Our cuban dinner: A takeoff from the Columbia House

Everytime we go to St. Augustine  and St. Armands we love to eat at the Columbia house. The very best authentic Cuban food. We will take you there Ree and Francois when you come to America and then you will see what real Cuban food tastes like. Everything at the Columbia house is fantastic. We love to start off with their homemade Sangria, and then their 1905 salad with Cuban bread. We use to get a pork dinner before we started eating kosher. Now we get chicken. So with that meat comes black beans and rice and plantains. We are so stuffed by the time we finish.

1905 Salad

Salad Ingredients

4 cups iceberg lettuce, broken into 1 1/2" × 1 1/2" pieces
1 ripe tomato, cut into eighths
1/2 cup baked ham, julienned 2" × ⅛" (may substitute turkey or shrimp)
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, julienne 2" × ⅛"
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed green Spanish olives
2 cups “1905” Dressing (see recipe below)
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce®
1 lemon

Preparation

Combine lettuce, tomato, ham, Swiss cheese, and olives in a large salad bowl. Before serving, add “1905” Dressing, Romano cheese, Worcestershire, and the juice of 1 lemon. Toss well and serve immediately. Makes 2 full salads or 4 side salads.

“1905” Dressing
Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin Spanish olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
⅛ cup white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad Dressing Preparation

Mix olive oil, garlic, and oregano in a bowl with a wire whisk. Stir in vinegar, gradually beating to form an emulsion, and then season with salt and pepper. For best results, prepare 1 to 2 days in advance and refrigerate.

Cuban Chicken

Marinade:

• 1 small onion
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh black pepper

1.        Combine all the marinade ingredients in your food processor or blender. If you don’t have either, I hope you have a sharp knife and patience.

2.       Butterfly the chicken by removing the spine with kitchen shears and cracking the sternum with your hands. For more information, get Jacques Pepin’s book. I know you won’t.

3.       Marinate the chicken from 0-8 hours (really, you can just brush this stuff on) making sure both sides of the bird are nicely coated.

4.       Preheat the oven to 425 and set the rack to the middle-top position. Get your skillet nice and hot and give it a minute to retain the heat.

5.        Place the bird, breast side down, in the skillet and cook about 3 minutes. Transfer the whole skillet to the oven and cook until the thickest part of the meat reads 145 on your thermometer (about 20 minutes).

6.       Flip the bird over and crank your oven up to broil. Broil 5-7 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and brown. Let stand 5-10 minutes before carving.

Fried Plantains:

• 4 plantains, cut into 1/2 in sections (you can substitute bananas if you want)
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1.        Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

2.       Add the sliced plantains, brown sugar and cinnamon. Saute, flipping to coat with butter, about 15 minutes.

Black beans and Rice