A Trip To Puerto Rico…. Can you hear the waves on the sand, and feel the tropical breeze?

We always pick up anything that has recipes in it, and when it is free, that’s even better. Two weeks ago, Sue picked up a couple of copies of the Whole Food “delicious living” magazine. The morning after our last blog, we repeated the same routine where we ponder what to fix next, and within ten minutes we had this meal planned. Sue had never had Puerto Rican food, and Meg’s childhood link to the island seemed an opportunity too good to pass up. Throw in her brother,  Sherman’s , recipe for “Pirates’ Punch”, and we were off and running.

Plantains, strangely, were scarce in Reno this week, fulfilling the role of the one elusive element in almost every meal.  Because we are now very into “how will it photograph?”,  Sue purchased two beautiful fillets of Chilean sea bass…really beautiful!  When Meg asked her if she was ready to cut up the fish, she almost cried.  Somehow the magazine picture had morphed in Sue’s mind into fillets on mofongo.

Rum was the logical choice for this meal, as a lot of good rum comes from Puerto Rico, and Meg has fond memories of “mentiritas”.  Her brother, Sherman, has made this punch for events large and small for a very long time, and says it is modeled after the “zombie” drinks enjoyed in Old San Juan.    Here is the current version as we prepared it:

•  46 oz. canned pineapple juice
•  46 oz. orange juice
•  4 T Angostura bitters
•  1 cup fresh lime juice
•  1 qt. dark (Puerto Rican) rum

Pirates' Punch

We believe this will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, but ours probably won’t make it that long.  It is really refreshing , and you should exercise discretion, as the rum hides behind the fruit juice.  Surprise!

Escabeche with Mofongo

Escabeche

Recipe: Delicious Living magazine, July 2012
Serves:  6

Ingredients

• 2 pounds whole black sea bass, skin removed, cut into small cubes
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 Tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 piquillo pepper or pimientos, diced small (bottled is fine)
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Sliced avocado and lime wedges, for garnish 

Directions

Season fish with salt and pepper.  In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat; then add fish and sauté until opaque, 3-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a deep plate and keep warm.
In the same pan, sauté onion with garlic and bell pepper until translucent, 5 minutes. Add capers, piquillo pepper, vinegar, bay leaf, oregano, and cilantro; season with salt and mix well. Pour over cooked fish. Let cool to room temperature. Serve with avocado slices and lime wedges.

Weight Watchers:  9 points without the avacado garnish. This total was also based on using the 1/2 cup olive and we only used about 1 tablespoon. 

Mofongo (Plantain Patties)

Recipe: Delicious Living magazine, July 2012
Serves:  6

Ingredients

• 3 green plantains (about 2 pounds total), peeled cut in thick, round slices
• 2 Tbsp. reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
• 3 large cloves garlic
• Olive oil

Directions

Soak plantains in salted water for 30-60 minutes; drain. In a heavy saucepan, arrange plantains and add milk, plus just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, simmer until tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid.

Mince garlic in a large food processor (or mortar).  While still warm, add plantains and pulse (or mash) with a little olive oil, adding reserved liquid as needed, until plantains are soft  and mashed; they will somewhat harden after a few minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Form into six thick patties and serve warm, topped with Esabeche.

Weight Watchers: 9 points



Tembleque (Coconut Mousse)

Tembleque (Coconut Mousse)

Recipe: Delicious Living magazine, July 2012
Serves:  4

Ingredients

• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
• ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. water
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup natural cane sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. fresh orange zest
• Toasted flacked coconut and orange slices for garnish

Directions

Pour coconut milk into a heavy saucepan. Pour water into coconut-milk can, swish around, and add to saucepan, along with cornstarch, sugar, and salt; whisk until smooth. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon over medium heat until thickened, 5-7 minutes. Do not let it boil. (Usually it is ready right before it starts boiling.) Remove from heat. Stir in orange zest and let mixture rest for 2 minutes.
Coat four ½-cup ramekins with cooking spray and divide coconut mixture among them. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set. Unmold and serve cold, decorated coconut flakes and orange slices.

Weight Watchers: 7 points


Our unsolicited and biased opinions:


We loved the salsa in this recipe!  It has so many possibilities; pairing it with chicken or any other kind of fish, as well as a key ingredient in fish tacos.  (Can you say “leftovers”? ) We accidentally added the juice of one lime, and loved the extra tartness.  We’re blaming it on the punch…that’s our story, and we’re sticking to it.  Really, try this salsa.

We used about (remember the punch) one tablespoon of olive oil to sauté the fish and the vegetables, which was plenty.  Other than those two changes, we are pretty sure we followed the recipe, and would definitely make this again.  Any firm white fish would work well in this recipe.

Be sure the plantains are cooked through.  It took a little longer here at altitude.  Add as much liquid as you need to keep your food processor going…the mixture will thicken a bit as it sits.  We liked the texture of the pieces left in the mixture.  We both ate two patties, which ended up being one patty too many. We plan on sautéing the leftover (smaller) patties in a little olive oil as a side dish.  If you have never tried cooking with green plantains, give this recipe a try and take a trip to the tropics.  Plantains are readily (usually) available in all markets here in Reno, and you will very likely find them in a market near you.

We did a riff on the slaw from one of our previous feasts (see posting on 5/19/12), but made changes based on what we had on hand.  We used red bell pepper in place of English cucumber, red onion in place of scallions, and honey in place of agave nectar.  It was great with this meal, and we plan on using it with the leftover fish for tacos.  We are both loving the lightness of this and our previous slaw for summer…no mayo.

This meal required some cooking, but you eat everything at room temperature, which makes it a perfect summer meal.

Although this is not a traditional Tembleque and did not firm up for us, the creamy texture, orange zest and toasted coconut made it a dreamy desert. We stopped cooking it before it boiled, as directed, and maybe that’s why it didn’t gel. It certainly didn’t stop us from eating it.