Quick Simple & Delicious Puerto Rican Foods

 Starting in Januray, 2022, recipes can be found in my website: www.ggcocina.com.  Make sure to go to the RECIPE section for step by step recipes.  Have questions or concerns? Go to the Contact me page. HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM GGCOCINA

Escabeche Sauce Ingredients 1 cup olive oil 1 large yellow onion 1/4 cup white vinegar 4 garlic cloves, sliced 2 teaspoons  peppercorns 6 bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt Procedure 1. In a skillet, heat the oil in medium heat. 2.  Add the onions and the garlic and lower the heat. Cook for 2 minutes. 3. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to stir for another 10 minutes. 4. When done, take the escabeche off the heat and set aside to cool. 5. When cool pour it over the boiled green bananas.                                                                                        For the Green Bananas Ingredients 8 cups water 1 Tablespoon salt 1/2 cup milk 6-8 Green Bananas Procedure 1. Boil the water with the salt and milk.  2. Cut the ends of the green banan...

                                                                          Pernil is a delicious slow cooked piece of pork shoulder or pork butt. It is usually eaten during the holidays. Puerto Ricans make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve or Christmas  dinners but it is also eaten for celebrations. When I was growing up, my mother made it for Christmas Eve. I make it randomly.  If I have time I make it during the day but if I'm taking it as a dish somewhere, I make it over night in the oven.  Two years ago I was making it for a luncheon at the school where I worked and my oven broke down. I panicked! I didn't know what to do. I took out my two slow cookers and put one pernil in each at about 8:00p.m.  At 5:00 a.m. my pork was completely cooked and totally delicious. (No crackling s...

    Ingredients  2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 medium onion chopped into small pieces 1/2 red pepper  chopped into small pieces 6 garlic cloves minced 1/4 c sofrito 1  pound ground meat (at least 90% lean) 3/4 cup tomato sauce 2 tablespoons cilantro 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 1 teaspoon oregano - OPTIONAL Procedure 1. Heat the oil in a pan.  Add the onion and allow to cook for about two minutes.   2. Then add the red pepper and garlic and cook for another minute.   Add the cilantro and sofrito and mix well.   3. When it boils, add the ground beef and start breaking it apart with a meat chopper.  4. In 2 to 3 minutes time add tomato sauce and salt and oregano. Continue to stir until all the meat is chopped.  5. Lower the heat.   Continue to cook on  low heat for 15-20 minutes. 6. When done, taste it and add additional salt if needed.                       ...

Ingredients for Picadillo  (Meat) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 medium onion chopped into small pieces 1/2 red pepper  chopped into small pieces 6 garlic cloves minced 1/4 c sofrito 1  pound ground meat (at least 90% lean) 3/4 cup tomato sauce 2 tablespoons cilantro 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 1 teaspoon oregano - OPTIONAL Procedure 1. Heat the oil in a pan.  Add the onion and allow to cook for about two minutes.   2. Then add the red pepper and garlic and cook for another minute.   Add the cilantro and sofrito and mix well.   3. When it boils, add the ground beef and start breaking it apart with a meat chopper.  4. In 2 to 3 minutes time add tomato sauce and salt and oregano. Continue to stir until all the meat is chopped.  5. Lower the heat.   Continue to cook on  low heat for 15-20 minutes. 6. When done, taste it and add additional salt if needed.                     ...

 Ingredients: 6 thick porkchops center cut with bone Adobo to taste 4 garlic cloves minced 1/4 c olive oil 1/2 c sofrito 8 oz. tomato sauce 1/4 c water 1 1/2 lb. frozen mixed vegetables Procedure: * Wash and season porkchops with adobo and garlic . * In a large skillet, heat the olive oil.  When hot, brown the pork chops on both sides, then remove the porkchops from the skillet and set aside. (Remember you are going to brown the porkchops, NOT cook them). * In the same skillet add the sofrito and stir,  add the tomato sauce and the water  Let boil for about 2 minutes. Then add the vegetables. *  When the vegetables are tender put the porkchops back into the skillet.  Lower the heat and let them cook for 15 to 20 minutes.   NOTE: If you are using a thermometer, you will know that the porkchops are done when they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. ------------------------------------------- Brown the pork chops In the same skillet as the ...

 Ingredients: Green Plantains (About one per person) Water Salt to taste Oil for fying Procedure: * Put the plantains under hot water in order to make them easy to peel. (Optional) * Peel and cut the plantains into 1/2 inch diagonal slices. * Once peeled, place the plantain slices in a bowl and cover with salt water for at least 20 minutes. * Heat up the oil.  Fry the plantains until they are a light golden brown.  Take out of the oil. * Flatten the plantain by smashing them with a can or a 'tostonera'. * Dry the plantain's  oil with paper towel, then refry them in the same oil for another 3 to 4 minutes or until they are golden brown. * Add more salt if desired.

Ingredients 1 lb. of dry pink beans OR 2 cans of pink beans (washed well) *For the dry beans, soak overnight in water OR for at least 4 hours.  Be sure to cover the beans.  3 tbsp vegetable oil Salchichón (Spanish sausage) or turkey ham cut into one inch cubes  ½ c  sofrito (not tomato based) 2 teaspoons alcaparrado 2oz achiote (or 1 packet sazon) OPTIONAL 4 oz. can tomato sauce 1 tbsp salt (or to taste)  4 tbsp chopped cilantro (stem and leaf) 1 c pumpkin cut into one inch cubes Procedure * Once soaked OR washed, boil beans in the same water, over medium heat flame until they are soft (or to your liking). * In a separate skillet add oil. When the oil is hot, fry the sausage.  Make sure it is brown on both sides.   * In the skillet with the sausage, add the sofrito, alcaparado, achiote (sazon), tomato sauce and salt.  When it boils, add 2 tbsp of chopped cilantro.  Allow to boil in low heat for another 2-3 minutes. *  Re...

  Whenever I make 'arepas'  I think about my father.  He would get up early on a Sunday morning and start making his famous 'arepas'. I can remember seeing him in the kitchen kneading the dough and shaping his dumplings. "Gloria," he would scream out to my mother. "Make me some beans for the dumplings." We'd get up with the smell of these quick simple and delicious dumplings. We would put butter on them and eat them for breakfast. Arepas / Dumplings Ingredients: 4c All purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt  1/4 tsp of sugar 1/2c of butter (softened at room temperature) About 3/4c warm water Cooking oil for frying Procedure: * In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and sugar and mix.   * Add  the softened butter into the dry mixture. Use your hands to combine the butter with the dry mixture until it feels sandy. * In a seperate bowl, add the salt to the warm water and mix it well. * Slowly add the water to the dough mix and knead it ...

  I ngredients: 4 tbsp kosher salt      4 tbsp garlic powder     2 tbsp onion powder          1 tbsp ground cumin                 1 tsp pepper (black or white)                                                          ¾ tsp  oregano                                Procedure: Mix all the above ingredients together.  Use this dry rub to season your chicken and meats. Keep in a small jar in a dry place.  Note:   You can add more or less oregano. It depends on your taste. --------------------------------------- I ngredientes:                                 ...

Hello!  So today I made my son guayaba (guava with fried cheese).  How can you fry cheese, you say?  Well I used to think that was crazy until I found out that there is a special cheese that you can fry. It is made by Tropical. The label says 'A fresh white cheese for frying.'  I found that in the supermarket and VOILA!!!  Below you will find images of what you will need for this quick simple and delicious appetizer.   Ingredients: Tropical Queso de freir 12oz. guava paste (Any brand) 1/4c water  Procedure : * Cut up the guava paste into small pieces. * In a small sauce pan add the water and the guava squares.  Stir with a wooden spoon until all the guava is dissolved. * Cut cheese into one inch squares, then cut them diagonally. * In a frying pan (or any fryer that you have), fry the cheese triangles until golden brown. *Serve the fried cheese hot to dip in the guava. Mmmmmmmmm. DELICIOSO! Ingredients   or    and   ...

Good Day Everyone. Yesterday I made 'asopao de camarones' (Shrimp Soup with rice). I was happy to know that some of my facebook friends asked for the recipe.  I even had one friend call me for the recipe, so here it is. Ingredients: 1/2 c rice 2 cups of water for rice 3 tbsp. Olive Oil 2 lbs. large or jumbo raw shrimp, washed 1/2 onion (sweet or white), chopped small 1 cubanelle pepper, chopped small  1 red bell pepper, chopped small 6 garlic cloves (minced) 1/2 c sofrito 10 c of water 2 tbsp Kosher salt 4 oz. Goya tomato sauce 8-10 leaves of Culantro (recao), chopped small 4 tbsp Cilantro, chopped small Procedure: *  In a small bowl, put the 2 cups of water and add rice. Set aside for approximately 20-30 minutes. (Do not cook.) *  In a soup pot, add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp. Cook shrimp on both sides for 2 to 3 minutes per side.  Then take the shrimp out of the pot and set aside. * In the same pot, add the chopped onions.  Cook for a...

 Hello.  My name is Grisselle Gonzalez.  My friends in High School used to call me GG.  They thought my name was difficult to pronounce so theyt wanted something short and sweet. Hense GG was born (as that stands for my initails). When I finished High School I had this great idea that I would become a lawyer, so I went to John Jay College of Criminal Justice for three and a half years, got pregnant and... there went my college days.  I didn't graduate that year.  I stayed home and took care of my son. When my son was three years old someone mentioned that John Jay College  had a daycare center inside the university. Voila!! I went back to school and finished my year off with my son. That was May 1985.  At graduation one of my College friends asked me to accompany her to the Board of Education. She was going to fill out an application to work as a teacher for NYC.  We were in a hiring hall and one of the employees there asked me fill out an ap...