Brown Rice And Pigeon Peas Arroz Con Gandules Recipes

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 (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 large pot with a lid gently brown ham steak in oil.
• Add sofrito, sazon, boullion cube, olives and undrained pigeon peas.
• Simmer gently to mix flavors.
• Stir in rice and water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-high.
• Boil until no visible liquid remains, stirring often to prevent sticking.
• Heap rice and bean mixture into a mound in the center of the pot. Cover with lid and reduce heat to medium-low.
• Stir and check rice for doneness every 5 minutes or so. A crisp rice crust will form on the bottom if the mix is not stirred often. This will add a bit of crunch to the dish but I have found all the men in my family love the crust!
• When rice is tender, stir once again to fluff mixture.
• Serve with sliced of avocado and garnish with additional green olives.

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.