Arepitas de Arroz- Rice Fritter

These were one of the fritters that my grandmother made that we really enjoyed. They were simply born of left over rice, nothing in my grandmother's kitchen went to waste. These fritters are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, a party for the palate!

This recipe is from: www.gardeningchicinthecity.com

Servings: About 16 Fritters

Ingredients

2 Cups of cooked White Rice
2 Jumbo sized Eggs
1/3 cup of flour
1/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of finely chopped Onions
1/2 cup of finely chopped Red Peppers
1/2 Tsp. of Adodo or any spice mix you prefer
1 Tsp. of Onion powder
1/8 Tsp of ground Oregano
1/8 tsp. of salt, or salt to your preference

Canola Oil for frying

Preparation

In a frying pan, heat up about 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of Canola oil over medium to medium high heat.

Combine together, the eggs, flour, and water. Beat them all together until you get a nice smooth consistency, set the egg batter aside. It will be like a light pancake batter. In a bowl mix together the onions, peppers, dry seasonings and rice forming a mixture. To the rice mixture add the egg batter and combine together.

Make sure that all the ingredients are well combined.

Once combined, take about 1 to 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture and gently spoon into the hot oil. You can fry 4 fritters at a time. Turn the fritter when you can see that the edges are turning golden brown. About 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

Plantain and Cassava Chips- Maraquitas de Platano y Yuca

If you have never tried these chips, you should! They are light, airy, crispy and delicious. Serve with a garlic mojo and these are chips like you have never had them.

This recipe is from: www.gardeningchicinthecity.com

Ingredients

Canola Oil for frying

1 Large Plantain
1 Large piece of Cassava
1 Bowl of Cold Water
Salt & Pepper to taste

**You need a Mandolin to thinly slice the plantain and cassava.

Preparation

Peel the plantain and the cassava. You can peel the plantain by inserting your knife into its seams and gently peeling apart the skin. If you run the plantain under hot water the skin becomes soft and very easy to peel. To peel the cassava, you can just use a vegetable peeler to peel off the skin.

Once the plantain and the cassava are peeled, cut plantain in half and attach lengthwise to the mandolin guard and slice using the thinnest slice attachment. You should have almost paper thin slices of plantain and you should have the same for the cassava slices.

As you slice, soak the sliced pieces of plantain and the cassava in water to prevent them from turning brown. Let them soak in the bowl just until you are ready to fry them.

Once you are ready to fry the slices, rinse them all and pat dry. Gently place some of the slices into the hot oil and remove once the plantain and the cassava turn golden brown. Be careful not to over crowed the pan with too many slices because you want the slices to all cook evenly.

Once the chips are removed from the oil, add salt and pepper immediately.

Shrimp Stew-Camarones Guisados

Besides Shrimp scampi, this is one of our favorite ways to eat shrimp. My dad always prepared this with white rice or crispy tostones on the side and it was delicious every single time! I hope you enjoy it as much as we all have.

This recipe is from: www.gardeningchicinthecity.com

Ingredients

36 Jumbo Deveined Uncooked Shrimps (21/25 per lb. count)
3 oz. (half of a small can) of tomato paste or a small can of tomato sauce, whichever your preference is
2 Garlic Cloves- Crushed
One Medium Onion (any kind of onion you prefer)- sliced thinly
One Large Red Bell Pepper- sliced thinly
2-3 tbsp of Stuffed Olives
1/4 of a cup of good olive oil
2-3 tbsp of chopped cilantro
1/2 cup of water or seafood stock (seafood stock adds depth to the flavor but water does just fine)
Salt (add to your taste)
Pepper (add to your taste)
** You can also add any kind of Adobo you like for extra flavor. If you do, just be careful that you do not over salt the dish

Preparation

Peel, rinse and pat dry all of your shrimp

Slice the onion and the pepper, set aside. In a sauté pan, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil, over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add the onion, pepper and the olives to the pan until they start to become slightly tender about 5-7 minutes

After the vegetables are tender, you can then add the tomato paste and also begin to add your water or stock to begin dissolving the paste. Add the water in parts as you might not need the whole 1/2 cup. At this point you can turn the heat up a little to bring the mixture to a medium simmer, if its not already simmering. Simmer for about 6 minutes
The last thing you will add is the shrimps. Once all of your ingredients come together, you want to stir in the shrimps and cover the pan for about 5-8 minutes and then test the shrimps to see if they are done. They should be pink and slightly firm to the touch but not tough

There is nothing worse than putting the shrimps in the pan when you first start to put the ingredients together at the beginning of the dish. When shrimps cook for a long period of time they become very tough and rubbery. So make sure they are added in the end and you are sure to have the most tender and tasteful Camarones Guisados!



Happy Cooking! The Gardening Chic

Garlic Mojo- Mojo de Ajo

This is one of those condiments that you can out on anything. If you love garlic, then you will love this Mojo. It is very common in Caribbean cuisine to finish off meats, and root vegetables with this Garlic Mojo. It is also the perfect compliment to Plantain and Casava Chips.

This recipe is from: www.gardeningchicinthecity.com

Ingredients

3 Cloves of Garlic
3/4 of a cup Olive Oil- Goya Olive Oil is delicious in this recipe. It has a wonderful fruity flavor.
1/2 Tsp. to a Tsp. of Salt & Pepper

Preparation

Finely chop the three cloves of garlic. Once the garlic is finely chopped, add it the olive oil and then add the salt and pepper to the mixture.

Let the mixture sit for at least half hour for the flavors to meld together.

** if you prefer the flavor of roasted garlic, you can go ahead and roast your garlic and then add to the olive oil.

Steamed Herbed Potatoes- Papas al vapor

Steaming is one of my favorite ways to cook potatoes. All of that rich flavor is locked in by the steam and not lost in a huge pot of boiling water. These potatoes are simply dressed and super easy to make. They go great with any side of meat or fish that you pair them up with.

This recipe is from: http://www.gardeningchicinthecity.com

Ingredients

20 Small red potatoes for a larger amount, just increase the amount of dry seasonings and the olive oil
1 tbsp. of Herbs de Provence (crushed)- you can find this at your local markets or places like Marshalls at the food aisle
1 tbsp. of Organic Mediterranean Seafood Rub (I know seafood! It is just a jar with herbs and it is awesome on these potatoes) I found this one at the local Stop and Shop Fish counter
1/4 of a cup of Olive oil- this amount can be a little more or less it all depends on how saturated you like them
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Preparation

This is really simple. Take a pot, place it on your stove over medium heat (for a medium simmer) and fill it with about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of water (not much water because you want to steam the potatoes)
Place your potatoes in the pot and cover.

Test your potatoes in 20-30 minutes to see if they are tender. Once you can insert a fork or knife with ease, they are done!

You want to immediately remove them from the pot and toss them with the salt, pepper, herbs and olive oil. I cut mine in half as soon as I take them out of the pot. If the potatoes are really small there is no need to cut them.

Put them in a pretty bowl and there you have them. Delicious steamed Herbed Potatoes!

Fried Eggplant- Berenjena Frita

It is never rare to have a side of fried eggplants when your having a Dominican meal. They are simple to make and truly delicious to eat. Simple food is at times the best food.

This recipe is from: www.gardeningchicinthecity.com

Servings: About 25 Slices of Eggplant

Ingredients

1 Large Eggplant
2 Jumbo Eggs
1/3 cup of Flour
1/4 cup of water
1/4 Tsp of Salt and 1/4 Tsp of Pepper, you can add more or reduce this amount

Canola Oil for frying

Preparation

In a frying pan, heat up about a cup to cup and half of Canola Oil over Medium to Medium high heat

Combine together the eggs, water and flour, mix well. Once mixed it should be the consistency of a pancake batter. If you like a thicker batter just add more flour a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

At this point, you can salt and pepper the batter to your desired seasoning level.

Peel the eggplant skin, with a vegetable peeler. Once the skin is peeled, cut eggplant into about 1/4 in rounds. You should be able to get about 25 slices. If you prefer to leave the skin on you can. It becomes tender once the eggplant is cooked.

Dip the eggplant slices into the batter coating it well and then fry. You can fry up to 4 pieces of eggplant at a time.

Best when eaten immediately.

Garlic & Pepper Infused Chicken- Pollo con ajo y pimienta al horno

There's nothing like a nice roasted chicken for a Sunday dinner. This recipe is one of those recipes that gets compliments every time someone tries it. It's really simple to make and it goes great with

Steamed Herbed Potatoes or Roasted Vegetables. Anything that you pair this chicken up with, is sure to taste fantastic!

This recipe is from: www.GardeningChicinthecity.com

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken or 1 Chicken cut up (2-3 lbs)

To Make the Marinade:
4 Garlic Cloves
1/3 cup of Cilantro, or small portion of a bunch
1 tablespoons of Peppercorns (you can put less peppercorns if you don't prefer as much)
1/3 cup of GOOD Extra Virgin Olive Oil- the flavor the oil is important, so get a good one
2-3 Tbsp of white wine vinegar (you can add less if you do not prefer the taste of vinegar, you can even substitute with lemon or lime and it is also delicious)
Salt (to desired taste)
Adobo- any combination or brand of adobo that you prefer is fine (to desired taste)

Preparation

Combine all of the ingredients into a small processor. If you don't have a processor, you can also use a Pilon. If using a Pilon (Pestal & Mortar), first smash the garlic and the peppercorns together, then add the cilantro. Once all blended together add the olive oil and white wine vinegar. The marinade is not thick it has a loose consistency.

Once all the ingredients are ground together, add the salt to your preference. Taste and make sure to adjust the salt for flavor.
Marinade

After the marinade is the right salt content, its time to rub it on the chicken!

The most important part of putting the marinade on the chicken is, to make sure that you get your finger in between the skin and the meat and incorporate the marinade in those parts. The only way to make the chicken truly flavorful is to marinade between the skin and the meat! Delicately slip your fingers between the two and make sure to get all that good flavor in there. That makes for one juicy chicken!

Once all is marinated. put in a ziplock bag and leave it overnight. This makes the chicken taste so delicious!
Chicken, once marinated

Make sure that once you ready to cook the chicken you preheat the oven to 350. Also, please make sure that you take the chicken out of the refrigerator at least 45 minutes before baking and bring it to room temperature. You NEVER want to put a cold chicken to bake in the oven, it becomes tough before it becomes tender. Once at room temperature just lightly sprinkle the top of the chicken with adobo for a final touch. And into the oven it goes!

I leave my chicken in for about 3 hours uncovered, it seems long but the chicken is juicy and down right delicious once it comes out of the oven.
Dinner time!

Happy Cooking! The Gardening Chic