It’s been awhile since I posted last. Work has been keeping me very busy and I have just been too tired to write at the end of the night. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking. I have, but I just haven’t gotten around to posting any of the recipes yet, so the posts over the next week should kind of catch me up….I hope.

I’ve kind of been on a Caribbean kick the last week or so and the other day I can across some really nice looking plantains at my local grocery store. My wife loves plantain chips so I decided that I would whip up a batch of tostones for her to try. Like plantain chips, tostones are fried, but they tend to be thicker and often are just a bit soft in the center. Personally, I prefer tostones over plantain chips any time.

You will find lots of recipes that say that the plantains must be completely green to make authentic tostones. That may be the case, but I’ve found that I prefer a hint of sweetness in my tostones so I look for plantains that are just a few days from being fully ripe.

Tostones are very easy to make but they do require a double frying, something you see often in Caribbean cooking, especially in Cuban cuisine. First peel the plantains. This can be somewhat difficult if your plantains are still very green as the skin wants to adhere to the flesh. Once peeled slice the plantains into 1 1/2 -2″ chunks. Deep fry these chunks in 300°F vegetable oil for about 3-4 minutes.

They will be lightly browned and have started to soften. Drain on paper towel and allow to cool.

Once cool, place each plantain chunk between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and gently smash them. To do this I usually use a small saute pan. Don’t slam the pan down, on top of the plantains, like you are tenderizing meat, or you will smash it into oblivion. I just place the pan on top and press down to flatten them.

Once the plantains have all been flattened, return them to the deep fryer set at about 350°F and fry until golden brown and crispy around the edges, about 4-5 minutes. Don’t overcrowd your pan. I usually do 3-4 at a time. Remove, drain on paper towel and sprinkle with salt.

I usually serve these with a traditional mojo sauce (a citrusy, garlicky sauce native to Cuba). This simple sauce takes about 5 minutes to make and is a great accompaniment to the tostones.

Mojo Sauce
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup lime juice**
1/3 cup orange juice**
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Gently heat the olive oil until warm. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add to the olive oil, bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. This sauce is best served the same day as it is made, though it can be stored for up to a week in the fridge.

**Note: Traditionally, the juice of the sour orange would be used, but they are difficult to find here in the middle of Wisconsin. If you can find them then replace both the lime and orange juice with an equal amount of juice from the sour oranges.

I have no idea why I decided to make Lime Marmalade today. The idea popped into my mind yesterday though I don’t know why. I think the idea first took seed last Friday (New Year’s Day) as we were sitting at our regular breakfast place, waiting for our food to arrive. On the table were those little packets of jelly, one of the flavors being Orange Marmalade. I’ve seen it there many, many times but that day for some reason it caught my eye and stuck with me. The funny thing is, I don’t even really care for marmalade all that much. I don’t dislike it, it’s just not my first, second, or even third choice when choosing a preserve to slather on toast or bread. Raspberry jam is always my first choice (well actually Spicy Raspberry Jam is even better), along with strawberry, and apricot, though my wife makes a killer spiced grape jelly. Again, though, I am not overly particular, and can’t remember coming across a preserve that I couldn’t stand.

For whatever reason I latched on to marmalade this week, I knew I didn’t want to make orange. It was either grapefruit or lime. I love the flavor of both, but ultimately decided I was in the mood for something lime flavored. I have made numerous jellies and jams before, but can’t remember ever making marmalade so I headed to my bookshelves and the internet to study up on making marmalade and to develop a recipe.

I have found 2 schools of thought when it comes to making marmalade. Some recipes call for a 3 day process where you boil the citrus in water for 10 15 minutes then let it sit overnight, repeat, and then on the third day you finish the marmalade. The other school of thought is to do it all at once, but with a long cooking time to ensure that the peel is tender and that all the pectin is extracted. I chose to do the one day method, though in the near future I want to try the other method and compare the two.

I was very happy with the way my first batch of marmalade turned out. Sweet, tart, with just a bit of a bitter edge this marmalade makes a great spread for toast, english muffins, scones (especially berry studded ones) and a whole host of other “breads.” And I expect it will make a great ingredient in a whole host of other dishes and applications.

One thing about this marmalade; it has a slightly soft set to it. It definitely is not as thick or as tight as many jellies and jams you might be used to eating. That’s the risk of not using store bought pectin. If you want a firmer set you can try adding some liquid pectin, towards the end of cooking, but I rather like the slightly looser set of this preserve.

Lime Marmalade

2 pounds limes, washed under warm water to remove any wax if not using organic limes
4 cups water
3 pounds sugar

Zest all the limes. The easiest way to do this is to invest $7-$10 in a citrus zester. They come in handy quite often so are well worth the few dollars. If you don’t have a zester the thinly peel the limes with a peeler trying to avoid as much of the white pith as possible. After peeling the limes cut them into very fine strips. If you had a zester, you would have been done 15 minutes ago!

Cut the limes in half and squeeze all the juice into a nonreacative pot along with the lime zest. Finely chop the remains of the limes, including all the membranes and pith. You can also roughly chop them and put them in a food processor to finish the job, just don’t turn it into a puree. Place the finely chopped lime into a cheesecloth or muslin jelly bag.

Tie it closed and toss into the pot along with the juice, zest and the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours. During the last half hour remove the lid. Remove the pulp filled cloth and carefully squeeze out all the liquid that remains the in pulp. Add the sugar to the liquid in the pot, increase heat, bring to a boil and cook until a thermometer reaches 220. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove all scum that has floated to the top and pour into jars. Cover, and if not processing, place into the refrigerator once they have slightly cooled. If you want to process the marmalade then place in a bath of boiling water that comes at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars and process for 10 minutes. Remove from bath and allow to cool. Check seals on jars and if one didn’t seal properly, move to the refrigerator.

One January 1st, I posted about the dish, Hoppin’ John, and how, in many households, it is eaten on New Year’s Day to bring good luck. I could have chosen any number of recipes, from around the world, that are eaten for the same reason- to bring luck in the new year. I think one of the reasons I chose Hoppin’ John is because I’ve been thinking about my time down South for a few weeks. What got me thinking about my time living in Atlanta and New Orleans is the fact that a few weeks ago I got a craving for Hurricanes.

Anyone who has spent any time in New Orleans should be familiar with the bright red, potent drink carried all through the French Quarter in gigantic plastic “to-go” cups. It’s the drink that made Pat O’briens famous. The story goes, that in the early 40′s Scotch and Whiskey were hard to come by because of the war. Liquor distributors down south would force bar owners to purchase numerous cases of cheap rum, from the Caribbean just to get a case or two of the other liquors. Pat O’brien, facing a mountain of rum created a new drink using rum, orange juice, passion fruit syrup and lime juice, put it into hurricane shaped glasses (so named because they resembled hurricane lamps) and thus created the Hurricane. The drink became very popular among sailors as it was cheap and potent and remains popular today, not because it is cheap-Pat O’briens charges a hefty price-but because they still pack a mean kick.

As a young cook in New Orleans, me and my friends usually tried to stay away from the touristy spots in the Quarter, most often seeking out those shady, less wholesome (and that’s saying a lot in a town not known for its wholesomeness) bars that border the Quarter. Occasionally though, we would venture into the the heart of the Quarter in search of young ladies who had come to New Orleans to party. Hey….I was 23 years old, unattached, and we lived by the motto “work hard, play hard.” We struck out way more often than not, but that was okay in our minds. We still had a great time….I think. Many of these nights found us hanging out at Pat O’briens, throwing back hurricanes with wild abandon. Luckily, my roommate and I lived just off of one of the major bus lines that ran 24/7 so we always had a ride home no matter what time of night or morning.

Looking back on those nights, at Pat O’briens, those hurricanes were pretty nasty. All alcohol bite with a lot of sugar and just enough fruit juice to make them palatable. The drink has come a long way from it’s early days and unfortunately it hasn’t weathered well. Nowadays, you can even purchase a powdered drink mix so that you can take the taste of New Orleans home with you. Don’t bother unless you are the kind of person who also doesn’t mind subsitituing orange Kool-aid for orange juice in your Screwdrivers, Mimosas, or Captain & OJ.

Searching the web for recipes is quite confusing also. While there are a number of sites that give some great recipes, there are also a ton of sites out there that are offering up recipes, for Hurricanes, made with vodka, gin, tequila, amaretto, or worse, all of those alcohols together, in the same drink.

Just because a Hurricane is potent doesn’t mean it’s an “everything but the kitchen sink” kind of drink like a Long Island Iced Tea, Bahama Mama, or Alabama Slammer. Like so many of the cocktails created in the first half of the 20th century, the Hurricane requires only a handful of ingredients, mixed in proper proportion to create a well balanced drink. Be careful though, this drink is still quite potent and it’s easy to overdo it as they don’t taste nearly as strong as they are.

Hurricane
4 ounces gold rum*
3 ounces passion fruit juice or puree (I use Looza brand juice as that is what I can get most often, if you can get puree, then even better though if you use puree you might want to also add a splash of simple syrup as the puree is rather tart)
2 ounces orange juice
1/4 each lime
2 Tbsp. grenadine

Fill a hurricane glass or pint glass with ice and set aside. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all the ingredients. Shake to mix then strain into prepared glass. Garnish with a cherry and orange slice.

*Many tropical style cocktails benefit from the use of gold or dark rums as opposed to white rums as gold and dark rums bring much more flavor to the drink and add a nice complexity. While this drink would still be good made with white rum, personally I would never substitute more than half the rum with white rum.

I remember 10 years ago when hardly anyone knew what ceviche was.  Unless you were well versed in Latin American cuisine or were following the pioneers of Nuevo Latino cuisine in the US then it was not a word or a dish that you came across.  Nowadays, the dish is everywhere and on the verge of being passe.  Just look at the last few episodes of “Top Chef.”  There have been numerous ceviches offered up.  It’s too bad that the dish is in danger of becoming a cliche because it is a wonderful, light dish, full of vibrant, fresh flavors.

At its heart ceviche is seafood that is marinated in an acid, most usually some form of citrus juice, lime juice being the most popular.  The seafood is diced into small pieces and allowed to marinate in the citrus juice (acid) which denatures the protein in the flesh, “cooking” it.  While this is typical, it is not the case across the board.  Most shellfish ceviches start with cooked shellfish, though not always and ceviches that include octopus usually use cook the octopus first.  The preferred method for cooking the shellfish is usually poaching though grilling can bring new layers of flavor to the dish.

Additions to the ceviche are numerous and regional variations are endless. Some countries like to use coconut water or cream of coconut in their ceviches, others wouldn’t dream of making it without American style ketchup. Chile peppers range from jalapenos, in Mexico, to Aji peppers of Peru and the Andes mountains, to fiery habaneros, across the region. Some ceviches are white, some red, and others a cacophony of colors and can include the addition of avocados, tropical fruits, onions, garlic, etc. The list is virtually endless.

Grilled Shrimp Ceviche

6 oz. Shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail off
1 each Lime, juiced
1/2 each Orange, juiced
2 Tbsp. Red Onion,
1/2 each Tomato, ripe
1/2 each Avocado
1/2 each Mango
2 each Jalapeno, seeded
Salt
Pepper

Skewer the shrimp on bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water for 1 hour (you don’t have to do this but it makes grilling the shrimp much easier). Place on a preheated grill and grill just until barely cooked through, about 3-5 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp. Remove from skewers and chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a bowl and toss with the lime and orange juice. Place in the fridge and allow to marinate at least 1 hour and not more than 3 hours. Just before serving dice the onion, tomato, avocado and mango into 1/4 inch pieces. Finely mince the jalapeno. Toss these with the marinating shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Taste and add a little more lime juice if necessary. Serve alone, with tortilla chips or as they do in South America, accompanied by popcorn. This makes enough ceviche to serve 2 as a first course or about 8 people as part of a spread of hors d’oeuvres.