food

Menu de Uma Mãe Porto-Riquenha

As chefs Monti e Giovanna preparam comidas que homenageam as mães: "Sorullos", que são bolinhos de milho, "Dulce de Lechosa", que é mamão verde cristalizado, e o "Arroz de Fazendeiro". Tudo bem porto-riquenho!

food

Menu de Uma Mãe Porto-Riquenha

As chefs Monti e Giovanna preparam comidas que homenageam as mães: "Sorullos", que são bolinhos de milho, "Dulce de Lechosa", que é mamão verde cristalizado, e o "Arroz de Fazendeiro". Tudo bem porto-riquenho!

Supplies

Sorullos

  • Canola oil for frying
  • 1 ¾ cups boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup finely ground cornmeal
  • 1 cup grated Edam cheese, loosely packed

Sorullo Dipping Sauce

  • ¼ cup mayo
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon chopped Italian pickled hot peppers

Passo a passo

Sorullos

  1. Bring water and salt to a boil in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan.
  2. Lower the heat to medium.
  3. Add the cornmeal and stir rapidly until the mixture turns into a dough and starts to peel away from the bottom and sides of the pan. Take the pan off the heat.
  4. Add a half cup of the cheese and fold gently into the dough. Repeat with the last half cup of cheese. Remove the dough from the pan and set on a cutting board.
  5. While the cornmeal dough cools for a moment, heat your oil to 350 degrees over a medium flame.
  6. As the oil comes to temperature divide the dough in half and roll into two cylinders, about an inch and a half in diameter. Take a medallion of dough (about a tablespoon’s worth) and roll into a cigar shape about the thickness and length of a ring finger. Repeat until all the dough is rolled up. You should have about 20 sorullos.
  7. Fry the sorullos in small batches until crispy and set aside to drain and cool on the paper towel lined plate.

Sorullo Dipping Sauce

  1. Mix together the mayo, the ketchup, and chopped peppers in a bowl until fully combined.
  2. Dip a sorullo in it and take a little bite of heaven!

Supplies

  • 4 cups of water
  • 1 ½ tablespoons baking soda
  • 1 pound green papaya, (not so green that there’s no scent but not ripe in any way)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 star anise pods
  • 4 cloves
  • ½ vanilla bean, split
  • Peel of one lime, in strips
  • 1 Wheel of Queso fresco, sliced

Passo a passo

  1. Peel and seed the papaya. Slice into ¼ inch thick planks, about 1x3
  2. Add the baking soda to the water and soak the papaya for about an hour. Put a plate on top of the papaya to ensure it remains submerged. The baking powder activates as soon as it hits the water and leaves the papaya with a soft interior and a toothy shell, about 15 minutes.
  3. Drain the papaya. Rinse it carefully, but well.
  4. Add the papaya to a dutch oven over low heat. Gently mix in the sugar. Cover the pot and cook for about 20 minutes. The papaya should release plenty of liquid, but not all papayas are created equal. If it looks dry add ¼ of water.
  5. Add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, vanilla bean, and lime peel.
  6. Stir and cook uncovered on low until the syrup has thickened. Use a candy thermometer and don’t allow the syrup to get hotter than 220 degrees. Reducing it should take about an hour.
  7. When the candy is ready, take it off the heat. Remove the peel and the vanilla bean.
  8. Let cool before serving planks of candied papaya on top of a chunk of queso fresco. Drizzle with syrup. Traditionally this candy is served with the cinnamon sticks and star anise and cloves still floating in it.
  9. If there is any leftover, store in the fridge in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.

Supplies

Rice

  • 2 cups medium-grain rice
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons Vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon bijol
  • 3 cups water

Sauce

  • 4 oz minced bacon (optional)
  • 1/2 cubanelle pepper diced
  • 1/2 medium onion (yellow) diced
  • 1 ½ ground garlic cloves
  • ½ large diced tomato
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • ¼ pound of fresh mushrooms in quarters
  • 1 chicken stock “cubito” crumbled
  • 1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ medium tin diced roasted bell peppers, drained well
  • 5 ounces package of frozen green peas (Defrosted but not boiled)

Chicken and Pork

  • ¾ pounds of skinned diced chicken (the thighs are perfect but can be done with breasts or with both)
  • ½ pound of pork Tenderloin cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
  • ½ tsp of salt
  • 1 ½ cloves of ground garlic
  • ½ tbsp of poultry seasoning
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • ¼ cup dark Puerto Rican rum

Passo a passo

Rice

  1. Heat the vegetable oil slightly and saute the rice with the salt until coated with oil.
  2. Add the Bijol and water and stir well. Let it come to a boil; lower the heat but keep simmering until dry.
  3. Add an extra tablespoon of vegetable oil; mix well.
  4. Cover and reduce to low temperature. Cook for 20 minutes or until the grain is tender.

Sauce

  1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, fry the bacon until it releases the fat and begins to brown.
  2. Add the herbs and vegetables with mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes.
  3. Next add the peas, the “cubito” and Worcestershire.
  4. Mix well and saute until tender. If it is very dry, add a little water, it should be salty.
  5. Mix this sauce with the rice when it has cooked.

Chicken and Pork

  1. Marinate the meat with the mixture of herbs, garlic, salt, pepper. It should be marinated a day before and stored in the fridge for better flavor.
  2. Sauté the meat in a large saute pan with butter over medium-high heat until cooked though.
  3. Heat the rum and ignite it while pouring it over the meat. When the flame dies out, add the meat to the rice mixture and toss to combine.
  4. Garnish with cilantro and serve.