers, cumin, and either olives or capers. You mix in some tomato sauce and water and let it bubble away.
C and J liked this a lot
Served that atop Cuban Beans and Rice – you’re supposed to use black beans. *sigh* We didn’t have any. Searched the pantry… Gave up and used kidney beans instead. Oh, and I couldn’t be bothered to do all the steps. I dumped everything into the rice cooker and let it bubble away. It was very good, actually. YAY!
Meh.
On the side we had Roasted Kabocha Squash and a Green Salad. The squash was SO.NOT.WORTH.IT. I tried it plain, with margarine, on top of my salad, with bites of meat and rice. Just not worth it. Frustrating. Aaahh well. You win some, you lose some.
Meat + Peppers + Onions & Garlic + Cumin and Capers
Cuban Picadillo adapted from Gina at Skinnytaste.com
Ingredients:
1/2 large Onion, chopped **I used a whole small one
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tomato, chopped **CRAP! I missed this!!
1/2 Pepper, finely chopped **I used a yellow one.
2 Tablespoons Cilantro **blech. BLECH! I subbed in 2 T of fresh parsley and I do not even count that as a substitution.
1 1/2 lb Ground Beef
4 oz (1/2 can) of Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup Water
Salt, Pepper
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 Bay Leaf
2 Tablespoons Alcaparrado (or capers or green olives) **I used the capers
2 Tablespoons brine from the capers/olives/alcaparrado jar
I used yellow peppers because that’s what I had on hand.
How To:
1- Brown the meat in a large skillet, breaking up the chunks as you go.
2- Chop up the onion, garlic, tomato, pepper, and cilantro/parsley. This is called Sofrito. TaaDaa! You learned something!
3- Drain the meat juice (BTW – do you have any easy way to do this? I keep ending up spilling and then use paper towels to sop up the leftover crap).
4- Add the Sofrito (Onion Mix) to the meat and continue cooking on a low flame. Add the Alcaparrado/olives/capers and the brine to the mix, as well as the cumin and bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
5- Add tomato sauce and the 1/4 cup water and mix well. Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 15-20 minutes.
**Did I mention that this is a Weight Watchers recipe?? *clapping*
Those were supposed to be black beans.
*sigh*
Cuban Beans and Rice adapted from Gina at Skinnytaste.com
Ingredients:
1 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 cup Peppers, chopped **You’re supposed to use 1/2 cup green, 1/2 cup red. I used one whole yellow. I’m crazy like that.
1 Small onion, chopped
1 cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup Uncooked Long Grain Rice, rinsed
15 oz. can beans UNDRAINED **You’re supposed to use black. I couldn’t find that last can of black beans I shoved somewhere in the pantry. *grimace* I subbed in a can of red Kidney Beans instead.
1 1/2 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1 Bay Leaf
Pinch Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
How To:
The recipe SAID to follow all these steps. I didn’t listen. I dumped everything into the rice cooker, turned that sucker on and walked away.
It was DELICIOUS.
I’m not gonna give you the recipe for the blandness that was Roasted Kabocha Squash. Waste of space. Roast a good Acorn or Butternut instead. Now those are some good eats.
End results: C and J liked the dinner. I thought the meat was a little too salty but the rice was SO GOOD. I’m totally rockin’ that recipe again. Seriously good.
Now that I think of it, I should’ve used my extra daily Weight Watchers points on a Mojito instead of that glass of wine….
OH! Don’t forget to vote for my blog!
Remember – voting makes you pretty.
*wink*
Ringing The Dinner Bell 
From your pictures and recipes if u come to work for me I will open another resturant. And the kids are beautiful
So? You’re coming back to NYC?