Arroz con Gandules Recipe aka Rice with pigeon peas

So I decided to try arroz con gandules today.

Gandules are pigeon peas.

It actually came out pretty good so I’m passing the recipe along.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 3 tablespoons sofrito*
  • 1 packet Sazon
  • 4 ounces tomato sauce
  • 2 cups rice (rinsed 2-3 times in cold water)
  • 1 can (15 oz) gandules (pigeon peas)
  • 2-3 cups warm water
  • Salt

Directions

  1. In a large caldero (pot), on medium heat, add the oil.  When oil is hot, add the Sazon, sofrito and tomato sauce.
  2. Cook through for 5-6 minutes.
  3. Add the rice and the can of gandules (including liquid).
  4. Add water to cover the rice.
  5. Stir then add salt to taste.
  6. Cook on medium heat until water is evaporated.
  7. Once water evaporates, stir from the bottom up slowly and make a hill out of the rice.
  8. Put cover on the caldero (pot) and leave it alone for 20 minutes.
  9. Stir then put cover back on and let cook through.
  10. Remove cover and stir from the bottom up.

Enjoy!

Arroz con Gandules



*Sofrito:
  •  2-3 garlic cloves, skin removed
  • 1 small onion, skin removed and cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 green pepper, pitted and cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 bunch cilantro, cut the whole bottom of the bunch off (most of the stems), wash in water
  • Put all ingredients in a blender and blend.

More recipes:

 

1 pound of gandules (pigeon peas)
1 tablespoon of alcaparrado without liquid

1 ounce Jamon de cocinar (Cooking ham or smoked ham)
1 one packet of Sazon with achiote
4 ounces of tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons of oil
Salt to taste

1 pound of gandules (pigeon peas)
1 tablespoon of alcaparrado without liquid

1 ounce Jamon de cocinar (Cooking ham or smoked ham)
1 one packet of Sazon with achiote
4 ounces of tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons of oil
Salt to taste

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Ziti with Broccoli and Rosemary Recipe

This is a vegetarian very-easy-to-make recipe.

I have been using it for many years and got it from a book called 1000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles.

Hope you enjoy it.

12 ounces ziti (or other medium-sized pasta)
4 cups broccoli florets
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (crumbled)
Grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Two minutes before the pasta has finished cooking, add the broccoli to the pot.  Continue cooking the pasta until done.  Drain pasta and broccoli.

Return pasta and broccoli to the pot and add butter and the rosemary.  Cook, stirring, until butter is melted.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.


You can purchase the book here if you’re interested:
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Pollo Guisau aka Pollo Guisado or Chicken Stew

I made pollo guisau for dinner tonight aka chicken stew.

It’s a Puerto Rican recipe that I received from my mother.

Very easy to make — as easy as biftec (steak).

There are 2 parts to this recipe — first is what we call sofrito.  Sofrito is a blended mixture of vegetables.

To make Sofrito you will need:

2-3 garlic cloves, skin removed
1 small onion, skin removed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 green pepper, pitted and cut into bite-size pieces
1 bunch cilantro, cut the whole bottom of the bunch off (most of the stems), wash in water
Blender

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend.

Should look like this and you should get approximately 2 cups (you can freeze the leftovers)

Sofrito

Additional Ingredients:

Chicken, 6 drumsticks, 3 skinless and 3 boneless chicken breasts.
3 red potatoes, rinsed and diced large
green olives
8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 Teaspoon oil
Sazon (a Puerto Rican spice – see picture below)











In a large pot, add oil.  Wait until it gets hot.
Add Sofrito (I used 1 cup but you can use less if you wish.  Depends on how much taste you want)
Add 1/2 of the tomato sauce
Add 1 package Sazon
Stir
Your mixture should look like this:





Add the clean chicken, green olives and cut potatoes
Add water to cover all
Heat to boil
Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 1 hour.



Enjoy!

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Basil Pasta

Friday.  Ever since I started keeping the Sabbath over 29 years ago, Fridays have become interesting.

My body automatically slows down by evening time.  It feels restful.

I like to make my favorite food for Friday dinners.  One of them is this basil pasta.

I start by using a Christmas present — a blue pot given me as a gift by my son from Williams Sonoma.
(But you can get them other places too.)  It’s called Le Creuset.  A must have in every kitchen.

Le Creuset

I keep it on the stovetop all the time as it’s used quite often.

Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French Oven, Red

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and it has never failed me.

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked linguine (but I’ve used 12 oz with a pinch more butter)
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
6 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, in a medium sized bowl, combine all the other ingredients except the butter.

Drain pasta and toss with butter.
Add basil/tomato mixture.
Toss to coat.

Basil Pasta
Enjoy!
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Vegetarian Teriyaki

Ahhh, this is a really nice recipe. I use Worthington Vegetarian Skallops.
You sometimes have to ask where they are in the store. A lot of times they are in the natural foods section.

Recipe:
1 can Worthington Vegetable Skallops, halved
3 tbsp oil
Cornstarch

Put oil in frying pan on low heat.
Put small amount of cornstarch in a bowl (enough to coat the skallops).
Toss skallops in cornstarch.
Add to frying pan and increase heat to medium.
You can have the skallops as crispy or non-crispy as you like.
Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1/4 cup water or juice from skallops
After the skallops are as crispy as you like them, pour the
sauce over the skallops and stir well on low heat until the sauce has evaporated.
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Tuna Casserole

Another recipe. This tuna casserole tastes delicious.
Today I tried it with 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 skim milk because I had whole milk left over from another recipe. It gave the casserole a much smoother texture. But it works well with skim milk also.
4 tablespoons butter
4 level tablespoons flour
1 tsp. celery salt
1 can Tuna (or tuno for vegetarians)
12 ounces noodles (penne, spiral, etc.)
Shredded cheese
2 cups milk
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
Bread crumbs (optional)
Sauce:
Heat butter until soft. Add flour and stir with whisk until smooth.
Add milk. Stir. Add celery salt. Stir.
Heat all under low/medium heat.
When the sauce thickens & starts to slowly boil, turn off heat.
Add shredded cheese. (You can make the sauce as cheesy as you’d like.)
Stir. Set aside until the pasta is ready.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
Combine tuna, pasta & eggs. Stir.
Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish.
Pour sauce over mixture (do not stir).
Add bread crumbs if you like.
Bake at 325-350 for approximately 20-25 minutes until it bubbles.
Enjoy!
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Scalloped Potatoes

It’s been a very busy week so I have a lot to blog about. I will post it all in segments.

Firstly, I made scalloped potatoes for dinner one day. It turned out rather well. I have two recipes that I use for scalloped potatoes and this one does not use cheese although it does use whole milk. It’s one of my favorites although sometimes it comes out too fluid. So, you may need to add a wee bit more flour than I do.

(Excuse the picture as my family had already “bitten” into the casserole dish before I was able to take the picture.)

Scalloped Potatoes

3 lbs white potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced (adjust to taste)
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1.5 tsp salt
3 cups whole milk
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13″ baking dish with Pam or other cooking spray.
In a small bowl, stir together the garlic, flour & salt.
Arrange 1/2 of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.
Top with 1/2 the onion
Sprinkle 1/2 the flour mixture over the onion/potatoes & dot with 1 tbsp butter/margarine
Layer the remaining potatoes, onions and flour mixture over the top
Dot with 1 tbsp butter/margarine
Pour the milk over all
Butter one side of a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the baking dish with the last 1 tbsp of butter & place it buttered side down over the baking dish. Seal.
Place covered dish on a baking sheet & put in middle of the oven.
Bake 50 minutes
Remove foil
Continue baking approximately 45 more minutes or until top is golden brown.
When done, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
Special thanks to my friend Yoko for sharing this recipe with me.

Enjoy!
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Tabouli Dinner


Dinner today was homemade tabouli, potato salad and beans with franks.
The recipe for the tabouli was given to me by friends who are from Lebanon.
Tabouli recipe:
1/4 – 1/2 cup fine bulgar wheat
Juice of 1/2 a large lemon
1 good sized tomato – chopped
2 bunches parsley – snapped then chopped
4 stalks of green onions – chopped
2 tbsp green mint – chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup oil
-Rinse the vegetables
-Soak the bulgar wheat in warm water for about 1/2 hour. Drain then add the lemon juice to it and let it soak for another 1/2 hour.
-Put chopped parsley, mint, green onions, salt, pepper and bulgar in a bowl
-Add chopped tomato
-Toss
-Add 1/4 cup oil, toss
-Add the rest of the oil sparingly, tasting as you go along
This can be made a day ahead by layering all the ingredients (except the oil), put the tomato on top of it all and don’t toss. Refrigerate.
When ready to use, remove from the refrigerator, toss, then add the oil.
Enjoy!

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Biftec (Steak)

Tonight I made biftec, known as steak in English.  It’s really easy to make. I baked it in the oven but I’ve also made it on the stovetop.
Here’s the home recipe:
Ingredients
  • 3-12 oz packages of thin sliced beef steaks
  • Vinegar
  • 1 small can of tomato sauce
  • Salt and Pepper (to taste)
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 onion
Directions
  1. Rinse the meat under warm water and place it in a bowl.
  2. Take a couple handfuls of vinegar and toss the meat with it.
  3. Pour tomato sauce over the meat and toss.
  4. Season with the Adobo (or other seasonings of your choosing)
  5. Cut the green pepper and onion into thin slices.
  6. Toss all together.
  7. Refrigerate overnight.
On the stovetop: toss the mixture into a skillet and heat on low/medium for about one hour.
In the oven: Put mixture in an oven-proof casserole dish and heat at 300 degrees for approximate 1.5 hours. (About midway, toss the meat)
This requires no oil or greasing of any pans.
As oven/stovetop temperatures may vary, please make sure your meat is thoroughly cooked before consuming.
Enjoy!
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