Secrets Revealed

When I was a little girl Puerto Rican food was a mystery to my mom. She wanted to make food like my Abuela did, but her blonde hair just kept getting in the way. Ok ok maybe it wasn't her blonde hair, but my mom and I shared a few laughs today over the many oopsie meals that we pushed around our plates till mom admitted that it didn't turn out. Did I mention how much I love my mom. I mean really if I were to marry into a Puerto Rican family and red rice and beans just weren't my thing to make, I would probably have given up. Not mom. She just kept going, and then one day it wasn't wallpaper paste. She was beaming. We were so proud of her.

Today I promised Matt's family a Puerto Rican meal. I decided against red rice and beans -the wallpaper paste rice nightmares are too close of a memory. Instead I made white rice and beans and pastelillos. The white rice and beans are super easy and even though the pastelillos require deep frying they are well worth the work. If you're not into the work of deep frying, buy frozen rolls (the kind that are the dough and not par-baked), fill them and bake them. They taste almost as good.

Beans:
1 can of pigeon peas
1 tablespoon recaito
4 oz tomato sauce
1 packet of sazon
Adobo to taste
water

Pour all of the ingredients into a pot. Don't drain the beans. Add water till it is about a 1/2 inch above the beans. On my hand, I normally measure to my second knuckle. If you add too much water, don't fret just boil it off. Boil the bean until they reduce and thicken a little. Serve over white rice.

Pastelillos:
1 can of corned beef
1 eight oz. can of tomato sauce
1 packet sazon
2 tablespoon recaito
2 packages of frozen Goya Discos – empanada dough

Empty the can of corned beef into a frying pan. Add the can of tomato sauce, packet of sazon, and the two tablespoons of recaito. Chop up the corned beef with a spatula. Cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the corned beef had all broken up and the mixture has thickened.

Let mixture cool. Thaw the frozen discs. Place about a tablespoon of the mixture into each piece of dough. Crimp the edges with a fork or pinch together. Heat the oil on medium heat till it starts to make noise or until a drop of water sizzles when dropped into the oil.. Fry the meat packets till golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Every major grocery chain has Goya products, so finding these ingredients shouldn't be terribly hard. I am not loyal to Goya products, but normally they have all of the ingredients I want and need. If you find something cheaper in another brand, buy it.

Culture is not something you are born with. It is something that the people in your life teach you, or something you teach yourself. I am so thankful for a wonderful mother, who thought it was important to teach her children not just her own culture, but also her husband's culture. But I definitely don't miss those days of her rice experiments.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily