Dinner tonight was strictly off the hook!
I outdid myself. For appetizers, we had a tortilla espa?ola (potato, onion and egg frittata), chorizo sausages in white wine, alcapurrias (fritter of a mashed potato-like root called yautia and smushed plaintains, around spiced ground beef and finely chopped smoked ham), and bastones de yuca (ground cassava with flour and eggs, rolled into a log and deep-fried). For the main meal, I did a pernil, a roast picnic shoulder of pork rubbed down with a marinade and studded with sliced garlic and a spice mixture called recaito, stuck into little pockets cut all over the meat, rice and gandules, and Dominican red beans stewed with potatoes, tomatoes, and spices.
Tomorrow, the cook takes a break. We're having Indian buffet.
