stopped in on our way home from the beach. Padrino‘s is about 10 minutes from our house down the highway. They serve Cuban flavor and it tastes pretty good. They brought us crunchy plantain chips with onion and veg oil for a pre-lunch snack. Z tried a steak empanizado (coated and fried in flour) with traditional palomilla onions. It came with black rice and deep fried plantain. I had a warm cuban with fries and lots of iced tea. It was a nice find for a quick pull off the highway.
there have been quite a few things to steal my cooking and adventuring thunder lately. Namely the heat and humidity of summer and a deeply rooted tiredness that comes with hard work. Most of my energies have been expended in reviewing and updating a warehouse, reviewing new point of sale software and cross training and blending a staff while I learn the ins and outs of numerous inventory systems, printing and publishing books and keeping up with an astonishing staff of volunteers, long time missionaries and new ones.
Recently on Facebook I saw that someone I work with had noticed she had taken something of a blog break this summer and I can see where I have done the same. I think this is life in a nutshell; to have ups and downs alongside times of busyness punctuated by slowdowns or at least the brief distractions of rest. I am hoping the weather cools soon although it being July in Florida that is a vague dream. I am hoping my internal fires get stirred up for cuisine and cooking a bit more than they have been.
We made a slow cooked picadillo last night which is a sweet Cuban chili type dish served with arroz amarillo. Not Z’s favorite with it’s sweet undertones of raisins and salty hits of pimiento stuffed olives but I can see where it is a pantry cleaning comfort dish when topped with a fried egg (a cabello-on horseback). It takes me back to a rice dish I had in Spain of rice that had been shaped in a mold and filled with an egg and lightly sauced with red sauce that I remember as a revelation which fills me with hope that things will be looking up as long as I am.
how I love Cuban. Growing up I was more of a Chinese and New Mexican/Mexican enthusiast and lived in places rich in those cuisines. Living in central Florida presents lots of options previously more or less unknown to me…Puerto Rican, Dominican, Jamaican…Cuban. I love Cuban food. It is simple and largely made of ingredients that are readily available. I’ve eaten in both dives and more disneyfied versions and I love the lime soaked beef with parsley and raw onions alongside cuban and medianoche sandwiches and maduros. Tonight we attempted it at home to a crazy smoky house and amazing results.
Bistec de Palomilla & Maduros
My Urban Pantry 