Mofongo

by Cecilia Samartin

  Rice and Pigeon Peas/ Arroz y Gandulas

  Lola was far too busy frying plantains to take much notice of her grandchildren’s ambiguous reaction to the main course. The rice and pigeon peas were ready and all she needed to do was boil the root vegetables that Sebastian had already prepped for her. She wore a new apron, and had set the table in a more elaborate manner than usual with napkin rings and water glasses as well as wine glasses. Sebastian thought the table looked quite beautiful, with its repeating patterns of glass, pottery and silver, and it filled him with happy anticipation just gazing at it.

  Gloria was helping Lola in the kitchen somewhat awkwardly, although she looked very nice in the new dress she’d purchased on her recent shopping trip with Jennifer and Gabi. She was wearing a touch of lipstick too. Sebastian thought that his mother had never looked so pretty and he was sorry that his father wasn’t there to witness it. Even if she wasn’t as gorgeous and free spirited as she appeared in those photographs, on this day there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that it was her. Maybe she hadn’t completely disappeared after all.

  “Nena, what are you doing?” Lola asked with hands on hips.

  Gloria immediately dropped her spoon. “Stirring the rice, what does it look like I’m doing?”

  Lola shook her head, dismayed as always by her daughter’s lack of skill in the kitchen. “You don’t stir the rice. Who in the world ever heard of stirring the rice?” Lola and Sebastian traded looks as though to say, ‘can you believe such culinary ignorance?’

  1 can gandules (green pigeon peas) or 1 14 ounce bag frozen

  ¼ cup sliced chorizo (red Spanish sausage)

  ¼ cup diced smoked ham

  ¾ cup Recaito

  2 tbsp annatto oil

  2 cups tomato sauce

  2 cups short-grain rice

  4 ½ cups water

  Salt and pepper to taste

  In a large pot, heat oil on medium high heat. Add the chorizo and smoked ham and fry until fragrant. Add the recaito, pigeon peas and tomato sauce. Mix well and cook for about five minutes. Add rice, water and cover. Turn heat to medium low and cook until the water is entirely absorbed. Add salt and pepper to taste, and lower heat to simmer. Cook covered for another 30 minutes, keeping an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. Make sure to include the crusty layer on the bottom of the pan when serving (pegao).

  * Recaito is a variation of sofrito with a cilantro base. It can be made my following the the traditional sofrito recipe and adding chopped cilantro.

  Serves:6

  Creole Shrimp

  (Camarones Enchilados)

  Gloria and Jennifer listened as Sebastian told them everything that had happened at Lola’shouse. The Mofongo she sent home with him was on the kitchen table, and although it had been meticulously wrapped in several layers of cellophane the tangy sweet aroma of garlic and plantains was thick in the air. Sebastian supervised the reheating of the Camarones enchilados. He removed the cooked shrimp so that they wouldn’t get rubbery and turned up the heat on the tomato sauce that was only slightly spicy, but rich with the ripe flavor of vine grown tomatoes, whole cloves of garlic and fresh herbs. Only after the sauce had been heated through did he return the shrimp to the pan.

  Gloria, who was still in her dressing gown, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Sebastian, not quite believing everything she heard. “So Susan helped make the Mofongo? She actually got her hands dirty?”

  “And she ate some too,” Sebastian added. “I think she liked it.”

  Jennifer began to unwrap the package of food on the table. “I can’t believe Cindy never heard about Otto and Rubina. On second thought,” she said. “I do believe it. It makes perfect sense.”

  “Cindy begged Lola to tell her about them,” Sebastian said. “So Lola told her the story while we ate.”

  2 pounds of medium size shrimp, cleaned and shelled

  ½ cup dry white wine

  ½ cup olive oil

  1 bay leaf

  1/2 onion (ground)

  2 teaspoonful vinegar

  2 garlic cloves(ground)

  1-1/2 teaspoonful salt

  1/2 green bell pepper (ground)

  1 teaspoonful ground black pepper

  ½ cup parsley finely chopped (1 bunch) sauce

  1 teaspoonful Worcestershire

  6 ounces tomato sauce

  1/2 teaspoonful chili hot sauce

  1/2 can pimento (about 5 to 7 ounces)

  1/4 cup catsup

  In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the shelled shrimp until just pink and then immediately remove the pan to avoid overcooking. In the same pan add the sofrito ingredients (onion, garlic and bell pepper) and saute for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on medium heat for approximately 30 minutes or until sauce thickens and then remove from heat and puree with a hand held blender or in a regular blender. Return the mixture to the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the shrimp and cover. Allow the shrimp and sauce to rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.

  Servings: 6

  Carne Guisada con Papas/ Beef Stew with potatoes

  Sebastian’s premonition turned out to be correct. On most days, Lola’s table was overflowing with family and friends who would drop by unannounced and they usually settled in for a good long visit once they got a whiff of what was cooking on the stove. Charlie Jones had become a permanent fixture, but several other neighbors had made an appearance as well. Mrs. Abbot, the oldest resident of Bungalow Haven, had been there as had her daughter Belinda who looked almost as old as her mother. Cindy came by two or three times a week, and Jennifer tried to make it as often as she could, although Gloria and Susan never deigned to be present at the same time. They managed to avoid one another on weekdays and on Sundays their respective families would alternate and gather for a meal that could last all afternoon and well into the evening.

  At these times Lola was usually behind the kitchen counter, contributing to the conversation as best she could while she stirred and chopped, sprinkled and blended and stirred some more. Sebastian enjoyed working alongside her, and she relied on him to measure out the seasonings, or to prep the vegetables needed for the inexorable sofrito that he was able to prepare in his sleep. Even after a hot shower, he could still smell the garlic and onions on his finger tips, something he didn’t find in the least bit unpleasant…

  2 lbs stew meat or sirloin, cubed

  2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed

  1 bay leaf

  1 onion, finely chopped

  1 bell pepper, finely chopped

  1 tsp pepper

  1 tsp salt

  1 tsp oregano

  2 garlic cloves, minced

  1 can tomato sauce

  1 cup water

  1 cup dry red wine

  In a large pot or Dutch oven, sauté beef in oil over medium high heat until browned. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf, oregano, onion, garlic and bell pepper and stir together until all of the ingredients are well combined. When onions are lightly brown, add tomato sauce, wine and water. Cook until meat is tender (approximately two hours), then add the potatoes cut in cubes, and continue cooking until the potatoes are done. If the sauce isn’t thick enough, remove the meat and potatoes, and turn up the heat to medium high until sauce is boiling gently. Reduce mixture until it attains the desired consistency. If mixture is too thick, add water or wine as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste.

  Serves: 6 - 8

  Funche

  (Puerto Rican Polenta)

  Sebastian had blended the ingredients together himself and took great pleasure in stirring in a bit of cream once the corn meal had started to thicken. Lola told him that while this wasn’t the traditional preparation, it gave the dish a rich and satisfying finish. Sebastian decided that the Funche would be even more delicious with a few additional cloves of garlic. He minced these very finely, working the big kitchen knife as expertly as any adult, and folded
it in with the rest of the ingredients. Only then was it ready to bake.

  Lola took the piping hot dish out of the oven a few minutes after Gloria had arrived, and placed it on a trivet at the center of the table. The top had toasted to a golden brown, and the steam was fragrant with the scent of savory sofrito and juicy morsels of pork.

  Sebastian had decided not to tell Lola what had happened because he didn’t want to think about the surgery anymore. He just wanted life to get back to normal. He wanted to cook with his grandmother, and spend the weekends with his father. He wanted to do his homework, clean the whiteboard and play footsie tetherball. He wanted to go to sleep in his own room, in his own bed with his mother and sister under the same roof. It would be better if his father was there too, but he was beginning to understanding that in life things were rarely exactly as one wished them to be.

  This dish can be eaten for breakfast, (sweetened with milk and sugar) or as a savory main dish with the addition of meat, and seasonings such as sofrito. Leftovers are easily incorporated into this dish to create a satisfying and delicious meal.

  1 ½ cup corn meal

  ¾ tablespoon salt

  1 ½ cup milk

  3 tablespoons butter

  1 ½ cup water

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pan, bring milk, water, salt and butter to a boil. Remove from heat and gradually add cornmeal, stirring continually. Return to heat and cook over medium low heat until mixture thickens. Stir in sofrito, seasoning and desired meat. Transfer to a casserole dish and bake approximately 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until golden brown.

  Servings: 4

  Mofongo

  Lola sauntered back to the counter where she had her ingredients set out. She picked up the mortar and held it up for everyone to see. We have the Taino people to thank for the pilon, a clever invention which no Criollo kitchen is without. She pointed to the garlic and olive oil next. “A gift from our Spanish forefathers.” And lastly she took up the strange looking banana she’d been slicing. “And our African ancestors taught us how to cook with plantains, and how to fry our food instead of boiling all the flavor out it as the Europeans were doing back then. When you put it all together, you have Mofongo – a culinary assimilation, an irresistible alchemy of flavors and culture that not even the power of the Spanish Crown could overcome. And it’s still alive and well today. It is Criollo, and when I eat Mofongo, the African, Taino and European blood in my veins rejoices.”…

  For this dish it is very important to find green plantains. Ripe or semi ripe plantains will ruin your dish.

  Three large green plantains

  ½ pound bacon, crisply fried and chopped

  5 cloves garlic

  Salt to taste

  ¼ cup olive oil

  Lard or vegetable oil for frying.

  Peel and cut plantains into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces and soak in salted water for 5-10 minutes. Heat oil until it is very hot, but not smoking. Fry a few pieces at a time (no more than 4) at medium heat for about 10 or 15 minutes. Plantains should be cooked through, but not crispy or browned. While the plantains are frying, pound the bacon and raw garlic in a pilon (mortar). Remove from mortar and set aside. Depending on the size of your mortar, add two to three pieces of fried plantain to the mortar and pound until it starts to lose its shape. Add the garlic and bacon just prepared a little at a time, and continue pounding until the ingredients are blended. Dribble with olive oil as needed during this process to keep the Mofongo from getting too dry. Spoon and form into two inch balls. Serve with shrimp, chicken or roasted pork.

  * It is also possible to use a food processor instead of the pilon, but you must be careful that the mixture doesn’t get too pasty or liquefy completely. It is best to pulse in small batches, about a cup, so that you can control the consistency which should be coarse and moist.

  Basic Arroz Sasonado/ Seasoned Rice

  But I wasn’t discouraged. While they flirted, I stood by quietly, watching and waiting. I studied his behavior, what made him laugh and frown, who his friends were, and who he avoided. Before too long, I knew most of his likes and dislikes, and soon learned that his favorite dish since he was a little boy was arroz sasonado, and that he didn’t think anybody could make it better than his mother.

  I didn’t waste any time, and immediately got to work on perfecting my recipe. For weeks I experimented with a variety of different vegetables and meats, and a multitude of seasonings to balance the dish. When I was finished, there wasn’t one person who didn’t say it was the best arroz sasondo they’d ever tasted, and I knew in my heart that if Ramiro tasted it, then maybe I’d have a chance with him. Even so, I couldn’t simply walk up to him with a plate of rice and force him to eat it. I’d have to wait for the right opportunity, and if we were meant to be together, I knew that it would arise. I waited for over a year, and was beginning to think that perhaps it wasn’t meant to be when, one day, the perfect opportunity arose.

  2 cups long grain rice

  1 can of Italian stewed tomatoes

  4 cups water

  ½ cup of tomato sauce or achiote

  Chopped bacon or tocino(back fat)

  1 cup of cooked chicken or pork

  ½ cup recaito

  Salt and pepper to taste

  In a large heavy pot fry bacon or tocino until crispy. Remove the cooked meat and save. In the bacon fat fry the recaito ingredients until tender – about 5 minutes or so. Add the bacon back into the pot. Add the cooked chicken or pork and any vegetables you desire to include as well. Add the rice and water (water line should be about 1 ½ inches above the rice). Let it boil on high until the water evaporates. Now stir the rice only once, and then cover, turn down heat and simmer for about 35 minutes.

  * The rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot is called pegao. It is the crispiest tastiest part of the dish, and a favorite of all true Puerto Ricans, but it is difficult to prepare and truly an art.

  In addition to the ingredients indicated above, you may add sausages, black beans or other leftovers such as shrimp. The beauty of this dish is that a variety of vegetables and meats can be incorporated to create something unique and delicious every time.

  Serves: 6

  Empanada/ Meat pie

  When Sebastian entered the house he found Lola in the kitchen as expected, and from the look of things she’d been working hard. The counter was overflowing with food. There was a large bowl of rice and beans, and chicken soup and sliced sausages and cheese. And there was another dish he’d never seen before. It was a flat square shaped pie, baked to a golden brown perfection. Lola had already cut out a piece and Sebastian could see that this was filled with egg, peppers and onions and meat that looked like chicken or fish.

  “Just in time,” Lola said when she saw him. “Where’s Keith?”

  “He’s outside, but he won’t come in,” Sebastian replied. “I already told him it was okay, but he won’t go past the mail box. I think it’s hopeless,” he added, trying to get a better look at the pie.

  “We’ll see about that,” Lola said, wiping her hands on her apron.

  Filling:

  4 tbsp olive oil

  1-1/2 pounds of boneless chicken cut in cubes

  2 large onions finely chopped

  2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

  4 ½ ounces chorizo, diced

  2 tbsp tomato paste

  Salt and pepper

  1 tsp sweet paprika

  Heat olive oil in large skillet. Saute the chicken in the oil until it is cooked through and then remove from the skillet and cover. In the same skillet sauté the onions and garlic in the oil until fragrant. Add the diced chorizo and cook for about 1-2 mintues. Return the chicken to the skillet, and then add tomato paste and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Allow the mixture to cool before spooning onto the dough.

  Dough

  You may use 2 frozen bread loafs and follow instructions for defrosting, or use the following recipe to make your own dough:
/>   4 ½ cups flour

  Salt

  1 tbsp white wine

  Pinch of sugar

  1 tsp olive oil

  Flour for rolling out

  1 tbsp clarified butter

  Butter for greasing

  Egg yolk for glazing

  Sift the flour into a wide bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the white wine, olive oil, clarified butter, salt, sugar, and a few tablespoons of lukewarm water. Knead all the ingredients into a flexible dough. Leave the dough to rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, then divide it into two. Roll out one half on a floured work surface and use it to line a buttered pan (approx. 9 x 14 inches), making sure that the dough overlaps at the upper edge. Add the filling. Roll out the remaining dough and lay it on top of the filling. Press together the edges of the dough. Brush with egg yolk and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

  Serves: 6

  Bizcocho de Ron

  Rum Cake

  For dessert, she made Bizcocho de Ron, rum cake, a delicious cake flavored with honey and rum. She said that on the island this had always been her oldest brother’s favorite dessert, and that she made it for him whenever he was annoyed with her, which was often.

  From time to time, Keith looked up from his plate as she talked, his eyes filled with gratitude. When he was full and couldn’t eat another bite, he sat up straight and said, “I have to go home now.”