Basking in the Afterglow…

I am just now coming off the “high” that was Inaugural Day this past Tuesday! Of course, whenever I feel emotional, I find myself heading into the kitchen to work through the emo, lol. My good buddy, Art Smith, told me he has actually used my recipe for Arroz con Gandules, and served it to President (then Senator!) Obama, who loved it! I decided that I would make something to clebrate Inaugural Day, Daisy style.

It was pretty cold in Washington, DC on Tuesday, and not much different in Brooklyn, NY so I wanted something that would cozy and comfort me up a bit. I was planning on making a pan seared salmon with lemon and capers as my protein, I had a steamed garlic with garlic and oil as my side, and needed something interesting for my starch; for some reason, I was not feeling rice, potatoes, or pasta. A quick perusal through my pantry was enough to serve as inspiration. I had 3 sweet plantains, and 3 green plantains. I was making Arañitas, those crispy, crunchy plantain fritters that would be delicious with the salmon.

You can make your aranitas as simple or complicated as you like, but here is what I used:

2 sweet (not dead ripe) plantains

2 green plantains

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup of vinagre

salt and pepper to taste

I started by shredding the plantains into a bowl

Then spicing the mix up with my seasonings

Jason Perlow: A Jewish Puerto Rican Thanksgiving

So after visiting Guavate, Rachel and I knew that we had to try making Pavochon ourselves, the real Puerto Rican way. This year, it happened that Thanksgiving was only going to be 4 of us — Rachel’s parents and the two of us, so we were assigned to doing the cooking. So if we were in charge, why not mix it up and do it Puerto Rican style?

This is by far the most colorful Thanksgiving plate I’ve ever seen. Clockwise from top right, Pavo Chon with vegetable gravy, Boriqua Slaw, Mashed Calabaza Squash, Arroz con Gandules y Calabaza, sauteed Green Beans and Asparagus.

Click on the “Continue reading” link below for more.

Pineapple Vinagre, The Tutorial

One of my most requested recipes, and certainly one of the most indipensible is that of my Mami’s Pineapple Vinagre. There is never a time when it is missing from my refrigerator, and no dish that doesn’t benefit from a sprinkle of this miracle ingredient. Whether it be a bowl of soup, a pot of beans, roasted chicken, a plate of arroz con guandules, or even scrambled eggs, vinagre will give your food a sparkle that willl set your taste buds a-singing (I should set up a space for testimonials!). The ingredients

Rellenos de Papa: A Tutorial

This past month, I received an email from a fan who was requesting a recipe for one of my favorite things in the world, a Relleno de Papa, and because I promised her that I would walk her through the process, step by step, here I go. The ingredients are as follows:

Picadillo

2 tablespoons of achiote oil

3/4 pound of ground pork

3/4 cup sofrito

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup alcaparrado

2 tablespoon AP flour

3 tablespoons water

sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Potato Mixture

5 large Yukon Gold Potatoes

3/4 cups of milk

3 tablespoons butter

1 egg

sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

3 cups of AP flour

3 jumbo eggs, beaten

canola oil for deep frying

1. Heat the achiote oil over medium high heat in a skillet and add the pork to completely cook through. Once most of the meat is cooked through, add your sofrito, stirring well to incorporate.
2. Add the remaining ingredients: the alcaparrado, the ground cumin, salt and pepper to season the picadillo, stirring to mix completely.
3. Singer the picadillo with the flour, to thicken slightly, then stir the water into the picadillo to cook off the flour, and aid in the thickening process.
4. Stir in the blanched peas and carrots (frozen is okay), and add this to the picadillo. Set aside.
5. Boil the peeled potatoes in salted boiling water until soft, and drain. Add the butter, milk, and egg, and whip until fluffy, but still dry. Set aside to cool (I actually put mine in the refririgerator for 30 minutes to dry out a bit).
6. Using your hand, scoop up a baseball sized portion of cooled mashed potatoes, and using the back of a large spoon, make a well in the center of the potato.
7. Using a tablespoon, add the picadillo to the center of the well, working the potato ball closed (you can add a little more mashed potato to close it off, if that helps).
8. Okay, here comes the fun part. Dredge the potato balls in flour, dip them in beaten egg, and then in flour once more to coat. In the meantime, heat your oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees (please make sure that the fryer is deep enough that the oil does not spill over when you add the potato balls, and make sure that you use a thermometer, as temperature is integral to the success of the execution). I would not recommend you do this in a pan.
9. Carefully lower the potato balls into the oil, with a wire spider or a slotted ladle.
10. The potato balls will form a golden crust in about 4-5 minutes. Take them out and drain on paper towels, keeping them in a warm oven while you finish.

Served with a salad these rellenos make a delicious lunch or supper. If you make them smaller they are a wonderful hors d’oeurve. Esquisito!

This recipe yielded about 12 baseball sized rellenos. Buen provecho!