Cinco de Mayo, which means the 5th of May in Spanish, is celebrated here in America, but many Americans are clueless to what it really means.
The origin goes back to Mexico, when on May 5th, 1862, the Mexican army was successful in defeating French of led by Napoleon III at The Battle of Puebla.
Mexico had troubles paying back war debts to European countries, and France had come to Mexico to collect that debt.
So when you raise that glass of Margarita or down your second bittle of Tequila, you now have an idea why you’re getting drunk.
Great Grandma V came to the United States from Mexico to begin a new life. She adopted many of the American traditions, learned English and started her own business. She acclimated speedily to the USA, adopting many of the American ways of life.
However, Grandma’s cooking remained authentically Mexican.
I loved eating her food and I am thrilled to have some of her recipes to make.
Here is here recipe for making Great Grandma’s Spanish rice.
Ingredients:
2 cups white rice
1 onion
1 bell pepper
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
5 whole cloves
fresh tomatoes sliced
2 Tbs. oil
4 cups of water
Directions:
In a large saute pan, place the heat on medium high. Add the oil and rice. While the rice begins to sauté, chop up the onions and garlic and add them in. If the rice is looking too brown, turn down the heat to medium.
Chop up the bell pepper and add that to the saute. Follow up with the spices.
A note about tomatoes: The type of tomatoes you use doesn’t matter- it can be small cherry tomatoes, medium Roma tomatoes or the large Heirloom tomatoes. Slice them and add them to the mix. Stir up the rice mixture. (The kitchen should be smelling amazing by now!)
Once everything has sautéed for about 10 minutes, add in the water and cover the rice with a lid. turn the heat down to low!
Set the timer for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off, open the lide slightly to make sure all the water has cooked down. Remove from heat/
Leave the lid on the rice until it’s eating time.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Melissa AuClair loves to cook and bake. This week, it’s Mexian all week long to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! You can follow her baking adventures at www.bakeperfectcookies.com Follow her on Twitter @Melissauclair
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