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Home/Tag: Puerto Rico

#IslandFlavor: Piña Colada

The Piña Colada is Puerto Rico's National drink and today is national Piña Colada day! It's also my fave frozen drink so, of course, I have to give you my recipe and a little bit of history. As the legend goes, back in the way back, when the seas were ruled by pirates, there was a Puerto Rican buccaneer who had a ship full of super-depressed, thieving sailors. This pirate decided that the best way to perk up his shipmates' spirits was to get them a 401k plan. I kid. He got them drunk on a blend of coconut, pineapple and white rum and PERFECTION was born. Traditionally a Piña Colada [...]

2021-07-10T18:32:59+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Drinks, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Island Ratatouille Pie

Spring is here and nothing quite puts the season on the plate like a batch of ratatouille.  If you've never had it, it's a vegetable dish usually made with onions, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. The veggies are sauteed or roasted with a little oil until they've softened and released their juices. Ratatouille can be served hot or cold or in a Disney movie prepped by the cutest team of rodents ever. Traditionally, ratatouille is accompanied by a few slices of crusty bread to sop up its savory sauce. I wrapped my ratatouille with a pie crust and dressed it with an herbaceous lemon ricotta to create a one-pot dish [...]

2018-04-19T16:00:28+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Appetizers, Dinner, Fruits & Veggies, Recipes, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: The Freakin’ Rican Burger

Everyone has a favorite burger recipe and the Freakin' Rican is mine. I developed the recipe when I competed on Gordon Ramsay's MasterChef because it’s Puerto Rico in one juicy bite. The patty is made from 50% short rib, 25% sirloin and %25 pork shoulder, all coarsely ground. I season the patty with sazón, a Puerto Rican spice blend and then layer it with a chunky sofrito (flavorful tomato based sauce) and slices of creamy meunster cheese. Then come the smashed ripe plantains and strips of crispy thick cut bacon. I top those with tomato, onion, and arugula and sandwich all of it on a potato bun toasted with garlic [...]

2017-12-19T00:37:22+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Proteins, Recipes, Uncategorized|2 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: Abuela’s Rice and Beans

There's nothing I love more than getting messages like this one: My name is Jamie and I watched you on MasterChef and I just saw you on The Kitchen. My mom is from Puerto Rico and her mom used to make "the best" rice and beans. She doesn't know how to make it, she's not a good cook and she's been in America for a very long time. Do you happen to have a good traditional recipe for rice and beans? It seems simple but I wouldn't know where to start with seasonings. Thank you!!! Jaime, one of the biggest reasons I focus on Puerto Rican flavors is that they [...]

2017-12-19T00:37:22+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Fruits & Veggies, Recipes, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: Sazón

Sazón is a type of seasoned salt used heavily in Puerto Rican recipes. In its simplest form, it is a blend of salt, garlic and onion powders, cumin, coriander, oregano and usually features annatto, which gives it its orange color. You can also find versions with the additions of cilantro, black pepper, saffron or tomato. The most popular brand of sazón on the island without question is Goya. While I'm a huge fan of most Goya products, they use MSG in their sazón so I prefer to make my own. It only takes a few minutes to have one of the most distinct flavors of Puerto Rico at your fingertips. [...]

2017-12-19T00:37:22+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Spices, Uncategorized|8 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: Coconut Hot Fudge Sundae

July 25th is National #HotFudgeSundaeDay. It also happens to be Danger's birthday (he's turning seven) which makes this day one of The. Biggest. Days. of the year for me. What better way to celebrate than with a tropical, coconut hot fudge sundae! My little man Danger loves sweet fried plantains (he may not have been born on the island but that kid is Puerto Rican I tell you!) and he loves chocolate, so I combined those flavors with one of our favorite things in the world: vanilla ice cream. This is a really easy quick sundae but if you don't have sweet plantain, you can substitute a ripe banana or [...]

2017-12-19T00:37:22+00:00By |Desserts, Fruits & Veggies, Recipes, Sauces, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: Simple Sofrito

When it comes to building flavor, the french have mirepoix (onions, celery, carrots) and creoles have the holy trinity (onions, celery, bell peppers).  Puerto Ricans have sofrito.  While it is the base of hundreds of Puerto Rican dishes, sofrito is derivative. You see Puerto Rican cuisine is the original fusion cuisine, with influences from Africa, Europe, and Asia. Much of our food is adapted from different cultures and sofrito is no different. This powerhouse of flavor was brought to the island by Italian immigrants that relocated in the 1800's during the Second Industrial Revolution. The Italians (along with other Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Corsica) were granted land after swearing loyalty [...]

2017-12-19T00:37:23+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Fruits & Veggies, Recipes, Sauces, Uncategorized|4 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: Limbers (Frozen Fruit Pops)

It doesn't matter where you are in Puerto Rico- your block, your school, or in a downtown plaza- someone will always be selling frozen fruit juice pops called limbers. My Abuela Alicia lived in a tenement building in Rio Piedras and had a neighbor that would sell them out of her apartment. My brother and I would hand her fifty cents through a gap in her wrought iron door and in return we would get two little dixie cups filled to the top with frozen sweetened coconut milk. It was the tastiest way to stay cool in a world with no air conditioning. These frosty, refreshing treats are named [...]

2021-07-24T22:42:10+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Desserts, Fruits & Veggies, Recipes, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: Tropical Shrimp Salad

I think Glenn Frey put it best when he said, "The heat is on." When the fever of summer hits,  the last thing I want to do is spend an extended period of time in front of my stove. Which is why this fourth of July weekend I'm bringing a tropical shrimp salad to the BBQ. Not only does it make for a cool and refreshing side, shrimp cook quickly.  If you work it right you can leave the kitchen without breaking into a full sweat. Of course, quick cook times can be a double-edged sword. Just 30 seconds over can leave you chewing on a rubbery mess.  But I’m [...]

2017-12-19T00:37:23+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Appetizers, Fruits & Veggies, Proteins, Recipes, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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#IslandFlavor: Quesitos

My favorite part of blogging about Puerto Rican food is meeting others who miss it as much as I do. Ramon Novoa  is a FaceBook friend who shared his most loved #islandflavor:       "Quesitos were my favorite treat when I was a kid in PR. Whenever I go back to PR there are two things I need to have within the first 24 hours of my visit: a quesito and a mofongo, but not necessarily together. Every bakery in PR has quesitos on their menu but, in my opinion, the best come from the panadería La Ceiba, en la avenida Roosvelt and La Esmeralda in Guaynabo." I couldn't agree more [...]

2017-12-19T00:37:24+00:00By |#IslandFlavor, Appetizers, Desserts, Recipes|2 Comments
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