Habichuela con dulce

So tonight, I did want to make my favorite Dominican desert or as I call it the Dominican luxury. I call our culture's dishes a luxury because we have the privilege of eating so well and being able to cook so well! Like I was saying I did want to introduce my boyfriend to sweet cream of beans, or habichuela con dulce in spanish, but I been all tied up with work and school. Although it might sound strange it is a dish to fall in love with. I remember as a little girl eating habichuela con dulce and I would have never imagined it was made of beans, who would of thought. Even though I won't have the time to make it tonight I do want my readers to try the recipe at home and enjoy the luxury of being Dominican.

Ingredients :

• 1 can of red kidney beans 
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 cups of coconut milk
• 3 cups of milk
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt 
• 1/2 lb of sweet potatoes 
• 10 cloves
• 1 cup of sugar 

A day before you must prep and soak the beans in water

The next day, to get started

1. Change the water and boil the beans til they are tender
2. Take all contents from pot including water and transfer to blender and blend
3. Strain the beans
4. Boil the liquid of the beans, coconut water and half the milk
5. Add the remainder of ingredients and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally 

And that is the recipe to the amazing habichuela con dulce dish. You can eat habichuela con dulce either hot or chilled and preferably with milk cookies. I promise you will fall in love with this dish and as I said in the beginning it might seem like a strange combination of ingredients but the strangest combinations sometimes have the best result. I will look forward into introducing many more of my favorite Dominican dishes, and please give me feedback if you do experiment...Enjoy readers! 

Did you know Dominicans won the WBC? No?  Time to do little bragging.Baseball is the Dominican sport. Dominicans won the WBC (World Baseball Classic) this year. Which is pretty big because Dominicans played against all baseball teams over the world. Of course people all over the world play baseball, not to say that we own the sport, but Dominicans are passionate about baseball and very talented at it. Another impressive fact is that 20% of the MLB is of the Dominican race. My boyfriend makes fun of the Dominican culture because he says Dominicans are so talented at the sport is because they begin when they are two years old with a stick and a rock, and do nothing all day but play baseball. Which it might be rude humor but it's true. The town I am from in Dominican Republic is rich in poverty. Therefore seeing a young boy play "baseball" with a stick and a rock isn't rare.

I was my father's first born, and my father treated me as if I a boy. At  6 years old I was the only girl on the Yankees little league baseball team. As soon as I find a picture I promise I will post it up. Although my father would have preferred a son to have on a baseball team he ignored my gender completely and had me on a baseball team.. I was pretty good at it too I might add , but it just wasn't my thing , I'm more of a girly girl haha. I remember as a young girl when visiting Dominican Republic visiting a nearby baseball field with my father. It is a sport every male in Dominican Republic is dedicated to it seems. Or like no other sport exists. But i guess it pays off because in Dominicans make up a big portion of the major league baseball. I'm proud of our accomplishments!

Choreography to Promise- Romeo Santos Feat. Usher

Dominican Blues

The Second thing that comes to mind when I think of Dominicans, is Bachata. Bachata IS Dominican Republic. For those who don't know, Bachata is a music genre. Bachata is considered Dominican "Blues" and a Dominican's heart and soul. Bachata's lyrics consist of heartbreak and sadness. Dominicans refer to bachata as amargue which means bitterness or bitter music. Hispanics are familiar with this music because it spread to other Latino countries. Bachata was born in Dominican Republic in the early 20th centuries and then spread to other places such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and even the U.S. Most Hispanics don't know the roots of Bachata. It is so important to understand the history to know why Bachata is my heart and soul and why I take so much pride in it.

Bachata was looked down on when it first came around. Society looked at Bachata as the "poor's music", slave music, underworld music, backyard music. Bachata was for people of low-class. People were ashamed to listen to this music and wouldn't dare listen to it in public. Dominican's would listen to Bachata at home,hidden, as to not get caught. Bachateros (those who sang bachata ) were hated. The high class made fun of them and called them sing-your-life-away's, which, in their eyes, was a person with no future. They called them "come sopa" which translates into soup eater because that was all they could afford to eat. Bachateros played bachata with a guitar, considered the poor man's instrument. Maybe because it originated in the low class it was hated but not for long.

La Guarachita was the first radio station to play bachata in Dominican Republic. Little groups of Bachateros would go to the sleaziest bars to play there music and they basically started from the bottom but made their way up in the early 90's. Bachata came to be a popular style of music. Anthony Santos, Elvis Martinez and Luis Vargas all Dominican Bachateros made hits to overcome the negative talk about Bachata.

Bachata has come a long way and is now loved by people all over the world. Romeo Santos and Prince Royce are popular bachateros today. Bachata has become so popular, even Usher featured in the song Promise by Romeo Santos last year. It is much more than just music, it is a part of history in the Dominican Culture that we take pride in. Feel free to listen to an ex- bachata group, Aventura singing Infieles ( Unfaithful ) (below)

Dominican Flag ^  #Drake ♥

Dominican Food Over Everything!

Dominicans are made of 50 percent platanos (plantains) and 50 percent Malta. I mean, not literally of course, but platanos and Malta are a huge part of the Dominican diet. A typical Dominican will eat platanos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! For breakfast, we cut the plantains and boil them with a pinch of salt for about 20 minutes. Plantains are like rice to us. In other words, platano compliments everything. An ideal breakfast is platano with salami and fried cheese- Not american cheese but a white cheese that is specifically for frying. Platano can also be mashed just like mashed potato ( my favorite way of eating platanos ). Mashed plantain is called mangu. It's made in the same way as boiled platano except you mash it after its cooked. Another popular way to make plantains is fried, known as toston. We cut the plantain to remove the peel and then cut it horizontally into about 6-7, 1 inch pieces of plantains,depending on how long the plantain is. Then we fry the platano for about a minute and a half and smash them with a utensil used to smash the tostones. Then we let them fry for a little longer and they are ready to eat! Tostones is considered a side, an addition to a dish. For dinner, the perfect dish is mofongo. After the plantain is cut, we fry it and then smash it. With either pieces of pork inside or shrimps on the side. The finished product looks like a small neat mountain of platano.

The perfect beverage with a Dominican meal is a Malta Morena ( a Dominican soft drink). "Malta" comes from the american term malt beverage which is made of primarily malted grains. The term morena is a warm way of saying dark skinned girl in spanish. ( My grandmother calls me morena) Malta Morena is sold in a glass bottle that makes it look like an alcoholic beverage but it is actually non-alcoholic.  A popular way to drink malta is with condensed milk, which makes it sweet.

When cooking and eating these meals I always feel like I'm back in Dominican republic, with my family and it  makes my heart warm! Dominican food over everything!! *Thumbs Up*

Bienvenido, Welcome To My Blog :)

My blog will be based on Dominican culture, Enjoy!