Food Talk

Camping and cooking Peruvian Anticuchos

2013-02-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

Every other time i have gone camping, we end up eating hotdogs or some sort of processed food :(
This time our camping food has gone x100 better. My friend decided that he was making Anticuchos which is a Peruvian dish which is basically skewered beef heart strips cooked with Aji Panca (Red dried peruvian chili and spices and another skewered meat and bbq chicken.

Bolivian Quinua with Peruvian Roasted Chicken Wrap

2013-02-23T21:41:00.000-08:00

Today my wife and i came up with a new dish based on older ethnic dishes from South America. This dish started with traditional Bolivian Quinua grains mixes with black beans and diced tomatoes, as if making a salad. To that combination we added a traditional Peruvian roasted chicken which we cut in small peaces. This kind of became a chicken salad, but for the final serving we decided to wrap it on Mexican Tortilla as a burrito or wrap. The perfect touch was provided by the Peruvian creole chili sauce, which is basically yellow Peruvian chili with onion, garlic, Peruvian black mint (Huacatay). Provecho!

Causa with Fish fillet and Asparagus

2012-02-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

Causa, Fish Fillet and Asparagus

Causa is a simple dish, made out of Peruvian Yellow Chili, Potatoes. Traditionally this potato dish is an appetizer made from yellow potatoes and it is served filled with tuna salad. In our variation we have served our version of Causa as a side together with Asparagus for our lightly seasoned Fish fillet.

Causa

Ingredients:
10 Red Potatoes (3 lbs)
4 Yellow Chilis
1/2 Lemon
Sea Salt, Canola Oil

Preparation:
Peal, cook and mash the potatoes. Depending on how hot you want your causa, clean your chilies (leave the veins and seeds if you want to increase the spiciness), blend with a little salt and canola oil (just enough to make it blend) and half a lemon juice. Next, mix the mashed potatoes and the blended chilies adding salt to taste, and oil for moisture, if needed.

Fish Fillet

Ingredients:
5 Tilapia filets
1 teaspoon of oil
Sea salt, ground pepper, lemon

Preparation:
Mix the Salt, Pepper and lemon juice with the oil. Then marinade the Fish for a few minutes to give it some flavor. You may fry or grill your fish.

Bolivian Traditional Pasteles and Api

2011-12-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

This is hot Api and Pasteles. They are a traditional Bolivian treat for the holidays.

Api is a thick drink made out of slightly fermented white or purple corn flour, cinnamon, sugar and water as a base but slightly different ingredients between the two. Purple Api and White Api is served hot on a cold night.
This Christmas, my mother in law, treated us to the traditional way it is served, by mixing two varieties of Api together and serving it with Pasteles.
Pastel is another traditional Bolivian pastry. It is stuffed with either a stew stuffing or cheese. It is deep fryed and served with powdered sugar.

Peruvian Green Spaghetti (Fideos Verdes)

2011-11-14T09:40:00.001-08:00

Ingredients:
1 bundle of Basil,
1 bundle of Spinach,
2 Garlic cloves,
Salt, Pepper, Olive oil, Parmesan cheese (all to taste)

Preparation:
to make the green sauce: clean and blend the Basil and Spinach together
by adding Olive oil (about 3 ounces, just to make it blend),
then add the Salt, Pepper to taste.

make one pound of spaghetti, and rinse,
then mix with green sauce and add Parmesan cheese to taste.

Serve:
The Peruvian green spaghetti can be served with steak, pan fried steak, or rotisserie chicken and grilled potatoes.

Fish Tacos

2011-11-12T17:46:00.001-08:00

ha! this Fish taco was made with Peruvian yellow chilies (except that we picked one that was not yellow yet) so that it didn't change the color of the sauce.

Peruvian Ceviche (Ceviche Peruano)

2011-11-12T17:43:00.001-08:00

"Bote ceviche" as one of my friends called it. ;)
(serves 4 people)

Ingredients:
1 lb of Fresh Sea Bass or Tilapia
2 Peruvian Yellow chilies.
2-3 green lemons
1 medium sized Red Onion
Cilantro, Salt, Pepper (to taste)
2-3 Corns
2-3 Sweet potatoes
3-4 leaves of Lettuce

Preparation:
Cook your sweet potatoes and corn and set aside.
Thinly slice the onion, and set in water with about 1 tea spoon of salt for 1 hour, then drain the water.
After that, slice or cube the fish, add salt and pepper to taste with the lemon juice.
Clean and finely chop the Peruvian chilies (if you do not want it too spicy, remove the veins as well) and mix all together.

To serve:
place a lettuce leave, cut your sweet potatoes, and corn in half and set on the side of the plate and
add the fish in the middle with the lemon juice, add the cilantro on top for decoration.

NOTE:
Do not let it sit for too long, you want to eat it almost right away, the lemon juice will cook the raw fish slightly.

Here is a link to other ceviche websites,
food network, Food.com

Peruvian Yellow chilies

2011-11-12T17:07:00.001-08:00

This is the first time that we have successfully grown more than two of the Peruvian Yellow chilies. In the past the plants only grew small, gave one or two chilies and then died. With this little bunch we were able to make Causa Rellena, which is a smashed potato salad, filled with tuna, it was delicious. We also made Fish Tacos. In the past we were able to make Ceviche and Lomo saltado with the few yellow chilies we got.

This time we have added drip irrigation to the roots and now on the winter months, we are covering the plant so that the night cold does not kill it.

The seeds we collected are now growing new plants. They are still keep them in pots, and once they are big enough, we'll move them to the garden next to the original one.