Recipe(tried): FOURTH OF JULY INAUGURATION

FOURTH OF JULY INAUGURATION

I must admit that I was anxious to inaugurate my beautiful patio in a family, neighbors & friends affair. To achieve the desired effect I brought my favorite electrician, landscaper, handyman from San Juan, Don Francisco, a 75 years old gentleman with a marvelous crew, & right now they are at my patio, sculpting the mango tree in a topiary form, fixing all the old electrical connections in order to include beautiful lights & lanterns, & painting the gazebo in its original colors.

The guests, as already mentioned, will be friends, neighbors & family. Seilita & Jos Luis are already seasoned hosts & they will help me with all the particulars of this fourth of July inauguration. For beverages I will serve cold beer, white & red wine & fruit punch with a touch of rum.

Here is the Menu as planned, Buen Provecho!


Black Bean Dip with Marjoram
Servings: 8

10-ozs black beans
1 cup diced white onion
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 qt water
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp cumin
1 pinch marjoram
2 cups nonfat yogurt
3 cups jicama, sliced (I am going to use red pepper slices)
2 1/2 cups celery sticks
2 1/2 cups carrot sticks

Soak the beans in cold water overnight. Drain and wash well. Place beans and water into a thick bottomed saucepan. Add all ingredients to beans and water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour or until beans are tender. Let the beans cool overnight. Place the beans and stock into a food processor and process until smooth. Remove to a bowl and fold in the yogurt and chopped marjoram. Serve with jicama (or red pepper sliced as for Fajitas), celery and carrot sticks. Keep remainder in refrigerator and use when needed.


Pineapple Pepper Salsa
Servings: 4

2 cups fresh cut pineapple, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
1 Tbsp jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, stirring until blended. Serve with Doritos or fried Yuca slices, to use as dippers.

Curried Shrimp Dip

3 pkgs. (3-oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 can (4-oz.) shrimp, drained & finely cut
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 tsp curry powder
2 tsp grated onion

Mix cream cheese, evaporated milk, onion and curry powder until smooth. Stir in shrimp. Cover. Chill until thickened. Serve with crackers or chips. Makes 2 cups.

Colorful Coleslaw
From: The Taste of Summer
Servings: 6-8

Dressing
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar, to taste
salt and freshly ground white pepper

Salad
1 medium green cabbage, finely shredded
4 medium carrots, peeled and finely shredded
1 medium bunch radishes, finely shredded
1 small Granny Smith or pippin apple, peeled, cored, and shredded
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in small non-aluminum bowl, including salt and pepper to taste, and whisk to blend. Set aside. To make the salad, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Toss the salad with enough of the dressing to moisten well. Taste for seasoning. Mound the cabbage mixture in a large, shallow serving bowl. Garnish with the parsley and serve.

Advance Preparation: This may be completely prepared 1 day in advance and refrigerated. Taste for seasoning before serving.

Warm Fajita Pork Salad
Servings: 4

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup 62%-less-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound boneless pork loin, cut into 2x1/2-inch strips
1 large onion, sliced
1 large green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Napa cabbage leaves OR romaine lettuce leaves
12 cherry tomatoes, halved

In jar with tight-fitting lid, combine first 11 ingredients; shake well. Place pork strips in plastic bag or nonmetal baking dish. Pour marinade mixture over pork, turning to coat. Seal bag or cover dish; marinate at least 30 minutes or up to 2-3 hours in refrigerator, turning pork several times. Remove pork from marinade, reserving 2 tablespoons marinade. Heat reserved marinade in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork strips, onion, and green pepper; stir-fry 3-4 minutes or until pork is tender. Drizzle lemon juice over pork and vegetables; remove from heat. Line 4 individual salad plates with cabbage leaves. Spoon hot pork-vegetable mixture over cabbage-lined plates. Garnish with cherry tomato halves.

All-In-One Salad Bowl

6 each artichoke hearts, cut in half
1 cup green beans, cooked, drained and ch, illed
1/2 each bermuda onion, thinly sliced
1 cup peas, cooked, drained and chilled
1/2 cup radishes, sliced
2 cup salad greens, broken
1 each tomato, cut in eighths
3/4 cup salad oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 each clove garlic, crushed
1 each egg, hard-cooked, chopped
1/4 cup mustard pickle

Place artichoke hearts, green beans, onion, peas, radishes, salad greens and tomato in salad bowl. Toss together lightly. Place the next 8 ingredients in a jar or shaker; blend thoroughly. Pour enough dressing over salad to moisten and toss lightly again. Makes 6
servings.

Yuca con Aceite y Cebollas
(side dish)
Boil the yuca until done in salted water for about 25 minutes or so. Test them with a fork. Cut in half and remove spinny middle and toss. Saute onions in butter until just done. In a blender spin some crushed garlic with olive oil. Serve yuca with onions, drizzled with garlic-olive oil.

Pernil Al Horno
Roast Pork Shoulder

Note: Season the meat one day ahead and refrigerate.

5 lbs. pork shoulder - picnic cut (with fat)
7 garlic cloves (You may use powder garlic or ground garlic sold in glass jars - 1 tsp. equals one clove.)
teaspoon black pepper
teaspoon crushed oregano
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Crush the garlic in a pil n. If you don't have a pil n crush the whole garlic with the side of a wide knife then dice the pieces. In a small bowl mix together the garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil. Mix well. Wash the meat and pat dry. With a sharp knife cut the fat away from the meat keeping it all in one piece. Start at the wide end and go to the narrow end. You don't have to separate it completely - just leave enough still connected so that you can flip the fat over to the side while you season the meat itself. The fat will be placed over the seasoned meat and will cook over the neat to give it more flavor. Season the fat with only salt. Make very deep slits all over the meat and season the meat making sure that seasoning goes into all the slits. Put the fat back over the meat to look the same as before it was cut. Refrigerate the shoulder, covered with plastic wrap, for 24 hours. Let the meat get back into room temperature before cooking. (At least one hour). Place the meat in a deep pan with the fat side up. There will be a lot of grease so be sure to use a deep pan. The fat side up will make nice crunchy "cueritos." Do NOT cover with foil. Preheat the over for at least 15 minutes before placing the meat inside. Cook in a 350 oven for about 3 hours without turning. Then raise the oven temperature to 375 and cook another 20-30 minutes until the skin is crunchy. Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest on the counter for about 20-30 minutes before carving.

Grill instructions

In the summer we cook our pernil outside on the grill. We do this to prevent the house from heating up. Follow all the instructions above. Put your pernil in a deep pan. But do cover with foil to prevent burning the meat. Put the pan on the grill. Cook a bit longer than if using the oven. Cook on high for the first half hour and then on low heat. Keep your eye on it. Should you have any leftover meat you can make a stir fry with left over rice and the meat. Or - make pernil tacos. Yum! Dice up the leftover meat. Add a bit of oil to a large frying pan and heat the meat, add sliced onion. Once the onions are soft, add left over rice. Cook until the rice is hot.

Bacony Creamed Spinach

2 pkg frozen spinach, (10z. ea)
6 x bacon strips
1 x garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 tbl butter
2 tbl flour
1 cup half-and-half or milk

Cook spinach by boiling or in microwave. Drain well and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Chop fine, using food processor of food grinder. Cook bacon in skillet until crisp. Remove and drain. Crumble and reserve. In about 2 T of the bacon fat, saute garlic and onion over medium heat. When onion is limp, add spinach. Lower heat. Season with salt and peppers; stir well as moisture evaporates from spinach, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. In a separate large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour, stirring constantly until smooth. Gradually stir in half-and-half or milk and cook until smooth and bubbly. Stir in spinach mixture and heat through. Remove from heat, stir in reserved bits of bacon, and serve.

Pl tanos en almibar
(Ripe plantain vegetable side dish)

4 ripe plantains (Use very ripe plantains - more orange in color with a few black spots.)
1/2 cup of butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup of water
2/3 cup cooking wine
1/2 teaspoonful vanilla extract
2 cinnamon sticks

Peel the plantains and cut them in half and then cut each half in 4 lengthwise slices. Saut e the plantains in butter Add the remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat, covered for about 15 minutes or so. Serve hot in its own gravy. Can save any extras in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Microwave them before serving.

Rum Pound Cake (Easy recipe)

1 cup chopped pecans
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
cup cold water
cup vegetable oil
cup Puerto Rican rum/dark

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour bundt cake pan. Sprinkle pecans on the bottom. Mix all other ingredients together for 2 minutes. Pour batter into pan. Bake for one hour. Invert on serving plate after it cools (10 min). Glaze: lb butter cup water 1 cup granulated sugar cup rum Melt butter and stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes stirring constantly. Stir in rum. When cooled drizzle and brush glaze evenly over the cake top. Decorate with maraschino cherries and whipped cream.

Coquito Flan-Eggnog Flan

6 egg yolks
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup prepared coquito or eggnog
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (don't use vanilla if you are making Coquito Flan)
2 tablespoons rum (optional - do not use if your coquito or eggnog already has liquor in it)
pinch cinnamon pinch nutmeg

Caramel: In a mold, metal bowl or pot, place 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water then mix it well. Cook this on medium heat on your stove until the sugar turns amber and caramelizes to a soft stage. Swirl the caramel around the mold, totally covering the interior. Blend all ingredients together. Carefully pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 in a "ba o de Maria" (bain marie) for about 50 minutes or until golden. Test with a fork, it should come out clean. Remove from oven, cool and refrigerate at least 4 hours.