A flavorful grilled chicken, marinated in a bold and zesty blend of oil, citrus, garlic and fiery seasonings. Traditionally served with white rice, shown here with a mild, Spanish rice and skillet fried green beans.

Mojo Chicken - Pollo Asado

Literally translated, polo asado means barbecued or grilled (and sometimes even roasted) chicken, though it appears that it most often refers to chicken that is soaked in a mojo-style marinade and cooked on a grill. It's another one of those roadside/food truck favorites, in the same camp with the vinegar chicken I shared recently.

In this case I'm using a homemade mojo marinade in place of a commonly used commercial sour orange product {affil link} which not only is next to impossible to find here on the Mississippi coast, but also tends to contain additional sugars and preservatives you may not want.

Crockpot Ropa Vieja - Latin Style Beef

Crockpot Ropa Vieja - Latin Style Beef

A Latin-styled braised beef, ropa vieja literally translates to "old clothes" earning that name because the meat is so tender that it literally shreds into what might look like a pile of used cloth!

The original recipe for this is from the January 2009 Good Housekeeping magazine and called for 3-1/2 pounds of flank steak.

I had just under 2 pounds of some flat iron steaks in my freezer that I needed to use up, so I substituted those and adjusted some of the ingredients. Flat iron is a cut of chuck so I thought it might benefit from the slow cooking, and it certainly did.