|
A few recipes from my friend Christina Cunningham.... a chef down in Peru with a few quick dinner suggestions |
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
INGREDIENTS - 4 tablespoons good quality olive oil - Paprika, oregano, cumin (about ½ teaspoon each) - 1 small onion chopped - 10 cherry tomatoes cut in half - 2 bell peppers preferably colored chopped - 10 large mushrooms chopped into slivers - 1 small tube of good goat cheese - 1/4 bunch cilantro chopped coarsely - 6 corn tortillas In a large sauce pan heat oil until very hot but not smoking. A good trick is to heat your pan first, once it is hot quickly put your oil in and let it heat for 30 seconds. This allows you to heat your pan properly without burning good olive oil. In hot oil, sear chicken pieces until nicely browned. Try to resist the temptation to shake the pan. The more you shake the less time is stays in contact with heat thus less browning! Once all your chicken is nicely browned, sprinkle paprika, oregano and cumin on chicken pieces. Toss for a few seconds to coat allowing the spices to feel heat without burning. Remove chicken pieces from skillet and set aside in large bowl. Add onions to skillet tossing quickly to coat with oil, lower heat to medium and let cook gently not allowing them to brown completely. Once soft, push them to the sides of the pan and add a few more tablespoons of oil. Turn the heat to high and count to 30. Add mushrooms allowing them all to coat the bottom of the pan without too much overlapping. You might have to do this step in batches. Brown the mushrooms well. Add garlic and mix with onions. Add bell peppers and sautee quickly. Add tomatoes and let them feel heat without fully cooking. Turn off heat and add goat cheese tablespoon by tablespoon letting the residual melt the cheese and incorporate it into you mixture. The mixture should just barely be coated with cheese. Sprinkle with cilantro. Heat tortillas directly over gas flame and serve with mixture. ENJOY!
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
INGREDIENTS - 8 large plum tomatoes whole - 2 large plum tomatoes chopped - ¼ lt olive oil - 1 large yellow onion chopped very fine - 6 cloves garlic chopped fine - ½ pound stew beef chooped into small pieces - ½ cup red wine - Paprika, salt, pepper - 1 bunch basil, oregano, rosemary - 1 cup brown basmati rice - 5 yukon gold potatoes cut into large squares Cut tops of tomatoes and hollow them out saving the pulp without the seeds. Save the tops of the tomatoes so that you can put them back on after stuffing. In a sieve strain the tomato pulp reserving the juice. In order to make tomatoes stand up slightly cut off bottoms without piercing into the cavity. You just want to make the bottom flat enough that they stay upright. In a large sauce pan heat oil until very hot but not smoking. A good trick is to heat your pan first, once it is hot quickly put your oil in and let it heat for 30 seconds. This allows you to heat your pan properly without burning good olive oil. In hot oil, sear beef well. Add onions and stir allowing them to caramelize slowly. Add garlic and let brown for about 2 minutes. Add paprika. Deglaze pan with red wine and tomato pieces and let simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. It should still be quite moist. Meanwhile, cook rice until fluffy. Mix equal parts rice to meat. Add chopped basil, rosemary and oregano. Taste filling BEFORE stuffing. Stuff each tomato allowing filling to mound slightly on top. Pour remaining tomato juice into each tomato. Cover with tomato end. Arrange tomatoes in center of a glass baking dish so that all the tomatoes are snugly nestled against each other. Mound the potatoes around them forcing the tomatoes to stay upright by snuggling the potatoes and tomatoes together.
Drizzle generous amounts of olive oil over tomatoes and potatoes. Add salt, pepper and lots of rosemary to potatoes. Bring to a preheated oven (350ºF) for about 40 minutes. Check the potatoes often and try stirring them from time to time so that they cook evenly. Enjoy!
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
-
INGREDIENTS - ¼ cup butterscotch sauce - 1 tablespoon powdered cinnamon - 10 chocolate leaves - 4 mint leaves - spun sugar
ALFAJOR (NAPOLEON) - ¾ cup self rising flour - 1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon - 75 grams unsalted butter - ½ cup sugar - 1 egg
FILLING - 2 large lucuma fruits - 1 tablespoon condensed milk - 6 tablespoons evaporated milk - 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
CINNAMON ICE CREAM - ¾ cup sugar - 1 cup heavy whipping cream - 2 cups milk - 5 cinnamon sticks - 7 egg yolks
ALFAJOR Sift flour and cinnamon together and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs without stopping the beater and slowly add the flour. Spread the batter onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper . Using a bakers spatula, smooth the batter creating a layer about ½ inch thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut 24, 6 inch diameter discs. Place in an oven at 350º for approximately 10 minutes.
FILLING Peel the lucuma and carefully extract the pulp. In a blender blend together pulp, ½ the evaporated milk and condensed milk. Pass mixture through a sieve creating a smooth satiny cream. Dissolve a tablespoon of this cream in the remaining evaporated milk. Set aside. Spread some of the cream over one of the disks. Cover with another disk and spread that with cream. Repeat this process until 5 layers are formed. Sift the sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the napoleon covering it lightly.
CINNAMON ICE CREAM Prepare a soft candy with ½ the sugar. Add the cream and milk and mix until completely incorporated. In a food processor grind one of the cinnamon sticks until powdery. Sift. Beat the yolks with the remaining sugar until pale and creamy. Continue beating as you add the candy mixture and the cinnamon. Place over low heat until mixture thickens slightly and cool quickly over ice bath. Place in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
PRESENTATION Draw a zig zag with the fudge. Draw and inverse zig zag with the remaining slightly thinner lucuma mixture. Place the napoleon next to the drawing and let a few drops of the candy mixture fall next to it. Sift some cinnamon sugar onto another corner and place the remaining cinnamon sticks in the opposing corner. Place the chocolate leaves on top of the napoleon nestling the mint leaves next to it. Place a scoop of cinnamon ice cream on the far side of the plate and crown with a large circle of spun candy sugar.
|
Pork kebabs:
Lettuce tacos: