Homemade Cuban Bread recipe

Initially when I listed 'Cuban Tostada' as one of the breakfast entries, I wanted to use store bought Cuban bread to make the sandwich and call it a day. But when I started reading about Cuban bread, I realized that store bought Cuban bread might me made with lard (aka pig fat), so I decided to make the bake the bread at home.

I found this recipe on King Arthur flour and followed it to the 'T' except for substituting some of the all purpose flour with wholewheat flour. These rolls are perfect to make sandwiches and of course Cuban tostadas.

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Cuban Breakfast Tostada and Cafe con Leche

Buffet on Table: Breakfasts across Countries

Day 20: Cuban Breakfast Tostada and Cafe con Leche

We are going to stop in Cuba today for a Cuban Tostada and coffee. It does not any simpler than this one -- toasted sandwich with Cuban style coffee and fruit -- this is a typical breakfast served in Cuba.

Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor.

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Tostones (Fried Raw Green Plantains) with Mojo Sauce

I made these Tostones or fried green plantains for Cuban meal earlier this week. From what I've read, fried green plantains are very popular and pull together most any Latin Caribbean meal. They have different names (tostones, patacones, tajadas, mariquitas) and shapes depending on the country.
These crunchy slabs of fried plantains make a very addictive snack or appetizer when served with lightly salted or with a garlicky mojo sauce. This recipe is from Viva Vegan cookbook.

Green plantain is fried twice, smushed down just prior to the second frying to create a thinner and extra crunchy treat. There are many methods for crushing tostones for their second frying. The idea is to use a heavy, flat object to evenly apply enough pressure to the cooked plantain to flatten it, but not so much that it falls apart. There's a special Latin kitchen tool; called a tostonera that is designed just for the smashing purpose. I used my handy-dandy poori press for that and it worked great for me.

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Cuban Style Yellow Rice (Vegan recipe)

The second Cuban dish I made for #Food of the World challenge is this quick, simple and delicious Cuban style Yellow rice. Recipe is from All recipes and it needs just a few ingredients.

Rice gets its yellow color from annatto seed powder and paprika. Annatto is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree. It imparts a yellow or orange color to foods and is also used to give flavor and aroma to dishes.

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Cuban Black Beans for #Food of the World (Vegan Recipe)

For this month's #Food of the World event, we are traveling to Cuba. Cuban cuisine is quite new to me. I've never made any Cuban dishes at home nor tried anything outside. So I took to Google looking for vegetarian Cuban recipes.
Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. Traditional Cuban meal is not served in courses, all the dishes are served that the same time.

The typical meal consists of plantains, black beans, Cuban bread, pork with onions and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to Moros and plantains are staples of the Cuban diet. Garlic, cumin, oregano and bay leaves are the dominant spices.

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