Pigeon Pea Rice Arroz Con Gandules Recipes

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 (PIGEON PEAS RICE)

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse the onion, bell pepper, garlic and cilantro until all is chopped very small to make the sofrito.
• In a large cast-iron pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute the sofrito mixture, tomato sauce, chicken bouillon cubes, sazon, oregano, adobo, black pepper and alcaparrado for about 2-3 minutes until vegetables begin to release aroma.
• Add the pigeon peas with it's liquid and 2 cups of water. When the water begins to boil, add the rice, stirring occasionally to avoid from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• Once the rice has soaked up all the water and begins to dry up, lower the heat to low. Cover and let cook for 25 minutes. Then, stir the rice carefully and cover for an additional 5 minutes.
• Serve warm.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook Sofrito in oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add rice and sazon; cook and stir until rice is lightly toasted, 3-4 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until rice is tender, 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

PIGEON PEA RICE: ARROZ CON GANDULES

Steps:

• Place a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and bacon. Fry, stirring, until the bacon is crisp. Add the onion and cilantro. Continue to cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the rice, tomatoes, oregano, cumin, salt, achiote, and pigeon peas. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the rice is opaque. Stir in the tomato paste and water and bring to boil. When all the water is absorbed, cover tightly and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes until tender. Serve on a decorative platter and garnish with cilantro.

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!

ARROZ CON GANDULES RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• To the bowl of a food processor, add the cilantro, culantro, onion, red and green bell peppers and garlic. Pulse until combined. Add the cumin and oregano and pulse a few more times to incorporate. The sofrito should have the consistency of a tapenade.
• Heat ¼ cup of canola oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the sofrito and fry, stirring constantly, until deepened in color but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the olives, tomato sauce, adobo seasoning, Sazón seasoning, pigeon peas, and water, and stir to combine.
• Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the rice. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until the liquid is fully evaporated and the rice around the edges of the pot looks dry.
• Stir, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook the rice for another 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the rice is tender and fluffy.
• Serve the arroz con gandules warm alongside dishes of your choice.
• Enjoy!

ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• Soak pigeon peas overnight in 6 cups of water; drain and discard water.
• In a large, covered pot, combine peas with 4 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 30 minutes.
• Season with salt and cook 15 minutes more; drain, reserving 3 cups of the cooking liquid (you may need to add more water to end up with the 3 cups).
• Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, lightly brown the bacon and ham; add in the remaining sofrito ingredients and saute, over low heat until all the ingredients are tender and the tomatoes break down.
• Stir in the additional ingredients and combine well; stir in the peas and rice.
• Add the 3 cups of reserved cooking liquid and let cook, uncovered, until almost dry (it will look like little volcanos are erupting); stir up the rice from the bottom.
• Cover and turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let cook 30 minutes, turning the rice, from the bottom, once halfway through cooking.
• NOTE: This is how the dish is supposed to be cooked. I prefer to add the olives after the last turning of the rice for a "cleaner" flavor.

ARROZ CON GANDULES

Steps:

• Rinse the rice with cold water, drain and set aside.
• Heat the oil and sofrito in a 6-quart Dutch oven or caldero over medium-high heat, 2 minutes. Stir in the gandules with liquid, tomato sauce, olives, sazón, adobo and black pepper to taste then bring to a simmer. Stir in the rice, add 2 cups water and bring to a boil until the water begins to evaporate. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes.
• Before serving, fluff the rice and add the cilantro.

ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)

Steps:

• In a large pot, fry salt pork in olive oil until halfway done; add ham and continue frying.
• Add rice and sauté until rice is browned.
• Add about ¾ cup to 1 cup sofrito (more or less to taste), tomato sauce and canned tomatoes.
• Add gandules (drained and rinsed) and 4 cups of water.
• Add olives and capers, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper to taste and bijol (for color).
• Cook uncovered over medium-high heat 10 minutes, then cover, lower heat and continue cooking 15-20 minutes until done.
• Sofrito: Blend 1 Bunch Cilantro, 1 red pepper, 1 onion, 1 green pepper and 1 head garlic in blender until smooth. (Leftover Sofrito can be freezed and used in beans, soups, etc.).