OMG my first newsletter, vol. 1!
September-ish newsletter
Love. Effort. Time.
I cook (and eat) through all emotions...happy, sad, frustrated, drunk - everything you can think of.
I get my love of cooking from my mom. She cooked for every occasion, even the sad ones, and every dish was filled with love and the best part...effort & time. The best memories I have of her cooking is on Thanksgiving (I know it’s cliche, but hey). She would wake up extra early and the house would smell like a mix of Bustelo coffee and onions & garlic with salsa music blaring so loud — it was heaven. She would always let me taste everything before the rest of the family, always in a small white ramekin cup and the first bite was always so amazing.
I can go on about her cooking, but the time, effort & love she used to cook for everyone in her life are the same ingredients I use in mine. I always say this but cooking is truly the ultimate form of love. When you’re taking the time & effort to cook for someone, and that includes yourself, it’s the biggest expression of love...and let’s hope it tastes good!
I hope through this newsletter you’ll find tips, tricks & obviously recipes to cook for the people in your life. Remember...we’re not top chef here, we’re here for good food!
cheers to cooking!
For a big bowl of love try my recipe of picadillo below!
To rinse or not to rinse rice...
“You can tell a lot about a bitch by the way she cook rice.”- Erykah Badu 2018
So apparently this is a THING...My mom never rinsed her rice so I never rinsed my rice. It wasn’t until during quarantine, that a lot of people & my first IG troll lol (who was actually super offended that I didn’t rinse my rice) started asking me “do you rinse your rice?” I was like well no because I was never taught to.
Well it does have some benefits…
The main benefit : it removes the surface starch from the rice grains which if you don’t your rice is gummy & sticky...so this is the way I grew up eating rice lol! I love sticky, gummy, wet rice (weird lol). HOWEVER, I have rinsed my rice and do see the difference. Your rice is slightly more “fluffy” and not as clumped together. This is definitely a preference so I say whatever you feel like doing, do!
Removes dirt : Here’s another thing - my mom is 68 years old, still alive & thriving and she never rinsed her rice BUT especially in larger bags of rice there could be some leftover debris so rinsing it can be helpful.
Beyond rinsing rice, the most fascinating part is how other cultures cook their rice. I’ve heard rice cookers, butter instead of oil, 1 part rice to 2 parts water (the way I learned) and then tying a towel under the lid...which I have tried and is great!
I say all of this to say, rinsing is def a preference...what matters is how it tastes, to YOU! So if you feel like rinsing, rinse and if you don’t, don’t - but always remember for every 1 cup or rice, use 2 cups of water!
My favorite rice recipe goes without saying is arroz con gandules...it’s a staple in my house and of course, this is my mom’s recipe because I learned from her.
Note: new recipe coming soon updated with NO goya products!
Things to support, eat, drink..and buy (yes, I want your kitchen to be stocked!)
Shipwreck Fish Boutique - Bed Stuy, Brooklyn & Black + Puerto Rican Owned
There’s so much to say about Shipwreck. Well one, the owner Joey is f*cking amazing and his energy is so infectious you will leave better than the way you came in. I’ve been living in Brooklyn for a little over 2 years and I really fell in love with the Borough during quarantine. When I moved back to NYC in 2018, I was in the streetzzzz (drinking, partying, all of that). I started a new job and was traveling A LOT so I didn't really get to explore Bed-Stuy until now (during quarantine..I’m still quarantining in September). My friend Chris told me about this gem of a place in March and ever since then I was hooked!
The fish is sooo fresh, it doesn’t have that fish market smell either (that’s actually how you know the fish isn’t fresh) and they sell sushi-grade seafood...a mf win! If you are ever in Bed-Stuy, I highly suggest stopping by!
F*ck Goya.
I’m sure everyone has heard about this, so I won’t go into crazy detail about it, but just know if you are still using Goya, just throw it away - I know, I know..it is hardddd. I GET IT! Basically, the president of Goya supports racism, hatred & bigotry so yea..it’s a no for me!
I grew up eating all things Goya but before their president made these wild ass remarks I actually started to wean myself off of it because there’s actually a ton of preservatives in their products andddd it’s v high in sodium… no bueno for POC!
I absolutely cannot go without Adobo & Sazon in my house so I started to research spices that were made with real ingredients..and yes, spices have a shelf life of about 6 months before there is no more flavor left in them.
Below are some of my faves:
Dear Dacy - Black Woman Owned
Loisa - Dominican Owned
Eric Rivera Cooks - Puerto Rican Owned
Papa Hill’s ‘Get You Wasted’ Red Sangria (yes, you can drink sangria year round)
My dad makes THEE best sangria and I’ve had a lot of sangria lol. When I was home I went to visit him after I hadn’t seen my dad in over a year. He moved to Puerto Rico in 2016 and just moved back in August of 2020. Of course, he offered me his legendary sangria and I got low-key drunk...luckily my mom lives across the street (they are divorced lol…I know, weird) so I didn’t have to go far.
Recipe below!
My dad never measures but it’s all about taste, so these are rough measurements below
Ingredients
1 bottle red wine
½ cup or more of Amaretto Liqueur
1 bottle of sprite
Apples, chopped
Oranges, chopped
Limes, chopped
Lemons, chopped
Directions
combine everything together & serve over ice!
...in other news!
I’m teaching a cooking class with Great Jones on Tuesday, September 29th at 7pm!
My favorite & affordable cookware brand!
I am sooo excited & also nervous but we are cooking my absolute favorite Puerto Rican meal - arroz con pollo! My go to meal for any day of the week and my mom’s signature dish! Hope to see you there!
Until next month!
xo - Alex