Rice and Gandules (Arroz con Gandules) Super Easy!!!!

Rice and gandules I think is the most popular dish in Puerto Rican cuisine. Below is my recipe that I have perfected over the years and I hope you will too!

Ingredients

Sofrito – 4 tablespoons

Tomato Sauce/Salsa – ½ can - see picture below

Sazon – one packet (add another if the color is not red enough)

Garlic powder – 3 tablespoons

Salt – 2 tablespoons

Adobo – 2 tablespoons

Gandules – ½ can - see picture below

Rice – 2 cups (I use Jasmine Rice, but regular medium or long grain is fine)

Hot water – 3 cups

4 tablespoons oil or enough to coat the bottom of the pot

Instructions

1.      Heat oil in pot

2.      Add sofrito, salsa, sazon, garlic powder, salt, and gandules. Cook until it bubbles.

3.      Taste test – taste to make sure it tastes good.. add more seasoning if its too bland.

4.      Once the base tastes to your liking, add the rice and coat the rice through.

5.      Add the hot water.

6.      If it is too thick and a spoon stands up immediately – add more water (little at a time)

7.      You should be able to stir the rice freely with little effort.
8.    Bring to boil, stirring occasionally so that rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

9.      The spoon should stand up when it starts boiling..

10.   Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low and let cook for 30-40 minutes to ensure the rice is thoroughly cooked.

 Goya brand Gandules

  Goya brand salsa

Simple Sofrito

Sofrito is a cooking base used in many Latino countries. It is used to make rice, season meat, and also to make beans. Below is my simple recipe and it is delicious and will give your next dish a superb taste! Enjoy!

Ingrediants

2 Large Green Bell Peppers

1 Large Red Bell Pepper

1 Onion

2 Italian Peppers (3-4 if the peppers are smaller in size)

5 Ajies Peppers (be sure they are Ajies Dulces! These peppers are almost identical to the scotch bonnet and we do not want that!)

5 Cloves of Crushed Garlic

1 Bunch of Cilatro

1 Bunch of Culantro (Recao)

Salt/Pepper/one packet of Sazon

1 Tablespoon



Remove seeds from peppers and chop along with the onion and cilantro and culantro.  

In a food processor, combine all of the ingrediants(except salt, pepper, and sazon) and mix well in the food processor. I usually mix until the consistency is a little smaller than salsa as I like my sofrito a little more on the chunky side.

Add the packet of sazon, salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!

          Ajies Dulces

  Italian Peppers

  Sazon Packet

   Cilantro

  Recao

Mojo Turkey Brine

I recently found a Mojo Brine recipe doing a google search and it looked so good, I just had to try it. I added and substracted some ingrediants and below is what I came up with!!

Ingrediants:

2 Bottles Goya Brand Mojo Marinade

1/2 Gallon of Ice Cold Water

Salt/Pepper/Adobo to Taste

10 Garlic Cloves (crushed)

5 Culantro Leaves (Recao Leaves)

4 Tablespoons of Sofrito

In a large stock pot (large enough to hold your turkey), combine all of the ingrediants and stir well. Keep tasting until the brine is of your liking. Place turkey breast down into the stock pot. If the turkey is not atleast 3/4 covered, add more water and seasonings to the brine. Cover and let marinade for atleast 36 hours prior to cooking the turkey. Enjoy!

 

For those unsure of what Mojo and Culatro are. Above are the pics!