Sazón Líquido

For those of you who are like me, you do not like the way we Americans make beans. Not green beans, but pinto beans, red beans, kidney beans, black beans, etc. To me, those beans have always been lacking in a delicious flavor. I never really cared for their texture, either. Well, I got married to a Dominican, and Dominicans eat a LOT of beans. I mean, a LOT. When I first visited my husband's family, I was scared I wouldn't like any of the food because I knew that they ate beans with everything, and I didn't want to be rude and not eat the food they made. My husband told me that they made beans very differently than us, and that I should try them.

I'm so glad I did.
I'm a little obsessed now. Okay, a lot obsessed.

Dominicans put this sauce (which my mother-in-law calls Sazón Líquido) in with their beans, and depending on what type of beans they are, they put other things in with them as well. They also use this sauce with their meat (they'll add some tomato sauce with this when they put it with meat) and it tastes simply divine.

The recipe I'm going to share with you is the recipe my mother-in-law uses. She didn't get it from a book; this recipe is one she keeps in her head, and it's a recipe that's been passed down to me. I'm not an expert at it yet, but the one I made today sure tasted good when I put it with my gandules! (green pigeon peas)

(In later blog posts, I'll tell you specifically incorporate this into other recipes for different beans).
This makes quite a bit of sauce, however, it lasts a long time because there's a lot of garlic in it, and garlic is a natural preservative.

Sazón Líquido

Ingredients:

3 garlic heads (yes, HEADS, not cloves)

3 small red onions (each about the size of a radish)

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

½ the container of alcaparrado (seedless)

¼ of the bunch of cilantro

2 stalks of celery

About ½ cup of water (but no more!)

Directions:

In a food processor, chop finely all the ingredients together until it becomes a liquidy paste.Wait to add the water. If needed, add (at the maximum) 1/2 cup of water to make it blend better. 

Shirley Mugging! Chocolate Brownie Cake

You know those microwaveable desserts that you can buy at the store? Well, Shirley offers gluten-free microwaveable desserts now. I recently tried the Chocolate Brownie Cake mix.

This tastes more like a cake than it does a brownie.
I would recommend this product, but I would alter the directions it gives you.

The instructions say to add 1/4 cup chocolate chips to the mix, and then to add some to the top after it comes out of the microwave. IGNORE THIS. This makes it overpoweringly chocolate chipy, and you can't taste the cake at all when you get about halfway through because there are way too many chocolate chips.
I would add about 10 chocolate chips inside it, and then put some real frosting on the top. The chocolate chips alone weren't cutting it for me.

As long as you make the changes that I suggest, I think this could be a very delightful little treat.