Last night was okra in sofrito sauce, from Caribbean Vegan, by Taymer Mason. This book has been better than expected. I was happy to come across this recipe, since I’ve been getting a lot of okra in my CSA box. The recipe has you sauté okra, then remove half the okra from the pan and set it aside. I decided to do my okra in two batches instead, and set the first batch aside, then sautéed the second batch and proceeded with the recipe. You add onions, garlic, green pepper (I used jalapeño here) and habanero to the sauté. You are also supposed to add some vegan ham, which you are to make from a recipe given in the book. That ham is made from wheat gluten, so it’s a no-go for me. The author gives the option of using a vegan sausage, so I went that route and used a vegan Cajun sausage (from The Very Good Butchers). I also doubled the amount, as I was making this as a main dish rather than a side, so two links to get about three large servings. Fresh tomatoes go in as well. One thing the author recommends is using a Spanish-style tomato sauce. I did this in this dish and in my mofongo above, but I’m not crazy about that sauce. Way upthead I made a creole chicken where I didn’t use it (there was a little bit of plain passata in that dish but it was less saucy overall), and I liked that better. I think I would have liked this better with just passata as well. But still, it’s okra and sausage and peppers and tomatoes, and I am not about to complain about that. Served with some seasoned rice.
MOFONGO CAKES / PATTIES (MOFONGUITOS?) + GREEN MOJO
I bought green plantains (almost a month ago!) with a plan for tostones/patacones. Finally had a peaceful day and wanted to use them for something I had not made before, and mofongo it was.
I looked up recipes, and they all seemed very consistent – fry the plantains (like step 1 of tostones), mash garlic, add plantains and mash them, adding broth as necessary to moisten, plus crushed pork rinds or similar.
I decided to start the way I usually do for tostones – steaming the plantains instead of frying them. Then I cut them into slices, pan-fried to get some texture, and then went to the mashing step. It took more arm strength than I had today, so I moved it to the mini food processor to help me along, and then went back to mashing. Instead of chicharron, I minced and crisped half a rasher of bacon.
The mixture was fantastic in flavor, but I wanted a bit more texture, so I formed it into 4 large cakes / patties (from 2 plantains) and pan-fried them to crisp up the outside a bit.
Ok, these were DYNAMITE! I don’t know why I’ve never made this before. I’ll definitely be making it again! Reading up a bit more, looks like there are variations across the Caribbean from Cuban Fufu de Platano to Dominican Mangu, so lots of texture and flavor variations to try!
I had a Green Mojo from a Cuban restaurant earlier in the week that was on my mind, so I looked through some recipes and winged it – cilantro, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, cumin, oil, vinegar. It was lovely with the salmon that was part of dinner, but unnecessary with the Mofongo because the garlic and bacon were so intensely flavorful already.
Zhoug sauce from Trader Joe (refrigerated section) is terrific and easy.
Wish I had a bite of your dinner!
