Cooking the Costa Rican Way

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Our host families provide us with meals that are often too large for us to eat. Normally, we don't have to lift a finger to get good food, but cooking class day was different. On Tuesday afternoon, Eugenia, the CPI cook, gave us the recipe for "arroz con pollo" (rice and chicken) and had all the ingredients ready for us. She showed us how to chop up a variety of vegetables, including green beans, celery, cilantro, sweet red pepper, carrots and garlic. Then she got out a couple of cooked chicken breasts and got a few of us started taking the meat off the bones. We were surprised to learn that here we use the leaves of the celery and the stems of the cilantro and also that the rice needs to be washed well before cooking. Everything went into some pots with some chicken broth and cooked for about 20 minutes. Jasmine and Randy stirred and added broth while the others cut up more vegetables for a salad. Everyone cooperated and followed directions perfectly, except for one little knife incident (see photos). Of course, the end result was a delicious meal that we all enjoyed thoroughly.

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Photos

Getting Ready
Eugenia passes out vegetables and gets everyone set to start chopping.

It's Celery
Justin gets his assignment -- it's celery.

Cilantro
Randy gets cilantro to chop.

More Veggies
Sara, Sarah, Jasmine and Lisa are busy chopping veggies, too.

Hard at Work
Everyone is hard at work here.

Trouble?
I knew we shouldn't let Morgan and Lisa work together with knives!

Worried
Jasmine is a little bit worried that people at home are going to expect her to do the cooking now!

Boiling Hot
The pots of arroz con pollo have to boil for a while.

Tossing the Salad
While the rice cooks, everyone chops more vegetables and tosses the salad.

Ready to Eat
Morgan is ready to eat.

Final Product
This is a plate full of the final product.

Time To Relax and Eat
Nicole, Randy, Lisa and Morgan sit down to enjoy their arroz con pollo and salad.

Rest of the Group
Sarah, Justin, Jasmine, Sara, Addie and Ginger are at another table.

Comments

[Tami]

Recipe
Sarah are you going to add this dish to your collection of recipes? Mom

[gina]

looks really yummy! sara you can make this dish for us when you come home! we love you and miss you much!

[Lamar]

Wow..thats looks incredibly good!!

[Dr O]

Say! Ummm....
Say! Ummm.... This comment came in and was accepted, but for some reason it won't show up on the page: Say! Ummm.... What ah....what exactly are you drinking there, Sarah?! --YOUR FATHER (Note: It is a popular condiment called Salsa Lizano) (response from Dr. O.)