Recipe(tried): Menu for a Rainy Day! Potatoes and Hot Dogs Casserole, Rice Pilaf

For today I was planning a visit to Coamo/Santa Isabel to buy plants for my garden and to visit a typical restaurant (quite inexpensive)where they serve turkey prepared in the same fashion as roasted pig in a pit. It is delicious and it tastes just like Roasted Pork in the mode of Puerto Rico. But, it will have to be postponed because it is raining so much. Therefore I called my "co-pilot" Claribel and invited her to come home to have an old style dinner (using old recipes). Here is my Menu. Buen Provecho!

Potatoes and Hot Dogs Casserole:
(Serves 6-8)

2 tb margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
ground pepper to taste
2 cups shredded cheddar or a mix of cheddar and mozzarella
4 cups of peeled, cubed and boiled potatoes (cook them until al dente)
1 lb sliced light frankfurters (with smoked flavor)
1 pkg. frozen peas and carrots, drained

Make a white sauce or Bechamel with the margarine, flour, milk and seasonings. Add the cheese until it melts. Add all remaining ingredients; mix well. Spoon into a Lasagna pan (well greased) and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until set and golden.

Rice Pilaf:

1 onion chopped
1 tb olive oil
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1/4 cup golden (Sultana) raisins
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
2 cups water or chicken broth

In a caldero or heavy skillet saute the onion in the olive oil. Stir in the rice, raisins and seasonings. Add the chicken broth or water and cook uncovered until it forms craters in the surface and the liquid evaporates, Move from the bottom up just once, lower the heat and cover. Cook for at least 18 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover, remove the cinnamon stick and serve with the casserole and a simple green salad with a very lemony Vinaigrette.

Buen Provecho!