Arroz con gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas) by Li

2 Tablespoons of corn oil OR two tablespoons of lard OR a few inches of fatback
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste, or to taste
1/4 cup of sofrito (recipe to follow)
1/4 cup of Spanish olives, or to taste
1 packet Sazon seasoning with azafran
Adobo seasoning with cumin, to taste
2 cups long-grain rice
1 can of gandules (green pigeon peas), drained and rinsed.

Heat oil in a dutch oven or soup pot and add tomato paste, sofrito, olives, Sazon and Adobo. Stir until bubbling, then add rice and stir until coated. Stir in gandules and then add water to pot until water covers the top of the mixture to a depth of about 1 1/2 inches. Turn heat up to high and boil the rice and gandules without stirring until almost all of the water has boiled away. Cover the pot with a tight lid (if lid is not air tight, cover pot with aluminum foil and then place lid). Turn off heat and let sit without stirring or peeking for 20 minutes (Rice will be steaming during this time. If you uncover too soon, the rice will be hard.) Uncover after 20 minutes and stir rice and peas together.

Sofrito:

1 medium Spanish onion, cut into big chunks
8 cloves garlic, peeled
6 ajicitos dulces* or 1 cubanelle pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into chunks
4 leaves culantro** (if you can't find culantro, increase the amount of ajicitos or cilantro by half)
6 big sprigs cilantro, stems and all, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup packed)

Put all ingredients into a blender and puree until the mixture is slightly foamy and slides off a spoon. The extra can be frozen for future use.

*Ajices Dulces, also known as ajicitos are tiny sweet peppers that look like Scotch bonnet or Habanero chilies--but aren't hot at all. Try to find them in bodegas in Puerto Rican or Dominican neighborhoods. If not, up the cilantro and add a pinch of cayenne pepper.

**Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and serrated edges. It is also known as recao. When it comes to flavor, culantro is like cilantro times ten. Try to find it in bodegas in Puerto Rican or Dominican neighborhoods.

If you're a gardner, you can get seeds for culantro and aji dulce at http://www.caribbeanseeds.com/