Comida Costariccence

One of my goals while here in Costa Rica is to add a few new dishes to my dinner repertoire. (I am notorious for fixing the same meals over and over again.) Anyhow, since we are really trying to live the Costa Rican lifestyle (yes, I washed clothes by hand yesterday) I have been talking to the ladies around here to learn how to fix typical plates fixed in the region.

Two things that make this difficult is 1) there is no such thing as a recipe here: people just know how to cook the food and 2) if I do remember the name of the ingredients from my discussions with neighbors, finding it in the grocery store can be a challenge. For example, my neighbor was saying that i need to put salsa in my gallo pinto. I was looking all over to find "salsa" or what us Americans call salsa. After about 20 minutes, I asked the store clerk where the heck the salsa was adding that I couldn't find it anywhere. She first gave me the are you stupid look and then showed me to a whole partial isle filled with Costa Rican Salsa. (It was in a bottle and it was a sweet semi-spicy brown liquid---not what I was expecting.) I would have never have found it. It is times like this that I am glad I have learned spanish---so I could redeem my poor tourist butt.

Anyhow.... the photo above is the one meal that I have mastered thus far. Gallo Pinto con Bistec. Notice the cool coconut drinks. Our neighbor used his machete to get them down off of their tree and opened them. I had no idea that coconuts had so much liquid inside. It literally was a full serving of a sweet water (not milk) type liquid.

Anyhow...if anyone is interested in making this Costa Rican staple. Here is my "recipe."

Gallo Pinto
1) Soak red beans in water on low heat until cooked. (2-3 hours)
2) Fry uncooked rice to prevent them from sticking once cooked.
4) Boil Rice as you would in the US. 2 cups water for 1 cup rice.
5) Mix Drained-Cooked Beans into cooked rice. Fry in a pan with a small amount of oil.
6) Sprinkle about half a packet of Consome' de pollo (latin chicken broth mix) into the rice and beans mixture. This is available at Vallarta in Cali, Food City in Arizona. Might be able to use American chicken broth mix. It looks the same to me, but who really knows.
7) Add a small amount (maybe 4 table spoons???)of costa rican salsa. (Good luck finding this one in the US, but you can probably use el pato sauce or something in its place. Just make sure it is not salsa with chucks.)
8) Mix well, salt, and pepper to taste.

Bistec
1) Buy flank steak, sautee with a small amount of cut onions. Sweet peppers can be added if you desire.
2) Serve when cooked.

Also good with this meal, cut pineapple and mango; bread from the panaderia, topped with queso crema. Queso crema is basically cream cheese but it is less cheesy tasting and has the texture of butter in the states. I think when we get back home i am going to try and mix butter with cream cheese to try to recreate it.