Oswald Rivera

Author, Warrior, and Teacher

Author: Oswald Rivera (page 1 of 79)

BORSCHT

March 3, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Borscht is a soup, usually made with beets. Its origin is Central and Eastern Europe. It is especially popular in Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Rumania, Latvia and Ukraine. I came across it when my dearest and oldest friend, Paul Goldstein, introduced me to it back in the 1970s. And I’ve been a fan of this dish ever since. The only liberty I’ve taken with the recipe is that I’ve added garlic and oregano for seasoning.  Otherwise, it’s the Goldstein family recipe.

To me, borscht is a winter soup, though I reckon you can have it all year round, if desired. It is hearty, delicious, and goes great with a loaf of rye or pumpernickel bread. Let me add, you don’t have to be Jewish to love this dish. To me, this gorgeous soup transcends nationalities.

BORSCHT

Ingredients:

1 package (24-oz.) baby beets or 5-6 large ones
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 (8-oz.) package mushrooms or 8-10 fresh ones, sliced
4-5 medium potatoes, diced (do not peel)
1 can (29-oz.) diced tomatoes or 6-8 fresh tomatoes
3 quarts chicken broth (beef broth is okay, if preferred)
2 bay leaves
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
4 carrots, peeled and diced
4-5 medium potatoes, diced (do not peel)
Sour cream

Instructions:

  1. Wash, scrub and remove the tops of the beets. Place in a saucepan, cover with water and boil about 30 minutes or until the beets are soft.
  2.  Remove from heat, rinse with cold water and let cool.
  3.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over moderate heat in a kettle or large soup pan (at least 6 quarts). Add onions, garlic and mushrooms, and sauté until onion is transparent
  4.  Remove the skins from the beets and cut julienne style like French fries. Add beets, tomatoes, broth, bay leaves, salt, pepper, oregano to the onion/mushroom mix.
  5.  Bring to a boil, add carrots and potatoes, cover, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours. Serve in soup plates with a dollop of sour cream.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

 

 

RIGATONI WITH EGGPLANT (Rigatoni con Berenjena)

February 28, 2025 / / 0 Comments

 

I’ve been on an eggplant kick lately. We acquired three large eggplants and what do we do with them? So I had to make up recipes on the spot to use this succulent vegetable. One of these efforts was the recipe given today: Rigatoni with Eggplant. Also, this dish goes good with any pasta, not just rigatoni. Since we had rigatoni on hand that’s we used. It can also pair well with penne or ziti or elbow macaroni, you get the idea. Whatever is in your cupboard will work. Even with Japanese Ramen noodles. This is a recipe for all pasta seasons.

Note that eggplant is one of those unique vegetables. If you purchased eggplant and it’s young and fresh, you could cook it right away. However, if it’s been in the cupboard or the fridge for a day or so, or longer, then it’s best to sprinkle it with salt and let it stand 30 minutes. This will remove any excess moisture; help prevent the eggplant from becoming soggy and reduces bitterness. Just remember to rinse it before cooking.

Lastly, this recipe calls for crumpled cheese to be included with the pasta and eggplant. You can used whatever cheese you have available. We did it with a combination of cheddar and mozzarella. But even American cheese will work. I know, some of my high-class friends would cringe at that suggestion. Again, go with your taste buds.

RIGATONI WITH EGGPLANT

Ingredients:

1 pound package rigatoni or pasta of choice
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 medium green pepper, washed and diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
1 medium tomato, washed and chopped
½ cup cheese of your choice (see above).

Instructions:

  1. Cook rigatoni according to package directions.
  2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large pot, frypan or skillet over moderate heat. Add eggplant cubes and green pepper and stir-fry until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
  3. Season with salt, pepper and oregano
  4. Add cooked rigatoni, tomato and cheese. Stir to mix and serve immediately.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

 

 

SIMPLE BAKED SALMON

February 27, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This is the easiest salmon recipe I know. Just simply baked with typical Nuyorican seasoning. No fuss, no bother. You can pair it with rice, any other favorite grain, or pasta. It renders a savory dish enjoyed by all—even finicky kids who don’t like fish.

SIMPLE BAKD SALMON

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets, about 6-8 ounces each
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
1 lemon, thinly sliced and seeded
1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
  2.  Place fillets skin side down on a greased baking dish (we prefer cast iron).
  3.  Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano.
  4.  Layer with onion and lemon slices. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
    Yield: 4 servings.

BAKED EGGPLANT WITH TOMATO AND CHEESE

February 25, 2025 / / 0 Comments

 

This is a simple recipe where slices of eggplant are baked in an oven then topped with tomato and cheese. The cheese used is up to you. That’s the beaty of this recipe, you can experiment. Like this time, we used a combination of mozzarella and cheddar; but any good quality cheese will do. With a hearty loaf of bread and some good red wine (or white, if preferred) it can’t be beat. The recipe also goes well a side of rice or pasta, if that’s your choice.

 Ingredients:

 I large eggplant, peeled and cut into ¾-inch slices
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Salt and ground black pepper to tasted
2 medium tomatoes, washed and cut into ¼-inch slices
1 cup crumble cheese of your choice

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Brush eggplant slices on both sides with ¼ cup olive oil. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, whisked together the vinegar, ½ cup olive oil, mint, garlic and cumin. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Place eggplant slices in a greased baking dish, drizzle generously with the dressing and bake until tender, 25-30 minutes.
  5. Top each with a slice of tomato and cheese. Place back in the oven and grill until cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

 

 

EASY EGGPLANT PARMESAN

February 21, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This is our way of making eggplant parmesan. This is the Nuyorican version. It’s easy enough to prepare. Just salt the eggplant slices, dredge in beaten eggs and bread crumbs. Fry in olive oil, place in a baking pan, spread with seasoned sauce and bake. That’s it. It will leave your crowd yearning for seconds and thirds. It makes for a great brunch or dinner. Especially when served over pasta—like we did it this time with radiatorI, the small, squat pasta shapes that are said to resemble radiators.

EASY EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant peeled and cut into ¼-inch slices.
Salt
2 eggs, beaten
1½ cups dry bread crumbs
¼  cup olive oil
3 cups marinara or spaghetti sauce seasoned with black pepper to taste and ½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ pound shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

  1. Arrange a layer of eggplant slices in a colander. Sprinkle generously with salt. Continue layering and salting all eggplant slices. Let stand 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Dip each eggplant slice in beaten egg, and dredge with breadcrumbs.
  4. Heat oil in a heavy frypan or skillet. Over medium heat fry eggplant in hot oil until golden (about 2 minutes per side). Drain on absorbent paper towels,
  5. Arrange half the eggplant slices in an oiled baking dish or pan (we prefer cast iron).
  6. Spread half the sauce on top of eggplant. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella and half the parmesan. Repeat layers.
  7. Bake until mixture is bubbly, about 20-25 minutes.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

 

CHULETAS CON MELOCOTÓN (Pork Chope with peaches)

February 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

We Nuyoricans love chuletas. What we call pork chops. It’s in our DNA. Mainly, we like them fried with some Spanish yellow rice on the side. Yet once in a while we like to spruce them up. Like in Chulera con Melocotón, or Fried Pork Chops with Peaches. Yes, peaches, and by that, I mean canned peaches. If you can get fresh peaches, more power to you. But this is the dead of winter and, you know what, the canned variety is okay when the snow out there is piling up and you’re not vacationing in San Juan.

This is an easy enough recipe with a minimum of fuss. And it will satisfy any appetite, young or old.  This time we paired the pork chops with steam potatoes. Also, in recent years some folks got into the habit of adding amaretto to the chuletas. Amaretto is the sweet Italian liqueur from Sarona. On the other hand, others prefer Grand Marnier. This is optional. Some cooks like to make the dish sweeter. If that’s your preference, go for it.

Added note: Frying pork chops till they’re done is, as they said, relative.  It depends on the thickness of the meat and the heat of the pan. Thin pork chops will take 2-3 minutes to brown. Thick pork chops about may take 5-6 minutes to brown.

CHULETAS CON MELOCOTÓN
(Pork Chops with Peaches)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup flour
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
4 loin pork chops
|3 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (16-oz.) sliced peaches, drained
1/4 cup amaretto (optional)

Instructions:

  1. In a plate, combine flour, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme.
  2. Dip pork chops in mixture, coating both sides.
  3. Heat oil in a large skillet or frypan over moderate heat. Asd chops and cook until golden brown. Cover, lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.
  4. Add peaches and amaretto, if using. Cover and cook an additional 20 minutes or until tender.
    Yield: 4 servings.

 

MUNICH CONFERENCE

February 18, 2025 / / 0 Comments

 

Years of Crisis timeline | Timetoast timelines

Here we go again.

In 1938 the leaders of Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy met in Munich and came up with the Munich Agreement which allowed Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Since then, this had been known as the epitome of “Appeasement,” or giving in to a bully, in this case a dictator, in order to preserve an elusive peace.

It seems we’re headed in the same direction today with regard to Ukraine. Our intellectual challenged President is hell-bent on selling out Ukraine to strongman Vladimir Putin of Russia. There’s a meeting scheduled in Saudi Arabia, without Ukraine’s participation, to “achieve peace.” How can you have a peace conference on Ukraine without the Ukrainians present? Simple, you sell them out to the highest bidder. And by that we mean Putin. This will not “Bring peace in our time,” as was proclaimed by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, when he gave in to Hitler over the future of Czechoslovakia. This was 1938. A year later the world was at war.

If this meeting goes through, Trump is going to get snookered by his buddy, Putin. And Ukraine will come out the loser. You can’t appease a dictator set on rebuilding the old Russian Empire. Trump will discover this soon enough when Putin sets his eyes on Estonia or Latvia or former regions of the old defunct Soviet Union. Worse yet, will Trump just sit by when Putin decides to attack a Nato ally? We’ll see.

 

PESCADO EN SALSA DE CÚRCUMA (Fish Fillets in a Turmeric Sauce)

February 18, 2025 / / 0 Comments

In our culture we love fish cooked in a sauce. Usually it’s a plain lemon-butter sauce. But sometimes we like to experiment, like today’s entre, Pescado En Salsa de Cúrcuma, or Fish Fillets in a Turmeric Sauce. Simplicity itself: Just make a simple white sauce, add herbs and turmeric for richness and color; and bake the fillets in this wonderful concoction. The usual accompaniment to this dish is, you guessed it, rice. But you can pair it with pasta, like spaghetti or linguini, or penne and macaroni. The possibilities are endless This time around we paired it with wild rice, and it made for a delicious combo. For the wild rice, you cook it just like regular rice, by bringing the desired amount to a boil. Then lower heat, cover and simmer, just like rice. Except it takes longer to cook, 50 minutes or so. Its nutty, earthy flavor goes well with this fish dish.

Note that this recipe calls for water mixed with a chicken bouillon cube. You omit this step and substitute chicken broth, if you have it available.

PESCADO EN SALSA DE CÚRCUMA
(Fish Fillets in a Turmeric Sauce)

Ingredients:

4 fish fillets (cod, halibut, sea bass, tilapia, etc.), about 6-8 ounces each
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1½ cups water or more as needed
1 chicken bouillon cube
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon turmeric or more to taste

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Melt butter in an ovenproof saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat.
  3. Whisk in flour to form a thick paste; cook and stir until golden in color, about 5 to 7 minutes.
  4. Whisk in water and chicken bouillon. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and basil.
  5. Stir in turmeric, and cook and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes or more. Add more water to reach desired consistency.
  6.  Add fish fillets, cover with sauce and bake until fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10-12 minutes.
    Yield: 4 servings.

 

TORTELLINI IN TUNA SAUCE

February 13, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This is one of those recipes that was a spur of the moment creation. I had some tortellini on hand, as well as a can of tuna fish.  So, how could I combine these items into a delicious family meal? Simple: make a sauce with the tuna to complement the pasta. This time around the pasta was Cheese and Spinach Tortellini. But any preferred pasta will work with this dish be it the aforementioned tortellini, or any good string pasta like spaghetti, linguini, capellini, etc.  By the way, in Spanish this dish is known as Tortellini con Salsa de Atún. With a loaf of hefty bread and a good Chianti, or favorite wine, it makes for fabulous beggar’s banquet (if you want to call it that).

Now, here is where we go into the weeds of the thing. For this recipe, any good spaghetti or marinara sauce will do. As you may have noticed, canned or jar sauces have gotten less and less per volume. This is the manufacturer’s way, thieves that they are. to undercut volume and charge more. Splendid capitalism at work. Today it is hard to find a 16-ounce jar of anything. If you can get it, more power to you. If not, you’ll have to settle for 15.9-ounce jar. Just the way things are in our glorious republic. Also, for this recipe, I find it good and convenient to add a packet of Sazón. This is a spice blend that is very popular in Nuyorican cuisine. It adds flavor and color to a dish. You can find it in most Hispanic markets. Goya makes a good product, or you can also acquire Sa-zón Accent, another favored brand.

TORTELLINI IN TUNA SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 package tortellini: (12 or 16-oz.)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small or medium onion, peeled and copped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 jar marinara or spaghetti sauce (see above)
Salt and ground pepper to taste
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 packet Sazón (see above)
1 teaspoon capers

Instructions:

  1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.
  2.  While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet or frypan (we prefer cast iron) over medium heat.
  3.  Add onion and garlic and stir-fry until onion is soft and translucent.
  4.  Add marinara or spaghetti sauce. Season with salt, pepper and oregano.
  5.  Stir in Sazón and capers. Cook until heated through, about 5-8 minutes.
  6.  When tortellini has cooked, drain, place in a serving dish (or same pan you used for cooking). Pour sauce over pasta and serve.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

BLACK SPAGHETTI (or linguini)

February 7, 2025 / / 0 Comments

We call this dish Black Spaghetti (or linguini) because it comes out in a black hue due to the squid (and its ink) used in the cooking. In our culture we call it Spaghetti Negro. In effect, this is similar to our Black Rice recipe which is also very popular in our cuisine.  If interested, you can look up the post featuring Black Rice with Sausage (12/19/14). As noted, in both recipes, the prime ingredient is squid, which, these days, you can get in Asian or Latino stores and, even some supermarkets. The most popular is the Goya brand that comes in 4-ounce cans. In this instance, the only difference is that we’re combining the squid with pasta, specifically, spaghetti, or linguini if that’s your preference. If desired, you can also use round pasta like orzo or Radiatore. Your choice.

Note that this recipe calls for aji dulce, or sweet chili pepper (not the hot kind). These can be found in fine food stores or Latino and Adian markets.

BLACK SPAGHETTI
(Spaghetti Negro)

Ingredients:

1 pound package spaghetti or linguini
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 ounces lean cured ham, washed and diced
1 small green pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
½ cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 aji dulce chili pepper, seeded and chopped
½ cup tomato sauce
1 chicken bouillon cube
3 (4z.) cans squid in their ink
6 pimento stuffed Spanish olives
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Cook spaghetti or linguine according to package directions.
  2.  While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan or skillet and brown ham over moderate heat.
  3.  Add bell pepper, onions, garlic and aji dulce. Sauté for about 3 minutes,
  4.  Add tomato sauce and bouillon cube.
  5.  Stir in squid and olives. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes.
  6.  When cooked, drain spaghetti or linguine. Add squid mixture and stir to combine. Serve immediately.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

 

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