Sunday Lunch from around the World - Costa Rican Style

Details

Category: Food & Drink

Created on Sunday, 27 September 2015 07:09

Written by Northern Living

Sweet Spice rubbed Swordfish steak with Gello Pinto and fried sweet Plantain.

No one who’s ever visited Costa Rica is likely to forget Gallo Pinto, and those who haven’t visited rarely understand how people can be so enamored of rice and beans. The locals look at you like you’re a little insane if you ask how to make it; sort of like if you asked a Yorkshire man how to make a cup of tea. Combined with this sweet spicy swordfish steak you have the foundations for a meal you might not expect everyday, So Sunday lunch it is!

Swordfish Steak Ingredients:-

1teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder

1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger

1⁄2 teaspoon thyme

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper

4 (6 ounce) swordfish steaks

1 tablespoon olive oil

Clopped fresh Coriander to garnish

Method:-

(1) Combine spices in small bowl.

(2) Sprinkle mixture evenly over swordfish steaks, then lightly rub it in.

(3) Heat oil in large frying pan over medium high (maintain this heat throughout cooking).

(4) Add fish and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until fish is no longer translucent in center.

(5) Remove from the pan and serve immediately.

(6) sprinkle with coriander

Gallo Pinto Ingredients:-

1 lb (450 gr.) Black beans. Fresh are best but most likely you’ll find them dried.

8-10 sprigs cilantro (coriander leaf) fresh or frozen, not dried!

1 small or medium onion

½ small red or yellow sweet pepper (optional)

3 cups (700 ml) chicken stock

2 cups (350 ml) white rice

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt

1 Tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil

1-3 Tablespoon oil to fry the Gallo Pinto

Method:-

(1) If beans are dried, cover with water and soak overnight, if they are “fresh” (still dried, but only from laying out in the sun like they do in Costa Rica), just rise them off. Drain the beans and add fresh water to an inch (2.5-cm) above the top of the beans and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and reduce heat to very low simmer until beans are soft (~3 hours).  Add salt.

(2) Chop cilantro, onion, and sweet pepper very fine.

(3) Add 1 Tablespoon oil to a large pan and sauté the dry rice for 2 minutes over medium high flame then add half of the chopped onion, sweet pepper and cilantro and sauté another 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer until rice is tender (20-35 minutes). This is also the recipe for Tico rice used in other favorites like tamales.

(4) Once the rice and beans are cooked you can refrigerate or freeze them. Make up small batches of Gallo Pinto when you want it by simply sautéing them together.

(5) Keep a significant amount of the “black water” with the beans (½-1 cup 120-240 ml). This is what gives the rice its color and some of its flavor. Sauté the rice, beans reserved chopped onion, sweet pepper and cilantro together in vegetable oil for a few minutes. Sprinkle with a little fresh chopped cilantro just before serving.

In Guanacaste they sometimes use small very hot red peppers instead of or in addition to the sweet. Some people add a tablespoon or so of salsa Lizano or Chilera to the beans while they’re cooking. Our friend Mercedes always simmered the beans very slowly all-day and preheated the water or chicken broth for the rice.

Serve your swordfish steaks and Gallo Pinto with fried ripe Plantain.

• < Prev
• Next >