Cuban Bread Recipe Loaves Recipe For Lasagna

CUBAN-STYLE BREAD

Steps:

• In a mixing machine fitted with a dough hook, add the water, salt, sugar, shortening, and yeast. Add the flour slowly, making a stiff dough that is silky smooth.
• Turn dough out into a large oiled bowl, cover with a cloth. Place dough in a warm place, and allow to double in bulk.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pound and knead the dough, until it is silky smooth. Return the dough to the bowl, cover, and let rise again, until doubled in bulk.
• Meanwhile, sterilize the palmetto leaves or shoe strings by soaking them in boiling water.
• Portion dough into 10-ounce loaves. As a loaf is formed, immediately place a palmetto leaf or shoestring down the length of the loaf, and turn the loaf over onto a baking sheet, leaf/string side down. Repeat with the remaining loaves.
• Let the dough rise, leaf side down, for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bake loaves until they are golden brown, about 30 minutes.

LOAF PAN LASAGNA FOR TWO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt and saute until the onion is translucent and softened, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add the ground beef and use a wooden spoon to break it into pieces. Cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the oregano and cook 1 minute. Stir in the marinara and let simmer while you make the ricotta mixture.
• Lightly beat the egg in a medium bowl. Stir in the ricotta, parsley, basil, 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan until combined.
• Begin to layer the lasagna, spread 2 tablespoons marinara sauce evenly over the bottom of an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Cover with 1 lasagna noodle. Spread on 1/3 cup of the ricotta mixture followed by 1/2 cup marinara sauce. Top with another noodle. Repeat layering 4 more times, ending with the sauce. Top the final layer with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake until the noodles are tender and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

CUBAN BREAD

Steps:

• Grease a large bowl, and set aside.
• Take a small bowl and dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup of warm (110 degrees F) water. Place the bowl in a warm place and let it stand until it starts to foam and double in volume, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, measure out 1/4 cup of lard Heat in the microwave until melted.
• Place the water/yeast/sugar mixture in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Add the rest of the warm water and the salt. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until blended.
• Take your measuring cup and sift together the two flours.
• Gradually add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to the wet ingredients in your mixer -- mixing constantly. At the same time you are adding flour, gradually pour in the melted lard. Keep adding a little flour and a little lard until all of the lard is added.
• Continue adding more flour until you make a smooth and pliable dough. Try to add just enough flour to make the dough elastic -- just as much as necessary so that the dough hook barely cleans the sides of the bowl. Too much flour and your bread will be too dense! You will use approximately 3 1/4 cups of sifted flour to bring the dough to this point. (More or less, this is where the art of baking comes in!) Save any leftover flour mixture for rolling out the dough.
• Now let the machine and the dough hook go to work kneading the dough. Set the mixer on a low speed and knead for about 3 to 4 minutes, no more! Your dough will be fairly sticky at this point.
• Shape the dough into a ball and place it into the greased bowl.
• Flip the dough ball a few times to grease it up on all sides. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm place. Let the dough rise until it doubles in size -- about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, using the leftover flour you have in the bowl. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and use a rolling pin to roll it out. This recipe called for a large loaf, shaped to fit a long baking sheet diagonally -- about 20 inches long. So we try to roll out a 12 x 20-inch rectangle. BUT:( I prefer 4 smaller ones for individual rolls)Sprinkle more flour on the dough and turn it over a few times as you roll it out, to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. The added flour at this rolling stage should take care of most of the stickiness of the dough.
• Roll the dough up into a tightly rolled long cylinder, with a slight taper at both ends. Wet your fingers and pinch the loose flap of the rolled dough into the loaf, making a tight seam.
• Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.
• Place the loaf diagonally onto the baking sheet, seam side down. Dust the top with a little extra flour and cover very loosely with plastic wrap. (You don't want the rising dough to dry out or stick to the plastic wrap.).
• Place in a warm spot and allow the loaf to stand and rise once again until it is about 2 1/2 times it's original size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cuban bread is wider than French bread, so expect your loaf to spread out quite a bit as it rises.
• Preheat oven to 450º F. Place a pan of water on the lowest rack of the oven.
• Use a sharp knife to cut a shallow seam down the middle of the top of the bread, leaving about two inches of uncut top on each end of the loaf.
• Brush the top of the loaf with water and place in your preheated oven on the middle shelf. After about 5 minutes of baking, brush some more water on top of the bread.
• Bake the loaf until it is light brown and crusty -- about 12 to 18 minutes total baking time.

CHEF JOHN'S CUBAN BREAD

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 teaspoon yeast, and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl or measuring cup. Whisk the starter until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Place 1 package active dry yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in a mixing bowl. Pour in 3/4 cup warm water. Let rest 15 minutes to ensure yeast is alive (bubbles will form on surface). Add lard and salt to bowl; add 1 cup of the flour. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated and dough forms a sticky ball. Add the starter (reserving 1/4 cup if you want to keep the starter going, if desired. Otherwise add it all.). Sprinkle most of the rest of the flour on the dough, reserving 1/2 cup to be used if needed when kneading.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until dough comes together in a firm ball, adding additional flour only as needed. Dough should be soft and supple with just a bit of tackiness on the surface.
• Place dough in a bowl and coat surface with a little vegetable oil. Cover bowl with a damp kitchen towel and place in a warm spot to rise. Let rise until at least doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle with a little cornmeal.
• Transfer dough onto lightly floured surface. Lightly press the dough into a rectangle with your lightly floured hands. Divide dough in half and press and shape each half into a long 1/2-inch thick rectangle about 12 inches long. Roll up tightly starting at the long end to form a skinny loaf. Flatten a bit. Transfer each loaf to a prepared baking sheet and dust with a bit of flour. Cover with a light, dry towel and let rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Cut a 1/4-inch deep slit down the top of the loaves with a sharp knife or razor. Mist loaves lightly with water.
• Place pans in pre-heated oven, one pan on lower rack, one on higher rack. After 10 minutes, switch pan positions. Continue to bake until loaves are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Transfer loaves to cooling rack and let cool to room temperature before slicing.

PAN CUBANO (AUTHENTIC CUBAN BREAD RECIPE) RECIPE - (4.3/5)

Steps:

• To Prepare Starter: 1. The day before baking; mix the starter ingredients, dissolving the yeast in the water first. You want a thick paste when you add the flour. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let "ripen" in refrigerator for 24 hours. Leftover starter will keep for several days in the refrigerator and can be frozen. To Prepare Dough: 1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in 3 tablespoons of water in a large mixing bowl. When the mixture is foamy (5 to 10 minutes), stir in the lard, the remaining water, and the 1/2 batch of starter. 2. Mix well with your fingers or a wooden spoon. Stir in salt and flour, 1 cup at a time. You want to get a dough that is stiff enough to knead. You can also mix and knead in a mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a food processor fitted with the double blade, as the processor dough hook will not handle this job easily. 3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary. The dough should be pliable and not sticky. 4. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles its' bulk, about 45 minutes. Punch down. 5. To form the loaves, divide the dough in 4 pieces. Roll out each to form a 14-inch long tube, with rounded ends (sort of like a long meat loaf) Put 2 of the loaves on a baking sheet, about 6 inches apart. Cover with dampened cotton dish towels and let rise in warm, draft-free spot until double their bulk, about 1 hour. If you want to let it rise at a slower pace, you can do it in a cooler spot and even in the refrigerator, but give it 3 to 4 hours instead. 6. Preheat oven to 350 F 7. Lay a dampened piece of thick kitchen string or twine (about 1/8 " thick) all along the top length of the loaf. Bake until the breads are lightly browned on top and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 30 minutes. 8. Let them cool slightly and remove the strings. They will leave a distinct little ridge on top. Transfer loaves onto a wire rack for cooling.

CUBAN BREAD

Steps:

• Grease a large bowl, and set aside.
• Dissolve the yeast in warm (90 degree F) water. Add the salt and sugar. Stir well.
• Mix the flour and wheat gluten. Add lard then add the flour/gluten mixture, one cup at a time, beating it in using a wooden spoon (or using the dough hook on an electric mixer) to make a fairly stiff dough. Shape dough into a small ball.
• Place dough in the Pyrex bowl, turn over so both sides are greased, cover with a moist cloth and place in a warm place. Let rise about 20 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
• Grease two more bowls. Remove the dough from the bowl and punch it down. Cut dough in half to form two balls. Place each ball in a separate bowl. Cover each with a moist cloth and let rise about 30 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
• Lightly grease a cookie sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal.
• Do NOT preheat the oven.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Shape into long, Cuban bread-style loaves. Place the loaves on the baking sheet. Allow to stand and rise for five minutes.
• Brush the loaves with water.
• Place in middle shelf of the COLD oven. Place a pan of boiling water on the bottom of the oven.
• Set the temperature to 400 degrees F. Bake the breads until they are crusty and done - about 45 minutes.

CUBAN BREAD**** RECIPE - (3.6/5)

Steps:

• 1-Put ingredients into bread machine in order listed. 2-Set machine on dough cycle. 3-Flour counter, take dough out of machine, roll dough out to a 12 x 20-inch rectangle. 4-Roll the dough up into a tightly rolled long cylinder, with a slight taper at both ends. Wet your fingers and pinch the loose flap of the rolled dough into the loaf, making a tight seam. 5-Grease baking sheet and sprinkle slightly with cornmeal. 6-Place the loaf diagonally onto the baking sheet, seam side down. Dust the top with a little extra flour and cover very loosely with plastic wrap. 7-Place in a warm spot and allow the loaf to stand and rise once again, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cuban bread is wider than French bread, so expect your loaf to spread out quite a bit as it rises. 8-Preheat oven to 450* and place a pan full of water on bottom rack. 9-Use a sharp knife to cut a shallow seam down the middle of the top of the bread, leaving about two inches of uncut top on each end of the loaf. 10-Brush the top of the loaf with water and place in your preheated oven on the middle shelf. 11-After about 5 minutes of baking, brush some more water on top of the bread. 12-Bake the loaf until it is light brown and crusty - about 12 to 18 minutes total baking time.

CUBAN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
• In 10-inch skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook about 5 minutes or until slightly softened. Stir in oregano, cumin and coriander. Cook 1 minute longer. Stir in tomatoes. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel plantains; cut each lengthwise into thin strips. In heavy skillet, heat about 1/4 inch oil Fry plantain strips until golden brown on each side. Remove from skillet to paper towel-lined plate to drain and cool.
• Once beef mixture has simmered and thickened, stir in olives and cilantro. Remove from heat.
• To prepare lasagna, arrange one-third of plantains in even layer in bottom of baking dish. Top with half of beef mixture. Sprinkle one-third of cheese over beef. Arrange second one-third of plantains over cheese, followed by remaining beef mixture. Top with another one-third of cheese. Arrange last one-third of plantains on top. Sprinkle with half of remaining cheese.
• In small bowl, beat eggs and milk with whisk. Pour over top of layered ingredients in baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
• Bake 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Cool 15 minutes before cutting and serving.