Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month 2022 at Royal Park Hotel

Recipe

Cooking time: 1 hour

1 c. white rice
3 Yukon gold potatoes
1 small green pepper, med. diced
1/2 small red onion, med. diced
1 tomato, medium diced
2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb. ground beef
Salt
Pepper
3/4 c. breadcrumbs
Handful of cilantro
Canola oil

First, get 1 cup of rice with 2 cups of water heating on the stove. Also, put three whole potatoes on to boil for about 10 minutes. Once cool enough to touch, you will slice them like this (notice the insides are still raw). You are going to finish cooking them in a frying pan. Massage salt and pepper into the ground beef with your hands. Then you divide the ground beef into balls the size of limes. Sprinkle ground pepper onto a pile of breadcrumbs and then roll the beef in the breadcrumbs to give it a light coating. Coat each side the meat with breadcrumbs and roll flat with a rolling pin on top of the breadcrumbs, flipping the meat over whenever it starts to stick. The final thickness should be like a crepe. Roll each meatball out into a sheet and stack the rolled meat sheets on a plate. Pan sear each on medium high, flipping them when you could see raw pink start to turn brown. Stack each finished meat sheet on a plate, and then fry eggs individually and brown the potato rounds. Top the dish with the salad of tomato, red onion, and green pepper. Bright, fresh, and crunchy, it breaks up the richness of the meat, eggs and potatoes. The dressing is equal parts vinegar and oil, plus generous salt. To put the plate together, put potatoes at the bottom, then rice, the beef, egg and then the salad.

Recipe: Arroz con Gandules y Puerco
(Puerto Rican Pigeon Pea & Pork)

1 1/2 lb pork loin, cut in bite size pieces, be sure to buy pork loin
1/2 lg sweet onion such as Vidalia diced
1/2 lg sweet bell pepper diced
4 clove fresh garlic smashed or put through a garlic press
1 c canola oil or lard
1/4 c good white table wine, not cooking wine
1 can small can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 c diced culantro or cilantro (culantro is a long wide leaf with a hearty aroma like cilantro
1/2 tsp oregano, dried
1 Tbsp achiote/annato seeds or ground annato powder
1 Tbsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 c long grain white rice or jasmin rice
2 1/2 c chicken broth if available or water
1 sm packet goya sazon seasonig with culantro and achiote
1 can pigeon peas strained of all liquid
1/2 tsp garlic powder to season pork meat

Recipe: Puerto Rican Empanadas

1/2 lbs Ground beef
1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tbsp Sofrito
1 Packet Sazon w coriander and annatto
1/4 Cup Goya tomato sauce
1 Tsp Minced garlic
1/2 Diced onion
6 Stuffed pimento olives diced
1/8 Tsp Black pepper
1/2 Tsp Dried oregano
1/2 Cup Mexican blend cheese
1 Package Goya discos ; Frozen turnover dough
1 Cup Corn oil / Peanut oil ; For frying
1 Egg ; Sealing dough

In a skillet, heat oil on medium heat. Stir in ground meat and cook just until sizzling and half-browned. Stir in the remaining ingredients, (except cheese, egg, discos and frying oil). Lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until mixture thickens. With your thawed Goya discos, spoon about 1 tbsp. of the mixture into the middle with a sprinkle of cheese, fold-over and moisten edges with the egg and seal with a fork. Heat 2 1/2 inches of oil in a deep saucepan on medium heat. Cook empanadas in batches, turning until lightly browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels and enjoy one of my favorite foods on earth!