Feliz Navidad

Feeling a little nostalgic about spending the holidays in Puerto Rico, because it has been years since I’ve done this.

No offense to the Anglo Christmas carols 

(which always remind me of mourning instead of celebrating), 

I prefer an aguinaldo with a cuatro or two.

I try to make a traditional 'Rican meal for my Mom on, at least, one of the bigger nights of the season (somewhere between Thanksgiving to the day of the Epiphany). 

This year we are doing fish for the holidays and a spread of rich appetizers (just to keep things interesting).

Before we close the year, I offer you these gifts – companion pieces to the blog – and a new tradition to the meatier entries to come. You may click on each image for a direct link to the boards. 

The last one, my PR Xmas board is food porn for Latinos.

Buen Provecho! Happy holiday (whichever you choose to celebrate). See you in 2015.

A Word About Coquito: Puerto Rican Eggnog

I wrote a piece about coquito several years back and I’m revisiting it because once you’ve had good coquito, even if it doesn’t touch your lips again for years, it marks you for life!

It starts with a base of seasoned water with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. This is mixed with coconut milk, sweet condensed milk, and rum. There is not a single version, there are variations on a theme; and there’s debate over whether you make it with or without eggs.

It is always preferable to make coquito with Puerto Rican rum (white or gold, is about your personal taste). You could go for 80-proof or 151-proof, but use less at the higher end. In the absence of cañita (see pitorro below), you may use Ron del Barrilito -- the most exquisite rum from my former hometown of Bayamon. Use regular or two-star, but three-star is for drinking straight and hearing angels sing.

The longer it sits, the better it tastes because the rum mellows into the concoction.

I don’t make coquito. My friend Jon’s mother, a lovely and lively elderly Puerto Rican woman, and I discussed traditional Christmas fare a few years back. I wanted a recipe for pasteles and in the middle of the party, I sat by mami furiously taking notes like a nerd!

Then she offered me some of the coquito she’d brought and began telling me of its preparation.

“Well, first, a few months before you need it,” she confided, “you gotta call Snake so he can get the pitorro, and then you gotta go to El Barrio to pick it up.”

Not this Snake. Not unless he's selling bootleg liquor in Spanish Harlem...

I was still processing the fact that this sweet señora knew some dude named Snake when she added, “And bring cash. You gotta pay Snake in cash…”

I couldn’t handle the conversation so there is no more I can tell you about that.

I will warn you, if you have Puerto Rican friends they will try to give you some coquito, note the tiny bit they serve you. The less there is in the cup or glass, the less you ought to ingest!

Don't be a hero. This stuff will kill you. It will seduce you first. Then it will humiliate you. Death will be swift! 

The good stuff is smooth, has an intoxicating aroma, and goes down like velvet. Then, about 6 seconds after you’ve committed to it, it burns all the way to the pit of your stomach. Then you literally feel a glow take over you.

It’s like being hit by thunder and caressed by god in one gulp.

To me coquito tastes better in Puerto Rico, in the middle of a roaming parranda.

(There are several videos in YouTube, search “making coquito” for English versions, and also plenty of recipes in the Internet. I prefer mine made by somebody else. I may not update until next year, so if I don't catch you on one of the other blogs: happy holidays!)

For more recipes, how-to videos and information about Puerto Rican holiday foods, go to the Pinterest board:

Let's Get Salty

Begging forgiveness of both Salt ‘N’ Pepa…

Yo, I don't think we should talk about this.

Come on, why not?

People might misunderstand 

  what we're tryin' to say, you know?

No, but that's a part of life.

Come on.

Let's talk about salt, baby.

Let's talk about salt!

Oh, don’t think I can’t feel some of you grimacing, making that face that has gotten Dame Maggie several BAFTA and Oscar noms!

Salt, like coffee and fats, gets the revolving door treatment in the news: It’s good! No, it’s bad!! Wait, we may have overreacted…

Salt is not a minion from Hell, it’s simply a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride (NaCl). It is produced in mines or by the process of evaporation of seawater or spring water in shallow pools. When you go out to eat, the reason your food tastes and smells delicious is, more often than not, salt.

Salt is used in every cuisine as it is one of the five (or six depending on who you ask) basic taste sensations.

It is absolutely true that nutritionists and doctors recommend that for a balanced, healthy diet, people should curtail their intake of salt (especially because processed foods are saturated in sodium). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends less than 2,300 milligrams a day or 1,500 milligrams for seniors and African Americans who suffer high incidences of high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease.

The iodine in salt is necessary for the human body and particularly important for expectant mothers in the development of their little ones, so let the salt flow!

Everything in moderation! Salt is a seasoning and a little goes a long way. There’s no need to over-season, not ever.

Table salt is processed, highly refined and usually fortified with iodine to compensate for mineral loss during processing. Best used in baking because its fine granules make for consistent measurement. This is the cheapest of salts.

Actually, the cheapest is pickling salt, and it is used for brining. Pickling salt is processed in the same way as table salt but no iodine is added.

Fleur de Sel comes from coastal salt ponds in France and has a delicate flavor and can be added to salads or as a fancy table salt.

Kosher salt contains no additives and is evaporated from brine in a manner approved by Orthodox Jewish faith. A cup of Kosher salt may weigh between 5 and 8 ounces so measuring is more challenging.  Generally, a pinch sprinkled onto foods is sufficient.

Sea salt is evaporated from seawater. Sea salts have stronger flavors than other salts and come in coarse and fine grains. It also comes in a variety of colors: black, brown, gray, and pink. Sea salt is the most expensive of salts.

Himalayan rock salts

Rock salt consists of large, unrefined crystals that are grayish in color. Generally used for presentation, for oysters and clams. You can also use it to bake salt-encrusted meats. Old fashioned ice cream makers also use rock salt to regulate the temperatures.

Then there’s seasoned salts – whether for your own use or DIY gifts for the foodies in your life. They’re relatively easy to make, and may contain less chemicals than processed stuff. But also, it makes for some fancy condiments on your table!

I’ve created a Pinterest board with a collection of fantastic recipe ideas for those of you who’d like to try your hand at creating. The recipes range from savory, smoked, floral, curries, citrusy, and with bacon. 

Thanksgiving en Español

Thanksgiving is upon us and there are dozens of turkey recipes making the rounds (and I did a good number of turkey and side dish compilations on the Twitter weekend feed #KaliFoodGoddess).

We like turkey but as our household is comprised of two tiny humans, making a full turkey is insane. We’d be eating for three months. One year I made a turkey breast and it was still too much.

I love a meal that can be adapted into another or several meals, but there are limits.

We are going traditional ‘Rican holiday meal – rice with pigeon peas and roast pork.

Easy Arroz con Gandules
Chop a medium onion and a couple cloves of garlic (I also like to add a small red or yellow pepper). Sauté on medium low heat in a tablespoon of olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add 1½ cups of stock, increase heat to high and cover until it begins to boil. Add 1 cup of medium grain rice, stir for a minute, and decrease heat to low. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes. Add a can of pigeon peas and reverse the liquid; add about two tablespoons of salad olives with pimentos and a dash of oregano. Add stock if rice becomes too dry and begins to stick to bottom. Stir. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes.

The veggies almost disintegrate into the rice to flavor the oil and the final dish. The oil will help separate the grains and give it a velvety finish. The beans will be soft, earthy, and savory.

Roast Pork (Pernil)

pork shoulder

1 head of garlic

1 tablespoon oregano

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of whole black peppercorns (to taste)

1 teaspoon Kosher salt per pound of roast (to taste)

Place all ingredients in a blender to crush and blend into a paste (it will be slightly wet). If you have a mortar, crush it by hand. Stab the pernil and making sure you fill the slits with the marinade. Refrigerate at least overnight before cooking.

Take roast out of fridge at least half hour before cooking. Preheat oven at 425° F.

Pernil cooks at 350° F 30 minutes per pound or until you reach 175° internal temperature. If skin starts browning too fast, tent with foil. Let it stand for 10 minutes before cutting into it and serving.

When I was working I’d buy pasteles from a lady at the office. I sometimes bought them at a local Dominican restaurant (second choice). No extra cash this year for that, but might use my last royalty check and get tamales instead.  

Finally, to round off the meal, a lettuce, tomato and avocado salad with a homemade Italian dressing (or mofongo).

The point is that this year to say thanks, we will say gracias instead. 

It’s been a tough year. We need comfort food and this reminds us of my great grandmother – the ultimate solace in a cruel universe: a double gammy!


For more recipes, how-videos, and information about Puerto Rican holiday foods, go to the Pinterest board:

Like Buttah

Back in the 1990s, Mike Myers used to do a great skit on Saturday Night Life called “Coffee Talk.” Accurately pronounced co-AH-fee tawlk (although I personally do not enunciate this way: shut up, Zinful!), his Linda Richman character declared everything that pleased her (much like anything that came out of Barbra Streisand’s mouth), “Like buttah!”

Butter is smooth, a guilty pleasure, rich and delicious. Everybody has at some point or another loved butter, even if unknowingly. Some of us ate butter, from its stick form, because the teenage body requires pure butter in its diet (it feeds the zits).

You know when you go out and have a nice, expensive meal in a fancy restaurant? Do you know what usually makes it taste like heaven?

I could but will not give you a dissertation on butter. This is precisely why the Geek Gods gave us Wikipedia. Bon Appétit did a piece on the flip-flop flippancy of science regarding butter (“It’s good for you!” “No, wait, it will kill you!!” “It can help you lose weight!!!").

Julia Child loved it, and spoke the truth about it.

There used to be a time when there were only two types of butter in the supermarket: the (plain) dairy product and the peanut kind. The most variety you could count on was salted and unsalted. Progress has come to butter!

This started because Reese’s has turned their cups into a peanut butter, and added another with chocolate. There was also a conversation about Trader Joe’s cookie butter and the baking possibilities. And in these two separate conversations a blog post was born.

These kinds of butters are perfect for breakfast and snacks (as well as packed lunches).

Making homemade peanut butter is ridiculously easy and a perfect gift for folks who are trying to steer clear of processed foods. All it takes is peanuts. You may add a little bit of oil, sugar or substitute, and a dash of salt.

Peanut butter is probably very popular and most people’s favorite guilty pleasure since childhood. Tasty-Yummies ran veritable primer on several varieties of nut butters that you all should bookmark. The article includes recipes for raw cashew, almond, pecan, sunflower seed, and Nutella, as well as the spices that go well with nut butters.

The magazine Cooking Light also has a primer on the topic, and it covers almond, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, peanut, pecan, pistachio, and walnut – with suggestions for cooking with these butters as an ingredient.

For savory, compound butters, all you need is unsalted butter and a bit of imagination. These can be used over fish, meats, vegetables, on breads, and certainly to cook with (if you wish).

SheKnows has a mother recipe with several varieties that all sound delicious: herb garlic, citrus tarragon, blue cheese and chive, smoked paprika and jalapeño, spiced brown sugar with walnuts and raisins, and even a cookie butter.

I’ve done a simple garlic and chive compound (with pressed garlic and fresh, chopped chives), with unsalted butter, and pepper sauce. We used to melt it over roasted potatoes and yams. You can also use to give Ramen a different flavor (obviously you'd skip the flavor pack when preparing this as a side dish).

Finally, Brit + Co has a veritable festival of links for flavored butters from the spicy to the sweet, from the simple to the sublime. There are 29 recipes here, some with fruit, cheese, nuts, and my personal favorite: bacon chive butter!

These make for spectacular additions to your dinner table, but they also make for out-of-this-world gifts. Something to consider for the upcoming holiday season.

The following links are for those of you who just like to read about food. These are affiliate links, and if you choose to buy, a portion of the sales go to fund my starving artist existence, just so you know…

Garlic herb buttah

Bacon buttah

Peanut buttah 4-packs (coconut, cinnamon raisin, honey pretzel, and sesame cranberry)

Amish-Buggy Gift Pack flavored buttahs (apple, blackberry, cherry, blueberry, peach, and plum)

Jif Whips (peanut, maple and brown sugar, as well as whipped peanut buttah)


UPDATE: If you enjoyed this article and the recipes in it, you can link to its companion piece, a dedicated Pinterest board you can refer to any time.

http://www.pinterest.com/amapolapress/food-goddess-butter/

Chocolate Alchemy

“Vanilla continues to be America’s flavor of choice in ice cream,” according to the International Dairy Foods Association.

Vanilla outsells every other flavor. This includes supermarket sales, restaurants and ice cream parlors. Ice cream sales, in fact, have gone up. Still, despite the entry of artisanal creameries into the fray, vanilla is still king.

Of course, the reason is quite simple: vanilla is the most flexible flavor. It mixes well with a variety of toppings, drinks and bakery desserts.

Last year, Food Business News found vanilla to be the most popular flavor. Favorite toppings included nuts, fruit, hot fudge and sprinkles.

According to GrubHub, the Top Ten Toppings include whipped cream, hot fudge, brownies, chocolate syrup, cherries, caramel, strawberries, walnuts, Oreo cookies, and bananas.

An informal survey among my friends and some acquaintances yielded slightly different results. Nobody I know even slightly mentioned whipped cream – which smacks me as redundant. I heard plain, crushed nuts; Gummy Bears; the Aussies turned my attention to Milo. Some folks like crumbled cookies and cake over their ice cream. A couple of precious folks prefer more ice cream over their ice cream.

Fruits were mentioned: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, kiwis, bananas, apples (with cinnamon sugar). Chocolate syrups and fudge sauces were spoken of fondly. Someone mentioned Nutella and the nutty butters came into the conversation (almond, macadamia, peanut).

Heath bars and Mars bars got a special mention, both chopped and melted over ice cream, as well as caramels and toffee. I felt my body gain 20 pounds just following the discussion thread!

And then someone mentioned Kahlua and Amaretto and there was swooning. To be fair, during the summer Mom makes a sugar and rum sauce for strawberries that is fantastic.

Why the obsession? We just discovered Magic Shell, product of Smucker’s (which apparently does a lot more than just jams and jellies).

A syrup that quickly hardens into a crisp shell when poured onto a cold surface; it comes in several flavors, including caramel, chocolate and fudge.

According to Wikipedia, the “shell” effect is due to the presence of coconut and sunflower oils – both contain high amounts of saturated fat – and sugar, and this produces a solid when it comes in contact with the ice cream; and then, that rich chocolaty shell just melts on your tongue and it is the best kind of magic.

For those of you who thumb your nose at science: this is delicious alchemy to bring serious pleasure to your palate! Better living through chemistry, indeed.

We loved the product, but have since learned that you can make your own rather easily—which is always preferable to processed foods, and this will not significantly task you.

Photo Source: The Novice Chef

Homemade Magic Shell Family Serving

Recipe adapted from http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/09/homemade-magic-shell-recipe.html

2/3 cup Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup coconut oil

microwave safe bowl or measuring cup

1.    Place chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave safe bowl or dish, and microwave for 30 seconds.

2.    Stir and return to continue microwaving in 15-second intervals, stirring well each time, until mixture is completely melted.

3.    Carefully pour over your ice cream, and let it solidify.

Keep in covered jar or bottle, unrefrigerated.

Homemade Magic Shell For One

Recipe adapted from http://lesleyeats.com/2012/05/30/homemade-magic-shell/

Recipe adapted from http://lesleyeats.com/2012/05/30/homemade-magic-shell/

For a single serving: Toss a handful of Ghirardelli chocolate chips (60% cacao) in a small glass bowl with 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Microwave, stir, and pour over ice cream.

I defy you to try this and not feel the enchantment of childhood at the tip of your tongue. Eternal lazy summer afternoons live in this!

Arroz con Dulce: Puerto Rican Rice Pudding

I remember reading somewhere a few years ago that arroz con dulce was a remnant of the time the Moors controlled the Iberian peninsula. Certainly, to this day most Arabic countries have a similar candied rice pudding dish.

Almost every continent has several versions, depending on regional ingredients, climates, ethnic divisions, etc.

Wikipedia breaks it down to the more common ingredients:

• Rice – white rice usually short grain, but can also be long grain, basmati, or jasmine rice; brown rice; black rice
• Milk – whole milk, coconut milk, cream or evaporated
• Spices – nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc.
• Flavorings – vanilla, orange, lemon, pistachio, rose water, etc.
• Sweetener – sugar, brown sugar, honey, sweetened condensed milk, fruit or syrups.

Spaniards refer to it as arroz con leche (rice with milk). The Portuguese call it arroz doce (literally sweet rice). Across in the Americas, Puerto Ricans call it arroz con dulce. Arroz con leche can be found in the cuisines of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Venezuela among others.

These are not all the same; there are variations – such as the fact that some are cooked with cloves, for instance. In Peru, they add shredded coconut. Some recipes also call for star anise.

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/images/Puerto_Rican_Style_Rice_Pudding.jpg

Arroz con Dulce

4 cups of water

1 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 cinnamon sticks

6 whole cloves

1 piece of ginger (about 1 inch, peeled and sliced)

1 14-ounce can of coconut milk

1 cup of medium or short grain rice

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup white cane sugar 

Rum (optional)

Soak the rice in water for at least a couple of hours (you can leave overnight). The grains will absorb some of the liquid and lose some of the starch. Drain water before cooking.

Soak the raisins in hot water mixed with rum to plump and saturate in liquor.

In a large saucepan or pot, bring 3 cups of water to a simmer. Add the salt, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and ginger. Simmer for about 15 minutes to infused flavors into the water. Remove from heat and take out spices.

Add the coconut milk and 1 cup of water, stir, and return to a high flame. Bring to a boil.

Add sugar, rice and raisins, and stir thoroughly. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Stir a few times to make sure rice is not sticking and/or burning.

After 20 minutes, remove the lid and stir. Continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and creamy. The water should be absorbed.

If the water is absorbed, but the rice is still not cooked, add a little hot water (about 1/4 cup) at a time and continue to cook until done. This step depends on altitude, though if you soak rice it’s likely to be unnecessary.

When the rice is cooked, pour into your serving dish or dishes. Allow to cool and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Garnish with ground cinnamon before serving.

Notes: you may substitute brown sugar or if you prefer a more subtle sweetness, honey or maple syrup. If you like a slightly spicier taste, add star anise to infuse your cooking liquid.

There are many recipes, some simpler than others, and a few You Tube videos. I recommend watching the videos to give you an idea of the consistency you're looking for during and at the end of cooking. This recipe is a guide to get you started on the most satisfying dessert that combines comfort food into the mix. 

For recipes, how-to videos, and more information about Puerto Rican holiday foods, go to the Pinterest board:

Rice Pudding with a Latin Flare

I have a distinct memory of being in my great grandmother’s kitchen. The walls were painted baby blue and it was a tiny room. And it was warm, the faint aroma of vanilla and ginger, coconut and cinnamon...

Photo credit: from http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/143186/mateo-family-puerto-rican-sweet-rice-pudding/  

It was fall. It had to be close to Halloween because I remember my Mom’s godfather bringing me a Casper the Friendly Ghost mask to play with. The guy who owned the candy store on the block took me trick or treating around the building (it may have been just his apartment and his wife gave me candy), and then playing with a giant bunny in their living room.

I was around two, just shy of three years old, and I’d flown first class for the first and only time in my life.

One of Mom’s cousins was visiting. He was about 17, I think; but his emotional and intellectual age was closer to mine, certainly no higher than six. He was a sweetheart, at least with me; and he always behaved with Abuelita (which is what we both called his grandmother).

An indulgent grandma, she asked if we wanted anything and both screamed out, “¡Arroz con dulce!”

So Abuelita took out her big cast iron caldero, the rice, raisins, vanilla, and assorted ingredients we did not know the name to, and the big spoon. We sat at the tiny kitchen table intently watching her stir. Occasionally she looked back at us, and she’d chuckle and talk sweetly to us.

After endless cooking (we couldn’t tell time then, so anything that made us wait in torture was "forever!"), she poured the candied rice in the glass dish and placed it on the counter. 

She instructed us to retire to the living room where all the grown-ups were.

“We can’t eat that until it cools down,” she told us.

Frankie and I looked at each other and did the only sensible thing. We competed for her affections but time was our enemy, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We understood this instinctively. So we paired off. He helped me up on the counter and stood opposite me.

It took a bit for the adults to realize we were among the missing and awfully quiet – a sign of serious trouble where I was involved. Abuelita found us in the kitchen (yes we heard them calling our names, but we were busy!).

“What are you doing?!!” she demanded.

Frankie was not used to her yelling at him and he clammed up. I took the lead, “You said we couldn’t eat it until it cooled off. We’re helping, Abuelita!”

We were blowing on it to cool it off.

When the weather starts to turn coolish and we approach the holidays I always think of this moment because I loved my great grandmother dearly and still miss her, but also because hers was the best arroz con dulce in the universe. I have only matched it once and it was a fluke.

Arroz con dulce is a Puerto Rican delicacy but other Caribbean and Latin American countries have their own version of it. Generally, it is made around the Christmas holidays. Simply it is candied ginger and coconut rice, with raisins and cinnamon. It's rice pudding with a Latin flare (buy some rum if you haven't any, I'm going to teach you a sweet kitchen trick)!

Tomorrow I will bring you a few different recipes, an international perspective on the culinary idea so you can check out the different versions, and hopefully the desire to make some for yourselves.