recipe boricua style

recipe boricua style

Albondigas
Makes about 15

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
½ cup sofrito
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
1 large egg, beaten
3 tbsp. hot water
½ bunch of cilantro finely diced

Mix all the ingredients together and form balls about 1½ inch in diameter. Brown the abondigas in a bit of oil and then add your favorite spagetti sauce and simmer for about 25 minutes until done. To serve without sauce, add about 1 cup water and simmer for about 25 minutes, covered.



Arroz Amarillo
Basic Puerto Rican Cooking 101

¼ cup vegetable oil
2 cups uncooked white rice
4 cups boiling water
1 envelope Sazón Goya
1 tsp. salt

Rinse the rice using a metal strainer and shake off excess water.
Heat oil in a caldero, add the rice, water, Sazón, and salt. Water line should be about 1" above rice line. Too much water means rice will be sticky. Too little water and it won't cook through. Stir a few times to mix ingredients.

Cook over high heat until water evaporates, then stir once or twice (too much stirring and rice might get sticky), bring the heat down to low, cover and cook another 25 minutes or so. Traditionally Puerto Ricans shape the rice to have a pyramid like mound in the middle in order to cook better - not necessarily true. That's it!

* Other suggestions. You can use beef or chicken broth to enhance the flavor and/or use bacon grease instead of vegetable oil. (Both my grandmothers used bacon grease and they lived to a very healthy 95 or so years. My great-grandmother cooked the same way and she lived way past 105). You can even add more than ¼ cup grease or oil - it will take better and be more grainy. If you don't have Sazón, use 1 can tomato sauce.

Make it more interesting by adding frozen mixed veggies at the same time you add all the ingredients. You could also add beans if you want.

This is just a basic rice recipe. To make white rice omit the Sazón.

ARROZ CON CHORIZO Y GARBANZOS

¼ cup olive oil
1 cup onions, chopped
½ cup green pepper, chopped
2 tbsp. garlic, crushed
2 Spanish chorizos, sliced
1 packet Sazón Goya with culantro and annatto
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups long grain rice
2 cups chick peas, cooked
½ cup red pepper, chopped

In a medium caldero add the chorizo and cook until golden brown. Add the onion, garlic, peppers and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add the other ingredients, season, cover and cook over medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
* Puerto Ricans use Spanish chorizo our recipes. This recipe calls for Spanish Chorizo (more like a sausage) not Mexican chorizo, which tends to crumble. For this recipe you need Spanish Chorizo. The flavor is different. 


Arroz Con Pollo
2 cups uncooked rice
1 lb. chicken parts
1 small can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons of sliced Spanish Olives, use a bit of the         liquid and the red peppers too.
1 teaspoon alcaparras
½ cup sofrito
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
4 cups of boiling water
In a large caldero brown the chicken parts in the oil, 5 minutes each side.
Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Don't put them on paper towels - we want any grease back in the pot.
Leave the chicken drippings inside the pot and add all the other ingredients except for the rice, water and chicken.
Mix well and cook sofrito for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add the chicken and rice to the pot and stir.
Add the boiling water until the water is about 1 inch above the rice, stir once only.
Boil uncovered, over high heat, until water is absorbed.
Once the water is absorbed gently stir from bottom to top. Just a couple of turns only.
Cover and continue to cook over LOW heat for another 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Hints . . .
Don't concern yourself with weighing the meat too much. If you are serving 5 people just use 5 - 8 pieces of meat.
Resist the temptation to stir. Too much stirring causes the rice to become "amogollao" or sticky.
It is traditional to cook the chicken with bones and all. People will just pull the meat off the bones with their fork.
If you have cilantro add some to the top of the pot once it is done, for decoration.
Don't let your rice get "ahumado" or smoked from cooking at too high temperature.
For great pegao just cook a bit longer keeping an eye on it.
For a lot of peagao use a larger caldero (it will just be half empty).
Some people prefer to use deboned chicken. Cook the chicken in a crockpot all day with seasonings and when you get home from work debone and use the broth to make the rice. 

Carne Bif
(Corned Beef - traditional dish)
Olive oil
½ cup sofrito
¼ cup alcaparrado
1 can tomato sauce
¼ cup water
1 can corned beef
1 large potato, cooked and diced
Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook sofrito in olive oil. Add alcaparrado, tomato sauce, water, & potato. Simmer for about five minutes. Add beef, salt and pepper. This should be watery - may add more water is needed. This is usually served with tostones, white rice, and a salad. 

Bistec Encebollao
Easy as 1-2-3

2 pounds beef steak, thinly sliced
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
dash dried oregano leaves
2 large white onions, sliced in rings
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
1½ cups water
1 tsp. salt



1. Dump all ingredients in a gallon-size plastic bag and turn so that all the ingredients mix together. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or a couple of days (or freeze for later use).

2. Dump contents of bag in a heavy skillet and bring it to a boil. Cook over low heat, covered, for about 40 minutes or so. The meat will be very tender and tasty.

Serve with white rice and tostones....

Carne mechada
(Puerto Rican pot roast)
Serves about 8

(A)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white cooking wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Adobo
1 teaspoon dried oregano
(B)
3 to 3-1/2 pounds beef eye of round

(C) 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/4 pound cooking ham, diced 1/3 teaspoon ground garlic 1/2 teaspoon Adobo 6 onion or pimento-filled olives, diced

(D) 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups cooking wine 1 cup water salt and pepper to taste (E) 2 carrots, diced 3 medium-sized potatoes, diced

Combine the ingredients in (A). Season the beef with this mixture. Allow to stand for at least ten minutes.
Use a long kitchen knife to make a deep incision in the meat, where you will insert the stuffing shortly.
Use a Dutch oven or large pot. Add the teaspoon of oil in (c) and heat in Medium until hot. Add the remaining ingredients in (C) and saute for two to three minutes.
Remove the pot from the roast and carefully remove the sauted ingredients. Allow to cool and then insert by spoonfuls into the slice in the meat. Do not fill all the way to the edge.
Add
Add the oil in (D) to the pot and set over Medium heat until hot. Add the meat and sear over the hot oil, turning several times to sear the whole surface of the meat.
Add the remaining ingredients in (D). Cook over medium heat, uncovered, until the liquids begin to steam. Bring the heat to low and cover the pot.
The meat should take about two hours to cook. The time may vary with the actual size of the beef and local conditions. Check often to ensure that there is enough liquid in the pot. When the meat is almost done, add the ingredients in (E). Cook until the meat and the vegetables are done.
Serve with white or yellow rice.