Episode 11- Doña Rossana cooks Empanadas

Doña Rossana cooks chicken Empanadas
Music: La Pollera Colora- found at Internet Archives.


INGREDIENTS INGREDIENTS FOR SOFRITO

2 cups of vegetable oil 1 small tomato
3 tablespoons of olive oil 1/2 red pepper
1 cooked egg 1 tomatillo
1 lb. of skinless, boneless chicken thighs 1/2 white onion
1 teaspoon of salt 1 pinch of ginger
1 bay leaf 1 pinch of thyme
1/2 cup of water 1 teaspoon of parsley
1 cup of cooked rice salt, cumin, and black pepper to taste
2 packages of dough pastries (masa para empanadas)



DIRECTIONS

Cook the egg, hard boiled. Cook the rice. Set aside. Cook the chicken in 1/2 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the bay lea, at low heat for 20 minutes. Let it cool.
Cook sofrito at low heat for 10 minutes. Let it cool.
Peel and cut the egg into small pieces.
Place the chicken in the food processor for 30 seconds.
Mix the chicken, rice, egg and sofrito.
Place one piece of pastry dough on a sheet of waxed paper then spoon on one side like two spoonfuls of the mixture. Dampen the edges of the dough and close it.
Fry the empanadas in two cups of vegetable oil at medium-high temperature for one minute each side.

Episode 10 Paella

Doña Rossana cooks paella.
Music, 'Come Beauty' by Benedetti & Svoboda, 'Echoes of Spain' available on Ioda.promonet.com

PAELLA

INGREDIENTS

1 lb hot, spice Italian sausages
1 1/2 lb chicken thighs
1 lb cherry clams
1 lb mussels
1/2 cup green olives
2 lb shrimp
3 cups of rice
5 cups of water
1/2 cup of wine
1 tablespoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of back pepper
1 pinch of saffron
1/2 cup olive oil
1 lb tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1/4 cup of capers
1/4 cup of parsley
1 sprig of thyme
3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of chopped onions
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1/4 teaspoon of yellow color


In a large, wide pot cook the Italian sausages and chicken with 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1 cup of water, over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Take the Italian sausages and chicken out, let it cool for 15 minutes, (save the juices for later) separate the chicken meat from the bones, cut the Italian sausages in small pieces.
Make the sofrito in the same pot where the meat was cooked, heat the oil over medium heat, add tomatoes, onions, garlic, red and green pepper chopped in small pieces, add olives, capers, parsley, thyme, black pepper, cumin, salt, saffron, stir well. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat. Add chicken, Italian sausages and juices, 4 cups of water and wine. Let it boil. Add clams, mussels, and 1 lb of shrimp. Taste for salt and add more if you wish.
Add rice and the other lb of shrimp, increase the heat to medium-high; cook uncovered until there is no more liquid -about 10 minutes. Cover the pot and place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.


Preparation and cooking time 1:40 (one hour and forty minutes)

Episode 9 Chicken Noodle Soup

Doña Rossana Cooks Chicken Noodle Soup


CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

5 CUPS OF WATER
4 CHICKEN THIGHS
1 1/2 CUP OF NOODLES
1 1/2 CUP OF CHOPPED POTATOES
1 CUP OF SWEET PEAS
1 CUP OF CHOPPED CARROTS
1 TABLESPOON OF SALT
1 TABLESPOON OF CHOPPED ONIONS
1 TABLESPOON OF CHOPPED CILANTRO
1/4 TEASPOON OF GROUND CUMIN
1 PINCH OF YELLOW COLOR

COOK CHICKEN THIGHS IN 5 CUPS OF WATER AND 1 TABLESPOON OF SALT FOR 40 MINUTES. TAKE THE CHIKEN OUT AND LET IT COOL FOR 10 MINUTES. ADD THE POTATOES TO THE BOILING BROTH AND LET THEM COOK FOR 10 MINUTES. WITH THE HELP OF TWO FORKS SEPARATE THE MEAT FROM THE BONES, SHREDTHE MEAT AND PUT IT BACK INTO THE POT, LET IT COOK FOR 5 MINUTES, ADD CARROTS, WAIT FOR REBOIL, ADD NOODLES, LET THEM COOK FOR 4 MINUTES, ADD PEAS, ONIONS, CILANTRO, CUMIN AND COLOR. TURN THE HEAT OFF, LET IT COOL FOR 10 MINUTES AND SERVE.

Episode 8 Arepas

Doña Rossana cooks arepas. Music “Conga Lluvia de San Juan” found at InternetArchives.com




AREPAS

3 lb. ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons soft butter

2 cups masarepa ( pre-cooked white corn meal )
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder


In a large bowl beat the eggs, add ricotta cheese and butter. Mix it with a fork for about 1 minute.
In a medium bowl mix corn meal, salt, sugar and baking powder.
Add dry ingredientes to large bowl, mix all together.

Preheat the skillet at 350 degrees.

On a heavy sheet of plastic place 1/2 cup of dough, place another sheet of plastic on top of dough, then place the cover of the ricotta cheese container on top of the plastic, press down to form the perfect round shape.
Lift the shaped dough with your hand, and place it on top of the hot skillet. Cook the arepa for 5 minutes on each side, 10 minutes in total.

Preparation and cooking time 1 1/2 hours.

Makes 19 arepas of 3 1/2 ounces.

Episode 7 Walnut Cookies

Doña Rossana bakes walnut cookies.
Music "Niña Bonita" found at Internet Archives.com


WALNUT COOKIES


Preparation and cooking time: 2 hours

For the shells:

8 oz. cream cheese 4 mini-muffin pans
4 oz. butter
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the filling:

1 cup ground walnuts
1cup brown sugar
1 egg

For the shells:

Mix 3 ounces of butter with the cream cheese (at room temperature) add flour, divide it into 4 balls of dough and put it in the fridge for 60 minutes. Put the 4 mini-pans in the refrigerator as well.


For the filling:

Mix the sugar, 1 oz. of butter, egg and walnuts. This mixture is to fill the cookies. Keep it in the refrigerator.

After 60 minutes, take the dough, cookie-filling mixture and the muffin pans out of the fridge. Divide one dough ball into 12 parts, place the dough in each cavity in the pan, pressing with your thumb; go down and around each cavity to form the shell. When all the muffin pans are ready pre-heat the oven to 350, then with the help of 2 teaspoons, drop ¼ teaspoon of the mixture unto each shell. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Take them out of the oven, let them cool for 10 minutes, then take them out of the pans and let them cool on a cookie sheet. Enjoy!

Do�a Rossana Cooks Tamales

Doña Rossana cooks traditional Christmas Holiday meal- Tamales.

TAMALES

INGREDIENTS

10 lb Chicken drumsticks
8 lb Pork spare ribs
4 lb Italian sausages (15 cut in half after cooked)
10 cups of water
2 bay leaves
2 cups rice
3 cups white corn meal (masarepa)
1 lb Garbanzo beans
2 lb Calabaza (Spanish squash)
3 large carrots
26 prunes
26 green olives
26 capers
¼ lb parsley
1 lb wrapping paper for pasteles
String to tie the tamal
2 lb banana leaves
2 teaspoons cumin
¼ teaspoon saffron
¼ teaspoon yellow color
1 tablespoon achiote (annatto seeds)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb white onions
1 large green pepper
1 large red pepper
1 lb Roman tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 sprig thyme
Fresh ground black pepper to taste


To make tamales all ingredients have to be pre-cooked.

The day before salt the meat, 2 tablespoons of salt for the chicken and 2 for the spare ribs.
Leave the garbanzo beans soaking in water in the refrigerator overnight.

Cook the garbanzo beans for two hours at low heat. In a large heavy pot boil the 10 cups of water with the bay leaves, add the chicken drumsticks, and cook them for 25 minutes at medium-high heat. Take the chicken out and let it stand aside. Cook the pork spare ribs in the chicken broth for 45 minutes. Take the ribs out, let them cool. Cook the Italian sausages for 25 minutes. Take them out, let them cool; cut them in half.
Save the pot with the broth, (discharge the bay leaves) to use it later.
Cook rice al dente. Cut the calabaza in cubes and cook it in 1 cup of water for 8 minutes.
Cook sliced carrots for 5 minutes.
Make sofrito: in a large pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add cut tomatoes, onions, red and green pepper, minced garlic, sprig of thyme, sprinkle salt and black pepper to taste. Cook it at medium-low heat for 12 minutes.
In a small pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil at low heat, add achiote, turn the heat off and let it stand for 10 minutes, discharge the achiote grains.

Boil the broth, lower the heat, very low, add the garbanzos, rice, calabaza, sofrito, and corn meal, stirring very gently, turn the heat off, add yellow color, cumin, saffron, and the colored oil from the achiote.

To wrap the tamales, place 1 sheet of paper, over the paper place 2 pieces of banana leaf, on top of the banana leaf place 5 ounces of the mixture, spreading it a bit, over the mixture place 1 drumstick, 1 piece of pork rib, ½ Italian sausage, 1 prune, 1 green olive, 1 caper, 1 slice of carrot, and a single sprig of parsley. On top of it place another 3 ounces of the mixture. Wrap the banana leaf, covering the tamal, then fold the paper, first at the center, then at the two ends, tie the tamal with the string.
Cook the tamales in a large pot. To keep the tamales dry, place a grill at the bottom of the pot, add 4 cups of water, fill the pot with tamales and cook for 1 hour at medium-high heat.

26 tamales of 20 ounces
Preparation and cooking time 6+ hours.

Episode 5 Embueltos de Coco

Doña Rossana Cooks Embueltos de Coco.
Music- Internet Archive.


Embueltos de Coco Ingredients

1 '/2 lb. white hominy corn
1 coconut
2 tablespoons anise 1 shot aguardiente1 cup white sugar
1 stick softened butter
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups water (5 to cook the corn and 3 to cook the embueltos)
'/2 lb. parchment paper (papel para embolver pastels)

With a wine opener, open one of the three holes of the coconut to take the water out (you can drink the water; it's sweet and refreshing).
Preheat the oven at 375, place the coconut on a cookie sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. Take it out, the coconut shell must be cracked, let it cool. With a hammer or something heavy hit the coconut to make the shell come loose. With the help of a potato peeler, peel the hard, brown skin, cut the coconut meat in small pieces and grind it. Wash the corn and leave it in 5 cups of water overnight in the refrigerator.
Cook corn for 20 minutes at low heat, when all the water is dry, take the corn out of the
pot, let it cool for 1/2 hour and grind it.
Mix anise seed with aguardiente, let it soak for '/2 hour.
Mix coconut with dough, add sugar, salt, butter, and anise with aguardiente. Mix
everything very well.
Drop four tablespoons of the mixture on a sheet of paper and folding the paper at the
center first and then at the two ends wrap the embuelto and tie it with the string.
To cook the embueltos, place 3 cups of water and a grill to keep the embueltos from
touching the water. Cook for 1 hour at low heat.