Gandules With Rice Food

GANDULES WITH RICE

Steps:

• Cook bacon in medium saucepan until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in saucepan. Drain bacon on paper towels.
• Add green peppers, onions and garlic to reserved drippings; cook and stir on medium heat 5 min. Add tomato sauce, rice and black pepper; mix well. Stir in water. Bring to boil. Stir in peas; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 20 min. Stir.
• Crumble bacon; sprinkle over rice mixture.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• 1. Heat a large heavy bottomed pot, or a caldero if you have one, over medium heat. If using ham or bacon, slowly cook the meat until crispy, remove meat from pot and set aside leaving the drippings. If not using meat, add olive oil before continuing with the next step. 2. Then, add the gandules, tomato sauce, green olives, sofrito, salt, adobo seasoning, sazon, ground black pepper and ground cumin. Stir to fully combine. 3. Once the mixture becomes fragrant, pour in the water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the rice. Stir until rice is submerged and pigeon peas are distributed evenly. 4. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 25 minutes. You can add your ham or bacon back in now if you want, or wait to add it in again before serving. Traditionally the rice would be covered with a banana or plantain leaf. However, a tight fitting pot lid will work just fine! 5. About half way through cooking, remove the lid and stir, making sure to scrape up any rice stuck at the bottom of the pan. This is a very touchy subject - some Puerto Ricans insist that you don't stir the rice while cooking. That the crispy bottom bites are the best part! While others would prefer more evenly cooked rice. Whatever you do, if you do stir the rice, make sure you only do it once or the rice can become sticky. 6. After simmering for 25 minutes, remove the arroz con gandules from the heat and let it sit for an additional 30 minutes before serving. This is called letting the rice "steam". The rice is done once all the liquid is absorbed. 7. After letting the rice rest for about a half hour, remove the lid. Fluff and stir the rice, then serve warm with fresh cilantro, if desired.

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.

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:

• 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!

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 (YELLOW RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat oil and salt pork over medium-high heat. Add sofrito and cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste and mix well, cook for 2 minutes. Add rice and cook 2 minutes being careful not to scorch the rice, turning all the time. Add saffron and gandules and stir constantly. Add liquid, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste and bring everything to a boil. Lower heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Do not disturb. After 15 minutes, check the rice. Stir. Recover. Turn off heat and let steam for 5 minutes more. Serve immediately with pernil asado or alone. The rice should be fluffy and separate. The color should be golden.
• Mix together all ingredients and set aside to let flavors meld together.

GANDULE RICE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add pork and brown in oil. Meanwhile, place remaining oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and add achiote seeds. Heat until oil becomes very dark orange/red. Remove from heat and set aside.
• To the browned pork add the onion, cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook to reduce veggies, then add the tomato sauce, pigeon peas and olives. Mix well. Strain achiote/oil mixture into pork mixture and stir together. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add uncooked rice and water to pork mixture; stir well. Raise temperature to high, cover saucepan and bring all to a boil. Stir again, reduce heat to low and cover; let cook on low about 10 minutes. Remove cover, stir again, replace cover and cook another 10 minutes; stir again. Remove from heat and allow to stand 15 minutes.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• Heat achiote oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat until it ripples; stir in sofrito and season with salt, pepper, and cumin.
• Cook until sofrito reduces and starts sizzling, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the neck bones, peas, and rice until everything is lightly covered with oil.
• Add enough broth to cover rice and bones by the width of two fingers.
• Cover with a banana leaf, if using, folding as necessary to fit into the pot.
• Bring to a boil and let cook until the level of broth reaches the level of the rice (it will look like numerous volcanos).
• Remove leaf, add in olives, give a good stir, replace leaf, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
• Remove leaf and fluff with fork; serve hot.

ARROZ AMARILLO CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• Wash rice really well until water runs clear, strain well, put in rice cooker and add water, set aside.
• Heat pan on medium high heat, add olive oil or lard, let it heat up a bit like 5 minutes more or less. Be sure the oil is hot enough, you can test it by dipping a wooden spoon if it sizzles it's ready.
• Season pork cubes with 1 teaspoon salt (trust me) and add to hot oil, let it fry in one layer underdisturbed until browned. About 5 minutes more or less. Add minced onion and bell pepper and cook down together with pork for about 5-7 minutes, add minced garlic afterwards and cook for 2 minutes or so until fragrant.
• Turn off heat and dump this sautee into the rice cooker with the rice and water, mix well. Add drained can of pigeon peas, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon "Bijol", and 1/2- 1 teaspoon cumin. Mix well. Taste the water in there, it should be salty like ocean water, if not add more salt carefully. Increasing by 1/2 teaspoons and so on but don't use more than 3 teaspoons.
• Cover and turn on rice cooker and set to cook, when it beeps the rice is done. Fluff it and it's ready.
• Serve with whatever you want, I like it with a simple salad, of sliced tomato, cucumber, and onion dressed in lime and salt along with a meat dish that's grilled or pan-fried.
• NOTE:.
• (1)You can adjust this to your stove top, fry the pork, and make the sofrito (sautee of onion, garlic, and bell pepper) add the cleaned drained rice stir well to coat with sofrito, add water, salt, cumin, bijol, and drained can of pigeon peas, bring to a boil, stir, then cover and lower heat to low to cook for about 30 minutes covered, then open to check if it's done if so turn off heat and fluff.

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.