Comfort Food – Giveaway

MC • 18th Nov 2008 • The Daily Nonsense • cooking, family, giveaway, latin, NaBloPoMo, recipe, rice

There’s always that one special meal that family members make again and again that are comforting, and made with love and it’s one of the things I sometimes get a craving for since living on my own.

I’ve always loved the way my father made red kidney beans or habichuelas and my mother’s white rice or arroz. They both have characteristics that I’ve always tried to imitate – the creamy bean sauce, the perfect saltiness to the rice. A few times I’ve been pretty close but can never really reproduce that same special taste.

I love arroz con habichuelas. They’re easy to make, quick and deeply satisfying. But I think the best part about these kind of family recipes is that it’s based purely on experience and taste instead of measurements and boiling times (which can be frustrating for perfectionists or beginners, sometimes we feel like we need a set of instructions or things will go horribly wrong).

Habichuelas the way Dad makes them:

1 large stirring spoonful of oil (canola or veg)

About a tablespoon of sofrito

Half an onion chopped

an of red or pink kidney beans

1 small can of tomato sauce

3 or 4 olives

(optional) Cooked red potatoes peeled and cut into small wedges

Empty the can of kidney beans into a sauce pan, then fill the same can with water and empty that into the sauce pan too. Stir in oil, tomato sauce, sofrito, olives, potatoes and onion over med-low heat. Bring to a rolling boil and let most of the water evaporate. Reduce heat and let simmer, add another large spoonful of oil (this, my father claims, will help prevent the bean sauce from going watery – what we want is rich sauce that sits on top of the rice with the beans). This will only take about 20-25 minutes to cook and you can keep it on low heat while you prepare the rice.

Arroz the way Mom makes it:

3 cups of white uncooked rice

2 cups of water

salt

a large stirring spoonful of oil (canola or veg)

(optional) half an onion

Pour the water into a caldero (a typical latin pot used to cook stews and rice) or whatever pot you usually use to cook rice – stay away from the instant stuff and the microwave, this will only take 20-25 minutes to cook. Use your large wooden spoon or stirring spoon to pour in the oil. Add a few sprinkles of salt. Bring water to a rolling boil then add rice. Stir a few times, add a few more sprinkles of salt. The water should only be a little bit above the rice, if it’s too much (more than a finger’s width) use your measuring cup to scoop some out and save for later. Cover and reduce heat to Med-Low. Cook for 20-25 minutes. Stir the rice around every 8 minutes or so. Set your timer if you have to and go do something else (like start preparing tostones!). If the water is absorbing faster than the rice is cooking, add a little of the reserved water and stir in – reduce the heat a bit too. About 5 or 10 minutes before it’s done, go ahead and try the rice – add salt to taste. Is the bottom starting to brown? No problem! We call rice that’s brown and crunchy at the bottom of the pot pegao and it’s my favorite part of cooking white rice! Is it starting to burn? Don’t worry, lower the heat and insert the half onion into the rice. This will absorb the burnt odor and taste so you can save the rest of the rice.

I usually cheat with tostones, the green plantains that are usually fried and salted. I buy the frozen Goya brand, only because buying plantains means they’ll most definitely go bad before I can cook them. It’s not exactly the same quality but it’s pretty close and works in a pinch. I was getting tired of throwing out so many bad plantains that I had planned on frying and just never got around to it.

Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed, tired or uninspired to cook, I always resort to the family staple of rice and beans. It’s not a stereotype, it’s definitely my comfort food. Share your comfort food and recipe with me and receive a $10.00 email gift certificate to Cooking.com! How?

1. Leave a comment describing your comfort food and the recipe (or a link to the recipe).
2. Link this post on your blog! (Don’t have a blog? Email the permalink to your friends!)
3. Enter by Tuesday, November 25th 5:00pm.
4. Commenters that have completed all 3 steps will be chosen by a randomizer.