Oswald Rivera

Author, Warrior, and Teacher

Category: all (page 29 of 76)

CHULETAS DE CORDERO EMPANADA (Breaded Lamb Chops)

February 17, 2021 / / 0 Comments

This is a Rivera family favorite, Chuletas de Cordero Empananda. Simply, Breaded Lamb Chops. The lamb chops can be coated with flour or breadcrumbs. In the Rivera clan, we prefer the bread crumbs.  The seasoning used you can probably find in your cupboard right now. Note that back in the old days you would have fried the breaded lamb chops in shortening. I still prefer shortening, though today you would most likely use canola or vegetable oil, or a mix of olive oil and butter. We usually serve this dish with a side of parsley potatoes and carrots. But you can complement it with whatever side dish you prefer, or rice, as we did back in Spanish Harlem.

CHULETAS DE CORDERO EMPANANDA
(Breaded Lamb Chops)

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup bread crumbs
½ teaspoon each, garlic powder, dried oregano and marjoram
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
8-10 lamb rib chops, ¾ to 1-inch thick
1 cup shortening or vegetable oil to cover the pan by ½-inch

Instructions:

  1. Beat eggs with Worcestershire in a shallow pan.
  2.  Mix together bread crumbs, garlic powder, oregano, marjoram, salt and pepper. Coat chops with egg then bread crumbs.
  3.  Melt shortening or heat oil in  a large skillet. Fry lamb chops a few at a time over medium heat until well-browned, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Chops may be kept warm in oven until all are fried.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

 

LEMON CHICKEN

February 11, 2021 / / 0 Comments

One of the favorite dishes in our family was Pollo con Limón, or Lemon Chicken. We had it often, and we enjoyed it often. It was chicken fillets enclosed in lemon slices, topped with Nuyorican spices, and baked in chicken broth. So, I’m always on the lookout for something similar; and then I came across this version which is much simpler to prepare. Here the chicken is given an Asian edge and soy sauce and honey is added, along with garlic powder and herbes de provence, which is a mixture of dried herbs popular in the cuisine of Provence, a region of southeastern France. Today the mix can be found in almost any market or shop. Also, the dish is broiled, although I’m sure you can bake it if desired.

As noted, this dish is different from our pollo con limón, but just as tasty.

LEMON CHICKEN

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, , split, with skin removed
Juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon herbes de provence
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons honey

Instructions:

  1. Sprinkle herbes de provence, lemon juice, garlic powder, soy sauce and honey on chicken.
  2.  Broil 15 minutes and serve.
    Yield: 4 servings.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS CREOLE STYLE

February 9, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Brussels sprouts is one of those veggies that you either hate or love. Usually its the former category. And that’s because, usually, the only way it’s served is boiled. For the record, I do not eat plain boiled sprouts. However, there are great ways to enhance this lowly vegetable; and the recipe given below gives the best in taste and quality. It’s done creole style.

Creole cooking is popular in the southern United States, and it blends West African, French and Spanish influences. In Spanish, the word translates to criollo, a type of cooking also very popular in the Caribbean. Once you’ve prepared Brussels sprouts this way, you’ll love them. This dish goes great as vegetarian meal combined with rice or any favorite grain. This time around we served them over couscous, and it was marvelous. Oh, yes, you can also served them as a side dish with anything from an omelet to the Sunday roast.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS CREOLE STYLE

Ingredients:

1½ pounds fresh or frozen Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 green pepper, white pith removed, seeded and chopped
1 pound tomatoes, washed and chopped
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried basil
Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

  1. With a sharp knife, trim any tough or discolored outer leaves from the sprouts, and wash them thoroughly. Cut a cross in the base of each sprout.
  2.  In a heavy, medium saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat. Add the onion, garlic and green pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sprouts, salt, pepper and basil.
  3.  Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the sprouts are tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve as is or, if preferred , transfer to a warned serving platter.
    Yield: 4 servings.

 

FISH BAKED IN MILK

February 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments


This is a recipe I acquired from my Jewish brethren. It’s Fish Baked in Milk. In my culture, we would never consider baking fish in milk. But leave it to the chosen people to come up with this dish which, by the way, is delicious. Nothing could be simpler to prepare with minimal ingredients. Served with a baked potato, or with a grain, or even pasta, it’s a dish made in heaven.

FISH BAKED IN MILK

Ingredients:

1 pound fish fillets, your choice
Flour
Salt and ground black pepper to taste pepper
Pinch  of dried oregano
1¼  cup milk
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Rinse fish fillets under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels.
  3.  Placed in a greased baking dish. Dust with flower, sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano. Pour milk over fish and bake about 30 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
    Yield: 4 servings.

 

POT ROAST

February 5, 2021 / / 0 Comments

The Sunday pot roast dinner is hallowed ground in America. We have our version of it in Puerto Rican cuisine. We call it Carne Mechada. Thus, I’m always on the lookout for good recipes. The one given today is one of the simplest yet tastiest versions I know. This recipe can make pot roast go from the plebeian to the divine. The secret is to marinate the roast overnight. And what is the marinade? Ordinary barbecue sauce along with dry red wine. Once marinated, the meat is then cooked with traditional vegetables associated with pot roast. We cook it with potatoes, onions and carrots.  If desired, you can add traditional winter vegetables such as turnips and parsnips.

This dish resembles more the traditional Yankee pot roast beloved in New England.  It is not my family’s Nuyorican pot roast. But it will be one of the best meals you can prepare for Sunday or any other day of the week.

POT ROAST

FOR THE MARINADE
4 pounds boneless chuck or round roast
1 bottle (18 oz) all-purpose barbecue sauce
¼ cup red wine

Place beef in a bowl. Pour barbecue sauce and wine over it. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

NEXT DAY:
2  tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2¼ cups water
1 cup red wine
1½ pounds potatoes, washed and halved
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut in diagonal chunks
2 large onions, peeled and cut into quarters
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

  1. Drain meat. Reserve marinade.
  2.  Heat butter and oil in  large pot. Brown the meat on all sides.  Pour marinade, 1 cup water and 1 cup wine over roast. Cover and simmer 2 hours.
  3.  Add vegetables and continue simmering 30 minutes. Mix remaining water and flour. Stir into pot. Raise heat slightly and cook until sauce gently boils.
  4.  Arrange meat on a serving platter,  surrounded with vegetables. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve gravy sauce on the side in a gravy bowl or sauceboat.
    Yield: 6 or more servings.

 

 

SQUID WITH SOY SAUCE AND OIL

February 4, 2021 / / 0 Comments

 

Mention squid and almost everyone goes “Yuck! Aaaag!” You get the message. Still, as mentioned in prior posts, squid (or calamari) is a dish favored throughout the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. It is also popular in Asian cuisine as well, as noted in the recipe given below. It’s simple and quick, and delicious, with a mild sweet taste.

We are fortunate that today, in most markets and stores, you can buy squid cleaned and prepared. So you don’t have to go through all the drudgery as in the old days when you had to cut the squid apart, scrape and discard the innards, remove the outer membrane and clean the squid thoroughly. When you buy cleaned squid, they come with tubes and tentacles. All you have to do is rinse them in water, slice and cook. That’s it. In this recipe, you add a little soy sauce, vegetable or peanut oil and a few drops of sesame oil. The natural accompaniment to this dish is plain boiled rice. This time around, we had some plantains on hand so we paired them with tostones, deep-fried plantains. For a recipe on tostones, check my post of 09/09/10.

SQUID WITH SOY SAUCE  AND OIL

Ingredients:

1 pound cleaned squid
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons vegetable or peanut oil
Few drops of sesame oil

Instructions:

  1. Rinse squid under cold running water. Slice tubes and tentacles into bit-sized pieces.
  2.  Fill a large saucepan two-thirds full with water and bring to a boil. Drop the squid into the water and cook about 1 minute over medium heat, stirring lightly with a wooden spoon. The squid pieces will curl up like cylinders, and you can check for doneness by cutting through a piece. The squid should be opaque all the way through. Do not over cook or they will become tough.
  3.  Drain the squid and shake out any excess water. Transfer to a serving bowl, and toss with the soy sauce, oil, and sesame oil. Serve immediately.
    Yield: 4 servings.

 

CAMARONES CON CEBOLLA (Shrimp with Onion)

February 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments

 

This is one of the easiest shrimp dishes you can prepare. It’s from my first cookbook, Puerto Rican Cuisine  in America (Running Press). A quickie fix-up—with a little bit of rum added to it. Camarones con Cebolla was a family favorite back in Spanish Harlem, and it still holds up to this day. The shrimp is stir-fried just to doneness and smothered in onions. Few things can be more satisfying. This dish goes great with crusty bread or on rice.

CAMARONES CON CEBOLLA
(Shrimp with Onions)

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced in rounds
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 pounds raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 tablespoons Puerto Rican rum (white or dark)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon dried tarragon
Salt and black ground pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Add onions and garlic and sauté over moderate heat until onion is limp and transparent.
2. Add shrimp, rum, lemon juice, tarragon, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until shrimp turns pink (3 to 4 minutes).
Yield: 4 servings.

 

 

 

 

 

EASY SPINACH SOUFFLE

January 26, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I like spinach. Even as a kid, I liked the veggie. I know, that makes me weird. Be it as it may, one of my favorite spinach   recipes is Spinach Soufflé. But, even though all the recipes I came across were okay, they were not as simple as I would like. They involved heavy cream and eggs and flour, and other stuff. So, I put on my thinking cap and decided to create something simple. No mess. no fuss, and still good enough to garner those “Ooohs” and “Ahhhs.” Here it is: my simple Spinach Soufflé. This can be a great side dish to chicken, lamb, beef or pork; or as a meal in itself.  We paired it with gnocchi, those small, soft dough potato dumplings that we, in the Rivera clan, just love. But you can serve it with a grain like rice or couscous, or even over pasta. It’s a dish made in heaven.

Note that this dish can also be done with 2 packages frozen spinach. It will do in a pinch. Just remember to cook spinach  according to package directions. But, if you can get it, go for the fresh stuff.

EASY SPINACH SOUFFLÉ

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh spinach
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
2 dashes ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Dash of Tabasco
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2.  Remove stems from spinach, and rinse spinach under cold running water.
  3.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add spinach and cook for 1 minute. Drain and place in a shallow baking dish, or casserole (I prefer cast-iron). Blend in sour cream, bouillon, nutmeg, lemon juice and Tabasco. Sprinkle bread crumbs over top. Drizzle with butter. Place in oven and bake 20 minutes. Serve hot.
    Yield: 4 servings.

BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH SAUSAGE

January 13, 2021 / / 0 Comments

About the only time we have black-eyed peas is on New Year’s Day when we cook them with rice. It’s a dish called Hoppin’ John, and it’s a southern favorite. Other than that, we seldom cook these suckers. Well, I recently found some on hand.  To me, Hoppin’ John is good once a year. I had to create something new with this batch. So, I decided, why not pair them with sausage? It sounded okay. And it turned out magnificent. This dish you can have by itself or with rice. For the sausage, I used pork sausage. But you can use beef, chicken, turkey sausage or, if you’re in the mood for something spicier, Spanish chorizo sausage. Also, remember, if the sausage comes with a casing, remove such before cooking

Let me state that we used dried beans for this recipe. If desired, you can use the canned or frozen variety. However, it will not be the same in terms of texture and flavor. The extra bother of soaking the peas is well worth the effort.  And, yes, I know, there’s a pop-rap group known as the Black Eyed Peas.  They had nothing to do with this dish. Although I was sad when Fergie left the group. J. Rey Soul is a pretty good replacement.

BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH SAUSAGE

Ingredients:

1½ cups dried black-eyed peas
2 sprigs fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 12-ounce package pork sausage, cut into ¼-inch rounds
1 small onion, peeled and sliced into thin rings
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano or ½ teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons red wine
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Instructions:

  1. Soak black-eyed peas overnight with water to cover by about 2 inches. Drain and rinse.
  2.  Place beans in a Dutch oven, heavy kettle or pot with water to cover by about 3 inches. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour or until peas are tender.
  3.  While peas are cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet, add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more.
  4. Add pork and oregano, and sauté until pork is brown. Add wine and cook over high heat until wine is absorbed and has evaporated. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes more.
  5.  When beans have cooked, add sausage, season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix. Garnish with parsley and serve.
    Yield: 4-6   servings.

 

 

BROCCOLI STUFFED POTATOES

January 11, 2021 / / 0 Comments

This is one of my favorite stuffed potato recipes. And it makes a great vegetarian dinner. Yes, it’s potatoes with broccoli. Okay, I hear the moans and groan. Broccoli? Yeah, that maligned vegetable that all kids (and some grownups) hate. I am old enough to recall when George Herbert Walker Bush, the first Bush to occupy the White House, famously (or infamously) declared, “I hate Broccoli.” Sorry, Mr. President, but you’re way off the mark. When prepared well and paired with other ingredients, broccoli is glorious.  in this dish, besides the broccoli, it includes milk, grated cheese and butter.  A rich flavorful dish for a rich occasion.  You’ll never again have to beg the young ‘uns to eat their broccoli.

Note: The dish calls for baked potatoes. I easiest way I know to bake potatoes is  my wife’s method: wash and scrub the taters (do not peel); wrap in aluminum foil, prick all over with a fork, and bake for 1 hour in a 450 degree oven or until tender.

BROCCOLI STUFFED POTATOES

Ingredients:

6 medium baking potatoes, washed, scrubbed and baked
½ head of broccoli, steamed until crisp tender, and chopped
¾ cup grated cheese (we use either Asiago or Parmesan)
1 tablespoon butter
Freshly ground back pepper to taste
¼ cup milk

Instructions:

  1. Slice the potatoes in halve and scoop out the insides into a bowl with the broccoli.
  2.  Add ½ cup of the cheese, the butter, pepper and milk. Mash all together or combine all ingredients in a food processor and process briefly.  Stuff into the potato skins and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Place in a 400 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes.
    Yield: 6 servings.

 

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