A simple mantle, a hot fire, Christmas is just a few days ahead. Growing up in Puerto Rico the weather is constantly warm. It does have a cooler season from January until the beginning of March. Best time to visit.
Holidays in Puerto Rico are very long. They last until mid January, when other festivals will also take place. It is like anything, it is not the same way now. In my youth there were great family parties during Christmas and then during Three Kings Day or El Dia de Los Reyes there were roasted pigs, blood sausage, which by the way are the best, tripe and all those things someone other than a foodie would think is so foreign. A Spanish island full of history and tradition. Three Kings Day is the Epiphany. Very Catholic too.
Pasteles are typically eaten during the Holiday Season. My grandmother Juanita made the best. Very labor intensive. They almost look like a tamal. Made out of plantains with and an adobo stuffing, olives, chickpeas, raisins, chicken, pork or beef, then wrapped in banana leaves. They are also made out of yuca, a root vegetable.
The photo above shows the ones I had flown from Orlando, Florida for my Three Kings Day dinner where my friends tasted them among other things like fried plantains called tostones.
Getting to the purpose of my post is the Coquito or Puertorican Eggnog. They said the Spanish invented it. Who knows. It is indigenous to the island, though. Everyone has a recipe, adding a little bit of this or a little bit of that. Rum being a main ingredient for sure. I love drinking it in a small aperitif glass.
The glasses here were my grandmother’s Palmira Pereyo Lopez. I love them and they are perfect for my Coquito. I used the Barcardi Gold Rum. I almost forgot, but you fill the empty rum bottle and give it as presents.
This recipe I have comes out delicious. I even got glass bottles to give some away. So this is how it goes:
Mi Coquito Navideno
4 cans (12 ounces each) of evaporated milk
1 can of condensed milk
2 cans (15 ounces each) of coconut cream, not coconut water
2 teaspoons of Vanilla
2 teaspoons of Cinnamon
6 egg yolks
1 bottle of rum (750ml) I used Bacardi Gold
a cap of Brandy or more
Beat by hand the 6 egg yolks in a small container
Blend separately the following in a large container 1 can of the evaporated milk, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Add the beaten egg yolks, the rest of the evaporated milk, the condensed milk, the coconut cream and the Brandy.
Then the whole bottle of rum. Mix well.
NOTE: Some time the Coconut Cream has separated. Mix it well. If the Coquito is lumpy use a sieve and put through the whole mixture.
The Coquito is not thick. It does get a little thicker when refrigerated.
Drinking it cold is the way to enjoy it. It can last in the refrigerator for some time because all the rum it has. It won’t last long though.
Anyway, play with it and make it your own.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Feliz Navidad.
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I love the title my Mother in Law gave to a family cookbook of recipes: Begged, Borrow, & Stolen. That’s how I feel when I use recipes. The good thing is that I usually change them with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I make the recipes my own.
So, being that it is cooler, rainy, windy…and Fall, I think that the Curried & Apple Soup could be a keeper. Served with a side dish of tostones or fried plantains and Mojito….it is even better. The word Mojito has been around for such a long time. In Puertorican cooking it means a sauce made for dipping certain local delicacies.
Carrots are so healthy and the saying of “an apple a day, keep the doctors away”, is probably so true, as well. Hope you like it.
CURRIED CARROT & APPLE SOUP
2 tablespoons margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 small fennel bulb, cored and chopped
salt and pepper
1 pound carrots, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
3/4 pounds celery root, chopped (regular celery will do)
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
4 gingersnaps cookies
1/2 tablespoon yellow curry powder (more if you like curry)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon of finely grated fresh ginger
2 thyme sprigs (1/4 tsp. ground thyme will do)
3 cups chicken stock (I used unsalted chicken stock)
1 cup Apple Cider
1/2 cup sour cream (I used non-fat)
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Garnish: Toasted pumpkin seeds, chopped mint, fresh cilantro or cilantro paste, and favorite hot sauce; optional. The pumpkin seeds were toasted on the stove in a frying pan. Make sure they do not burn. So good!!
In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion, leek, fennel, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook stirring here or there until softened and veggies are browning.
Add carrots, celery, apple, gingersnaps, curry powder, garlic, ginger, and thyme. Cook until the carrots and celery soften somewhat.
Add chicken stock and apple cider. Bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat for about 15 minutes until the veggies are very soft. If using thyme sprigs, remove, otherwise, continue with the next step.
Working in small batches, depending on the size of your blender, puree the soup with the sour cream and vinegar until smooth. What I did was mixed the sour cream with the vinegar and added a tablespoon with each batch. This is a creamy soup so, make sure there are no lumps.
You can reheat the soup and seasoned it with salt and pepper, if necessary. Laddle the soup into bowls and top it with the garnish above mentioned. ENJOY!
I decided that Tostones or Fried Plantains would be great with this soup. A meatless meal, no less! Plantains are a starch. If you let them ripen, then, they are sweet and if green you can make Fried Plantains. For the longest time I used to mashed them with a plate, but now I have my Tostonera from Puerto Rico. The Tostonera and the Pilon are a necessity when cooking Puertorican food. The Pilon is very versatile…use it to mash garlic, make mojito, and other PR dishes.
The plantain was peeled, cut, and ready for the next step of frying.
Fry the chunks of plantain in oil until lightly browned. Then, place on the tostonera, or between wax paper.
The tostonera is going to make it so much easier to mash. Otherwise, while between the wax paper, mash with a plate. 2 plantains were used on that evening. Finish mashing them and keep on paper towels until the next step.
Heat the oil back again and place the mashed plantains in batches once again. They will rise to the surface. Let them get nice and light brown. Take them out and place on paper towels again to drain the oil.
You can serve them on a platter with just butter and garlic salt. Or you can make the mojito by placing in the Pilon or Mortar 1 garlic clove, a pinch of salt. Then with the pestle, crush garlic and salt together. Add a bit of olive oil, a tablespoon or so, a small can of tomato sauce, tabasco and cilantro. Then squeeze half a lime and add it, as well. That’s it.
Note: This recipe is gluten free. Make sure you check the tomato sauce, the chicken stock, and apple cider. Have a good one!!
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