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Jax's Chili

Jax's Chili

South Florida woke up to 47° weather on Wednesday and it's already late March! Personally, I was thrilled because my morning run was an easy 3 miler and I was in the mood for some chili - Jax's Chili that is! I used ground turkey, but you can use beef if you prefer. My chili is not a scorching hot jalapeño laden chili either. It's got a kick that comes from dried red California chilies, green chilies and from cachucha peppers. Cachucha peppers are widely used in the Caribbean and it's the chili Cubans use most. It's not crazy hot like a habanero, but it does look a lot like one, it just has a slight kick at the back of the throat. When they ripen from green to red, the flavor is quite sweet. I think cachucha peppers have a distinct smell and taste to them and I mean that in a good way. For me it emotes memories of my dad's "encortidos de cachucha" (pickled cachuchas) that he use to make and spoon over a bowl of steaming Cuban black beans. Of course you can change up the chilies to suit your taste but if you have a chance to get and try some cachucha peppers, I think you'll start using them in your everyday cooking.  And without further ado ... Jax's Chili.

Jax's Chili

Serves 4

20 oz of ground turkey seasoned with:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
A pinch of cinnamon

4 dried red California chilies, soaked in one cup boiling water, stems removed (or your chili of choice). Once softened mince to pulp including seeds and reserve chili soaking water for use in recipe.

Fricase de Pollo Cubano - Cuban Chicken Fricassee

I am not a history buff by any stretch of the imagination, I leave that to my daughter. However, I've been told and have read that this dish has French origins because of a Haitian migration to Cuba during the 1800s. And so, today we have Fricase de Pollo Cubano or Cuban Chicken Fricassee. In this recipe, you'll find chicken that has marinaded in spices and sour orange juice and then simmered in a rich tomato based sauce with potatoes, olives and raisins. Hungry yet? Read on or better yet get cooking!

Fricase de Pollo Cubano

Serves 4 

Marinade:
2-4 sour oranges, enough to make 1 cup. See sour orange recipe substitute here.
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
black ground pepper to taste

8 pieces of chicken or 1 whole chicken cut up into eight pieces.
1/4 cup olive oil
3 red medium potatoes, peeled cut into chunks
2 medium or 1 large yellow onion

Cuban Picadillo - Ground Beef Cuban Style

I am going on record ... this is my absolute all-time favorite Cuban dish - Picadillo! I learned how to make this dish from my mom and on my own I enhanced her recipe, which enhanced the flavor. So much so, that my mom preferred mine to hers. To this day I take that as the highest compliment, because in my eyes, my mom was the best Cuban chef ever. This wasn't just me saying it either, everyone we knew loved "la comida de Aida" (Aida's food). Picadillo is a poor mans' dish, peasant food, because the ingredients are cheap and readily available. Because of that, the recipe varies from family to family and that goes hand-in-hand with the region of Cuba that family hailed from. I have a dear friend who says her mom added "bijol" (a yellow food coloring) to their picadillo, frankly I was appalled. But hey - to each their own!

Cuban Picadillo

Serves 2-4

1 lb. ground chuck, 85/15 is best but 93/7 works well too.
**Seasoning for the meat:
   Juice of 2 limes** + the grated zest of the limes. Use 3 limes if they are especially dry.
   1/2 tablespoon ground garlic powder
   1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
   1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
   1 teaspoon salt

Achiote Paste - Make Your Own

I've mentioned achiote paste in a few recipes and there is no doubt about my fondness for this seasoning. Aside from the beautiful red color it imparts on foods, it adds deep rich flavors to meats.  I find this is especially true with grilled meats. I've never made it myself, I usually by it at a local "mercadito Nica" (Nicaraguan market). But then I set out to figure out what's in it. After all, here I am writing out recipes that use this seasoning and I know that not everyone has a "mercadito" around the corner. Recent recipes where I've used achiote paste are Beef & Pork Marinade Version 1 & 1.1 and Carne Enchorizada Nicaraguense ("Sausage" Beef Nicaraguan Style). I purchased a bottle of achiote seeds at a local asian market, and I also found a packet of seeds under the "Badia" label of hispanic foods. Of course if all else fails ... you can find it on eBay. Take note that achiote seeds also go by the name of annato seeds. Several bottles and packets of achiote seeds later, I got it right! While my version is not as "pasty" as the one from the market, I am very happy with my results. This recipe makes about 1 cup. You can keep it in the fridge for about 10 days or you can freeze it in ice cube trays and then store in a freezer safe container or zip bag.

Achiote Paste
Makes 1 cup

1/2 cup achiote* seeds
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground

Don't Have Sour Oranges? Make Your Own!

Did you know you can make your own sour orange juice? We are lucky in South Florida that we have an abundance of places to buy sour oranges and as well as the bottled kind. Yet, I realize that not everyone has access to sour oranges, so I thought why not provide a substitute that will work almost or just as well.  After a few tests, this was the closest mix to sour oranges:

2 parts orange juice
1 part lemon juice
1 part lime juice

Mix together and you've got sour orange juice. Freeze in ice cube trays and transfer to a zip bag. Enjoy!

Easy Slow Cooker Boeuf Bourguignon for Two

The first time I made Beouf Bourguignon, I followed Julia Child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking to the hilt. It was, without a doubt, absolutely delicious! But it was a very complex recipe, it had a lot of steps and it felt like I spent the day in the kitchen. I was exhausted by the end of the day.  Nowadays it is just the Hub and I at home, so I wanted to make a small portion that I didn't have to spend hours on and I didn't want to heat up the house. I am in Florida and right now the weather is just right, cool, breezy, open windows and a hot oven would just ruin this little weather treat. Enter ... my new, just for two, mini-slow cooker... a present from the Hub. So I went about adapting and scaling down the portion to suit my cooking vessel, palette and budget. A nice bonus, since I didn't use a whole bottle of wine as the original recipe requires, we had the remaining wine with our meal!

Serves 2

For the meat
1 lb. chuck roast meat cut into cubes.
1 tablespoon oil (olive, hazelnut or grapeseed are good)
1/2 teaspoon butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed