Tag: main course
Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice
Puerto Rican Chicken and Rice
This chicken and rice recipe is a staple of Puerto Rican cuisine. This is very similar to Mexican and Cuban chicken and rice dishes with a few different ingredients. Preparing this in one pot makes this quite easy. And it cuts back on dishes, which is a plus for me since I cook all three meals a day. This dish can be prepared with thighs and drumsticks, or you can cut up a whole chicken to 8 pieces. The best part of this dish is all of the chicken juices dripping down into the rice while it’s baking in the oven. So much flavor. DO NOT USE BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN FOR THIS RECIPE!
Servings: 3
Ingredients
The Chicken
- 3 large whole chicken legs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 packet Sazon
Chicken and Rice
- 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 red bell pepper sliced into strips
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 2 cups uncooked long grain rice
- 1 can pigeon peas
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 cup pitted green olives
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 packet Sazon
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Separate the drumstick from the chicken thigh. You should be able to feel the joint that holds them together. Cut right through that.
- Pull back the skin from the chicken pieces, still leaving it attached.
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and a Sazon packet.
- Pull the skin back over the chicken.
- In a large dutch oven, heat the cooking oil over medium high heat. Sear the chicken skin side down for 5-6 minutes.
- Flip over and cook for another 5-6 minutes. You will have to cook the chicken in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding the dutch oven. When all of the chicken is seared, set aside.
- In the same dutch oven, sauté the onions, garlic, red pepper, cumin, cilantro, and bay leaves for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the uncooked rice and tomato paste. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the chicken stock, sazon packet, pigeon peas, green olives, white pepper, and paprika. Give it a quick stir.
- Add in the chicken pieces and bring to a boil. Put the pot into the oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees. Cook for 35 minutes, uncovered.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Bam! Enjoy this!
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
If I was put on death row and asked what the last thing on Earth that I'd like to eat, my final meal, char siu would be on the top of the list. I have loved this bbq pork ever since I was a little kid. My family would order everything with bbq pork in it from the Chinese restaurant that we got take out from. I love this pork so much, I snuck some of the pork in the picture into the movie theatre in a ziplock bag.Char siu is typically made out of pork shoulder. It can be made out of pork sirloin, pork loin, or tenderloin; but they tend to be less juicy than pork shoulder. Fat is a good thing here. You will want a 3lbs. piece of boneless pork shoulder. I purchased a whole bone in shoulder and processed out the coppa roast and the flat iron, If the coppa roast was a beef cut, you'd know it as a chuck eye roast. You don't have to go to this extreme. You can use any part of the shoulder. I just happen to know how to cut these muscles out of the shoulder and use them. Cut the pork shoulder into 2" in diameter chunks with the grain. The char siu gets its color from the red bean curd. If you've ever seen this pork really red, the color will be coming from red food coloring. But I want to avoid food coloring as much as possible. The red color in the bean curd comes from a natural fungus. This pork needs to marinate for at least 3 days.When ready to cook the pork, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Yes, 400 degrees. Normally when you think of cooking pork shoulder, you cook it low and slow. Not here. It will be tender. Trust me. I was skeptical the first time I tried making this. Roast this for 15 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and brush on the glaze. Roast for 7 minutes. You want to do this for 3 times total. The honey will caramelize the outside while the bean curd juice will give it a nice red color. Once done roasting, let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 red bean curd cubes + 2 tbsp liquid
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese 5 spice powder
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 3/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Pork Glaze
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp red bean curd liquid
- 1 tbsp cooked marinade
Instructions
- Take a 3lb. piece of pork shoulder and cut it into a few long chunks with the grain. Each piece should be around 2″ in diameter. In this picture, I cut out the coppa roast and the flat iron. The coppa roast is the center muscle of the shoulder. If this was beef, you’d know it as a chuck eye roast.
- Mix together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red bean curd cubes and liquid, 5 spice powder, honey, cooking, wine, white pepper, sesame, oil, and garlic cloves. Mash the bean curds into a paste. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Add the pork shoulder pieces and the marinade to a gallon sized ziplock bag. Marinate for 72 hours. Turn the bag over every 12 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lay the pork shoulder pieces on a rack onto of a foil covered baking sheet. Add a couple cups of water to the baking sheet to prevent smoking. Roast the pork for 15 minutes.
- While the pork is roasting, mix together honey, red bean curd liquid, and some of the marinade. Make sure to cook the marinade in the microwave for a few seconds before mixing in. Now you have your pork glaze.
- After the first 15 minutes of roasting, take the pork out of the oven and brush on the pork glaze. Don’t worry about getting the bottom. Put the pork back in the oven and roast for 7 minutes. Repeat this step 2 more times, for a total of 3 glazes.
- After the final glazing and roasting, let the pork rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Chorizo Tacos
Chorizo Tacos
This is another great way to use chorizo. When I make tacos, I like to use corn tortillas. If you’d like to use flour, then please do. If you go with the corn tortillas, you need to decide if you are going to have a single or double tortilla tacos. If you are going to keep them relatively small, use a single tortilla. If you are going to load them up, make them double corn tortillas. I can get 8 tacos out of 1 lb. of meat. My favorite part of this recipe is the cilantro/onion/green onion mix I made. When I know I’m going to be eating Mexican food for a few days, I make this up and put it on everything.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chorizo
- corn tortillas
- vegetable or canola oil
Taco toppings
- cilantro finely chopped
- white onion finely chopped
- green onion finely chopped
- avocado sliced
- hot sauce of your liking
- lime wedges
- radishes sliced
Instructions
- In a skillet on medium high heat, brown the pork chorizo until fully cooked.
- On a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat, cook the tortillas for 60-90 seconds a side. Drain on paper towel.
- In a small container, mix together onion, green onion, and cilantro.
- This final step is up to you. If these tacos aren’t going to be ginormous, they can be single corn tortilla tacos. If you are going to fill them up like I did, make the tacos double corn tortillas. The filling is enough for 8 tacos, so make either 8 or 16 tortillas. Layer with the chorizo on the bottom, then, avocado, cilantro/onion/green onion mix, then a hot sauce of your choosing.
