Today is the final day of Olympic Cooking 2018 and I am not sad about it.  I am sort of sad the games are coming to a close though.  I enjoy watching sports I wouldn't normally see and cheering for athletes from around the world. 

For our final day, we celebrated Puerto Rico.   Puerto Rico had one athlete who competed in the Men's Giant Slalom. The territory has not competed in the Winter Olympics since 2002, but received a temporary membership to the Winter Sports Federation, allowing them to compete in these games.

My original meal plan consisted of Monfongo (recipe from Savvy Mujer),  Chicharonnes de Pollo (recipe from The Noshery), and Helado de Coco (recipe from La Casa de Sweets).  Having quite a bit of cucumber left over from yesterday and realizing the need for a vegetable with our meal, I found a recipe for a cucumber salad (Ensalada de Pepino) from ABCdeSavilla and translated it from Spanish using google.  It turned out pretty 
good!   








The Verdict:  We enjoyed the flavors of the various dishes today.  The Monfongo was good, the chicken was the perfect combination of crispy and juicy, and the helado de coco was a great finale!  The ensalada de pepino was tasty, but since the recipe didn't specify amounts of ingredients to add, I had to wing it and the yogurt sauce wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be.  It was still good, but the cucumbers without the sauce were better than with it.







Mofongo


Ingredients

4 large green plantains
2 cups of canola oil (for frying)
2 cups chicken broth
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Peel the plantains and cut in rounds of about 1 inch.

Fry the plantains in hot oil. It will take about 5-7 minutes to get them golden.

Drain on paper towels.

In a big bowl or mortar, crush the garlic cloves

Add the plantains and bacon, olive oil and crush them. Mash or beat until it forms a “lumpy mash potato” consistency.

Add chicken stock to moisten the mixture as needed.

Use a small bowl to form and pack the mofongo.

 
Note:  I made one mofongo without the bacon for my daughter who doesn't eat meat.  She said it tasted good, but I noticed it was definitely more bland.





Chicharrones de Pollo 



Ingredients

Seasoning
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp orange or lime juice
1 tsp oregano
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 peppercorns
4 garlic cloves
Chicken
3 lbs bone-in skin on, chicken thighs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 envelope sazon
1/4 tsp pepper
vegetable oil for frying

Directions

Combine all the seasoning ingredients and mash it all together, set aside.

Trim off any excess skin from the chicken, but do not remove the skin. Lay the chicken in a glass dish (do not use metal as it could react with the vinegar) and pour seasoning over the chicken, massage the seasoning evenly into the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

When ready to prepare chicken, heat enough oil to cover chicken in a dutch oven to 400 degrees.

While the oil heats combine flour, sazon and pepper in a large ziploc bag, and shake to combine ingredients. In batches, place chicken in flour bag and shake until well coated.

Shake off excess flour and place on baking grid until all chicken pieces are coated.

When oil reaches 400 degrees, fry chicken pieces in batches for 3 minutes.

Remove from oil and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Lower the heat of the oil to 300 degrees and place all chicken back in the pot, cover and fry for 10 minutes. Remove chicken from oil and drain in paper towel lined plate.

Raise the heat again to 400 degrees and fry the chicken in batches until they turn a dark golden brown, without burning. Remove the chicken from oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate.





Ensalada Refrescante de Pepino



Ingredients



2 cucumbers
Rice Vinegar
Soy Sauce
Sesame Seeds
Natural Yogurt
Dried Mint Leaves
Dried Basil
Lemon Juice
1 TBSP Sugar
Salt
Olive Oil
Chopped Walnuts


Directions


Use a mandolin to cut the cucumber into very thin slices. Combine a small amount of water, rice vinegar, a few drops of soy sauce, and a spoonful of sugar. Add to sliced cucumbers and marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt sauce. Mix together the yogurt with a few drops of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and a handful of chopped mint and basil.

To serve, arrange the cucumber slices in a dish with a little of the marinade liquid. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds. Place a spoonful of the yogurt sauce and top with a small amount of the chopped walnuts.





Helado de Coco


Ingredients

2 cups Coconut Milk
2 cups Half-and-half
¾ cups Sugar


Directions


In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, half-and-half, and sugar.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze for 1–2 hours, or until the mixture is very cold.

Remove from the freezer and pour into your ice cream machine. Freeze in the ice cream maker for 15–20 minutes, or until the sorbet is nice and creamy.

Scoop the sorbet into a container, and freeze for at least 2–3 more hours or overnight.
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