Sunday, September 5, 2010

Regional Recipes: PUERTO RICO Round-Up

It's September.  Depressing.  But true.

Why depressing, you ask?

Well obviously because that means I'm sitting in a classroom all day instead of wiling away my time on a beach in San Juan, while sipping a pina colada and eating plantains by the fistful.  Yes.  By the fistful.  I really love plantains.

Well, what can you do.  Other than eat away your sadness of course.  Let the Puerto Rico round-up begin!

First up is Sara of the Saucy Dipper who was inspired by all of the Puerto Rican food she ate at a friend's wedding in San Juan.  One thing in particular that left an impression on her was the Puerto Rican dipping sauce that she had there.  Delicious!


My sister from another mister, Mo, over at Food Snob is *gasp* Puerto Rican and *gasp* lost her Puerto Rican food V card just for this round up!  She made arroz con gandules, a Puerto Rican household staple!

Chaya of My Sweet and Savory always puts so much thought into her Regional Recipes entries.  She researches the country in question and then hems and haws over which recipe to choose.  Well, she certainly chose a winner this time with her bunuelos de queso.  YAM FRITTERS WITH CHEESE.  Yes people.  She knows the way to my heart.

Heather of Girlichef, though an expert in Mexican cooking, has never dabbled in Puerto Rican food before!  As such, she thought she would go all-out for this month's challenge.  And make a multi-course meal.  She made Pavochon, Jibaritos, Spicy Pina Vinagre, and Mantecadas.  AKA turkey seasoned and roasted like a suckling pig, a sandwich made with fried plantains in place of bread, spicy pineapple vinegar, and Puerto Rican shortbread cookies.  I'm inviting us all over to her place for dinner.


Daniel of Casual Kitchen, always out to show readers that you can cook good, real food without breaking the bank, shares his recipe for pernil with us!  A great dish to serve to company.  Or to just sit at home eating yourself.  With a fork. Not that I do things like that.  Often.

Sparkling barbecue sauce.  Comprised of lemon-lime soda, ketchup, sweet red barbecue sauce, liquid smoke and black pepper, that is what Kim of Stirring the Pot doused her Puerto Rican grilled pork chops in and man do they look GOOD!

Jo of Little House by the Railway Line and a first-time Regional Recipe-er, excited to start trying new foods, made not one, but TWO dishes.  Her mojo isleno and quimbobo guisado both look flavor-packed and delicious.

Vanessa of Sweet Artichoke really persevered in trying to find a vegetarian recipe amongst all of the pork-heavy Puerto Rican dishes!  I'm glad she did, as her black bean soup looks hearty and satisfying.

Akheela of Torviewtoronto, another first time Regional Recipes participant, submitted her version of caramel pudding or flan.  This eggy custard is one of my favorite desserts and so I'm quite glad that someone took it on!

Rachel of The Crispy Cook shows her adopted patriotic pride for Puerto Rico by making the National Dish of arroz con gandules!  She made her vegetarian version super tasty by adding extra seasoning and more olives.  I like the way she thinks.

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen has been on an avocado kick this month, and quite frankly I don't mind the abundance of avocado recipes that she has been churning out recently.  This cold avocado soup la fortaleza is no exception, as it's creamy lemony and delicious.

This month's regional recipes destination came at the perfect time for Ty's Mommy of The Seventh Level of Boredom.  She recently fell in love with plantains and made tostones with garlic mojo sauce to share with all of us!

Marisa of The Creative Pot and I have an unstated agreement that someday when we both have unlimited time and money, we will travel the world together.  Until then, we'll just cook through the world together.  Her coquito, which looks to be a creamy hypnotically coconutty drink, has thoroughly convinced me that she will be an ideal travel partner.

Kristin of Holy Cannoli must have somehow found out that pina coladas are my favorite iced drink.  Because now her pina colada sorbet is going to be my new favorite iced dessert.  Now if only I could be enjoying it on a beach somewhere...

When Kelly of It's A Food Life went on a cruise to the Caribbean three years ago, her ship stopped at San Juan.  Where was the first place she and her husband went once ashore?  A Bacardi Factory.  No lie.  And so she cooked up a banana bread pudding with rum sauce, which looks like a bread pudding lover's dream.  All I have to say it.  I need to get to San Juan.  With a pan full of this.

Finally, coming in just under the wire myself, I made Pastelon which is basically a lasagna made out of sweet plantains.  It is at once sweet, salty, spicy, and absolutely mind-blowing. I kind of want to eat it every day for the rest of my life.

Which brings us to one of my favorite parts of every month - announcing our next destination!

I never eat take-out.  Ever.  Except for one thing.

Sushi.  I adore sushi.

And so this month we are headed to...JAPAN! Please send your recipes to jhbruno87@gmail.com by September 30th!

33 comments:

  1. Love the round-up and hope to bring you a tasty Japanese recipe this month. :)

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  2. AH! My stomach is growling like a mad dog!! Everything looks soooo good! I'm so glad we traveled to Puerto Rico. Although I must be honest...I didn't really want to come back ;) Great roundup, Joanne. And Japan, huh? You have quite the knack for picking regions that I'm almost completely unfamiliar with (cooking-wise). That rocks!

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  3. Thanks so much for including my salsa rosa! I too could eat plantains by the fistful. I like the sweet plantains best. I noticed you're on the Upper East Side. While in NYC we ate at the Chicken Festival on 1st and 81st often. It's Peruvian, but the plantains were still delish.

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  4. Japan sounds like fun, I think. I will know better when I look up some recipes.

    I won a cookbook that covers that part of the world and this is the time, to pull it out and see if there is anything, suitable.

    Thanks for hosting and picking the countries.
    U da gurl.

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  5. delicious roundup so many dishes to try

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  6. Amazing round up of delicous dishes! One of these days I will join in on the fun:)

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  7. What a great roundup!! I've stuck a sticky note that says "Japan by Sept 30" on my computer!

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  8. Wonderful round up--so many great recipes! I can't wait for Japan--a great reason to drag out my cookbooks. ;-)

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  9. Great Puerto Rican round up, Joanne! Sorry I missed it! Japan sounds like loads of fun!

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  10. What a pretty round-up! Everything looks amazing...I'm definitely craving plantains now. :)

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  11. Bookmarked a bunch of these recipes. Glad I could finally join in the Regional Recipes roundup. I'm hoping to visit Japan this month!

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  12. This is a great roundup Joanne!! A really good collection of recipes. Thanks for organizing and sharing it all!

    Dan
    Casual Kitchen

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  13. Wow, everyone went all out for this one, huh? My tab-based browsing is really coming in handy here. :-)

    So excited for Japan!!! Been wondering when we would head there.

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  14. Oh dear......lots of pork, rice, frosty drinks and desserts. I seriously loved each and every dish in this roundup.

    Japan will be fun. I don't think I've ever cooked anything that was authentically Japanese.

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  15. Wonderful submissions! I miss playing :-(
    Hope I can get back in the kitchen and back to blogging on a regular basis soon!

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  16. Wow, just got back from holidays and I am now just checking out all the wonderful submissions. Great job! Looking forward to Japan. (My mother just bought me some Tagareshi spice.)

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  17. What a great blog!

    This looks so delicious!

    Have a nice time!
    Paula

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  18. Joanne this is so cool! I'm sending this post to my friend Kathia. She will love it as much as I do!

    Laura

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  19. What a great round up! They all look so tasty and delicious...!

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  20. Great round up. I got to know different kinda recipes at one place. Lovely...

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  21. Hi Joanne,

    lovely round up of great recipes...My first time here...

    Dr.Sameena@

    www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

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  22. I've never had most of these recipes so I'll have to give them a try. They look great!

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  23. Anything to do with Banana is delicious for me.
    The last picture is the best....most appetizing.

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  24. Any chance of you coming to Malaysia?

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  25. Everything look so good! But what about Italian food? I thinks it's the best in the world, but I like tasting international recipes.
    Ciao ciao ;D

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  26. Yea it's back! I love these Joanne and always look forward to the new ones!!

    Laura

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  27. Hello Joanne,
    You are simply Great! Nice recipes.... I like your blog. keep it up.

    www.raymeds.com

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  28. Totally Yummy..Love your roundup..Following your blog straight away..If you have time Check out my blog too..

    Aarthi
    http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/
    I am having a Giveaway..
    http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/2011/10/3-reason-to-celebrate-3-cookbooks.html

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  29. Very rich cuisine... :-)

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  30. Love your blog! Maybe we can follow each other on bloglovin or GFC? Please leave me a comment or follow me and I will follow you =)

    http://mevamarie.blogspot.com/

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  31. Interesting recipes, good pictures, very tasty resemble the Mediterranean cuisine which we do in Spain.
    We invite you to visit my blog from Spain, with traditional recipes from the State of
    Valencia.

    http://valenciagastronomic.blogspot.com.es

    This week " traditional Valencia pumpkin fritters " and the coming week " (Mona de Pascua) traditional Easter bread " going to lose?
    In my blog you can find a translator to your language

    I invite you to place the code html in your blog to have direct access with the news of Valenciagastronomic

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