Arroz Con Gandules

My Puerto Rican friend from New Jersey taught me how to make this classic dish a long time ago. I didn't do it justice.

Arroz Con Gandules (Spanish Rice)
Chopped up ham.
chopped onion
chopped green pepper or red.
about 2 garlic cloves
1 15oz can Goya Green Pigeon Peas, do not drain.
1 packet of Sazon.
some Adobo.
1 small can of tomato sauce (8oz)
3 cups water
2 cups rice(Goya medium grain is the best, I didn't have any just jasmine it came out okay so use the Goya)
green onion for garnish.

Use a good pot like cast iron or a good heavy one for this dish. Heat it up add ham, onion, and pepper cook a couple mins. Put in garlic and cook a min longer. Add the remaining ingredients except rice to boil. Stir in rice;cover. Turn heat down, check on it to make sure it doesn't stick, takes about 30 mins. Fluff with fork not spoon. I love green onion so I added to the end for garnish my own flair not really in the recipe.
Everyone liked it in my house but John John(no surprise)

Ultimate Berry Cobbler W/ Vanilla Bean Creme Anglaise

I don't have a lot of "ultimate" recipes in my repertoire... but this is one of them. And here I go sharing my secrets for which I could be famous someday... yet I succumb to the CWC creator's request for another dessert recipe. This is a keeper.

What makes this cobbler the ultimate is butter, for one, coconut for two, and real vanilla bean for three. The cobbler is excellent by itself, but the creme anglaise (say it like this, wives- crehm ahnglez) brings it to a whole new level.

You'll need about 8 cups of any kind of berries you like. I used a mixture of frozen strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries (I really like Wymans). You could use peaches, apples, whatever kind of fruit is in season. Make it yours (but give me the credit- LOL).

Step 1- Mix 8 cups of fruit with 1 cup of sugar (you can lessen the amount of sugar easily! The topping is very sweet so don't hesitate to cut down on the amount used on the berries) Also mix 1/4 cup instant tapioca in with the fruit. Pour it into an 8x8 or 9x13 pan- deep dish or standard cobbler- it's up to you.

Step 2- The topping! Combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup shredded coconut, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp baking power, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 stick of cold butter (cut into pieces). Mix it with a pastry blender or your hands until course. (I've made the mistake of mixing this in the Kitchenaid and it comes out like cookie dough.) Blend in 1 egg, using the same method.

Step 3- Sprinkle the fruit with the topping. It's not meant to cover every little bit of fruit so don't worry if it doesn't. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until the topping is golden and fruit is bubbling. (Put a pan underneath your baking dish in case it overflows). As it cools, the juice will thicken.

Now, the creme de la creme! (Isn't this gorgeous? Vanilla bean happily floating in cream? Wait till you smell it!)

Step 1- Separate 5 eggs, keeping the yolks for the sauce. Combine yolks with 3 TBSP sugar, and a pinch of salt

Step 2- Warm 2 cups half and half, 2 TBSP sugar, and 1 vanilla bean in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. You're going to want to split the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the black insides. Then cut the pod up into pieces and throw them in the pan too (trust me).

Now, a vanilla bean is an investment. I paid $10 for 2. Trust me... for this special dish, it's worth it!

Step 3- Once the half and half mixture is steaming slightly, pour just a little into the egg mixture and whisk it. This tempers the eggs so they don't curdle (you do not want scrambled egg anglaise). Then pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and return it to medium- low heat. Stir constantly! Wait for it to thicken, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a blender.

Step 4- Blend the creme. You're going to pulverize the vanilla bean pod. Strain over a bowl, toss the vanilla bean pod remains, and chill the creme.

Step 5- Eat the creme like soup!

You could. But it is excellent served with the above cobbler, pudding cakes, pies or fresh fruit.

Voila! My secret is out. I must go in search of some more ultimate recipes!

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients

1-2 lbs of split chicken breast
1-2 lbs of ground beef or turkey
For the soup: chopped onion
chopped celery, chopped carrots,chopped potatoes.
Add chicken breast,onion,celery,carrots,adobo,salt,pepper,bay leaf,basil, garlic powder,onion powder, and poultry seasoning in pot. Cook on low few hours, remove chicken take meat off bone put back in pot discard any skin and bone. Add potatoes and your favorite chicken stock to pot. Mine is Rachel Ray's chicken stock. You may need to add a few more seasonings.
Meatballs: Take ground turkey or beef and parm cheese, bread crumbs, egg, and ketchup mix together. Get bake sheet and roll little balls and put on the sheet bake on 350 degrees like 20-30 mins. Remove add to soup let cook on low.
Clean kale and trim add to soup last 15 minutes of cooking.
I think that's it, it's very delicious.

Monterary Jack Chicken

I of course made this and did not think of putting it on the blog or getting a pic. But some asked for the recipe so I thought why not put it up. Very easy and healthy looks pretty too.

1-2lbs of boneless chicken breast
salt and pepper
of course Adobo seasoning
EVOO(extra virgin olive oil)
scallions
couple tomatoes diced
Monterary jack cheese

get pan hot with some evoo, season chicken breast with salt, pepper, and Adobo. Pan fry for 7-8 mins. Put oven on 350 degrees either use your fry pan of oven safe dish put chicken in oven and let continue to cook. Last five minutes of cooking put cheese,tomatoes, and scallions on. My husband loved it and it was pretty healthy for the Robinson household.

Roast Pork Loin with Honey Mustard Sauce

I bought a pork loin the kind with the bone in, kinda looks like lamb chops. I wanted to do something a little different. I didn't have any Thyme or Rosemary so I improvised and used Poultry Seasoning. What Poultry seasoning? Well i figured Pork is the other white meat so why not try it.

Ingredients: 1 pork loin bone-in or bone out (whatever size you need)
2Tbsps poultry seasoning
salt&pepper
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup mustard
2 tsp vinegar

Rub the pork loin with the poultry seasoning, add some salt & pepper. Put in roasting pan or a roaster whatever you have. Put in a 425 degree oven for about 1 hour. Take out, mix honey, mustard, and vinegar together spread on top of pork loin. Put foil on top and lower temp to 350 degrees, cook another hour or so until done and juices run clear. I think on pork the internal temperature should be 170. But I am ghetto i just use the old nose to tell me when it's done, haven't poisoned any one yet. Well at least not on purpose, jk!! I served with some rice pilaf and green beans.