My name is Paz and I’m a riceaholic. Yup, I love rice. It’s a staple in my home and I have to eat it at least once a week.

In All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou, the author writes about her stay in Ghana, West Africa. I don’t remember why, but for some reason, the cafeteria at the YMCA, where Dr. Angelou ate, did not serve rice. The non-rice menu continued for several days, till one of the other boarders, a dignified-looking woman from Sierra Leone almost went crazy from lack of eating rice.

The next time the cafeteria served lunch and there was no rice in the plate, the woman’s entire demeanor changed. “I want some ri’,” she insisted.

“I want some ri!” She got bolder and crazier.

In order to calm her down the staff had to run out and buy rice, cook it, and serve her on the spot. She wasn’t the same until she got her rice.

Haha, I could relate! I want my rice!

Now that I’m learning to cook, instead of the plain white rice, which I’d normally eat (and the occasional brown rice when my health conscience kicks in), I’m learning to cook different types of rice. My rice repertoire includes Jollof rice, which I used to eat as a child in Africa. I’ve mentioned that my Auntie Toshie made the best Jollof rice (she made the best everything, actually). I’ve made Basmati and Nut Pilaf (I really love this one), Forbidden Rice, Yellow Rice with Corn (Arroz Amarillo con Maiz – I really like this one, too!), Garlicky Rice, Rice and BeansRice Water, and Paella. (Moros y Cristianos)

When I first made rice it was touch and go because I’d either add too much water or not enough. Uggh! I’m happy to say that things are looking up. My rice turn out pretty good.

I came across an interesting-sounding rice prepared by celebrity chef Daisy Martinez called Rice with Pigeon Peas. It was definitely something I wanted to try.

My cooking adventure wasn’t bad. There were a few things I had to prepare first before making the rice. I had to make achiote oil, which gives the color to the rice. It’s not hard to do – fry achiote seeds in oil and be careful not to leave it in the oil too long otherwise it will turn green and bitter. Second, I made sofrito, which flavors the rice. Oh, how I love to prepare that. I love the smells of the fresh herbs, especially the cilantro. I love the smell and taste of cilantro, which makes me start doing my happy dance in the kitchen when its fragrance is released into the air. Yes! You can buy ready made sofrito from the store but I prefer the homemade one, which is so much fresher and tastier.

The recipe calls for using smoked pork neck bones, smoked turkey wings or smoked ham. With the exception of the occasional bacon and eggs or bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, I don’t normally eat ham but I was curious about the taste of the smoked pork neck bones and decided to use that in my rice. Ummm… I didn’t like it.

Next time I make this rice, I’ll use the turkey wings instead. I liked the pigeon peas, the alcaparrado and everything else in the rice.

The recipe also mentions banana or plantain leaves but I didn’t use them because I couldn’t find them at my local grocery store.

So now you know I love rice. I’m curious: What foods do you need to eat? What foods will drive you crazy if you couldn’t eat it after a couple of days?

Rice with Pigeon Peas (Arroz con Gandules)
Daisy Cooks

Makes 10 to 15 servings, as part of a larger meal

1/2 cup Achiote Oil
1 cup Sofrito
3 tablespoons alcaparrado or coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed olives

3 tablespoons fine sea or kosher salt

1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/2 pounds smoked pork neck bones or smoked turkey wings or one smoked hamhock
One 13-ounce bag frozen pigeon peas OR one 15-ounce can pigeon peas, drained
6 cups long grain rice
Beef Broth, homemade or store-bought and/or water as needed (about 8 cups)
1 banana leaf*, optional

*Note: Banana leaves and/or plantain leaves, are large, pliable, dark green leaves that are used quite a bit in Latin American cooking. Here they lend the rice a subtle flavor. They are available, usually frozen in 1-pound packages, in Latin markets and some specialty stores.

Heat the achiote oil in a heavy 5-quart pot or Dutch oven over high heat until rippling. Stir in the sofrito, alcaparrada or olives, salt, pepper and cumin. Cook until the sofrito stops boiling and starts to sizzle, about 5 minutes.

Add the pork bones and stir until they’re coated with oil, then stir in the rice until everything is mixed together and the rice is coated with oil.

Stir in the pigeon peas and enough broth and/or water to cover the rice by the width of two fingers. Top with the banana leaf, folding it up as necessary to fit over the rice. Bring to a boil and boil without stirring until the level of liquid meets the rice. Take the banana leaf off, give the rice a big, healthy stir and put the leaf back on top. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove the banana leaf, give the rice a big stir and fluff it with a fork. Serve hot.

When I start a cooking adventure, I never know what to expect. Sometimes the road is straight and smooth. Other times, there are bumps, twists, turns, and forks in the road, so that I don’t know which path to take.I had that type of experience when I decided to make the dessert empanadas that I saw on Cooking Diva. The recipes involved empanadas with choice fillings of either guava or pineapple. I’d never tasted that before. I love guava and was anxious to make them for the holiday season. I bought the ingredients and followed the instructions. I made the dough and refrigerated it. When I pulled the dough from the fridge, it became soft again. So soft that I couldn’t roll it, couldn’t do anything. The dough became stickier and sticker, clinging to my hands and fingers and the rolling pin. I put a little more flour on it and the board, hoping that would solve the problem. It didn’t help. After contacting Melissa Cooking Diva about my problem, she told me that this particular dough is delicate and some of her students can’t work it out because their body temperature is too high, causing them to have hot hands. Perhaps that could have been my problem, too. I’d never heard of that before and found it very interesting. Funny in my case, because usually when people shake my hands, especially in the winter time, I’m told that I have cold hands (to which I reply cold hands, warm heart). I put the dough back in the fridge (I didn’t want to throw it away) and Melissa sent me another recipe — one for traditional empanada dough. It could be used for both dessert and meat empanadas. At this point, I’d reached the fork in the road and had to decide which road to take, the left or the right — the meat or the dessert empanada? I decided to make the meat. This time, with the second recipe, I didn’t have a problem with the dough. I made the shell and put the meat filling inside. The meat filling was easy to make and involved potatoes, tomatoes, raisins, green olives, dried oregano, salt, ground black pepperand dried thyme. I didn’t have any raisins or green olives. So, I left them out. My empanadas didn’t taste bad at all except that they came out kind of thick. Next time I’ll make sure to roll the dough even thinner. I plan on perfecting my empanada-making skills. By the way, part of the ingredients for the dough called for vegetable shortening in addition to butter. I omitted the vegetable shortening. I’m not sure what difference it made. Perhaps if you read this, Melissa or anyone else who knows can tell me. Here’s the recipe for Empanadas Chilenas. What happened to the guava empanadas, pineapple mini pies, and the delicate dough that I put back into the fridge? I plan on making them and using the dough very soon. Wish me luck! Paz

The chilled dough Preparing the dough Preparing the beef filling Going into the oven

Ed. Note: The initial recipe calls for using whole wheat flour in addtion to all purpose flour. Melissa CookingDiva says: “You can try to make the dough just using all purpose flour. It is not common to find empanadas made with whole wheat flour, and the flavor changes completetly.” Thanks for all your help, Melissa!

When I make certain Latin recipes like rice and beans, macarroni with chicken, or a simple sauce, part of the ingredients I use include sofrito — the special base used in many Latin recipes. It is also used to flavor other dishes like chicken and sautéed shrimp. You can buy the sofrito from a store that sells Latin food products or you can make your own from scratch. I’ve found that I prefer the homemade version by T.V. Cook Daisy Martinez. I love the smells of the fresh cilantro, sweet peppers, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and ajicito dulces as they are pureed in the food processor. It’s as if the sofrito brings life to the kitchen aromas and meal preparation. It tastes very good, and adds an extra special flavor to the dish. As the sofrito recipe suggests, I store the rest of it in the fridge or freezer to use when needed. Paz

Sofrito

Makes about 4 cups.

If you can’t find ajices dulces or culantro, don’t sweat. Up the amount of cilantro to 1 ½ bunches.

Chop the onion and cubanelle or Italian peppers in the work bowl of a food processor until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and process until smooth. The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also freezes beautifully. Freeze sofrito in ½ cup batches in sealable plastic bags. They come in extremely handy in a pinch. You can even add sofrito straight from the freezer to the pan in any recipe that calls for it in this book.

Pantry Notes: Ajices Dulces, also known as cachucha or ajicitos are tiny sweet peppers with a hint of heat. They range in color from light to medium green and yellow to red and orange. They add freshness and an herby note to the sofrito and anything you cook. Do not mistake them for Scotch bonnet or Habanero chilies (which they look like)—those two pack a wallop when it comes to heat. If you can find ajicitos in your market, add them to sofrito. If not, up the cilantro and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and serrated edges. When it comes to flavor, culantro is like cilantro times ten. It is a nice, not essential addition to sofrito. (See Sources for both the above.)

I saw this recipe demonstrated on Sara Moulton’s cooking show, on the Food Network channel. She had guest chef Juventino (love the name Juventino!) Avila cooking with her, and they prepared dishes mainly from the Dominican Republic. Out of the three recipes prepared on the show, I tried the rice and beans recipe first. I’ve made this recipe twice and both times, my rice and beans have come out GREAT!

The recipe includes black beans, long grained white rice, diced white onion, diced green peppers, garlic, store-bought sofrito, oregano, ground cumin, chicken stock and salt and pepper.

The second time I made the arroz con habichuelas (rice and beans), just before I started to cook, I discovered that I’d forgotten to buy the sofrito, which is an important part of the recipe because it is the base of Dominican cuisine (and a lot of Latino cuisine, in general). Sofrito consists of vegetables, spices and herbs that are sautéed together and cause the flavors to come out even more.

Luckily, I had the recipe for fresh sofrito from Latina T.V. Chef Daisy Martinez. I had most of the ingredients on hand (and what I didn’t have, I improvised). So, I ended up making my own sofrito from scratch. I’m telling you, I impressed myself.

Now that I’ve tasted the difference between the store-bought and freshly made sofrito, I find that I prefer the fresh one to use in my cooking; and now that I know how to make it, I don’t mind going the extra step to make it.

Paz

Rice and beans: Moros y Cristianos (Arroz con Habichuelas)

1 1/2 cups Goya dried black beans (or canned pre-cooked) 3 cups long-grain white rice 2 1/2 cups white onion, diced 2 1/2 cups green peppers, very small dice 1/4 cup olive oil, for sauteing 4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped 1/2 cup sofrito 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 bay leaf 4 1/2 cups chicken stock Salt and pepper Cover the dry beans with water in a large pot. Do not salt the water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook until tender, about 1 hour.

Rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear.

Use a large, 8-quart covered stockpot. Saute the onion and green pepper in the olive oil until tender. Add the garlic and sofrito and saute another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, black beans, oregano, cumin and bay leaf. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring gently.

Add the chicken stock and the rinsed rice. Season with plenty of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until rice is fully cooked.

Sofrito

Makes about 4 cups.

If you can’t find ajices dulces or culantro, don’t sweat. Up the amount of cilantro to 1 ½ bunches.

Chop the onion and cubanelle or Italian peppers in the work bowl of a food processor until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and process until smooth. The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also freezes beautifully. Freeze sofrito in ½ cup batches in sealable plastic bags. They come in extremely handy in a pinch. You can even add sofrito straight from the freezer to the pan in any recipe that calls for it in this book. Pantry Notes: Ajices Dulces, also known as cachucha or ajicitos are tiny sweet peppers with a hint of heat. They range in color from light to medium green and yellow to red and orange. They add freshness and an herby note to the sofrito and anything you cook. Do not mistake them for Scotch bonnet or Habanero chilies (which they look like)—those two pack a wallop when it comes to heat. If you can find ajicitos in your market, add them to sofrito. If not, up the cilantro and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and serrated edges. When it comes to flavor, culantro is like cilantro times ten. It is a nice, not essential addition to sofrito. (See Sources for both the above.)

Diced onions and green pepper in pan

Beans and sofrito added to the pan

Rice added to the pan