Arroz con Whatever

Hey kiddos, what's been up? I haven't posted here in forever. I've mainly been sticking to my wedding planning blog nowadays (CLICKY). Anyway, someone asked for a Puerto Rican rice recipe. I'll post it here, too:

Here's what I do for PR rice. I'll use gandules in this recipe.

In a caldero, heat up about a tbsp or so of corn oil, just enough to slightly coat the bottom. Dice up some salt pork, just a little (about an 1/8 to a 1/4 of a whole square of salt pork you get at the store), and fry it. While that is cooking, take an empty clean can of gandules and fill it with rice almost all the way (I know, it's ghetto, but that's how my mama taught me, lol). Poor it in a bowl and rinse it to get out any rocks, black grains, and starch.

After the tocino is browned, turn the heat down (or even off so you don't burn yourself), add a tbsp of sofrito (I buy Goya, the frozen stuff with the blue label), a tbsp of Goya tomato sauce, a little bit of green pepper (I buy a couple, cut them in strips, freeze them, then add like two strips whenever I need them), half a Knorr chicken bouillion cube, and stir. Turn up the heat to medium after you add everything. Add a half can of gandules (make sure you rinse these, or they will taste too gandule-ey), and stir everything together. Now add your rice. Stir again. Add a half a sleeve of Goya Sazon and some Goya Adobo (I do this at the end because I find it holds more color this way). Stir it all up, turn the heat up to medium high. Add your water. You want to add just enough so the rice is fully covered and your gandules are barely starting to float. Not too much-- remember, you're not making soup. Oh and leave this uncovered.

As the water starts reducing, give it a last stir. The rice looks like it's starting to absorb. There's more rice than water now. It's ready. Turn the heat all the way down, and cover the pot. Give it 15-20 minutes. Check on it if you think you have to (stir it if you want, periodically). At the end, your rice should look good.

This is the recipe I use that my mom gave to me before she died. I haven't screwed it up too much. It tastes good, and I get lots of compliments. You can make it with beans, pork, chicken, or plain. Tip: If you make it with chicken, instead of using tap water in your rice, use the same water you used for the chicken. More flavor/less cook time.

Hope this works for you! :)