Cuban Creole Seafood for a Few Streets, a Few Houses, a Few People

Cuban food in the summer, served under the shade of banana tree leaves, with the scent of magnolias. If Clue was a cookbook, that’s how each recipe would begin.

I made this delicious Seafood Creole recipe from Lisa Gershman’s Cuban Flavor last night and realized that it can easily serve ten people. Luckily, I just so happen to live near ten people. Who doesn’t want to be surprised by dinner? This Cuban cookbook had an important reminder for my soul, in the words of Graham Greene, who is quoted frequently through the text, in which, Gershman strives to show again and again how Cuban culture curates cuisine. And culture starts in a neighborhood—the ten or so people next door or around the block who help to make your porch feel like home.

“They can print statistics and count the populations in hundreds of thousands, but to each man a city consists of no more than a few streets, a few houses, a few people. Remove those few and a city exists no longer except as a pain in the memory, like the pain of an amputated leg no longer there.”

Arroz Moro

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Salt

1 cup black beans, dried, picked over and rinsed

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 peppers, green, large, halved, stemmed and seeded

1 onion, large, halved in the middle, peeled

1 garlic head, 5 cloves minced, rest of head halved in the middle with skin left on

2 bay leaves

1½ cups rice, white, long-grain

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 slices bacon

4 teaspoons cumin, ground

1 tablespoon oregano, fresh, minced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 scallions, sliced thin

Dissolve 1½ tablespoon salt in 2 quarts cold water in large bowl or container. Add beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.

In a dutch oven, stir together drained beans, broth, water, 1 green pepper half, 1 onion half (with root end), halved garlic head, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until beans are just soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Using tongs, remove and discard the green pepper, onion, garlic and bay leaves. Drain beans in colander set over a large bowl, reserving 2½ cup beans cooking liquid (add additional water to make up 2½ cups if needed). Do not wash out the dutch oven.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350F. Place rice in large fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. Shake strainer to remove the excess water, set aside. Cut remaining green pepper and onion into 2 inch pieces and process in food processor until broken into rough ¼ inch pieces. Set aside.

In the empty dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon oil and bacon over medium-low heat and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and rendered, about 15 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, chopped green peppers and onion, cumin, and oregano. Increase heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, 10-15 minutes longer. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly about 1 minute. Add rice and stir to coat.

Stir in beans, reserved bean cooking liquid, vinegar, and ½ teaspoon salt. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender about 30 minutes. Fluff with fork and let rest, uncovered 5 minutes. Garnish with scallions.

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Look how small!