Central European Yaroa

Living in the Dominican Republic I've had a major exposure to street food. The big meal in this country is lunch and consists of some sort of rice dish, some sort of bean dish, some sort of meat dish and a salad. For dinner, most people eat fried foods from various carts located on the sidewalk. One of these dishes is called Yaroa and consists of french fries, cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise and some sort of pulled meat being placed in a Styrofoam container and then nuked. It's pretty awful to look at, probably carcinogenic and extremely fattening. However, it can also be surprisingly delicious. However, as I'm not eating out this month (and even if I were I've had enough Yaroa to last a lifetime) I thought I might try this combination of things with something ethnically different. Thus, the Central European Yaroa was born. For those that are wondering, Yaroa is the Spanish word for 'clogged arteries'.

Ingredients:

1. Swiss Potatoes (I picked up a box of these at a German store on the North Coast). If you can't find them then simply make hash browns as they tasted similar.
2. 1/4 lb. Gruyère Cheese
3. 3 German Sausages
4. 1/2 big onion
5. Hot peppers (to taste)
6. 1 Tbsp. Maggi Sauce (again found in the German store, substitute HP Sauce or Bold A1 Sauce)

Steps:

1. Fry the Potatoes or Hash Browns in Olive Oil
2. Fry the Sausages, onion, peppers and Maggi sauce in another frying pan.
3. Add the cheese to the potatoes while it's still cooking to melt the cheese
4. Plate the potatoes, top with Sausages.

Now you've got Central European Yaroa.

Deutsch West Indies Sausage Sandwhich

Ok, this is a pretty simple sandwich recipe that combine a bit of divergent ingredients. It's pretty delicious though.

Ingredients:

1. Two pieces of white bread
2. Butter (to butter the bread)
3. Two German Sausages
4. 1/2 a medium onion
5. 3 Habañero Peppers
6. 1 Tbsp. hot curry powder
7. 1 small tomato
8. 1 Tbsp. Ricotta Cheese
9. 1 Tbsp. Jamaican or Haitian Hot Sauce (any will do, but these will give it a unique flavor)

Steps:

1. Chop your sausage (bite size pieces), onion, peppers and tomato.
2. Heat up the sausage in the pan. This should provide enough oil to cook the vegetables, but if not a lot of oil is coming out add a small bit of olive oil.
3. Add the curry to the sausage. Cook for a bit.
4. Add the onion, tomato and hot sauce, stir while cooking.
5. Butter the bread
6. Pull the sausage mixture out of the pan and use a paper towel to remove excess greasiness.
7. Put the bottom bread onto a non-stick pan and put the ricotta cheese on the bottom. Add the sausage mixture and then the top piece of bread.
8. Cook like a grilled cheese sandwich until the desired brownness of the bread is achieved.
9. Serve with chips.

Baked Chicken & Sausage Empenadas

Two parts to this one.

Ingredients for stuffing.

1. Spicy Peppers (Chopped)
2. Onion (Chopped)
3. Sausage (Chopped)
4. Chicken (Shredded)
5. Ricotta Cheese

Steps.

Heat all of the ingredients other than the ricotta in a frying pan.

Ingredients for Bread

2 C. Flour
4 tsp. Baking Powder
4 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Coriander
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/2 C. Milk


Steps:


1. Mix dry ingredients
2. Fold in the butter
3. Add the olive oil and mix
4. Add the milk and mix
5. Roll out flat on a cookie sheet
6. Add the ricotta cheese
7. Add the sausage & chicken mix
8. Roll up the bread (add bits of the dough to complete close it)
9. Bake in the Oven at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes

Ricoprovogoat Cheese Sauce

Ok, we call this an Italian Sauce because it generally goes over Italian noodles. However, it's not very traditional, but it is exceptional.

Ingredients:

1 Onion (Chopped)
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (don't skimp, use the good stuff)
5 Cloves Garlic (Chopped)
2 pinches fleur de sel
1 Tbsp. butter
2 c. milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. white pepper
2 slices of Provalone
3 heaping Tbsp. Ricotta
1/5 lb. hard goat cheese


Steps:
1. In a frying pay, cook onion for 3 minutes on high in preheated oil
2. Add garlic and sel for a couple minutes
3. Add butter, stir well until butter is melted
4. Add milk, sugar, and pepper. Bring to a near boil
5. Reduce heat. Add all cheeses, and stir frequently to ensure a good even melting
6. Pour over your choice of pasta.

Recommendations:

This is fantastic over Gnocchi.
It is good with chicken or spicy sausage to give it a juxtaposition.
It's not very good with beef or pork or meatballs.
If you want a non-pasta dish its really good with pan seared chicken.

Take the chicken and put it on your plate. Then put some pan fried walnuts (fry them in a bit of olive oil) on top of the chicken, then add sliced pear over the walnuts and drip the sauce over the chicken. Wow. Good stuff.

Spicy Citrus Shrimp

Ok, this recipe is inspired by Chilean Bass Ceviche. But, there are a couple of problems with that where I live. I'm not touching the fresh fish because it comes from the River nearby and I know what happens in that river. Second, I'm not eating any meat raw. But, I wanted to do something with the citrus so this is what I've come up with.

Ingredients: 

1/2 Lb. uncooked Shrimp, shelled & de-tailed.
2 tomatoes
1 Big Onion (diced)
2 Tbsp. Hot Sauce (Use something like Tabasco or Red Pepper Sauce, I'm a big fan of this Creole Red Pepper Sauce I got at Publix right now)
4 Chopped & seeded hot peppers (poblano, habeñero or jalapeño will do)
1 C. Lemon Juice
1 C. OJ
Pinch of Salt

Steps:

1. Mix Shrimp & Juices in a bowl. Make sure the shrimp are fully covered.
2. Add the other ingredients and mix it up nice and good.
3. Put in to the fridge.

Ok, here is where this recipe becomes a create your own adventure.

4. Let shrimp mixture sit for 24 hours. Eat the next day as ceviche. Delish.

Or

4. Remove from fridge after marinating for four hours and cook in a frying pan until the water boils.
5. Serve the Shrimp over rice or possibly Fried Coriander Dumplings.

This is pretty good and had a slow burn. It doesn't pop you in the mouth with a spice but the citrus and spice will leave your mouth a bit rare midway through the meal. It's worth it though.

Fried Coriander Dumplings

Ok, this was a last minute whip together because I didn't think about taking the time to cook rice or some other grain prior to my main dish. So this is really simple and super quick.

Ingredients:

1 C. Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Coriander
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 C. Milk

Steps:

1. Boil Water
2. Mix Dry Ingredients Well
3. Fold in Butter slowly until the batter gets crumbly
4. Mix in the olive oil well
5. Add the milk and mix well
6. Flour up a plate & your hands.
7. Roll the dough into four balls (this will take all of the dough more or less)
8. Boil the balls until they float and then let them sit another 3-5 minutes
9. Heat some olive oil in a pan
10. Mash the balls into pancakes and pan fry

Eat plain or add something on top like Spicy Citrus Shrimp.

Sweet & Spicy Tuna Jibarito Melt

Okay, now we're taking the Puerto Rican inspired Chicago dish to a new level. This Jibarito involves a spicy tuna fish recipe & the Jibarito staple, the Plantain bread.

Tuna Recipe:

Tuna Fish
Jalepeños
Mustard
Onions
Dill
Lemon Juice

Put it together how you like, enough spice for your taste and enough mustard to make it creamy.

Ingredients

Spicy Tuna
Jalapeños
Onion
2 tbsp. olive oil
Tomato
4 slices Provolone Cheese
2 Ripe Plantains

Steps:
1. Heat up the oil.
2. Slice the plantains in half and put in the oil. Fry on both sides.
3. Remove the plantains and put on a cookie sheet. Flatten them. Put cheese on the bottom two to hold them together.
4. Add tuna, onions & jalapeños, tomato and top two plantains.
5. Top with 2 pieces of provolone to hold it all together.
6. Bake it in the oven at 300 degrees for 8 minutes.

Voila.