Puerto Rico Style Pigeon Pea Rice Recipes

PIGEON PEAS AND RICE

Steps:

• Place a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil and bacon. Cook, stirring, until the bacon is crispy and golden and the fat has rendered, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onions, green peppers, red peppers, rice and salt; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and the rice is lightly toasted. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring. Add the oregano, cumin, pigeon peas, tomatoes, chicken stock and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook until the rice is tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork. Garnish with cilantro and scallions.

RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS - ARROZ CON GANDULES

Steps:

• 1. Heat olive oil in a 6-quart pot. Saute the sofrito and chopped ham for 1 minute.
• 2.Add the rice, water, sazon and pigeon peas.
• 3.Bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
• 4.Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.
• TIP: Do not use a lid with a vent that allows the steam to escape.
• Never lift the lid while cooking.
• 5.When finished cooking, stir the rice before serving. It should be light and fluffy.

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)

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.

PUERTO RICAN PIGEON PEA RICE & PORK/ARROZ CON GANDULES Y PUERCO

Steps:

• 1. Over a low flame first take the cup of the oil, add the annato seeds or achiote seeds and heat until just shimmering. Be careful not to use a high flame as the seeds will burn easly. The oil will turn a bright orange color as the seeds give up their color and flavor. Shut off the flame and strain the seeds from the oil. Discard the seeds. If you cant find annato or achiote seeds use ground annato or achiote powder, pour a tablespoon into the oil and slowly heat until the oil turns a bright orange color. Next strain oil in a lined wire mesh strainer fitted with a large coffee filter. Set the strainer over a pot or bowl and pour the oil into the filter little by little. With a spoon I move the annato or achiote powder all around to let the oil pass through the filter. When done discard the filter and keep the oil in a covered container to cook and flavor Latino dishes. Achiote or annato flavored oil is used alot in Puerto Rican and Mexican recipes. You can also use a clean cheese cloth, to strain seed or annato powder from the oil.
• 2. Have your pork loin pieces at room temperature. Season the meat with garlic powder, salt, black pepper and a little oregano. In a heavy skillet add about a 1/4 cup of the annato or achiote flavored oil when hot (not to hot) add the meat and sear lightly on all sides. When the meat is browned all over remove from the pot with a slotted spoon into another dish.
• 3. In the same pot you seared your meat add diced onion, garlic, bell pepper, cilantro or culantro and a little more flavored annato oil. Saute until the veggies are limp next add the wine, seasonings, oregano, salt pepper, Goya Sazon packet and tomato sauce. Continue to saute. Then add one can of pigeon peas, drained of all the liquid and continue to saute for about another minute. Now return the meat to the pot add one cup of broth or water and stir well to incorporate everything and bring up the heat to medium high
• 4. Next rinse your rice in cool water twice to remove excess starch strain all the water and pour into the meat mixture. Add the remaining broth or water stir well. Taste the cooking liquid to see if there is enough seasonings, salt. Cover with a tight lid lower the flame to simmer and cook rice for 30 to 40 minutes. When time has elapsed, uncover fluff with a fork and serve. Enjoy
• 5. Note: In Mexico annato seeds are kept in a container and hot lard is poured over them. When cooks are going to prepare their meals the lard is melted down and the strained lard is poured right into a fry pan or pot. Annato flavored oil is kept already prepared for cooking.

BASIC PUERTO RICAN RICE RECIPE

Steps:

• Rinse and drain rice, set to the side.
• Warm oil in a caldero over medium high heat.
• Add salted pork and cook for about two minutes before adding in sofrito and onions or chopped vegetables, except for garlic.
• Cook vegetables until softened, about 4 minutes, occasionally stirring.
• Add in garlic and cook for thirty seconds before adding in tomato sauce, seasonings, and cilantro.
• Let sauce come to a bubble and stir in rice.
• Stir rice occasionally for two minutes for the rice to absorb the sofrito sauce.
• Allow to cook about a minute, stirring occasionally before adding in the rice.
• Pour in chicken broth or water with chicken bullion.
• Bring the liquid to a boil and then lower to a steady simmer (think medium).
• Cook uncovered for 12-14 minutes not stirring until the water levels evaporate to where you see the top of the rice and it the rice looks like craters.
• Stir once and cover.
• Lower heat to low. DO NOT UNCOVER!
• Cook rice for twenty minutes. DO NOT TOUCH OR UNCOVER!
• After 20 minutes DO NOT UNCOVER YET, remove pot from heat and let it steam for about 15 minutes before uncovering.
• Uncover and gently fluff with a fork before serving.

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!

VEGAN ARROZ CON GUANDULES (RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• First, add the cooking oil to a medium pot and raise to medium-high heat. Add the Onion, diced Bell Peppers, ½ of the bunch of chopped Cilantro, Bay Leaves, and Garlic to the pot. Sauté until the Onions are translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to cook everything; plastic and metal affect the final flavor of the dish!
• Add the Vegan Chicken-Flavored Bouillon and Tomato Paste to the pot and use the spoon to "mash" them into the Vegetables. Sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes.
• Then, add the Capers, entire can of Guandules Secos, Tamari, Cumin, and Sazon con Azafran. Sauté until the spices are fragrant and evenly distributed, about 3 minutes.
• Add ½ of the remaining Cilantro to the pot along with the can of Coconut Milk and remaining spices, then bring everything to a simmer over high heat.
• Rinse the Rice under cold water, then immediately add it to the simmering mixture. Once a few grains of rice start to float to the top of the mixture, add the rest of the Cilantro, mix well, and cover. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork, serve, and enjoy! Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.