In a previous post listed below I told you about these great recipes
for Cuban cuisine I got from the folks at La Latina Bakery Intl in
Miami Florida. This time I got a dish that is delicious, and you can
have it for dinner during weeknights or for a party during weekends, or
cater to your friends and family. They promised that this is the
version they sell in their catering business (they cater to all Miami
http://www.latinabakery.com/cater.htm ) and were going to list it on
their website www.latinabakery.com in a new recipe section. Just in
case I've included it below.

3 pounds chicken thighs, skin on
4 strips bacon, cut into slivers
Olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
3 green onions, trimmed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon oregano
6 large garlic cloves, minced
3 ounces tomato sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry (optional)
1/2 cup green peas (frozen)
1 can chopped pimentos
Juice of one medium lime
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups long grain rice
8 cups chicken broth (from the cooked chicken above)
2 teaspoons Bijol or mild paprika
7 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack or other mild white cheese

Wash chicken and place in large saucepan or stock pot. Add
approximately two quarts of water to fully cover meat. Bring to a boil
and simmer, uncovered until the meat is tender and falls from bone,
about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove chicken and reserve the broth. (You
will use some of the broth to make the rice.) Skim excess fat from
broth. When cool enough, skin, debone and break the meat into small
pieces by hand.
In a large frying pan, sauté the bacon briefly. Drain most, but not
all of the excess fat. Add a tiny bit of olive oil and heat. Add onion,
green pepper, green onions and oregano. Sauté until the onions are
translucent.
Add the garlic and sauté for one additional minute, stirring
occasionally.
Add tomato sauce, chicken and sherry. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and
simmer (uncovered) approximately 15 minutes to thicken the sauce. Add
peas, pimentos and lime juice during the last five minutes of cooking.
Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
In a large covered pan, mix the rice with the chicken broth and or
paprika. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat until the rice
is thoroughly cooked and most of the broth absorbed, about 20 minutes.
Add the mayonnaise to the cooked rice, a little at a time, and mix
thoroughly.
Preheat oven to 325*F (160*C).
Spread one third of the rice mixture onto the bottom of a 13 x 9 x
2-inch baking pan. Layer chicken mixture on top of the rice. Then add
another layer of rice mixture. Generously sprinkle with 1/4 cup of
Parmesan cheese on top of this layer. Add the remaining rice. Sprinkle
with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese on the top layer, then spread
the shredded Monterey Jack completely over top.
Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned and the cheese
melts completely and bubbles
Previous posting....

I lived many years in South Florida especially in the Miami and Hialeah
area. This area is mostly Cuban but now has many immigrants from
Central and South America. Many bakeries filled with Cuban pastries (
pastelitos) , filled with guava, cheese( guayaba , queso ) , also
croquestas de jamon , these are breaded ham fritters, that are great
stuffed inside a Cuban sandwich or media noche.

Now I live up north and my local home town favorites are gone, living
only in my memories. I was looking on the web for websites to those
bakeries I used to visit, but I guess because they are mom and pop
shops they don't have a web presence yet. A friend of mine that
still lives in the area told me about this bakery that he visits called
La Latina Bakery Intl in Miami and they have a website
www.latinabakery.com . I emailed the owner at
to see if se could share the recipe for the
pastelitos de guyaba these are my favorites.

I thought I wouldn't get a response but the owner promptly and
politely emailed me back. He told me that the Latin Bakery had been in
business in Miami for over a decade and they specialized in pastries
from Cuba, Columbia, and Argentina. They do catering of all occasions
in the Miami area, of Cuban food. He also told he makes this great rice
dish called arroz imperial (imperial rice) and also roasts whole pork
( lechon asado con mojo). For all you Cubans living away from Miami,
this is the Latina bakery's recipe for making all types of pasteles (
puff pastry) and you can fill them with guayaba, queso, carne and even
make cangrejitos ( crab shape ). You can even make them tiny for
parties or cater them to your friends party.


Puff Pastry -Pastel de guayaba

3-1/4 cups (1 pound) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 pound unsalted butter, refrigerator temperature,
divided into 4 ounces and 12 ounces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup (8 ounces) cold water

Mix the flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Cut 1/4 pound of the
butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Put them in the bowl, and, using your
fingertips or a pastry cutter, rub the butter and flour together. The
butter will break into smaller pieces, each coated with flour. Continue
until the mixture looks like a coarse meal.

Put the lemon juice in the water. Pour the water into the bowl, a
little at a time, mixing with your other hand. Turn the resulting dough
onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead it a few times, until
all the dough is gathered into a ball. It will still look rough.
Flatten it into a disk about 1/2 inch thick, enclose it in plastic
wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 to 60 minutes.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and put it on a lightly floured
work surface. Poll it into a 13-inch disk, leaving a center area about
6 inches in diameter thicker and thinning the periphery, so that it has
a shape like a hat lying on a table.

Take the remaining 3/4 pound of butter from the refrigerator and, on a
lightly floured work surface, beat it with a rolling pin into a disk
about the same diameter and thickness as the fat center of the dough.
Put the butter in the middle of the dough, and fold the edges over it.
Now you have a piece of butter completely enclosed in dough.

Turn it over so that the folded side is on the work surface. Pound the
package (not too hard) a few times with a rolling pin to flatten it
somewhat. Roll the dough into a rectangle 20 by 11 inches, with one of
the narrower sides facing you. Dust off any excess flour. Fold the
bottom part of the dough up about a third of the way, then fold the top
down, like a letter. Turn the dough so that the outer fold is on your
left, like a book. Roll and fold the dough one more time. Make 2 finger
indentations in the top of the dough to remind you that you have made 2
turns. Wrap the dough in plastic, and refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and repeat the process, rolling
and folding the dough 2 more times. Make 4 finger indentations in the
top of the dough, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes.

If at any time the dough resists your efforts to roll it, let it rest a
few minutes and try again. And if butter breaks through the dough,
lightly flour that portion and continue.

Remove the dough, and roll it and fold it 2 more times. Now the dough
has 6 turns (and 729 layers) and, after a rest of 60 minutes, is ready
to be rolled and shaped to make the pastry of your choice. Either
refrigerate it up to 3 days, or wrap it in 2 layers of plastic wrap and
freeze it up to 1 month.

Almost anything can be used as a filling. The traditional filings are
small dabs of guava marmalade and cream cheese, "picadillo" (*) style
meat fillings, or a sweetened cream cheese filling.

Fillings I have used succesfully:
Sweet Fillings:
-Mango pieces cooked in sugar to form a marmalade.
-Apple pie filling (I like the Comstock brand)- add a small dusting of
cinnamon after you brush tops with the sugar water.
-Cherry pie filling (same brand as above)

Savory Fillings:
-Cream cheese and fresh herbs such as basil or thyme. You need to taste
your batch as you add the herbs to the cream cheese to make sure the
taste comes through.
-Picadillo style ground beef.
-Cream cheese and ground up potted meats, such as Devil's Ham or
Chicken. Once, in a pinch, I even used Spam ground up in the cream
cheese. it worked, they were good!

Special thanks again to this great recipe at the folks at the Latina
Bakery Intl, they promise me that soon they will have a recipe section
on their website at www.latinabakery.com and share other Hispanic
goodies, happy catering in miami.