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There are so many different smoked fish salad preparations all over the world, and many of them might sound very similar on paper... until you try them. The differences are in the details of course, and SOUTH FLORIDA SMOKED FISH DIP is definitely familiar yet unique. It's a bit like a cross between whitefish salad and smoked salmon cream cheese, so if you like either of those things you might just like this too. But comparing this dish to something similar kind of misses the point... this is definitely its own thing. I'll be lightly smoking the fish myself, and mixing in some cream cheese, celery, and a few choice herbs and spices, all served with soft cuban bread for spreading this tasty stuff onto.

If you aren't familiar with mojo, then you're in for a treat. What is it? Well it isn't what Dr. Evil stole from Austin Powers in that one movie. Mojo (that's pronounced moe-hoe, not the Austin Powers way) is a lot of different things depending on which island area you're talking about. It's technically a sauce from the Canary Islands, based on a local interpretation of Spanish sauces. Basically the standard "this sauce from these colonizers is good, but we can do better" story. Each time the mojo concept moved to a new island, the definition of what it was changed too. The Cuban version always has bitter orange, and almost always has garlic, oregano, and other herbs too. Since Cubans are smart and like good food, it was a no brainer to marinate big chunks of pork in this awesome sauce and then roast said pork... and that's how we get this fantastically flavorful and bright pork dish. Long-marinated and slow-roasted pork shoulder, cooked until it's quite tender and roasty... that's the whole story. Well it usually would be, but I can't help but serve this with a Canary Islands style red mojo, which provides some much needed tart red pepper goodness. That leaves us with TWO mojos, so we're calling it CUBAN DOUBLE MOJO PORK. Some styles of mojo pork are served like pulled pork, but I'll be doing mine chunk-style... still super tender, but not mush. If you're into Latin flavors, or roasted pork, or heck even barbeque, then this dish will be right up your alley.

We need something to go with the star of the menu this week. Something like black beans and rice would work, sure, but I think we can do even better. How about CRUSHED POTATOES & GREEN SAUCE? That feels much more interesting. This one isn't too complicated, I'll be boiling, smashing, then roasting potatoes, spiking them with a few herbs and spices, then packing them up for you to heat with the meal. The real magic comes from the green sauce I'll be serving with them, which is a Peruvian green sauce (yes, the same exact one I serve with my Peruvian Roasted Chicken.) This sauce is absolutely not "authentic" with our theme, but it makes up for that by being exceptionally delicious, especially with these roasted crushed potatoes and the rest of the menu this week. I'll give exceptionally delicious more weight than perfectly authentic every time.

We've got a lot going on with this menu, so we need something cool, bright, and fresh. A wimpy salad just won't do, so we'll be having CHILLED HEARTS OF PALM & CUCUMBER instead. Hearts of palm are kind of like tropical artichoke hearts... they're tender without being mushy, and take to dressing quite well. Cucumbers are great during the summer, everyone knows that. Accent things with a little shaved red onion and some cute little pickled peppers, finish things off with some fresh mint and a zippy lime vinaigrette, and we have the perfect foil for the rest of the menu items this week.

If you've ever been to a Cuban bakery, you've probably had pastelitos. In the world of Cuban pastries, pastelitos can mean a variety of things, but if you JUST say "pastelitos", you're talking about puff pastry triangles filled with guava paste (the jammy, sliceable stuff) and cream cheese. My GUAVA & CREAM CHEESE BLONDIES take this concept and turn it into a proper dessert. I'll be using my standard butter-brown sugar blondie batter, pushing cubes of guava paste and cream cheese in, then baking things up nice and golden brown. We'd be in a great spot if I stopped there, but personally I can't imagine having a pastelito (or a blondie square that tastes like one) without a cup of coffee... so I'll be making a whipped espresso cream to go along with these little squares of joy. These are just sweet enough, with an iconic flavor combo that's greater than it sounds, served with some excellent coffee-stuff for the whole experience. What's not to like?