Jasmine Yellow Rice

Just looking at this picture makes my mouth water. I love rice and I love jasmine rice even more.  So I figured why not combine the foods I love the most with the flavors I love the most. So I cooked this pot of rice with rich Latin flavors and colors and the result was spectacular! I used Achiote/Annanto these terms are used interchangeably. It is a culinary spice used as a colorant but in larger amounts it imparts an earthy, peppery flavor with a little bitterness.  It can be used in place of saffron and it's a who;e lot cheaper. I personally prefer this over saffron because I believe the saffron imparts too much of a musty flavor. Traditionally it was used for much more then cooking. They also used it as cosmetics, fabric dye, body paint, sunscreen, insect repellent, and as medicine.  Interestingly enough it was also used to treat Diabetes, snakebites and epilepsy.  However,  I use it because it taste good. 

Bacalao Guisada - Codfish stew with Casava

Growing up I hated fish! I never understood why the adults seemed so excited at even the mention of seafood dishes. This gluten free dish was a childhood favorite for me but that's because my abuelita called it white meat! 

 I never knew this was a fish at all.  I remember my mom would say abuelita cooked white meat and I would get so happy. What makes this dish even more appetizing now is that it is that not only is it delicious, and comforting but it is also low in calories. I put the bacalao guisado over yuca (casava) which is a root vegetable and another vegetable I hated growing up....OK so I have evolved, I love this dish!     

Bacalao Guisado - Codfish stew 

Ingredients: Codish

• 1 lb dried Codfish
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/3 cup Cilantro
• 2 Tbsp Manzanilla Olives
• 1 Tbsp Capers
• 4-5 chopped Galic Cloves
• 2 Tbsp Sofrito
• 4 oz tomatoe sauce
• 2 tbsp extra virgen olive olive
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup of water

Preparation:  The first thing you need to do is remove the salt from the Codfish.  This can be accomplished in 2 ways.  You can soak it in cold water for 24 hours and change the water 3 to 4 times.  I never remember to soak, so I boil it in water and after it boils I change the water with fresh cold water and boil again. I do this 3 times.  This usually removes the perfect amount of salt without removing it all. There have been times when it still tasted a bit salty so I recommend tasting it after the third boil and if you think it could use another boil then go for it. I like a little salt....but if you remove too much you could always add a little table salt.  

Broiled Adobo Pork Chops

So growing up, my favorite food in the whole world was fried pork chops, a lot has changed since then except that pork chops are still my favorite. I lived in an apartment building and the aroma of my grandma's pork chops had everyone salivating....being gluten free does not mean we have to sacrifice flavor and I certainly don't.
So the first picture are the pork chops before cooking,  this is what a well seasoned pork chop looks like......and they are so simple to make!  All you need is my adobo recipe, some center cut pork chops with the bone, let's face it...why even eat a pork chop if you can't suck on the bone?, lemon or lime, and an orange.

This is what they look like after they are cooked! So I told you before my grandma fries her chops.  The biggest challenge for me was making them taste the way my grandma makes them taste without frying them. So I put them to the test with the Grand Puba....that's what I affectionately call her.  She was very impressed when I told her they were not fried, they were broiled. So what to eat with this flavorful piece of meat? I have gained 13 pounds since I learned I had celiac disease! So I am with the few million people out there who have made a resolution for weight loss in 2012.  My challenge will be to make my latin recipes lighter......that's not an easy feat. Here I made stir-fry vegetables and an Organic Quinoa & Whole Grain Brown rice. Quinoa is a recently rediscovered ancient "grain" once considered the food of the Gods, it was used to increase the stamina of their warriors. Clearly they new something that we didn't; we do now!  It is very high in protein and gluten free! I bought it at Costcos, and will definitely get more.  The reviews are amazing as well and you can order it on Amazon.