Recipes

Recipe makes 1 quart.

Ingredients

1 can cream of coconut
1 can coconut milk
1 can evaporated milk (or evaporated soy milk)
1/2 cup condensed milk (or condensed soy milk)
4 Sticks of cinnamon
1 Tbsp of ungrounded cloves
1/2 Tbsp of ground nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp of vanilla extract
1/2 cup Bacardi Superior
1/2 cup Bacardi Spiced
1/4 cup Bacardi Black

*Note: I have played around with the ratio of the different rums and with different brands. This is currently the best ratio and brand I have found. The mix is meant to enforce and highlight the spices in the coquito.

Directions

First you need to make the “spiced tea”. In a saucepan, poor the can of coconut milk, the Bacardi Superior, and the spices. Bring to simmer, reduce heat. Whisk until bubbles are constant then turn off heat. Let sit and cool for 30 min.

In a blender or stand mixer, poor the remaining liquids (coconut cream, evaporated milk, condensed milk, rums, and vanilla extract). Mix well.

Separately, poor the spice tea through a fine mesh colander. It’ll be a bit thick, use a spoon to make sure you got all the liquid. Keep the cinnamon sticks! Slowly poor in the spiced tea into the other mixture and mix well.

Drop the cinnamon sticks you saved into a 2+ quart jug. Poor the coquito into the jug. Sure you can taste it now, but the flavors haven’t developed yet. Let sit in refrigerator over night.

Before first serve, pass again through a fine mesh colander, again keep the cinnamon sticks. Always keep them in the jug.

You can serve it now. Buen provecho!

Recipe makes about 1 pie pan worth

Ingredients

1 cup rice
1/2 can of coconut milk
1/2 can of coconut cream
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup of Bacardi Spiced
4 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp unground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2.5 cups of water
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp butter

Directions

First, in a bowl, poor the 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of water and let it sit for at least 3 hours. In a separate bowl, poor in the raisins and the rum.

As you approach the final hour, in a saucepan poor 1.5 cups of water and the spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves). Bring to simmer, then take off the heat and lit it sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

Now to make the rice, mix it vigorously with the water it sat in then poor it out. Make the rice how you make it but using the spiced tea and the 1 Tbspn of butter instead of plain water. For me, I make it in a InstaPot. I set the rice, spiced tea, and butter to 6 minutes in the pressure cooker setting.

Once the rice is done, give it a mix. Add in the coconut milk and the cream of coconut. Bring to a simmer, while you mix constantly. Once at a simmer, add in the raisins and the vanilla. Continue mixing for 10 mins or until the mixture is thick and has turned to a caramel color.

Poor the mixture into a pie pan. Let it sit out at room temperature for at least 30 min before topping and placing in the fridge to let it cool. Before serving, sprinkle ground cinnamon on top.

Buen Provecho!

Ingredients

2 cans of Coconut Milk
1 can of Cream of Coconut
2 tsp of vanilla
1/8 tsp of ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt
4 sticks of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 cup water

Directions

Into a pot, pour the cans of coconut milk and cream of coconut. Add the vanilla, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, and salt. Set heat to a 7 on a 10 scale. Whisk until the cinnamon is well mixed and the color is uniform, then throw in the cinnamon sticks.

Whisk occasionally while you bring to a simmer. Once you see bubbles forming at the surface, reduce heat to a 2/10. Whisk occasionally for 10 – 15 min. The color should get darker and the taste will get yummier.

Once the flavor is just right (you’re looking for spice infusion and some level of caramelization), remove the cinnamon sticks. In a separate bowl, mix the corn starch and water to make a slurry. Now here’s the hard part, you’re going to slowly pour the slurry into the coconut mix while you WHISK VIGOROUSLY!

Once the slurry is fully poured in, you’re going to continue whisking VIGOROUSLY for 2 – 4 minutes. It’s gonna thicken up. Then pour the coconut goodness into a cake pan, or a pie pan… just pour it into something where it will cool and stiffen.

Let cool at room temperature uncovered for a good 10 min. Then you can put it in the fridge, again uncovered, for another 15 – 20 min. Then, sprinkle cinnamon on top for decoration. You can cover it now and put it away or eat it.

Serves many

Ingredients

Half a pack of bacon
2 boneless pork chops
1 whole onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 bell pepper
2 Tbsp of sofrito (homemade)
2 packets of sazon
3 cups of rice
2 cans of gandules
1 bushel of cilantro
1/2 cup spanish olives stuffed with minced piminetos
1 tiny can of sliced piminetos

Directions

Dice up the bacon. In a wide caldero, render the bacon on slow heat. In the mean time, wash your rice until the water is mostly clear, and dice up the onions, garlic, bell pepper, and cube cut the two pork chops. You want to slow render the bacon, so ~15 min.

Once the bacon renders, dump in the pork chops. When they’re parcooked, dump in the onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Raise the heat now to medium. Cook until the onions are translucent.

To this now add the sofrito and sazon. You want to “cook” the sazon to really bring out the flavor. Some 3 min or so. Add in the sliced spanish olives.

Now bring the heat up to a medium high. To this add the 3 cups of rice. You’re going to soft cook the rice in the bacon fat. You’ll want to keep stirring basically until pegao is about to form. Make sure the rice turns to that nice yellow.

Add in the two cans of gandules. Stir that in. Then add in 4 cups of water. Or at least enough water to pass what my abuelo calls the finger rule. When the rice settles down, there should be about one finger tip worth of water at the top.

Taste the water for salt. Notice I haven’t said add salt yet. To me, bacon is salty. Plus you added spanish olives which are super salty, as well as sazon. So I wait till this point to taste the water for salt before adding in to taste.

Bring the liquid to a simmer and then keep stirring. You’ll want to leave just enough liquid so that it just barely covers the rice. The moment that happens, reduce the heat to low, add in the cilantro and pimientos on top of the rice. Lid the caldero.

Do not unlid for at least 15 min. At which point, stir the rice, make it into a dome, and put the lid back on for another 20 min. Then unlid, stir, and leave it with the lid and heat off for like 5 min. This will get rid of any excess water.

Makes 1 serving / 1 bowl

Ingredients

1 cup milk or substitute (I use cashew milk because it’s creamier I think)
1/4 cup of yellow corn meal
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp of honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 dash of cinnamon
1 pinch of salt

Directions

Poor all ingredients EXCEPT for corn meal into a pot. Heat, whisk, and bring to simmer. Then slowly sprinkle in the corn meal as you whisk vigorously. Once it’s all in, reduce the heat to low and continue whisking for a few minutes. Then lid it and let sit for a few minutes. Unlid, whisk again, and serve! The entire process shouldn’t take longer than 10 mins. You can drizzle some more honey on top for garnish if you have a sweet tooth. I like it less sweet and more corn tasting though.