Arroz Con Gandules Puerto Rican Rice Food

ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE)

Steps:

• Rinse rice well in water and set aside.
• In a medium caldero or large pot (about 6 quarts or so), heat oil and sauté sofrito until softened. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Stir in gandules, alcaparrado, all of the spices and 4 cups of water. Taste and readjust seasonings, adding additional salt 1 teaspoon at a time. Broth should be heavily seasoned and on the salty side.
• Bring to a rapid boil, then add rice and stir. You may need to add more water to ensure rice is covered by 1 inch of water. Reduce heat to a soft boil and let most of the liquid absorb and evaporate, stirring occasionally, very gently, so rice does not turn gummy.
• Carefully mound rice towards center of pot, top with foil and cover with lid. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stir by folding rice from the bottom up, but do not disturb bottom of pan. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, testing after 20 to see if rice is tender and cooked through.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)-A PUERTO RICAN FAV

Steps:

• Pour olive oil in a cast iron/aluminum pot until hot.
• Bring the temp up to med-high and pour in water, bullion, tomato sauce, sofrito, adobo, and sazon until it comes to a boil.
• Pour in pigeon peas (gandules) and let boil for a minute.
• Pour in rice.
• Stir ONCE and put the lid on it, sealing tightly.
• Let sit for 20 minutes on low-medium.
• If the rice looks gummy DO NOT STIR IT, just put the lid back on and wait until the rice is firm (ready).
• If you desire the crunchiness on the bottom, once the rice is done cooking, put the temp on very low temp and let it sit for about 5 minutes. The bottom will loosen up from the moisture (since it it's done cooking).

ARROZ CON GANDULES

Steps:

• Rinse the rice with cold water, drain and set aside.
• Heat the oil and sofrito in a 6-quart Dutch oven or caldero over medium-high heat, 2 minutes. Stir in the gandules with liquid, tomato sauce, olives, sazón, adobo and black pepper to taste then bring to a simmer. Stir in the rice, add 2 cups water and bring to a boil until the water begins to evaporate. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes.
• Before serving, fluff the rice and add the cilantro.

PIGEON PEA RICE: ARROZ CON GANDULES

Steps:

• Place a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and bacon. Fry, stirring, until the bacon is crisp. Add the onion and cilantro. Continue to cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the rice, tomatoes, oregano, cumin, salt, achiote, and pigeon peas. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the rice is opaque. Stir in the tomato paste and water and bring to boil. When all the water is absorbed, cover tightly and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes until tender. Serve on a decorative platter and garnish with cilantro.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• Heat your caldero or Dutch oven to medium heat, and add your olive oil, bacon/ham (if using) and sofrito. Stir constantly until fragrant and tender, but not browned, about 4 minutes.
• Next add in the Sazon, tomato sauce or paste and chicken bouillon. Stir to combine.
• Add in the drained pigeon peas, Italian seasoning or oregano, bay leaves, and water/broth. Add the cilantro and/or olives, if using. Allow the liquid to come up to a boil, and taste it for salt. If it needs more saltiness, add in another chicken bouillon cube. You want this liquid to be highly seasoned, as it will determine the final seasoning of the rice.
• Once the mixture is boiling, add the rice. Stir the rice to get it submerged and distribute the pigeon peas throughout.
• Cover and allow the rice to absorb all the visible liquid. Once most of the visible surface liquid is absorbed, stir the rice, and cover again. Lower the flame to low, and allow it to steam for 20-25 minutes. It's done with all the liquid is absorbed and the grains are fluffy and fully cooked.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• Soak pigeon peas overnight in 6 cups of water; drain and discard water.
• In a large, covered pot, combine peas with 4 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 30 minutes.
• Season with salt and cook 15 minutes more; drain, reserving 3 cups of the cooking liquid (you may need to add more water to end up with the 3 cups).
• Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, lightly brown the bacon and ham; add in the remaining sofrito ingredients and saute, over low heat until all the ingredients are tender and the tomatoes break down.
• Stir in the additional ingredients and combine well; stir in the peas and rice.
• Add the 3 cups of reserved cooking liquid and let cook, uncovered, until almost dry (it will look like little volcanos are erupting); stir up the rice from the bottom.
• Cover and turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let cook 30 minutes, turning the rice, from the bottom, once halfway through cooking.
• NOTE: This is how the dish is supposed to be cooked. I prefer to add the olives after the last turning of the rice for a "cleaner" flavor.

ARROZ CON GANDULES ( RICE AND BEANS)

Steps:

• Rinse starch off the rice, this IS important.
• Dice ham steak or Spam.
• Pour oil into 4-5 quart cooking pot ( make sure its a large wide pot, not a thin deep one).
• Add sofrito and fry on medium heat for 1 minute.
• Add ham and fry for 1 more minute.
• Add tomato sauce and heat through for 30 seconds.
• Add sazon, salt and water and bring to a boil.
• Add pigeon peas and olives and boil 5 minutes.
• Add rice and mix around with spoon once.
• Bring to boil on HIGH heat until water has evaporated to the rice line.
• Lower temperature to low/medium low and cover TIGHT with lid ( add foil or banana leaf if need be to make it a tight seal).
• Cook for 25-30 minutes.
• Uncover, serve and enjoy!

BROWN RICE AND PIGEON PEAS (ARROZ CON GANDULES)

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Add the bacon and onion and cook three minutes. Add the garlic and cook two minutes longer.
• Stir in all remaining ingredients except rice. Bring to a boil.
• Stir in rice, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until rice is tender (about 40-45 minutes if you're using brown rice, 25-30 minutes if you use white rice.

PUERTO RICAN RICE AND BEANS (ARROZ CON GANDULES)

Steps:

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized caldero or nonstick pan. Stir in sofrito, garlic, sazon, and adobo; cook for 4 minutes, making sure not to burn garlic. Stir in rice until coated well; pour in chicken broth and water and stir once more.
• Bring mixture to a boil and cook over medium-high heat until all liquid has been absorbed and rice looks like it has little holes throughout, 20 to 25 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in peas and cilantro gently from bottom to top, once or twice only. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Turn off heat and let rice sit, uncovered, for 10 minutes more.

EASY RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS/ARROZ CON GANDULES

Steps:

• *Rinse the rice in a bowl with warm water.
• *In a large pot, add water and all items except rice.
• *Bring to boil, and let it boil for about 3 minutes. (I usually taste it and add more seasoning to taste if needed).
• *Add rice and let it continue to boil for about 2 minutes.
• *Turn heat to low, and place tight fitting lid over pot.
• *Check periodically, cook until liquid is absorbed. Stir once, remove from heat, replace lid and let it stand for about 5 minutes.
• This usually serves our household of seven.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• Lay 1 banana leaf (or more, if needed) flat on a large cutting board, then set the lid of a large Dutch oven or similar pot on top. Use a paring knife to trace around the lid, and cut the leaf (or leaves) so that they will fit properly inside the pot. Cover with a clean dishcloth and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, cook the neutral oil and annatto seeds over medium heat, allowing the seeds to infuse the oil. After 2 to 3 minutes, when the oil begins to bubble and the seeds start to crackle, turn off the heat and allow the oil to cool completely. Pour the cool oil through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving seeds for another round of infusing, if desired.
• Make the sofrito: Use a food processor or high-speed blender to pulse the onion, red and green bell peppers, cubanelle pepper, garlic, cilantro, scallions, ají dulce peppers (if using) and culantro (if using), adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if needed to achieve a smooth, salsa-like consistency. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon sazón and set aside. (The sofrito makes about 2 cups. Refrigerate it for up to 5 days or portion it into ice cube trays or plastic containers, and freeze up to 6 months.)
• Set the large Dutch oven or similar pot over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons annatto oil and the ham or fatback. Sauté until crisp and most of the fat has rendered, about 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sofrito, the olives and 1 tablespoon sazón, stirring until sofrito is fragrant, about 3 minutes.
• Next, add pigeon peas and sauté for another 3 minutes. Season with adobo, salt and black pepper to taste.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add rice, stirring until grains are all coated, seasoned and starting to toast. If there isn't enough oil to generously coat all of the rice and peas in the pot, add the remaining tablespoon of annatto oil. This will help form a delicious golden bottom crust called pegao.
• Once the rice is toasted, stir in the beer and cook for about 3 minutes, then add the reserved pigeon-pea liquid (or 2 1/2 cups water) and roasted red pepper brine. Taste the cooking liquid and adjust salt as needed; it should be pleasantly salty.
• Gently stir rice, then spread about half the thinly sliced roasted red pepper over the rice. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover rice with prepared banana leaves, then cover pot with its lid and cook for 22 minutes.
• Once the time has passed, remove the lid, open the banana leaves and gently fold the rice onto itself from the outside in to form a mound in the center of the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, replace banana leaves and lid and continue cooking for 20 to 25 minutes to allow pegao to form at the bottom of the pot.
• To serve, spoon rice atop a platter layered with fresh banana leaves. Garnish with remaining sliced roasted peppers. Use a metal spatula to scrape pegao out of the pot and serve on a separate plate. Be careful, because everyone will fight over it!