Our Peruvian Menu 2/23/13:
Chicha Morada
Canchita
Fish Ceviche
Causa (Potato Terrine)
Loma Saltado (Stir-fried beef with potatoes or "French fries")
Aji de Gallina (Creamy chicken stew)
Garlicy White Rice
Canchita
Canchita (or Cancha) is a popular snack in the Andean countries, often served alongside ceviche. It's a popcorn made from a special variety of corn called maiz chulpe. The pointy kernels pop when heated, and will even jump right out of the skillet, but the inside of the corn do not burst out and puff up like regular popcorn. Instead, cancha corn gets slightly puffy and toasted, like corn nuts, and it has a starchy crunchy taste that is quite addictive.
Cancha is easy and quick to prepare. All you need is a little vegetable oil and some salt, and a skillet with a lid. You can find maiz chulpe at Latin markets and online. I soaked the chulpe corn for 2 hours then drained well, as it was recommended in another recipe. Will try without soaking next time (as many recipes do not mention this).
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups cancha kernels
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation:
Heat oil in the bottom of a large skillet over medium heat.
Add corn kernels and heat, shaking pan from time to time, until kernels start to pop.
Cover kernels loosely with a lid so that they don't fly out of the pan and continue to cook, shaking pan more frequently, until the kernels have stopped popping and are deep golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and toss corn with salt. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store canchita in an air-tight container.
Corvina Traditional Ceviche
from The Great Ceviche Book, modified for Peruvian cooking 2/23/13
Corvina is a type of sea bass. You can use any firm, white fish. We used Gold Spot Sand Bass for our Peruvian cooking 2/23/13.
Sweet Potatoes:
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into thick slices
Marinade:
1/2 c freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 c fresh celery juice
2-3 tsp. salt
2-3 tsp. aji amarillo paste
Fish:
1 lb. skinless corvina fillet, blood line and any bones removed and cut into 1/2 inch dice
Garnish:
1/4 c very finely diced celery
3 T. finely diced red onion
3 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c. whole cilantro leaves
To make the sweet potatoes, bring enough water to cover the sweet potatoes to boil. Boil in small saucepan over med high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft but still hold their shape, about 15 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and let cool.
In a nonreactive bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients until well combined. Add the corvina and toss to combine. Add the celery, red onion and chopped cilantro. Mix well. Transfer the ceviche to individual glasses or a large shallow bowl.
Serve over iceburg lettuce with the sweet potatoes and choclo (Peruvian corn) on the sides of the glasses or bowl. Top with the cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.
Aji de Gallina
How we made it at Peruvian Cooking 2/23/13
Aji de gallina is a delicious Peruvian classic - slightly spicy and bright yellow from the famous aji amarillo peppers, and rich from the unusual cream sauce made with ground walnuts. This dish is traditionally served over rice, with boiled yellow potatoes and black olives. You can buy frozen yellow aji peppers (they often look more orange than yellow) at Latin food markets. You can also find jarred aji amarillo paste, which works well too. If you can't find aji amarillo peppers, then substitute another hot chile pepper and add a yellow bell pepper for color.
Serves 6-8.
Ingredients:
* 2 pounds chicken breast (4 large breasts)
* 4 cups chicken stock
* 2 carrots, coursely chopped
* 2 stalks celery, coursely chopped
* 4-6 yellow aji amarillo peppers, jarred or frozen (or 4-6 T. aji amarillo paste)
* 4-5 T. olive oil, divided
* 2 gloves garlic, minced
* 1 large onion, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
* 3 oz. grated parmesan cheese
* 4 slices white bread
* 1-12 oz can evaporated milk
* 4 yellow potatoes
* 2 hard boiled eggs, cut in halves, wedges or slices
* 10 Peruvian black olives (Botija)
Preparation:
1. Cook the yellow potatoes in salted water until tender when pierced with a fork. Let cool, peel, cut into quarters, and set aside.
2. Place the bread in a small bowl and pour the evaporated milk over it to soak. Set aside.
3. Place chicken breasts in a pot with chicken stock or water, carrots and celery. To poach: bring to a low boil, then, reduce to simmer. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until chicken is just cooked through.
4. Set chicken aside to cool. Strain broth and reserve 2 cups.
5. Remove stems and some of the seeds (depending how hot you like) from the aji peppers. In a small blender, process peppers with 3 T. olive oil and about 3 T. water (as needed to process) until smooth.
6. Heat 2 T. olive oil in sauté pan. Sauté the onions and garlic until the onions soften. Add blended peppers and cook through. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
7. Shred the cooled chicken into bite-size pieces.
8. In a blender or food processor, process the evaporated milk and bread mixture with the nuts and parmesean cheese until smooth. Add the cooked onion mixture and process until smooth. Taste and add salt or additional aji amarillo paste, to taste.
9. Return sauce to pan, and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the reserved chicken stock. Bring to a low simmer, and stir in the chicken. Heat until warmed through, adding more chicken stock if sauce is too thick.
10. Serve over rice, garnished with the yellow potatoes, slices or halved hard boiled egg, and black olives.
Alternative traditional recipe
"I lived in Peru and was married to a Peruvian, and while this recipe is close I've never seen it made this way in Lima. This recipe was taught to me by my Peruvian mother-in-law, who learned it from her mother and grandmother. This is absolutely delicious and whenever I have out of town guests this is ALWAYS the meal they request! It's even better the next day. You stew and shred a whole chicken. Reserve stock. Place 2 cloves of garlic, half a jalapeno, and 2 - 3 tbsp. aji amarillo puree (if you can't get fresh aji amarillo), add a pinch of salt, and enough vegetable oil to cover, and puree until smooth. Set aside. In same un-rinsed blender place 4 - 6 cloves garlic, and about 1/2 package of saltine crackers w/can of evaporated milk. Puree until smooth. Add a piece of white bread or leftover dinner roll and puree again. Add some of the pureed pepper mixture to your taste. Add about a cup of the warm chicken stock and blend together. In clean stew pot fry a whole onion in small amount of oil. When onions are slightly clear add about 1 tsp. cumin and small amount of turmeric. (Some people use Bijol for color but the turmeric adds nice flavor.) Toast the spices with the onions, then add chicken stock to pot. When stock is heated add cracker mixture to pot and stir over medium heat. If the sauce isn't as thick as you'd like simply put some back in the blender and add more crackers, puree and add to pot until desired thickness is reached. Add shredded chicken to pot. Add 1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans. (I prefer walnuts because they are softer.) Add some more of the pureed pepper mixture to your taste if you like it spicy, reserving some for tableside so people can make their plate as spicy as they'd like. Add 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese. (Fresh grated is best, but you can use the pre-grated kind if that's all you have.) Season with salt to your taste. Serve over white rice with sliced boiled egg, sliced boiled potatoes, and olives for garnish. *If it thickens too much the next day after refrigeration, simply add milk when re-heating to thin out."
Lomo Saltado
(for 8 people)
Based on Louise's Peruvian Recipes (from Peru 2012!), Revised to how we made it Peruvian Cooking 2/23/13:
6 small potatoes or 3 big potatoes (Russet)
1-2 c. vegetable oil for frying
Alternative: use frozen "French fries" (steak cut or regular) and bake according to package directions.
2 lb. Beef - we used Flap Meat (could use Beef tenderloin, Flank Steak or Skirt Steak)
1 red onion, cut into wedges
3 tomatoes, cut into small wedges
3-6 T. Distilled white vinegar
2-3 T. Soy sauce
1 T. or 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper
1 T. cumin
2 T. oregano
Parsley leaves and/or cilantro
Optional: red wine and fresh chili stripes (jalapeno or sliced aji amarillo)
Served with white rice (cooked 3 cups (rice cooker cups) rice in rice cooker with a couple tsp. chopped garlic (jarred), 2 good pinches salt and a couple T. olive oil stirred in before cooking)
Preparation:
1. Slice the meat into small strips of about 1cm x 1cm x 4cm. Season the meat with sprinkling of salt, pepper, cumin, garlic and a tablespoon of oil. Let sit in the marinade for 10-15 minutes.
2. Cut the onion and the tomatoes into wedges, into a bit bigger pieces than the meat.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick French fries. Fry in vegetable oil until golden and crispy outside and cooked on the inside. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm. Alternative: if using frozen "French fries", bake according to package directions. Keep warm.
4. Heat up a large frying pan or wok with 1-2 T. vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Cook the meat in the hot pan for 1-2 minutes on one side, turn it and cook for 1-2 minute on the other side. It should turn a brown color. Remove it from the saucepan even if it is still red inside.
5. Fry the onions in the still hot large frying pan or wok (along with any meat juices) until they become slightly translucent. Then, add tomatoes and cook until they start to lose water.
6. Add meat back to frying pan or wok, then, add vinegar, soy sauce, oregano (and red wine, if using) and cook over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes, until heated through.
7. Add in the fried potatoes (or sprinkle on top to keep crispy).
8. Top with parsley and/or cilantro (and optional fresh chili strips).
9. Accompany with rice.
