Cuban Cuisine

So, as you all know, I'm Cuban. I admit that although I absolutely LOVE Cuban food, I do not know how to make many Cuban dishes. I just never learned from either my grandma or mom. Shame on me, I know. How could I. And my poor husband, having served in Miami, craves Cuban food all the time. You'd think that being married to a Cuban would guarantee a yummy Cuban dinner at least once a week. Well, that's not the case. 

One of my goals for the year was to cook more Cuban food. I really do love it and find it delectable. It's also a pretty simple and basic cuisine. Last week, I tried making tostones. It was my first time making them, and therefore, fried them for too long. Although they were a little burnt, it tasted like heaven to me! I haven't had tostones in forever! I'm confident that I will nail it next time. (Here's the recipe.)

Last night, I made something that I was more comfortable with - batido de trigo. Basically, it's a wheat shake and my favorite shake of all time. The way Cubans make shakes is interesting. They have a "master recipe" and then just add a few different ingredients to make different shakes. It's usually just the master recipe with one fruit. We don't mix fruits too often. It's really simple and really delicious. So I'll share the master recipe with you and you can add whatever fruit you like to make a traditional, Cuban shake! 

Master Recipe

1 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

3 tablespoons sugar (to taste)

1/2 cup crushed ice

Basically, the sweetened condensed milk is what makes it Cuban. We love it! It's not the healthiest thing in the world but I don't care!  I mix it in my oatmeal sometimes. If you don't love sweetened condensed milk, then decrease the amount or just omit it all together. So for the wheat shake, all you do is add 1 cup of puffed wheat cereal and a pinch of salt. You put everything in the blender except the ice and process until frothy. Add the crushed ice and process until the ice is ground fine and the batido is thick and rich. And voila...you just made yourself a Cuban shake! 

Traditional Cuban fruits to add are mamey, banana, guanábana, mango, passion fruit and papaya. But like I said, you can add whatever fruits you'd like.

I'll be posting more of my endeavors to become the Cuban chef I ought to be! 

Enjoy!