Rice and Shrimp

Seafood is a must in Peruvian cuisine. Lima, the capital, is on the coast of Peru. Naturally, a main source of food comes from the ocean. I love all things seafood. There are many variations of this typical arroz con camarones (rice and shrimp) dish, but this particular recipe is my favorite to cook and eat. I love the smell of the herbs mixed with the shrimp. Also, this recipe is easy to make and it is elegant enough for any dinner party. I usually make a sauce to go with it. I have added the recipe for the sauce as well.

The ingredients serve 4 people

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of rice
• 1/4 bar of butter
• 1 red bell pepper diced fine
• 3 roma tomatoes diced fine
• 1 can of tomatoe sauce
• 1 1/2 tbs of paprika (or aji colorado)
• 1/2 tsp of oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup of white or red wine
• 1 pound of shrimp
• 3 tbs freshly chopped cilantro
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 1/2 onion diced fine
• 1/2 tsp garlic
• 3 tbs vegetable oil
• Salt

How to make it: Shrimp cooks very fast, so you want to have your rice ready when you start cooking this dish. Otherwise, the shrimp will overcook and it will become hard. Make the rice however you know how. I have a rice cooker so all I have to do is add the rice and water. While the water is boiling, add the butter and mix well so that it melts with the rice. While the rice cooks, chop the bell pepper and tomatoes in tiny small cubes. One your rice is ready, your are ready to go ;)

 In a pot or a large wok, heat the oil. Add the onions, garlic and paprika. Saute the onions over medium heat until translucent (1 or 2 mins). Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, bay leaves, oregano and cook 5 minutes or so. Add wine and mix well for another 2 minutes. Let all the flavors mix and come together. Add the shrimp and mix until the shrimp starts turning pink. Add the rice and tomatoe sauce. Mix well making sure the rice has gotten some color and is no longer white. Add the chicken broth and cilantro. Mix, taste and add salt if needed. The consistency should be creamy and moist. If your rice is dry, add more chicken broth and/or tomatoe sauce.

To accompany this dish, I always serve it with a sauce that I created :)

You need: 

• 3 big tbs of Mayonnaise
• 1 tsp of Mustard
• 1 tbs of red wine vinegar
• 1 tbs of rosemary
• 1tsp of salt

Mix all the ingredients until you have a smooth sauce. Taste and add more salt if needed. I have been asked for the recipe of the shrimp and the recipe of the sauce, so you wont regret making this dish.

Enjoy!

Fish Escabeche

I just googled the word escabeche to see if anything interested came up, and sure enough I found out that escabeche is "a Spanish seared or pickled fish that is great for hot summers." It is interesting how through writing this blog I am learning about the background of the food I grew up with, which I never questioned before. Escabeche is indeed a summer dish. It is best served cold or overnight. In my family this was (and still is) a party dish, since it didn't have to be kept warm until the guests arrived. This weekend my aunt made this dish for a family party. My husband tried it for the first time and when we got home, asked if I knew how to make it - translated: can you make it, please? As a result, here is the recipe (serves 2 hungry people):
Ingredients:

• 1lb of Tilapia
• 1 large red onion cut in strips
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of vinegar
• 1 spoon of paprika (or aji especial)
• 1/4 of a cup of vegetable oil
• 1 tea spoon of oregano
• 1/2 tea spoon of cumin
• 1 tea spoon of sugar
• Salt and pepper

How to make it: Get the fish ready (rinse, dry) and cut the fillets in half and then half of the half :) so 4 pieces per fillet. Salt and pepper the fish and apply a coating of flour. Fry the fish in hot oil (high heat). Be generous with the oil so that the fish can deep fry in it. Once the fish is ready remove and put them in a tray. Remove some of the oil, keeping enough for the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions, vinegar, oregano, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and sugar. Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning if needed. You may add olives and hard boiled eggs if you feel a little artsy ;)

Buen provecho!

Easy Cheesecake

I like to dream that I am becoming a decent cook when it comes to main course meals (or at least on the days that the cooking Gods decide to be nice to me). Sadly, I can not say the same about deserts. Not even boxed - ready to bake - deserts. I lost count of the many times I have attempted to make brownies or some sort of cake. When I say attempted, I mean unsuccessfull. A direct trip from the oven to the trash.

Today I decided to lift the self-imposed ban on deserts and, to my surprise, I made my first successful, delicious, desert - Berry Cheesecake... and with that, I ended up with a very Berry (get it?) happy husband! 

Ingredients:

• Cheesecake Crust (ready to bake)
• 2 packages of cream cheese (Philadelphia)
• 1/3 cups of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tea spoon of lemon juice (or half a lemon)
• 1 tea spoon of lemon zest
• 1 can (21oz) of berry medle pie topping (found in the dessert section)

How to make it: Leave the cream cheese out of the fridge for an hour or so before you are ready to start, so that the cheese softens a bit. With electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon juice and zest until you get a smooth cream. It should taste good at this point also. Pour into crust and with the back of a spoon or spatula make sure the cream is even and pretty. Bake for 35 minutes. When it is ready take it out of the oven and let it cool for a while. Refrigerate overnight. The next day, when you are ready for it (you will probably dream about it) top the cheesecake with the berries. You wont regret having to wait overnight!

Roy was extremely happy that the desert curse is over (or so it seems). He asked if in the future I would venture out to make my own crust and my own topping (instead of ready to bake crust and canned topping). To that I say...maybe if I didn't have to go to work, come home, cook a meal, do laundry, etc. I am satisfied with the delicious taste of this desert, even though it was "semi-home made" :)

Enjoy!

Weekend Brunch: Lomo al Jugo

Lomo al jugo is the typical Saturday or Sunday brunch my mom used to make for us growing up. At my grandparents', this was a typical Sunday night small meal. My mom also made this for a dinner meal by pouring it on top of rice and beans. Having said that, don't let the weekend brunch title limit you with this dish. Its very easy to make and you can eat it in many ways.

Lomo in Spanish is the most tender part of the cow, and "al jugo" means juiced. The juiced part makes reference to the juice of the tomatoes.

I cooked this for brunch today. I made what seemed to be too much food for us (but we ate it all) so we weren't hungry until 4pm or so. I baked some frozen bread to go with it and my husband made some freshly squeezed orange juice. The amount of ingredients serve 2 hungry people :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb of skirt steak (cut in cubes)
• 4 roma tomatoes (cut in 4 pieces each)
• 1 tea spoon of red wine vinegar
• 1 spoon of soy sauce
• 1 tea spoon of aji amarillo paste or half of a jalapeno pepper if you don't have aji amarillo (optional)
• Salt, pepper, and cumin
• 2 spoons of vegetable oil

How to make it: Put the oil on a frying pan or wok (if you have it) in high heat. Add salt, pepper, and cumin to the meat. Once the oil is hot, start frying the meat in the pan. The meat doesn't have to cook all the way just yet. All you want to do at this point is to sear it. (approx 2 minutes). Add the vinegar and the soy sauce. Stir and let the meat soke in all the flavors added. If you would like for this to have a little kick,  add the aji amarillo or the jalapeno (sliced). Otherwise, you can ignore the hot pepper. Add the tomatoes. Stir and mix the tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients and cover the pan with a lid. Lower the heat to medium and let the tomatoes release their delicious juice. This will take approx 5 minutes. Make sure you check it every now and then. If you let it cook for too long, the juice of the tomatoes will start to dry up and you will end with just lomo and no "jugo" ;)

Once most of the tomatoes have disappeared and released all their juice, taste it and add more salt and pepper if needed. In my family, when we eat this dish for breakfast, we dip the bread in the tomato juice. Oh, and you are better off eating this dish with a spoon.

Buen provecho!

Peruvian Minestrone or Menestron

Today I decided to cook Peruvian Minestrone. Peru is a combination of many cultures, and so is its food. Minestrone is an Italian dish, which Peruvians have adapted deliciously.

I haven't had this dish since I moved to the US, probably more than 10 years ago. I have been craving this dish for over a week, but kept putting it off because I had no clue how to make it. I finally decided to look it up on google and found tons of recipes. To my surprise, I had all the ingredients in my pantry!

After reading several recipes this is what I decided to go with, based on the ingredients I had at home. The measurements here are for reference only. You can add more or less of each ingredient based on what you like. But, always keep in mind the proportion of each.
Ingredients:

• 2lbs of bone in beef (small pieces) or boneless beef in cubes
• 2 large Yukon potatoes (peeled and diced)
• 2 cups of mixed frozen veggies (corn, peas, carrots)
• 4 corn cubs
• 1/2 of a can of Lima beans
• 1/2lb of farfalle pasta
• 1/2 cup of rice
• 1 tea spoon of pesto or basil
• 1/2 of a can of spinach
• 1 cube of queso fresco (found in the Mexican cheese section) 
• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper

How to make it:
In a large pot, put 3/4 water to boil. Salt and pepper the beef and once the water starts boiling add the beef and potatoes. Once the meat gets brown (about 15 to 20 mins), add the veggies, pasta, beans, rice and corn. Turn heat to medium and let it cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. While the soup cooks, put the spinach, pesto, cheese and oil on a blender or food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste. This should be a green sauce. Add more spinach if your sauce is not green enough. The taste of this sauce alone should be yummy. Add half of the sauce to the soup and stir. Taste and add the rest of the sauce and salt and pepper if needed. Make sure all your veggies and pasta have cooked. At the end you can add Parmesan cheese to taste and crack two eggs into the soup... and it's ready!!

If it looks complicated, think of it this way...Minestrone soup is like a regular soup (water, meat, and veggies), except that this one is green and thick. The green will come from the pesto and spinach and the thickness will come from the starch of the potatoes.

Today was the first time that I made this meal and it was, as my husband likes to call it, a success! We each had seconds. We couldn't help it.

I hope you enjoy it!