Easy-Pleasy Rice

This is a regular feature of the Cuban weekday menu, perfect when you're pressed for time.  It is easy to make and a very satisfying dish.  It's also a good way to sneak some vegetables into a meal for picky eaters.

Arroz Con Salchichas

Paprika & Time 2013

Ingredients: 

6 medium Hot Dogs* (browned in the pan with a little butter, margarine, or oil, then sliced into 3 cm thick cylinders)
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup Basmati, or your choice of long-grain rice
1 tsp Turmeric, or achiote/annatto powder (without this the rice won't be yellow)
3 cups Mixed Vegetables **
2 cups Water, alternatively you can use vegetable broth, but be careful to taste before adding any salt
Salt And Pepper, to taste

About this recipe: 
Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Cuban
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Keywords: Rice Dishes, One-Pan Recipes, Quick Recipes, Easy Recipes, Latin Food, Lunch, Dinner, Cuban Recipes

Description: A tasty, colorful, and super-easy meal to prepare on busy days.

NOTES (Before you get started): 

* The traditional recipe calls for Vienna sausages (the kind you get in the little cans) but we prefer the taste of hot dogs.  

** FOR THE MIXED VEGETABLES I put my own together using frozen peas, carrots, corn, and pearl onions.  These are all pretty essential to the dish, but if you don't have pearl onions on hand, simply chop some onions and sauté those in the pan until they are translucent and soft, prior to adding the rice.  You can also chop some red pepper and sauté that along with the onion, if you'd like.

Use a pan for which you have a lid, as you will need to keep the lid on while the rice cooks down.  If you don't have such a pan increase the liquid slightly, to adjust for evaporation, and cover the pan with a sheet of aluminium foil while it cooks down.


Directions:

1. Coat the bottom of the pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. 

2. Put the rice into the hot pan and stir the rice around to coat evenly with the olive oil.  Allow the rice to cook in the oil until it turns slightly more a solid white than a translucent white.  About two minutes.

3. Toss in the sausages and stir them around with the rice for a minute, then add the two cups of liquid.  If the temperature is right, this should sizzle a bit.  If it does not, allow the water to bubble before adding the seasonings.  

4. Add turmeric and stir to distribute it evenly.  

5. Add salt and pepper as needed. 

6. Add mixed vegetables and cover with the pan lid, lower the heat down to a simmer and allow it to rest untouched for twenty minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.

Easy Metric Conversions:

6 Hotdogs = approx. 180 grams 
4 tsp Olive Oil = 60 milliliters
1 cup long-grain rice =  185 grams
1 tsp turmeric = 2.3 grams
3 cups mixed vegetables = approx. 500 grams

Budget Factor

It's always good to know what a plate costs you to make.  Restaurants keep this in mind, why shouldn't we?  

These are only estimates for reference.  Your local ingredient costs may vary.  Currency converted at DKK5.00 to the Dollar and DKK7.50 to the Euro.

Another Great Recipe from: www.paprikaandtime.blogspot.dk

Did you make it?  Did you enjoy it? Did you improve on it?  I'm eager to hear whether you found this dish as tasty as we did.  Please comment below with any remarks, critiques, or alternative suggestions you have to make this recipe even better!

The Spicy Life

I've created this blog after years of traveling, writing, and generally avoiding my kitchen.  What?  How can a person who claims to have avoided the kitchen think to write a blog about cooking?  Well, I'll tell you.

I come from a long line of cooks.  My great-grandmother and my grandmother, my aunts, my mother, all played a part in getting me interested in the kitchen.  From the large family kitchen in Muros, Galicia (Spain), where my main job was splitting peas, to my mother's kitchen in Miami, to the kitchens of friends and acquaintances all over the United States, food has been an integral part of my life.

Preparing great meals has always been one of my secret pleasures.

So why have I avoided the kitchen?  Well, for over fifteen years I worked around the world, traveling every week from airport to airport, visiting new lands, enjoying a wide variety of experiences, but never settling down long enough to have a kitchen of my own.

Virginia Woolf said that every writer needs a room of her own in which to write.  That is certainly true, and I am pleased to say I finally have one in lovely Midtjylland, Denmark where I live with my marvelous and inspiring painter husband and our amusing kittens.  The room may not be just my own, but it is certainly a great place to write.

In the same manner, I think that every adventurous cook needs a kitchen of her own.  For many years I did not have that, so instead I enjoyed varied fare from all kinds of restaurants representing a wide range of international cuisines in each city I visited.  I consider those experiences a great influence on my cooking habits today.

I don't like to repeat the same recipes over and over again.  I like to experiment.  I like to try new things.  I want to stretch my abilities to the limit.  That means that somedays I produce Franken-plates instead of lovely dishes, but that's all part of the fun.

I'm certainly no Martha Stewart or Nigella Lawson.  I am MOST DEFINITELY not up to Julia Child's high standards.  I don't pretend to be.  I'm all-right with that.  (In case you're in the mood for something they've cooked up, I've placed helpful links to their sites and cookbooks in their names.)

This blog is about the thrill of cooking.  It shouldn't just be a chore.  I really should be fun.

You'll find a wide variety of recipes, some which I've picked up along the way, some which I've invented from my memory of eating the dish, some which I've borrowed from my dozens of cookbooks and the cooking websites to which I've subscribed, and many which are old family favorites.  With very few exceptions, I will have made my own personal adjustments to any recipes I've found in books or on the net, and the recipes I'll put here will include those changes.

I live abroad so many times I can't get the ingredients the cookbooks or cooking websites specify, but I've figured out some nice substitutions and I'll share with you what those are.

If you enjoy good food, don't mind taking risks, like trying something new, and generally enjoy having a laugh or two, then this is the blog for you.

I'd like this to be a conversation between us; a roomy and cozy multinational kitchen where we all gather, share ideas and tips, have a good time.

Pop-in and have a peek.  Stay a while and share a dish.  Put on your apron and make yourself at home. Mi kitchen es su kitchen.  Enjoy!