Cuisine Featured: Puerto Rican
The Melting Pot section is where we have placed recipes for cuisines brought to America by the many immigrants to our shores. Over the years these cuisines have been Americanized, i.e., most viewers of our site have probably been exposed to many of these cuisines, either via the dining-out route or, perhaps, directly within our own families due to the multi-ethnic makeup therein. As an example of this multi-ethnicity within a single family, I can cite my own case-- My family consists of the following ethnicities: English, Irish, Scottish, German, Polish and Greek. Is it any wonder then that America is called the Melting Pot?
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2 c milk the converted variety)
6 sticks cinnamon 2 c coconut milk, made from
1 tsp whole cloves 2 c coarsely chopped fresh
A 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, coconut and 2 c hot milk*
peeled and crushed with the side ½ c sugar
of a knife 1 tsp salt
1 quart water ½ c seedless raisins
1 c long-grain white rice (not Ground cinnamon
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For the more adventuresome among you, I have included the procedure for making coconut milk (starting with a fresh coconut) below. This does involve some work. For the rest of you, coconut milk is available canned in your better food markets.
In a 1- to 1½-quart saucepan, combine the milk, cinnamon sticks, cloves and ginger. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer the milk uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside for at least 1 hour.
Strain the milk through a fine sieve set over a measuring cup; if there is less than 2 c milk, add enough cold milk to make 2 c. Discard the cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
Bring the quart of water to a boil and drop in the rice. Cook uncovered for 5 minutes, then drain the rice in a sieve and wash it under cold water.
In a 2- to 2½-quart saucepan, combine the coconut milk, strained spiced milk, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then stir in the rice, cover the pan, and reduce the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes, then stir in the raisins, re-cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes longer, or until the liquid is completely absorbed and the rice is tender. Transfer the arroz con coco to a serving bowl or individual bowls, sprinkle with ground cinnamon, and serve at room temperature. Serves 4 to 6.
* HOW TO BUY, OPEN and PREPARE a COCONUT
Before buying a coconut, shake it to make sure it is full of liquid. The more there is, the fresher the coconut.
TO OPEN A COCONUT: Puncture two of the eyes of the coconut by hammering the sharp tip of an ice pick or screwdriver through them. Drain all of the coconut water into a measuring cup. Lightly tap the entire surface of the shell with a hammer, then split the shell with a sharp blow. The shell should fall away from the meat. If bits of meat still cling to it, cut them away with a small knife and add them to the rest of the meat.
TO GRATE COCONUT: Pare off the brown outer skin of the coconut meat with a swivel-type peeler or small sharp knife. Then grate the meat, piece by piece with a hand grater.
TO MAKE COCONUT MILK OR CREAM: Without removing the brown skin, cut or break the coconut meat into 1-inch pieces. Measure them by the cupful, then place them in the jar of an electric blender with an equal number of cups of hot, but not boiling, milk or cream. Blend at high speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the jar with a rubber spatula. Continue to blend at high speed until the coconut meat is reduced to a fairly smooth purée.
Scrape the contents of the blender jar into a fine sieve lined with a double thickness of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a deep bowl. With a wooden spoon, press down hard on the coconut to extract as much liquid as possible. Bring the ends of the cheesecloth together so that they enclose the pulp, and wring the cloth tightly to squeeze out the remaining liquid. Discard the pulp.
Two cups of coconut meat combined with 2 cups of hot milk or cream should produce 2 cups of coconut milk. The average coconut available in the United States weighs about 1½ pounds and yields 3 to 4 cups of coconut meat.
