Titi Ana's Arroz y Gandules
2 Tbs olive (or canola, vegetable, whatever) oil
1 chorizo sausage
1 Italian pepper
1 onion
6 cloves garlic
1 can chicken broth
1 can gandules (pigeon peas)
1 pkg sazon goya con azafran (don't worry, I'll show you what that is)
capers (to taste)
1 cube sofrito (from yesterday's post)
1 cup parboiled rice (because it's healthier) - you can use white rice if you want, just cook it five minutes less at the end.
1. Chop your chorizo into little pieces (we're pre-chopping so that it all moves along faster once the cooking starts).
2. Chop your pepper/onion/garlic. This is a great base for flavor. Some versions of sofrito have this added already in - Titi Ana likes to add them fresh. I totally agree.
3. Heat the oil over medium heat and add your chorizo. Let the sausage brown and the fat render (that means let the fat cook off and make a nice red color in the pan....yum).
4. Add the pepper/onion/garlic. Let soften for about 5-10 minutes. Stir it up so that it all gets the sausage fat on it. Yeah, it's really good.
5. Add the chicken broth, plus enough water so that it makes about 2 cups of liquid. It should be about another half cup of water.
6. Add the gandules. Don't they look nice?
7. Add the Sazon Goya seasoning with Azafran and capers. You can add the sofrito now as well.
The azafran gives the rice a really nice red color. It's a natural dye from dried flowers. Here it is, simmering away. See the color?
8. Add the rice!
9. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
Now it's ready! Eat it! It's really good. It tastes very homey to me - it may taste less homey to you if you don't have puerto rican aunts who make it for you all the time, but it will still taste good.
Thanks to Titi Ana for teaching me how to make such wonderful food and to Uncle Steve for taking such great pictures!
2 comments:
I'm not sure, but I think azafran is saffron.
That looks delicious- I remember when you'd bring leftovers for lunch at ETW... Ah those were the days.
Now that you know how to make it, you can make it for me :).
I know for a fact that Titi Ana makes a vegetarian version of this. I have tried to make this but it requires on secret ingredient, love (translate, careful measuring and attention to details), that can be like that elusive pie crust. Also, getting the liquid just right is key. Yum. I could go for a bowlful right now!
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