Arroz Con Leche de mi Tata (My Grandmas Rice Pudding)

I LOVE my Tata's (grandmother's) rice pudding.

Different countries have their own version of "Arroz Con Leche" and different cooks have their own personalized versions. It varies greatly, even in flavor and texture, the common thing is there's always a dairy and rice.

So what makes my grandmother's version worthwhile and delicious? Well it's so rich, creamy, and dense infused with a light lime or lemon flavor and cinnamon flavor. It incorporates whole milk, velvety evaporated milk, and rich creamy sweet condensed milk... as if that wasn't enough the butter gives it an unsurpassed richness and density. The short grain rice also makes it more creamy, more like risotto.

It's like "Arroz Con Leche" on steroids.

Ingredients:
-2 cups short-grain rice (such as Valencia, , Bomba, Calaspara, Calrose, even other types of Japanese & Korean short-grain rices, oh almost forgot Arborio Rice also works here.)

-4 cups water
-1 big pinch of salt (about 1/4- 1/2 tsp. salt)
-2 cinnamon sticks
-2 small or 1 medium lime only the peel (lemon peel can be used in it's absence)
-3 cups whole milk
-1 can evaporated milk
-1 can sweetened condensed milk
-3/4's cup white cane sugar
-4- 8 tablespoons butter (that's about 1/2- 1 stick of butter)
-1/2- 1 cup regular raisins (optional some people hate raisins)
-ground cinnamon (to dust)

Directions:
(1)In a large pot put rice and wash rice well, wash and drain about 3-5 times until water runs clear.

(2)Add water, salt, lime peel, and cinnamon stick, bring to a boil on high heat (stir occasionally while waiting for it to boil) once boiled stir, cover, and let simmer on low heat for 25-30 minutes on the lowest heat until rice absorbs water.

(3)Meanwhile in a big bowl mix evaporated milk with whole milk, whisk in sweetened condensed milk and incorporate 3 milks well. (whatever you can't get out of the sweetened condensed milk can don't worry grab a spoon and scoop it out and eat it as a treat for you ha ha)

(4)Once the rice absorbs all the water, slowly add 3 milks mixture and stir in , bring heat back to high heat, and stir every 5 minutes occasionally until milk comes to a raging boil with the rice.

Trust me at first it will feel like you added to much milk but the rice will absorb a lot of it and thicken with time.
(5)Lower heat to low and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes total. After 5 minutes of of boiling on low the rice should have absorbed some of the milk and thickened a bit, check if grains are tender, add in white sugar, stir well, taste and see if you want to add more sugar to taste.

(6)At this point let it cook an additional 5 minutes, add the butter towards the end, and add the raisins to stir until everything is well incorporated.


(7)Turn off heat and dust lightly with ground cinnamon. (Your probably wondering why I have 1 pot and 1 other ceramic filled with rice pudding the reason is my father and little sister do not like raisins, so before adding the raisins I set aside some without raisins for my Dad and sister and whomever else may want to eat it without raisins)

P.S.

This can be eaten as dessert at any temperature desired, it can be eaten hot, warm, room temp., or cold, it doesn't matter it's whatever you like. In hot day's I like it cold, in the winter I like it piping hot or warm. You can serve it in individual bowls and dust with cinnamon on those or like in my house we just make a big batch and everyone just get's their own bowl and goes help themselves. You can also eat this as a snack or heck even a big bowl for breakfast or late night meal ha ha.

Also, in case your wondering why I call my grandma "Tata" it's because she say's that's what they called grandmas in her family grandpa was called "Tato". I went to do some research and it came up that it's sometimes used in Madrid, Spain by some to refer to grandpa or grandma, it is used when the child is to young to properly say grandpa or grandma I think that's what came up, I don't know, some Cubans also call their grandma "Tata" and some Spaniards do to., I'm grown up well kinda and still call my grandmother "Tata" and she'd kill me if I called her anything else she say's "Abuela" (Grandma) or "Abuelita" (Granny) make her feel old.

REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE!:
*If you want to speed up the cooking time, while the rice is cooking with the water for about 25-30 minutes or so, you can mix the 3 milk mixtures and bring it to a boil then leave it on really low heat, that way when the rice has absorbed the water and you have to add the milk you won't have to wait long for the milk to come to a boil, after it boils you'll be done in like 10 more minutes.

*Well that's all I have to share for today :) Til next time ha ha.

Arroz Rojo Mexicano (Mexican Red Rice)

I'm re-posting this I had this in my blog before but it had no pictures

Mexican rice in Mexico is known as "Arroz Rojo" (literally red rice) or "Sopa de Arroz" (soup of rice, it doesn't make sense and I have no idea how other name for it came to be since this isn't a soup in any way)

Mexican rice. Pretty common, most people know what it is. This is my mom's recipe and it is better than any other Mexican cooks rice.

Some people say it's bland that's probably because they don't know how to make it or had it from a bad cook.

Most home cooks add some chopped carrots and peas. For a beautiful color and a nice sweet bite here and there.

Those are optional but I think it makes a big difference and is nice presentation
It's CRITICAL not to skimp on the sodium here.

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cup rice (rinsed well and drained of most water remove as much water as possible you'll see why later even put it through a fine strainer)
-water(depends on the brand of rice you use regular long-grain white rice use 1 1/2 cups per 1 cup trust me, do the math for the 1/2 cup in this recipe I think it's like for the 1/2 cup it's 3/4's water?)
-1/2 of chopped onion minced
-2 garlic clove minced
-1 8oz can tomato sauce (or 2 large ripe tomatoes finely chopped)
-2/3 cup chopped squared carrots (optional)
-2/3 cup sweet peas (optional)
-2 teaspoonfuls chicken bouillon
-1 teaspoon ground cumin
-salt to taste (the water should be salty like the ocean)
-2 bay leaves (optional)
-Cooking oil
-1/2 a bunch of cilantro leaves minced to garnish (optional)

Directions
(1)Before you start bring water to a boil in a separate pot then turn it off.

(2)Heat a GENEROUS (notice the emphasis on generous) amount of cooking oil heat it on medium low. (don't worry, after teh rice is toasted we are going to drain most of the excess oil)

(3)Add the rice and toast it until a strong golden brown. Stir constantly it may take 5 minutes or longer but if you don't stir it wont brown evenly and clump up BE PATIENT

(4)Add the onion and sautee until translucent then add garlic until fragrant.

(5)Stir in tomato sauce stir well, then add water.

(6)Add the bouillon and cumin and carrots and peas.

(7)Bring to a boil and add bay leaves cover to cook for about 30 minutes on low.

(8)Open to check if cooked, taste it. Check if theres any water left on the bottom. At this point add cilantro over the top.

(9)Turn of heat and cover for 5 minutes to let it fully poof more.

(10)DON'T FLUFF WITH A FORK! (for this dish my mom just thinks you shouldn't like I guess in Mexican culture if you fluff the whole pan of Mexican Rice shouldn't be fluffed because she say's it looks "manociado" which would translate to "touched to much" like messy leftovers? I don't know it's her idea) the reason in the picture a huge chunk is missing is because my little sister had taken a big plate before I was able to take a picture.

(11)Your done, this can be used as a side for anything, good with some grilled meats, refried beans, hot sauces or pico de gallo, etc.

P.S.
If you where interested in teh Mexican Red Rice you may be interested in the:

Mexican "Green Rice"

Papas Con Chorizo (Mexican Potatoes and Sausage)

The Mexican version of Potatoes and Sausage, this uses a raw pork sausage called "Chorizo Mexicano" (to Mexicans it's just known as "Chorizo") I'm not sure what it's seasoned with.

Potatoes are cubed, fried until golden, drained, and tossed in a flavorful sautee of garlic, onion, chili pepper, tomato, crumbled cooked Mexican chorizo, salt and pepper. Very simple.

This recipe can also be made with Mexican pork longaniza which is simply called "Longaniza de Puerco" it's a type of sausage that is fresh, and can be removed from casing and crumbled I am not sure what it is seasoned with but I believe it has dried "Chile California" maybe cumin, allspice, pepper, etc. not so sure.

FOR THE FOLLOWING I'M GONNA ALMOST REPEAT WHAT I WROTE ON MY "Huevos Con Longaniza" post:

The difference between Mexican Chorizo and the Longaniza is that Mexican pork Chorizo is more pale, and very very fresh, it also has a higher fat content in comparison to the longaniza. (I'm speaking from what I have observed)

Mexican Chorizo get's a bad reputation for being "overly" greasy, but I must say it really depends what brand you buy, and where you buy it, the one I buy is from "Vallarta" (a chain of of stores that sells mostly Latin, Central, and South American products, it cater's mostly to Mexicans) at that store I can find the chorizo fresh, it's not branded I don't know if they make it on site but they have these huge ropes they cut off of when you ask for Chorizo at the deli & creamerie within the store.

A lot of the pre-packaged brands are kinda gross to me, they are toooo greasy, runny, fall apart easily etc. and overly salted, and have a weird almost rediculously artificial red color, if you are using a pre-packaged one that is like that, be sure that when you fry it in the oil to drain some of the fat.
Ingredients:
-6 regular brown potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes)
-2-3 medium sized Mexican Chorizos about 1 lbs. (casing removed, crumbled)

-1 onion finely chopped
-1 green chili pepper such as Jalapeño or Serrano peppers minced
-6 cloves of garlic finely minced (preferably through a garlic press)
-2 medium round tomatoes or 3 roma tomatoes finely chopped
-salt to taste
-ground black pepper to taste
-1/2 a bunch or more of finely minced or chopped cilantro leaves (cleaned)
-cooking oil (something with a high smoking point, a neutral flavored oil, I use canola for deep-frying, and high heat cooking)

Directions:
(1)Heat oil on medium high heat, let it heat for like 5 minutes. Make sure to enough oil to pan-fry the cubed potatoes, add the potatoes, and let them fry for about 15-20 minutes until golden, stirring and folding every 5-8 or more minutes, just check it occasionally.

(2)While that's cooking (the potatoes) take the casing off the chorizo, add to a pan on medium high heat, and crumble and let brown, depending on the chorizo you may need or not need to add a little oil. Let it brown and cook through (remember this is a raw sausage it neeeds to be cooked unless you wanna risk food poisoning)

(3)So meanwhile the potatoes are frying, and the chorizo is cooking down, take advantage and chop up the onions, garlic, chili pepper, and tomatoes.

(4)When the chorizo is browning add the onions and chili pepper and let them cook until they are translucent about 5 minutes or more, add garlic sautee like 1-2 minutes until fragrant, add salt and pepper and cook down another minute.

(5)While you where sauteeing the potatoes should've been done, remove them, set them on a plate or whatever with paper towels and lightly salt them.

(6)Add the cubed fried potatoes to the sautee, mix well and cook for a little bit not long just enough to incorporate everything, taste for salt.

(7)Turn off heat and garnish with cilantro.

NOTES:
*You can serve this as a side with whatever you want, it can replace the meat and vegetable dishes in a meal since it has potatoes and sausage, serving this with a meat dish would be to heavy. (of course I am no authority in anything, these are just suggestions you don't need to listen to me)

*You can serve it with tortillas, a hot sauce if desired,seasoned refried beans or boiled beans and that's it. It can even be used as a filling for tacos.

*If having for breakfast, you can have it with eggs prepared however you want or over-easy. You can even make it for breakfast and add beaten eggs to it to make a potato, sausage, egg type scramble

*When I had this I just had it with Mexican rice, and I like to put some unsalted Mexican cream on my Mexican rice, you can use regular sour cream if unsalted Mexican cream is not available.