GCC: Arroz Imperial [Imperial Rice]

October 17, 2011 by Monica in Chicken, Dinner, Entertaining, Gutsy Cooks Club, Latin, Main Courses, Rice

The first time I tried this dish was when I lived in Miami and was invited to a birthday party by a friend from Cuba.

When I first saw it, I figure it was the typical Arroz con pollo – [chicken and rice] dish found in most Latin birthday parties.

Boy, was I wrong.

Is anything BUT, the typical chicken and yellow rice.

I would call it a dress up version of Chicken and yellow rice with a couple of twist - Mayonnaise is added to the cooked rice and the chicken is cooked in a sofrito/tomato base giving it a rich flavor, then its layered like a lasagna, and topped with mozzarella or any other mild white cheese.

Living in Miami, I never had the need to make it at home, since about 80% of the Cuban restaurants would have it as a catering/menu choice and all I had to do, was place the order and pick it up.

I had not had this dish in over 10 years.

Mediterranean Chicken [on the fly]

September 11, 2011 by Monica in Chicken, Dinner, Family, Family Cookbook, Main Courses, Savory

That is what I’m calling this last minute, “lets-see-what I have in the refrigerator to cook the chicken with”.

As I mentioned before, I’m supper gutsy when it comes to cooking savory recipes. I tend to go a bit off the beaten path and cook with my heart and with no set of rules.

Sort of like how my mother cooks - By the seat of our pants.

I cannot help myself from deviating as soon as I start any given recipe that I’m trying out. I blame the fact that I read tons of recipes – I have over 100 cookbooks, 5 different subscriptions to major food magazines and over 50 feeds to food blogs that I read daily in my reader. When I want to make a recipe with one single ingredient, I tap all of these motivation sources by pulling bits and pieces of every single thing that I read, saw or even tasted.

Dinner Party 101

August 15, 2011 by Monica in Dinner, Entertaining, Lesson, Vegetarian, Venezuela Food

Just as I love cooking, the other thing I love to do is throw a dinner party. I think this goes hand in hand with most cooks. In my case this need comes from my Italian genes (and Latin upbringing) which I’m totally convince have a code within my DNA called “need to feed everyone around you now or die!.

It is a known fact that the Italians are very serious about their food. Why shouldn’t they be? After all it is the food that brings together friends and families. This is why we find the Italians to be very fond of spending long hours on the table and meal times expanding over the span of a couple of hours.

When the Italians sit down to eat they literally forget about the world and are in no hurry whatsoever to gobble down their food and get back to life.

And that is what I needed, to sit down and forget about the world, at least for a couple of hours. And the best way to do this is to surround myself with funny and smart individuals – enter my main “chicas”