Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Vacation report
OK, got a little time this morning to report about the vacation to Puerto Rico. First thing to say, go if you get the chance. The place is a small island and is very diverse. We flew in on Sat and lounged around for the remainder of the day (drinking the local rum) and continued into Sunday- some of girls went and did a little shopping at the Belz outlet center in San Juan and found ourselves in a political parade or two on the way home. Gary and Betty took us all out to a nice ocean front restaurant for our anniversary. Thank you guys! Monday, we ventured out to the Bacardi Rum Distillery in Catano (we drove into San Juan and took a ferry ride to Catano to taste some Bacardi). One of the best events of the Bacardi trip was the great van ride from the ferry to the distillery. We met up with a gentleman who had a old van (80's) that was all original still. 200K+ miles and everything. He packed all 10 of us into the van, kicked on the fan (small rotating fan sitting on top of his dashboard). The windows were a little dirty, but I got some pics nonetheless. The tour was pretty informational and I didn't realize that they produce 100,000 gallons of rum a day there. That is a huge party! They explained the prohibition issues and their methods of spreading the love for the drink. The Mojito and the Rum with Coke are some of the signature drinks. The tour finishes off with some tastings at their open-air bar. One of my favorites was their 8-year rum. They have a 12-year rum that they only sell at this distillery since they don't make to much of it each year ($85/bottle). We all went in on a bottle and I didn't see much difference between the 8 and 12 year stuff. One of the favorites amongst our group was the CoCo rum mixed with Sprite.
After the rum tour, we took the ferry back over to Old San Juan and hit the streets. We ate at Cafe El Punto (a recommendation that we got from a guy selling cigars down by the ferry). Our waiter at Cafe El Punto was Raul. He spent about 1 hour telling us what to do and what not to do. This was the best info. He gave us the El Yunque Forest info for the water falls and hiking on Tuesday, a phone number for Ishmal (our Bio Bay guy) for Wednesday, our referral for ocean side horse back riding on Thursday. By Friday, we lounged in the sun at the condo (5 pools and ocean side) and went back down to Old San Juan for the Halloween street party. What a place. On Saturday, our flight wasn't until 1:25PM, so we did a little sunning with cafe in hand (cafe con leche is the best there) a little shopping for some coffee to take home, and hit the airport for some duty-free rum for our liquor cabinet. I would love to have a vacation home there to go to. It was one of the best trips there. One thing that we did not do and we are leaving for next time is the ziplining through the lush forest. This forces us to return. It is hard to come up with a 'best part' of the trip. The food, rum, people and environment were all great.
After the rum tour, we took the ferry back over to Old San Juan and hit the streets. We ate at Cafe El Punto (a recommendation that we got from a guy selling cigars down by the ferry). Our waiter at Cafe El Punto was Raul. He spent about 1 hour telling us what to do and what not to do. This was the best info. He gave us the El Yunque Forest info for the water falls and hiking on Tuesday, a phone number for Ishmal (our Bio Bay guy) for Wednesday, our referral for ocean side horse back riding on Thursday. By Friday, we lounged in the sun at the condo (5 pools and ocean side) and went back down to Old San Juan for the Halloween street party. What a place. On Saturday, our flight wasn't until 1:25PM, so we did a little sunning with cafe in hand (cafe con leche is the best there) a little shopping for some coffee to take home, and hit the airport for some duty-free rum for our liquor cabinet. I would love to have a vacation home there to go to. It was one of the best trips there. One thing that we did not do and we are leaving for next time is the ziplining through the lush forest. This forces us to return. It is hard to come up with a 'best part' of the trip. The food, rum, people and environment were all great.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Mofongo!
I just got back from our week long trip to Puerto Rico and I'm now addicted to Mofongo, or what I call "Mofo" for short. It is like crack cocaine on my tongue and comes in so many meat/sauce varieties to choose from. I have tried chicken, crab, and shrimp myself. Here's a quick recipe:
Ingredients:
salt
4 green plantains, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 cups beef stock or chicken stock
oil (for deep frying)
1/2 cup pork crackling (chicharrones) or 4 slices thick bacon
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
fresh ground black pepper
chopped fresh cilantro leaves (to garnish)
Directions:
1. Mix handful of salt into a bowl of cold water and soak plantain chunks. Place stock in saucepan over low heat to warm. Bring at least 1 inch of oil to about 350 F degrees in a deep skillet.
2. Meanwhile, cook chicharrones or bacon until crisp; remove from heat and drain. Remove plantains from water, drain and dry them on towels, then deep fry the pieces (careful, they may spatter) until golden brown and tender. Remove from oil. Flatten the plantains using the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass bottle or a tostonera if you have one. Fry the plantains again for 30 seconds on each side until slightly crispy.
3. While the plantains are still hot use a wooden mortar and pestle to mash them with the garlic and the chicharrones. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. You can also use a food processor – add the plantains to food processor with bacon, garlic and some salt and pepper. You may have to work in batches. Process to consistency of mashed — not whipped — potatoes. Do not over process!
5. Place the mixture in soup bowls or wooden pilons, douse with broth, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
Ingredients:
salt
4 green plantains, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 cups beef stock or chicken stock
oil (for deep frying)
1/2 cup pork crackling (chicharrones) or 4 slices thick bacon
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
fresh ground black pepper
chopped fresh cilantro leaves (to garnish)
Directions:
1. Mix handful of salt into a bowl of cold water and soak plantain chunks. Place stock in saucepan over low heat to warm. Bring at least 1 inch of oil to about 350 F degrees in a deep skillet.
2. Meanwhile, cook chicharrones or bacon until crisp; remove from heat and drain. Remove plantains from water, drain and dry them on towels, then deep fry the pieces (careful, they may spatter) until golden brown and tender. Remove from oil. Flatten the plantains using the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass bottle or a tostonera if you have one. Fry the plantains again for 30 seconds on each side until slightly crispy.
3. While the plantains are still hot use a wooden mortar and pestle to mash them with the garlic and the chicharrones. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. You can also use a food processor – add the plantains to food processor with bacon, garlic and some salt and pepper. You may have to work in batches. Process to consistency of mashed — not whipped — potatoes. Do not over process!
5. Place the mixture in soup bowls or wooden pilons, douse with broth, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
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