Puerto Rican delicacies | KarmaFree Cooking

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Happy 4th Anniversary to KarmaFree Cooking!!!!!!

I can’t believe it… that 4 years ago I decided to share my vegetarian recipes with you, all over the world.

It’s soooo humbling to know that my recipes and information are useful and interesting to so many of you out there. Most of you are in the United States, but many of you visit from around the globe – United Kingdom, Canada, India, Australia, Italy (I hope that’s you Kate!!!, among others…), Malaysia, Argentina and of course, my beloved Puerto Rico.

I love to bring to you all the variety I can from a vegetarian perspective… however, I am honored to say that KarmaFree Cooking’s most popular recipes are my vegetarian adaptations of traditional Puerto Rican classics like:

Pasteles in Banana Leaves

Yucca with Cuban Mojo

Veggie Sancocho

Mami’s Tembleque

How to Peel and Eat a Mango

Fried White Sweet Potato

Cormeal Fritters/Sorullitos de Maiz

These were the past 12 month’s most popular recipes, believe it or not. As much as I love making those stuffed mushrooms and all those pasta dishes, you guys appreciate my take on the Puerto Rican/Hispanic foods some of you never thought would be able to enjoy again now that you want to follow a more natural, veggie-full lifestyle.

I promise I will make an even greater effort to continue to bring those Latin dishes to you… and to present them to all of you, whose background might not be Latin, so can get to know me and my culture through our delicious food.

Thanks a lot for everything and please SHARE KarmaFree Cooking with all your friends and family who will appreciate and benefit from our easy and relaxed cooking style. Non-vegetarians are also welcome…

GRACIAS

Tags: food, recipes, vegetarian

Comments 7 Comments
Categories MY EDITORIAL, Puerto Rican delicacies

BacalaFREEtos… from Puerto Rico to the world!!!

9 Sep

My friend Bren, from the site FlanboyantEats is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a week-full of recipes from all over Latin America. She has shared with her readers the beauty and flavors of recipes from Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Peru. Today is Friday, and it’s Puerto Rico’s turn.

Bren asked me to write something about a Puerto Rican dish I love and what better way to express my devotion for my beloved Puerto Rican cuisine than with homage to the BacalaFREEto!!!

Check out my guest post on FlanboyantEats here…

I have known Bren for a few years now… we have never met in person, but we have lots in common. She’s Cuban, loves to cook and travel, loves fashion (maybe a little bit more than me…) and we love to share our passions thru writing. Bren is certainly an inspiration… she has cooked for an Emeril show and look at the quote from Joel Rebouchon at the top of her blog!!! FlanboyantEats even has Saveur Magazine seal of approval of the sites they love the most. Kudos!!

As the name implies, FlanboyantEats is filled with FLAN recipes… maybe one day I can get her to feature one of my eggless flan recipes, what do you think???

Thanks Bren for featuring a little piece of Puerto Rico and KarmaFree Cooking in your wonderful site…

Tags: heritage, Hispanic, Puerto Rico, vegetarian

Comments 5 Comments
Categories COMMENTS, Puerto Rican delicacies

Papaya Mango Fruit Cup

8 Aug

Here’s the fruit cup… redefined. Ever since I finished my July 4th retreat I’ve been on a fruit thing. I have always mentioned you how I need and want to eat more fruits, but I am sometimes lazy. I’m getting over the laziness now. I am trying to have 3-4 fresh fruits on hand to eat as breakfast or a a snack while watching TV. Costco helps because I need to buy fruit in bulk and makes me eat fruit every day, several times a day before they spoil on me…

My favorite fruit salads are made from acidic and sub-acidic fruits… citrus, berries, kiwis, pineapple, grapes, peaches, plums, etc. I have made two of these Acid Fruit Salads for you already… But I also sometimes enjoy a sweet fruit combination – Papaya and Mango.

Papaya and Mango are both very soothing fruits to your system. They’re perfect when you’re feeling under the weather stomach-wise. I like this combination when finishing my days of fasting.

PAPAYA AND MANGO FRUIT CUP

Papaya, cut into small pieces, about ¼ of a small papaya

Mango, cut into small pieces

Hanfdul of raisins

Drizzle of Honey or Agave Nectar

Sliced almonds, optional but highly recommended

You determine how much is enough for your appetite…is I never measure, as you already know. This is more assembling the components than a recipe, really.

Mix all the fruits together in a bowl. Drizzle with a bit of honey to add a tad of sweetness.
Sprinkle with sliced almonds. I didn’t have any the other day, but I wanted to share this with all of you…

What’s your favorite fruit salad combination? Please share yours…

Tags: almonds, food, honey, mango, papaya, raisins, vegetarian

Comments 3 Comments
Categories breakfast, Puerto Rican delicacies, Salad, snacks

Fried Cheese

5 Aug

I laughed super hard last week when I was watching some recorded Rocco’s Dinner Party episodes I had on TIVO. In one of the dinner parties, the chefs were presented with a variety of cheeses from around the world… or maybe just France, can’t remember. Well, they needed to pick and serve a cheese course with their suggested party menus.

Rocco was impressed… shall I say very impressed with a FRIED CHEESE bite he was served by one of the chefs. So impressed, he still was bragging about it yesterday during a Twitter thing we had where the viewers/fans can ask him all sorts of questions directly. I laughed all over again yesterday because I replied to him that fried cheese is wonderful… and I knew I had this “recipe”, if we could call it that, in my Pending To Post file. So… let’s Post it along…

I told you about Queso del País… so this is what you do it – you FRY it!!!

Queso Blanco is mild in flavor because it contains still water, or better said, the whey. But as soon as you fry it, the water evaporates, the flavors concentrate and it becomes a salty, delicious bite that can be enjoyed alone as an appetizer or to complement a variety of recipes…

FRIED CHEESE

There’s not a lot of science involved in the frying of Queso Blanco… but here are my pointers:

Use a non-stick skillet preferably.
You can fry it dry or you can use a bit of canola oil spray. I do not find it makes that much of a difference.
For some reason I have not figured out, my fried cheeses always deflate… but when you order fried cheese at a restaurant as an appetizer or at a party, they’re always breaded and still square. Maybe they freeze them before frying to hold their shape… I do not know because I have not tried it. But, the flavor is there even if the shape changes. And I do not think you need to bread it to get a nice color/presentation either…

Just cut your pieces of cheese and place in a medium-hot skillet. The cheese will start of ooze some water/whey… let it. Leave it there for about 4-5 minutes until the cheese starts to get a brown, caramelized color.
Flip over and brown the other side. It’ll take less time because most of the water in the cheese has evaporated already.

Enjoy it in various ways:

Today I am enjoying it with corn tortilla chips…

You could also place a few slices of fried cheese inside a tostón sandwich. Actually that’s the original way I was taught to make it and eat it. The tofu solution came afterwards when we had to go dairy-free for a while.

It’s the best topping for Mangú… a Dominican dish made from mashed boiled plantains with lots of onions. I will have to make that one for you sometime soon.

Also, you can add pieces to some stewed peas and convert this to a Guiso Ananda or Mattar Paneer, an Indian dish made with paneer.

Any other ways you like to eat fried cheese??? Any other ways you like to eat it??? Please share all in the COMMENTS section… we love to hear from you.

Tags: cheese, food, queso blanco, vegetarian

Comments 12 Comments
Categories appetizers, Puerto Rican delicacies, sandwiches, snacks

Puerto Rican Cheese / Queso del País

4 Aug

Every country has their signature white young cheese… Mexico has Queso Fresco… Greece has Mild Feta… Italy has Ricotta Salata… India has Paneer… I am sure there are many other examples out there. Here in Puerto Rico, we have Queso Blanco or what we also call affectiously – Queso del País… meaning made here, in THIS COUNTRY.

I love Queso Blanco… it’s a white, hence the BLANCO in the name, mild and almost bland cheese. The most famous brand is Indulac, whose factory is very close to where I grew up in Hato Rey, a section of San Juan. But most Quesos Blancos are made by smaller producers and many times sold on the side of the street when you go outside the Metro Area.

A few weeks ago I took a trip to Camuy, on the Northwest side of the Island, and had the chance to buy some great Queso Blanco made right there in Camuy. The Nortwest part of Puerto Rico is well known for its dairy farms and its milk… so it’s no wonder they make great cheese too.

My granddad was from Isabela, very close to Camuy and his favorite was Quesito de Hoja – sold wrapped in folds of paper, hence the name too. Unfortunately, I have not bought Queso de Hoja lately because for some reason they’re adding artificial colorants and the moment I read FD&C on a label, I longer need to continue reading and I leave the cheese right where I took it.

Now that you know about Puerto Rican Queso del País… I will share a few recipes where you can enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong… this cheese can be fully enjoyed right out of the package – with a slice of guava paste or on the side of a dulce de papaya. But there are a few other ways you can also enjoy this delicious cheese… let’s explore them next.