Thursday, September 13, 2012

Nicaraguan Taste + Pico de Gallo

Hello this is part of my special Carne Asada so it's part of a several dishes dish, although those aren't much complicated, so this is Pico de Gallo it's not Nicaraguan of course but we eat it too and it's great for tortilla chips and stuff like that

So if you want something hot and strong this comes in handy


For this you will need

3 Tomatoes
1 Onion
Cilantro leafs
1 Lime
Salt

To make



This is a very straight-forward dish so it's not that complicated, start off chopping your tomatoes in very small dices the smallest you can, do the same with the cilantro leafs and your onion

 Add the juices of the lime, a half does the trick and finally add salt to taste and you're done! some people like to ad chili to it but I'm not a big fan of chili but if you like you can add to it.

As always I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you like it then why not share it it helps me and my blog a lot.

Thanks and happy cooking!

Nicaraguan Taste + Platano Asado

Hello I'm back and as you probably know it this is part of my Carne Asada special so this is basically grilled plantain and we serve it traditionally with Carne Asada as Pico de Gallo it's very straight froward, and easy to do, it might be a little difficult when it comes to when it already cooked or not but you might want to cook these in a medium low heat, just in case.

We eat a lot of plantain whether it's fried, boiled or grilled, and we have lot's of uses to it and many different ways to eat it and of course many dishes that this very humble plantain goes with. So to not bother you anymore here it is

serves 4

For this you will need

4 Plantains

To cook












First take off the shell, to do so with the tip of your knife make a cut, lift up a little bit the shell and start to run your finger up and down releasing the shell


Once you're done with that make little cuts in one side of each plantain this will help to get them cooked faster.



Once done lay down in the grill and try to cook them evenly but don't turn them too often because they are hard to get done sometimes, to know when they're done, cut a little piece and if inside it's white and soft it's done if it's pink or a strong yellow keep cooking them.



















Nicaraguan Taste + Carne Asada

Hello I'm back sorry for the delay but I couldn't make an agreement with the weather around here and I had to postpone this recipe for several days but finally there was a nice weather for me to grill. So as always I hope you enjoy this recipe, happy cooking!

Carne Asada (Roast Beef) it's one of a kind, long strips of meat in a charcoal grill equal heaven. To me it has a really special place in my heart and I always loved it, specially when my grandmother made it for us. Served with Gallo Pinto, Maduro Frito or Platano Asado/Frito and salad sometimes in the famous Fritangas they and more things to like Pico de Gallo, but it is also commonly added fried cheese

Fritangas are small places where people sell this kind of food, in Managua you can find thousands, but you know which ones sell good food and which ones not but it's common to find them in the streets selling to people passing by.

So Carne Asada in a nutshell is our answer to fast and delicious food whether you're coming from work or just want to have a delight, this is the number one dish

serves 4

For this you will need

3 Cloves of garlic
2 Lb of rib eye (see picture below for the cut of meat)
4 Tbs of olive oil
1 Lime
Salt
Pepper


To Cook






First cut your meat in long strips, just like a spiral begin to cut around until you end with a nice long strip of meat, after that cut the strip into smaller portion sized ones like in the picture





Now for the marinade, in bowl add in your garlic, peel it and crush it, with a garlic crusher, add the olive oil, and the lime juice. Now the lime is very strong so a half is enough, add salt and pepper to taste and leave to rest for several minutes as it ensures that all the flavors and ingredients will do their work!

This is a special I'm doing so I'm going to do multiple recipes at once you can choose whether you want to them all or do just one or two, so it's up to you, but if you're doing them all then in the meantime you can make the other ones which are Gallo PintoPlatano Asado and Pico de Gallo


I recommend to start with the pico de gallo and to get someone to help you out, and the gallo pinto you need to check first that recipe out because you have to do the rice and the beans one day in advance, and once you checked that you're ready to go

Once you've got your grill nice and hot lay down the strips, if can get a charcoal grill that'll be perfect but you can use whatever you have if that's the case, I used a electric grill, but still there's nothing like charcoal for this dish. Note: If you're using a gas grill be careful! olive oil and flames don't mix! lay down the meat strips carefully always away from your face! and try to take out excess oil so the flames don't burst so much.

 
Finally try to get a nice color on the meat turn the meat over once in a while keep checking the color, it has to be a nice golden brown











Here is a photo to give you an idea on how we plate it and as always I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do and if you like it then why not share it it helps me and my blog a lot and if you have any suggestions you're welcome to make them just let me know in the comments or by email

Have a nice day!