Recipes

****these recipes are taken from my website and are my own from my own self made recipe book at home****

Asapao De Pollo (Spanish Chicken Soup)

1lb chicken breasts cubed (or use chicken thighs, and pull off the chicken after)
2 cups white rice
1 green bell pepper
2 packets of sazon (I use the coriander and annato kind, but any will be great as I've tested them all)
adobo seasoning
1 small yellow onion
3-4 tbls sofrito
1/2 tsp annato
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 avacado cubed
1 can stewed tomatos (I buy the one with lime juice added to it, a mix of spanish flavors. If not just use a can of stewed or diced tomatoes and add some lime juice)
1 clove garlic
1-2 cups chicken broth

Cover chicen in adobo and let marinate for about 30 mins to an hour. Get your rice started in the rice cooker. Make sure the chicken is well coated in adobo. Add 1-2tbl oil to a pan (a large pot, I use a non stick large pot that also serves as a dutch oven to fry and make soup with this) and fry chicken until done. Remove and set aside (if you used thighs, this is where you will take it of the bone unless you want to eat whole pieces in your soup...which is a little difficult).

Add chopped bell pepper, onion, avacado, and garlic to oil and fry until onions are almost transparent. Add annato, sazon, and cilantro and stir. Add sofrito and fry for about 10-15 secs, add tomatoes (and lime juice if you didn't but the one with it already inside) and let simmer about 3 mins.

After a few moments when it seems it's coming together, add the chicken broth. I put 1-2 cups because I suppose it depends on how large a pot of this you are making, so you decide as per your taste and the size of your pot.

Simmer soup for 20 mins and season with anything above to taste. Sometimes I'll add a little more lime juice depending on how strong it has come out by this point and some salt. You can also add some ground chili pepper for heat. Serve in a soup bowl over rice from the cooker.

Arancini (Rice Balls)

2 cups white rice
1lb ground beef
1/2lb of ground pork
1/2 can of diced italian style tomatoes
italian seasoning
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
2 eggs - seperated
italian bread crumbs (measure as you go but generally a few cups)
salt and pepper
*red sauce (tomato sauce premixed)

First off, get your rice cooking. It will need to be cooled down to make the rice balls to prevent them being too sticky. I usually put a little seasonings in my rice while it is cooking as well as a little salt and pepper.

Make the meat mixture for the inside of these. Today I'm making them into meatballs and frying them instead of frying the meat into a crumble because I want it to be very juicy inside. Once formed the riceballs tend to soak out all the liquid inside and leave it a bit dry, so I'll try it this way today. Alright so, mix your ground beef, ground pork, chopped garlic, 1/2 can of the diced tomatoes, salt and pepper (eye it), and maybe 1 cup of bread crumbs. Mix in egg yolks.

Form into small meatballs and fry in a pan of hot oil, set aside to drain.

After the rice has cooled down mix the egg whites with the rice (set a tiny bit aside on a plate as well). Cup your hand and put some of the rice into it forming a indent in the center. Place your meatball or meat mix in the indent and then add rice over top of it and with both hands squeeze together and form a tight ball. Add a little of the eggwhite left to the outside of the riceball and then roll in bread crumbs. Fry in hot oil. Finished!!

I also love this recipe Spinach Arancini

Chicken Fricassée

2 1/2 lbs chicken breasts cut into pieces 4tbsp butter 3tbsp flour 1 cup white wine 3 cups chicken broth tied herbs 8 oz small mushrooms (I like button mushrooms for this) 1tsp lemon juice 17 small peeled white onions (small as in same size as the mushrooms) 1/2 cup water 1tsp sugar 6tbsp heavy creme salt and pepper Wash and dry the chicken. Melt half the butter with the oil in a casserole dish over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for about ten minutes or until golden. Sprinkle in the flour turning the pieces to coat. Cook on low heat for a few minutes turning occasionally. Pour in the wine and broth and bring to a boil. Push the chicken to the side and scrape the bottom of the pan stirring this until it's well blended. Bring back to a boil and add the tied herbs and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over medium heat for about half an hour. In a frying pan, heat the remaining butter over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and lemon juice and cook until they're golden. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and then add the onions, water, and sugar to the pan stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for a few minutes until the onions are tender. Set aside. Take the chicken out of the casserole dish and transfer to a serving platter minus the tied herbs. Bring the liquid in the casserole dish and whatever has accumulated from the vegetables to a boil and reduce by half. Whisk the creme into the sauce and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook a little longer. Season to taste and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve.

This is the french version..also try the Puerto Rican version

Roast Chicken with Lemon

This is one of my most favorite dishes, and I serve it often. You can use the leftovers to make a wonderful chicken soup. 3lb whole chicken 3 lemons 1 bay leaf a few sprigs of fresh basil 1tbsp butter 3 cloves of garlic salt and pepper Cut 2 of the lemons into 1/4ths and stuff along with the bay leaf, basil, and garlic into the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs together. Rub the breast with the butter and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on a roasting pan. Squeeze the other lemon into a bowl and drizzle a little over the chicken (you'll continue doing this at intervals while it's cooking along with the butter). Roast the chicken for about an hour until done. Transfer to a platter. Take the juices accumulated from the roasting pan and also whatever is in the cavity and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the roasting pan at the same time. Boil only long enough to get the drippings off the bottom and then serve this on the side of the chicken.

I love Roast Chicken any way, but another amazing way to make it is the chinese way...5 Spice Chicken

Burgundy Beef Stew

3 1/2lbs stewing beef 6 oz salted pork or bacon 3tbsp butter 3/4 lb pearl onions 3/4lb button mushrooms 1 onion chopped finely 1 carrot chopped finely 3 cloves garlic chopped finely 3 tbsp flour 3 cups burgundy 2 tbsp tomato paste 3 cups beef broth 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped tied herbs (bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and parsley sprigs) salt and pepper Cut beef into cubes and dice the salted pork. In a casserole dish, cook pork until browned then drain. Pour all but 2 tbsp of the fat off. Heat on medium high and add add a layer of meat (don't add it all, just enough to cover the bottom) and cook until browned. Set meat aside and continue to cook all the beef until it's done. In a frying pan, melt 1/3 of the butter and add the pearl onions and cook until golden. Add mushrooms and saute until also browned. Set aside. Pour off fat from casserole dish and add the remaining butter. When it's melted add the onion, carrot, and garlic and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes stirring frequently (you want it softened but you don't want to burn it!). Sprinkle in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes, then add the wine, tomato paste, and the tied herbs. Bring this to a boil and deglaze the pan scraping the bottom. Add the beef and bacon to the casserole dish and pour in the broth. Cover the casserole and simmer on low for about 3 hours or until the meat is tender. Add the mushrooms and onions and cook, covered, for about half an hour more. Take out the tied herbs and stir in the parsely. Serve.

Any leftovers can be made into Vegetable Beef Soup