Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Fun fact! This is actually Scarlett Johansson’s favorite pasta, and I can understand why because it was so good! I have already made it again since filming the movie night and posting the video.

Here is the recipe I used. Click Here

The only thing I did differently, which I highly recommend, is I added freshly squeezed lemon juice from one lemon when I added the pasta water to the pan of spaghetti.

Serving Tips: This pasta tastes great reheated so what I did was make it earlier in the day, plated it, covered it in plastic wrap, and stored it in the refrigerator. Then, I just had to microwave it and add some chopped parsley on top.

Ingredients:

Sourdough Sandwich Bread

White Cheddar Cheese

Yellow Cheddar Cheese

Gruyere Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Olive oil (for pan)

Salted butter (for bread)

Cheese Note: Blocks of cheese are usually cheaper and taste better than pre-sliced cheese, in my opinion, so I only bought blocks of cheese and made the slices myself. This also allows you to make the slices thicker which I did so it was oozing out of the sandwich just like the film.

Prep Tips: To save time during the film, I pre-sliced all of my cheese and stored it in the refrigerator. I also buttered the bread beforehand, wrapped it in parchment paper so it didn’t get soggy, and stored it in the refrigerator as well. That way I just needed to grill the sandwich before serving while the movie was playing.

Instructions:

1. On medium heat, coat your skillet with olive oil and toast one side of your two slices of bread.
2. Flip the slices, the other side should be pre-buttered from when you prepped it earlier. Add your pre-sliced cheese to one of the slices and put the other slice of bread on top. The buttered side should be facing up.
3. Lower the heat and keep lightly pressing and flipping your sandwich so the outside does not burn and the cheese slowly melts. Once the cheese starts melting from the sides of the sandwich, your grilled cheese is ready.
4. Remove from the skillet and slice in half, diagonally.

I was scared to mess this up but luckily it worked out….. on my second attempt. *sigh* My first attempt I tried a bad recipe but for the second attempt, I used this recipe. Click Here!

I liked that this recipe had pictures for every step of the process. It also cooked the cake at the right amount of time.

Serving tips: These lava cakes are best served freshly baked so it’s still hot. For this reason I made the batter ahead of time, properly buttered and floured my ramekins, and poured the batter before the movie started. But, I didn’t put it into the oven to bake until the film had started. Specifically, I started baking it when I was getting the pasta dish ready. This gave it enough time to bake and rest before serving.

If you’re worried about how the cake will come out and don’t want to risk cooking it during the film, I would suggest this being the last thing you do before starting the film so it’s still fairly fresh when the scene comes. I suggest making extra batter so if your first attempt doesn’t work (like it wasn’t cooked long enough and it becomes a sloppy mess all over your counter like my first attempt), you can recook another batch and make adjustments.

Little Havana is a neighborhood in Miami with a large Cuban cultural impact. It’s filled with Cuban art and cafes that make it the second most authentic Cuban experience, less only to Cuba itself.

Mojito Recipe- serves 1

Ingredients:

1.5oz rum (Usually Mojitos are made with white rum but dark Caribbean rum is used for the Cuba Libre at the end of the film so to save money you can use dark rum for this as I did)

3 small lime wedges

2 tsp cane sugar

6 mint leaves (I finely chop my mint because I hate when big pieces of mint get stuck in my straw)

Club soda

Spring of mint, for garnish

Cocktail muddler

Instructions:

1. I recommend having your lime wedges, mint leaves, and sugar already in your glass before the film starts. Store it in the refrigerator so it stays fresh.
2. When it’s time to start prepping the cocktails to serve, take your glasses out of the refrigerator and use a cocktail muddler to press down on the lime wedges. Keep pressing and muddling until the lime juice has dissolved the sugar. This takes about 30 seconds.
3. Next, fill your glass with ice and add the rum. Mix the drink to incorporate the sugary lime juice with the rum and then top the rest of your glass with club soda.
4. Garnish with a mint spring. I like to slap the mint spring on my wrist a few times to release the oils from the leaves. This makes it extra fragrant!

Croquetas de Jamón (Ham Croquetas) I purchased the ham croquetas from my favorite croqueta place in Miami, Islas Canarias. Here is their information.

Of course, not everyone will have access to this restaurant so here are some other options.

1. Look for a local Cuban restaurant/ café in your area. Buying freshly made from an authentic Cuban place is always going to be the best option!
2. Look for a Latin supermarket in your area. They will usually have a bakery section with croquetas or a freezer section with a frozen option. This option won’t be as good as getting them fresh from a café or restaurant, but it’ll still taste decent!
3. If you live in an area without any of the options above, or you’re just interested in making them yourself, here is a good recipe from a Cuban-American native to Miami. Click Here.

I chose to feature not just a Cuban sandwich (the main focus of the food truck), but also other items they sold on the food truck. This included tostones, yuca frita, and a medianoche sandwich. The characters were also seen drinking beer so I served Modelo (a Mexican beer very commonly enjoyed in Miami because it’s light and refreshing in the hot and humid climate) with a lime wedge. I also made a cilantro garlic dip for the fried yuca and plantains to bring everything together.

Cilantro Garlic Dip Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup mayo (my favorite is kewpie)

2 tbsp Greek yogurt

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves

Salt & black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Add all your ingredients to a blender or food processor. Blend on high until all your ingredients resemble a sauce. Taste and add more salt and black pepper to match your taste preferences.

This is a great sauce to make ahead of time and then store in the refrigerator.

Tostones Recipe (fried green plantain)- For this recipe, you will need a plantain press. Here is a link to purchase.

I make these all the time and I never use a recipe. My husband is Dominican, so I was taught how to make tostones by his mother. It’s super easy! Here is a recipe!

Serving tips: I recommend making these close to when you’re about to start the film. Keep them wrapped up in aluminum foil on your counter and right before you’re ready to serve, toast them in your oven on 350 degrees F for a few minutes to crisp them up again.

Yuca Frita Recipe (Yuca Fries)- This, like the tostones is another thing I make from scratch. If you want to save time, Pollo Tropical actually has pretty decent yuca fries and you can request cilantro garlic sauce to come with them. If you do want to make them fresh like I did, here is a good recipe!

Serving tips: I recommend making these close to when you’re about to start the film just like the tostones. You can fry them in the same oil. Keep them wrapped up in aluminum foil on your counter and right before you’re ready to serve, toast them with the tostones in your oven on 350 degrees F for a few minutes to crisp them up again.

Cubano & Medianoche Sandwiches: A Cuban sandwich is a labor of love! It’s made with mojo pork, ham, swiss cheese, mustard, pickles, and buttered and pressed Cuban bread. A medianoche is similar but made with a sweeter and softer egg based bread.

If there is one thing I recommend you purchase from a Cuban restaurant more than any other thing during this movie night, it’s these sandwiches. They take a lot of effort because you have to make the mojo pork ahead of time. The Cuban Sandwich is also a matter of pride amongst Cuban-American restaurants so it’s something I hope everyone will branch out and try. Every Cuban-American restaurant in Miami claims to be the best but not all are created equal so if you do purchase from a Cuban restaurant, make sure to do your research. I purchased both the Cuban sandwich and the medianoche sandwich from Sanguich De Miami. Here is their information.

If you are a little crazy and want to make these sandwiches yourself, here are good recipes. Just make sure you have enough time allocated to make the mojo pork before!

Cuban Sandwich Recipe

Medianoche Sandwich Recipe

Serving tips: I covered the sandwiches I ordered in aluminum foil and left them on the counter. Then I cooked them for a few minutes with the yuca and tostones before serving.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup warm milk

3 tbsp melted butter

½ cup sugar

1 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups flour

1 egg

Avocado oil or vegetable oil, for frying

Powdered sugar, for topping

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the warm milk, melted butter, sugar, yeast, and vanilla. Add the egg and whisk until combined. Gradually add the flour. Mix until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms.
2. Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover it with a clean cloth or damp paper towel, and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
3. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch squares and cover with a cloth or damp paper towel. Let them rest for 15 minutes.
4. Heat about 2 inches of frying oil in a deep pot for a few minutes on medium high heat. Fry a few beignets at a time (do not overcrowd), until golden brown on both sides (about 1-2 minutes per side). Remove and drain on a paper towel lines plate.
5. Generously toss the beignets with powdered sugar.

Serving Tips: I recommend frying the beignets fresh before serving. To make this happen, I made the dough two hours before I planned on starting the movie. Then I cut out the beignet dough pieces and kept them covered on my countertop so the dough was ready to go. I also filled the pot with frying oil so that was ready to go too. During the scene when they are selling food on Miami Beach, I started heating the oil and then fried the dough and tossed the fresh beignets before serving.

Leftover Dough: I only did two pieces of beignets for this movie night. Fry as many pieces as you need and if you have dough left over, you can store it in an airtight baggy and store in the refrigerator or freezer. When you are ready to fry the rest of the dough, just let the dough rise on your counter for 30 minutes to 1 hour before frying. Dough actually develops in flavor in the refrigerator!

I live in an apartment so I’m not allowed to own a smoker or grill so I purchased this from one of my favorite BBQ Joints in Miami, Apocalypse BBQ. Here is their info.

Honestly smoking brisket is a science and labor of love so even if I could, I probably would have still bought it from a restaurant. I would recommend that you do the same but if you would like to make it yourself, here is a Texas-style brisket recipe you can follow! Just remember I warned you it is labor intensive and a science! Click Here

Cuba Libre Recipe

This is a super easy drink to make! I used a Dominican Rum (Ron Barceló). Dominican rum has this delicious, almost caramel-like flavor. It’s the best in my opinion!

To make the drink, fill your glass with ice and add 1 ½oz -2oz of rum(depending how strong you want it). Then fill the rest of your glass with Coke. Garnish with a lime wedge. When you are ready to enjoy the drink, squeeze your lime into your drink and drop the wedge in your drink. To save prep time, I had the lime wedges pre-cut and stored in the refrigerator.