The Cuisine of Puerto Rico

*** PUERTO RICAN Fish, Snapper ,with TOMATO - OLIVE SAUCE ***
(4 to 6 servings)

===== Ingredients

•Olive oil -- 1/4 cup
•Onion, chopped -- 1
•Bell pepper, chopped -- 1
•Garlic, minced -- 4-6 cloves
•Tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced -- 2 cups
•Red wine vinegar -- 2 tablespoons
•Green olives, pitted -- 1/4 cup
•Capers, rinsed -- 1 tablespoon
•Bay leaf -- 1 or 2
•Salt and pepper -- to taste
•Olive oil -- 1/4 cup
•Fish fillets, cut in serving size -- 2 pounds
•Salt and pepper -- to taste

==== Procedure:

1.Heat the first 1/4 cup olive oil in a saucepan over medium flame. Add the onions and peppers and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes.

2.Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar, olives, capers, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until somewhat reduced.

3.Heat the remaining olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high flame. Season the fish with salt and pepper and sauté on both sides until both sides are lightly browned.

4.Pour the prepared sauce over the fish and simmer until the fish is cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes.

========= Variations:

•Use other seafood like shrimp or scallops in place of the fish.

•Substitute pimentos for the chopped bell pepper. Add at the same time as the tomatoes.

•Marinate the fish in some minced garlic and lime juice before sautéing if you like.

•The fish can also be grilled and the sauce served on the side.
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Mojo isleño is a popular way to prepare fish in Puerto Rico. It's name can be translated as "islander sauce," and its components--olives, peppers, garlic and bay leaves--are typically Puerto Rican.

(by Marcel)

*** ALCAPURRIAS ***

(Puerto Rican stuffed fritters)

4 to 6 servings as an appetizer

==== Ingredients:

•Yautía (taro root)-- 1 pound
•Green bananas (see notes)-- 4
•Sazón seasoning (optional)-- 2 teaspoons
•Salt -- 1 teaspoon
•Pino filling (see empanadas recipe)-- 2 cups
•Oil for deep frying

=====Procedure:

1.Peel the yautía and grate it on a fine grater into a large bowl. Next peel the green bananas and grate them into the same bowl. Add the sazón and salt and mix together well. Place the masa, or batter, in a food processor and pulse until the batter is fairly smooth.

2.Cut a banana leaf or a piece of wax or parchment paper into a round slightly larger than your hand. Put about 1/2 cup of the batter onto the round and spread it out a bit. Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of the pino filling in the middle of the batter. Using the round, fold the batter up and around the filling, completely enclosing it. Form the batter into a smooth, oval round and set it aside. Continue with the remaining batter and filling until it is used up.

3.Heat about 2 inches of oil in a large pan or deep fryer to about 370°F. Drop a few of the alcapurrias at a time into the oil and fry until well browned on one side. Flip and brown well on the second side. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with the remaining alcapurrias.

4.Serve hot with a hefty dash of hot pepper sauce.

=== Variations:

•Filling Variations: Try using crabmeat, shrimp, lobster chopped chicken or chopped turkey simmer with a little sofrito.

•Masa Variations: Besides yautía and green bananas, try using plantains, yuca (cassava) or potatoes in your masa. Some cooks add a little vinegar to the dough. It both flavors it and probably helps to keep it from browning too much. Chilling the masa first makes it easier to handle.

•Alcapurrias freeze well. Place them on a baking sheet and put in the freezer until they are frozen. Then transfer them to an airtight bag and return to the freezer. Drop frozen alcapurrias directly into the hot oil to cook.

== Notes:

•"Green bananas" does not mean bananas that are slightly underripe. It means green green. So green they are a little hard to peel. They can be found in this state at many Latin and Asian markets, but you might have a hard time finding them at most mainstream supermarkets. Ask the produce section people if they have any in the back. Otherwise, use unripe plantains instead.

•Raw yautía can irritate some people's skin. You might want to wear rubber gloves when peeling and grating it.
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Say the word "alcapurrias," and most Puerto Ricans think "beach food." These scrumptious fritters are usually made with a batter of taro (yautía) and green bananas (guineos verdes), and are stuffed with either a meat (pino) filling or with crab, shrimp or lobster. Sold by vendors on the beach, they make a great snack for hungry stomachs after a long day in the sun.

( by Rican Chef King )

*** TOSTONES ***
(Puerto Rican fried plantains)

6 to 8 servings

==== Ingredients:

•Green plantains, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1-inch pieces -- 2

•Oil for deep frying

==== Procedure:

1. Heat about 1/2-inch of oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the plantain slices to the hot oil and fry, turning frequently, until they begin to brown on all sides. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate and repeat with the remaining slices.

2. When all the slices have been fried, use a glass or small plate to press each slice to a thickness of about 1/3-inch.

3. Return half the flattened slices to the hot oil and fry again on each side until well browned and crispy. Drain on paper towels and repeat with the remaining flattened slices. Serve hot with mojo garlic sauce.

=== Variations:

•Sometimes the plantains are soaked in salted water for about an hour and then dried well before sautéing. This is said to make them crispier and add flavor.

Notes:

•In Puerto Rico, tostones are usually served with a garlic sauce called mojo.

•A tostonera is a small device that is used in the Caribbean to flatten the plantains for their second frying. Any sturdy flat surface works just as well. Or try using a tortilla press.

•Use only green, unripe plantains for this dish. They have a higher starch content and will get more crispy in the hot oil.
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Tostones, twice-fried green plantains, are a favorite snack and side dish in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Haitians call them bananes pesées, or banan peze. They are also eaten in Central America and throughout South America. In Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela they are known as patacones.

( by Rican Chef King )

** BORICUA ISLAND PUNCH **
(serves 6)

====Ingredients:

1/2 cup of coconut milk
1/2 cup fresh coarsley puree coconut meat
4 ounces of coconut flavored Puerto rican Rum (Captians Morgans)
4 ounces fo dark Puerto Rican Rum
1 ounce of fresh lime juice
1 once of Cointreau orange flavored liqueur
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 Tamarindo juice
5 to 6 ice cubes

==== Procedure:

Combine the coarse coconut meat puree or cream and coconut milk, with pineapple, lime, Tamarindo juices along with 5 ice cubes in the electric blender and blend at high speed for a minute adding the 2 rums and liqueur.
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(Recipe sent by: Cristino Alicea from Florida.)

*** ENSALADA DE ÑAME ***

===== Ingredientes:

3 lb de ñame
3 cdas de cebolla rallada o ⅓ tz. picaditas
3 cdas de aceite
1 manzana cortadita en cuadritos
1 cdta de sal
1 cdta de vinagre
3 huevos hervidos duros
3/4 taza de mayonesa

===== Procedimiento:

Monde el ñame y cocínelo hasta que se ablande, córtelo en cuadritos pequeño.

Pique la cebolla y la manzana, luego ponga en agua de limón la manzana para que no le cambie de color.

Combine en una ensaladera la mayonesa, el aceite, el vinagre, la cebolla y la sal.

Corte los huevos y añada a la mezcla.

Agregue la manzana y luego el ñame y mezcle bien.
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( Recipe sent by: Carmen Matos-Empleada )

****** ARROZ CON GANDULES ******

===== Ingredientes:

½ libra de gandules frescos
4 tazas de agua
2 cucharaditas de sal
¼ onza de tocino
½ onza de jamón de cocinar
1 cebolla pequeña
1 ají dulce
1 pimiento verde pequeño
1 tomate pequeño
2 hojas de culantro
2 ramitas de culantrillo, lavadas
1 ½ cucharadas de aceite vegetal con achiote
2 aceitunas rellenas
1/8 taza de salsa de tomate
¼ cucharadita de alcaparras
1 1/8 tazas de arroz
1 ½ taza de agua (en la que hirvieron los gandules)

==== Procedimiento:

Combine losgandules con los 4 tazas de agua y póngalos a fuego alto.

Cuando hierva, tape y cueza por 30 minutos.

Agregue la sal y cueza por otros 15 minutos.

Escurra y reserve 1 ½ tazas del liquido con que hirvieron los gandules.

En un caldero, dore el tocino y el jamón.

Añada la cebolla, el ají, el pimiento, el tomate, las holasde culantro y el culantrillo, todo esto cortado en pedacitos y sofria a fuego bajo.

Añada el aceite vegetal con achiote, las aceitunas, la salsa de tomate y las alcaparras y mezcle.

Lave bien el arroz, escurra y añada, mezclándolo bien.

Agregue los gandules al arroz y sofria por unos minutos.

Añada las 1 ½ tazas de liquido que reservó y cueza a temperatura moderada hasta que seque.

Voltée el arroz.

Tape el caldero y cueza 30 minutos a fuego bajo.

A la mitad del tiempo voltéeel arroz nuevamente.
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( Receta por El Utol.)

**** CALDO GALLEGO ****

(Servicio para 4 personas)

==== Ingredientes:

¼ libra de habichuelas blancas, secas (remojelas durante la noche anterior)
4 tazas de agua
1 onza de tocino, sin cuero
1 libras de jamón de cocinar en pedacitos
1 hueso pequeño de jamón de cocinar
1 ½ chorizos
¼ taza de cebolla picadita
1/8 cucharadita de polvo de pimienta
½ cucharada de sal
3/4 libra de col, cortada en pedazos
½ libra de papas cortadas en ruedas delgadas
¼libra de berzas o grelos frescos picaditos

==== Procedimiento:

. Escurra las habichuelas, páselas por agua y escúrralas enseguida.
. Colóquelas en una olla.
. Añada las 4 tazas deagua, el tocino, el jamón, el hueso de jamón y la ½ decebolla picadita y pongalos a fuego alto hasta que hierva.
. Reduzca elfuego a bajo, tape la olla y hierva lentamente por 2 horas.
. Añadala sal, la pimienta, la col y las berzas o grelos, pongalos a fuego altohasta hervir.
. Reduzca el fuego a temperatura baja y cueza, parcialmente tapado, por ½ hora.
. Descarte el hueso de jamón y el pedazo de tocino.
. Saque los chorizos, córtelos en ruedas y viértalos denuevo en la olla.
. Hierva a fuego bajo, sin tapar, por ½ hora.
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( receta por Ojuani Perea )

*** CALDO de COCO ***

=== Ingredientes:
1 lata de leche de coco y 2 de agua
1/8 taza de sofrito
1 a 2 ajies dulces
1 a 2 hojas de recao o culantro
Achiote en grano y ½ taza aceite
1 a 2 sobres de sazon con achiote
Sal a gusto si es nesesario
1 pedazo de bacalao (desalado)

=== Procedimiento:

Utilizar una caserola mediana, vertir todos los ingredientes.
Cocine a fuego mediano meneando constantement, hasta que hierva.
Para preparar el achiote en grano utiliza una caserola pequeña y echarle aceite y los granos de achiote y dejarlo hervir hasta que el color salga, eso lo utilizaras para darle color al caldo, no tienes que echarlo todo eso depende del color que desees, lo echas directamente utilizando un colador para que no caigan las semillas dentro del caldo.

Cocina a fuego mediano por 30 minutos.
Servirlo con Guanimes.
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Recipe sent by: Amarylis Hadlock from Utah

==== PEPPERED CILANTRO RICE ====

** Ingredients:

1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet yellow pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley

** Directions:

. In a saucepan, saute the onion, peppers and garlic in oil for 2-4 minutes or until crisp-tender.

. Add the water, rice, salt and pepper.
. Bring to a boil.
. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 18-22 minutes or until the rice is tender.
. Remove from the heat.
. Add cilantro; fluff with a fork.
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By: Laura Perry

"This colorful confetti rice is a traditional dish in Puerto Rico. We enjoy it in the summer alongside grilled shrimp kabobs, but it is good with most any entree.

-Laura Perry of Exton, Pennsylvania"

==== PUERTO RICAN CRAB ===

** Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over
4 pimiento-stuffed olives, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
4 to 6 small crab shells (optional) or scalloped dishes
1 lime, cut into wedges

*** Preparation:

. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, and oregano; sauté until soft, about 6 minutes.

Add tomato sauce and wine and boil until almost evaporated, about 1 minute.

Add crabmeat; lower heat to medium, cover, and cook 5 minutes.

Stir in olives, cilantro, and hot sauce.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Spoon mixture into crab shells, if desired.

Squeeze juice from lime wedges over and serve.
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by Virginia Burke

Often found at shacks on the beach in Puerto Rico, this full-flavored crab dish is served in the shell, or with rice and green bananas or plantains. A defining element of the dish is sofrito, a traditional Spanish sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, cilantro, and hot pepper.

EMPANADAS DE CANGREJOS Y CAMARONES CON QUESO CREMA

(Rinde: 10 empanadas grandes o mas esto depende de el tamaño de las plantillas.)

*** Ingredientes:

1 cucharada de aceite vegetal
1/2 taza de cebolla bien picadita
1/2 taza de pimiento verde bien picadito
6 onzas de camarones, picados
7 onzas de carne de cangrejo o imitacíon (crab meat imitation), picado
1 cucharada de vinagre blanco o al gusto
Sal al gusto
1 cucharadita de oregano
1 cucharadita de perejil
1 cucharadita de pimienta o al gusto
1 cucharada de ajo fresco y molido,o 2 dientes grandes de ajo bien picado o machacado
6 onzas de queso crema
10 plantillas o tortillas blancas para empanadas
2 tazas de aceite vegetal (para freir)

*** Preparación:

Calienta la cucharada de aceite en un sartén a fuego moderado.

Sofríe la cebolla y el pimiento sin dejar de mover por 2 minutos.

Añade los camarones y la carne de cangrejo, el vinagre, sal, oregano, perejil y pimienta.

Sigue revolviendo a fuego lento, sin dejar que se seque. Si se seca, vierte 1/4 de taza de agua.

Cocina el total de 4 minutos y remueve del fuego.
Agrega el queso crema en la sarten junto con la carne y mezcla bien .

Coloca una cucharada y media de la carne en el centro de cada plantilla (esto es dependiendo del tamaño de las plantillas).

Dobla la plantilla cerrando sin dejar aire y con un tenedor cierra pinchando el borde de las plantillas o tortillas.

Calienta un sarten ancho con las dos tazas de aceite.

Dora las plantillas volteándolas para que no se quemen.

Escúrrelas en toallas de papel.

** Nota:

- puede añadir otros quesos si desea o mas cantidad del queso crema, todo a su gusto .

- la cantidad de empanadas depende de el tamaño de las platillas, tortillas o masa de empanadas.

- si sobra mezcla sirve con galletas, tostadas o algunas tortillas fritas.
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recesta de Univision.com

Hairyguy are you a Chief??

My wifes going to love to try some of those recipes.

I can share a very infantile recipe with you.

When you wake up and your in a big hurry for work, and you don't have much time to make breakfest try this

(dam I'm laughfing so hard thinking how Stupid my "Recipe" here will look compared to yours!!!)

Throw 2 slices of bread in the toaster.

As the breads toasting take a cereal bowl crack one egg in it and quip whip it with a fork. Throw a piece of cheese on the whipped egg. Microwave for approx. 1 minuet or so depending on the Micro power.

As that egg cooks butter your bread and put a little jelly on the toast. Egg in microwave is done and put that on the toast to make a quick homemade Egg MC Muffin's.

Oh don't forget to spray some "Pam" in the cereal bowl before you whip that egg so the egg slides out real quick for your "To go" breakfeast sandwich

Right before you whip that egg throw 2 slices of bread in the toast.

justhefacts wrote:

Hairyguy are you a Chief??
My wifes going to love to try some of those recipes.
I can share a very infantile recipe with you.
When you wake up and your in a big hurry for work, and you don't have much time to make breakfest try this
(dam I'm laughfing so hard thinking how Stupid my "Recipe" here will look compared to yours!!!)
Throw 2 slices of bread in the toaster.
As the breads toasting take a cereal bowl crack one egg in it and quip whip it with a fork. Throw a piece of cheese on the whipped egg. Microwave for approx. 1 minuet or so depending on the Micro power.
As that egg cooks butter your bread and put a little jelly on the toast. Egg in microwave is done and put that on the toast to make a quick homemade Egg MC Muffin's.
Oh don't forget to spray some "Pam" in the cereal bowl before you whip that egg so the egg slides out real quick for your "To go" breakfeast sandwich
Right before you whip that egg throw 2 slices of bread in the toast.

"justhefacts",

Why do you have to disrupt every thread under the SOS disguise.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

SEASONAL GREETINGS to all!!!

Wishing everyone a HAPPY and HEALTHY NEW YEAR!!!

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Don't forget "the Coquito" but drive responsibly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...