A New Spin on Ham & Cheese

This morning we made these in English class. I can’t give you the recipe yet, because it is Juan Sebastian’s homework assignment to translate the recipe from Spanish.

Here’s the original recipe in Spanish:

http://www.cocinaconpoco.com/2011/11/recetas-navidad-piruletas-de-hojaldre.html

 

Las Enchiladas

 

 

We decided to head downtown this morning. Joel wanted to get some books from the library, so we thought it would be nice to stop at a coffee shop then have lunch in La Candelaria, too.

A light drizzle had already started when we headed out the door of our apartment. The clouds remained for the whole journey, and they only began to break up as we headed toward a French pastry and coffee shop several blocks (uphill) from the library.

 

Joel says the coffee is good…well, good for Bogota. And I say the chocolate is decent. They make it so frothy that you get an extra cream pitcher full of the part that didn’t fit in the mug.  We usually don’t splurge and buy any baked goods. They’re more expensive than your common Colombian panedaria (naturally)…and we were on our way to lunch.

Since we didn’t see the Argentinian restaurant before we got to a Mexican one, we decided not to keep wandering around.  In January, we first tried Las Enchiladas and were pleased. The black refried beans are quite good (something you can’t find in a grocery store here). Unfortunately, I forgot that their chicken is rather uninteresting. They must just boil it in water and nothing else, because it really has no flavor.

The ambiance is great. You have three choices: El Solar, a patio with glass covered ceiling to keep out the rain, a separate room with a table that will seat ten, or a small room with several tables that is lit by natural daylight, if you want to get out of the sun.

 

in absentia

A friend is getting married, but we won’t be able to make the trip from Colombia to Canada in order to observe the ceremony. The bride suggested that I prepare a quiche or lasagna to celebrate from afar. Joke or no, I took her suggestion. Last night, the quiche. This morning the lasagna.

My quiche included leek, red onion, ground pork and tilst cheese.  It could have used more salt for the filling, but I thought the crust was pretty decent. I decided to make a double, rather than single-crust, and added a few tablespoons of grated cheese to the dough.

Lasagna noodles cost more than I want to pay for the quality you receive at my local grocery stores, so I decided to make mine from scratch this time around. Even without special semolina flour, they turned out nicely: flour, egg and olive oil.  The layers were ground pork with neapolitan sauce, shredded zucchini, ricotta-egg, and another layer of meat and sauce, topped with shredded mozzarella.

Congratulations to the bride and groom. Maybe you can freeze a portion of each in addition to the wedding cake for the 1st anniversary?

*Not a serious recommendation

Lima Limón Lime Lemon?

Yellow lemons are the common, sour citrus fruit that most people think of when you say the word pucker or sour. A cold glass of lemonade with beads of condensation might signify refreshment in the summer.  But this isn’t true if “most people” are from South America.

Here in Bogota, Colombia, the yellow lemons are gourmet and the small, green limes are every day fare.

This weekend, one of my friends gave me 3 fresh, yellow lemons. It didn’t take me too long to decide what to use them for. Lemonade was a consideration, but it didn’t seem special enough to “waste” the treat on. Lemon meringue pie would have been difficult to save, transport and share. So, I decided to make a lemon tart / lemon squares instead.

Joel really liked them. When I told him that the recipe called for six eggs, he said that must be the reason: it was “real food”.

crust
250 gm flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
125 gm unsalted butter, cold
2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons cold water

lemon filling
6 large eggs
350 gm powdered sugar
grated peel and juice of 4 juicy lemons
125 gm unsalted butter, melted

more powdered sugar, for garnish

Prepare the crust as you would for a pie. It probably won’t make enough for a regular pie tin, though. I used a shallow tart pan. Bake the crust for 5 – 10 to minutes in an oven preheated to 375*F .

Meanwhile, blend together all of the ingredients for the lemon filling.  Remove the crust from the oven and pour in the filling…or, on second thought, you might want to leave the crust in the oven, but pull out the shelf so that you can pour the filling in without having to move it around alot…it is easy to spill.

Lower the oven temperature to 300*F. Allow the lemon tart to bake for …the recipe says an hour, but that it depends on your oven. This is true. My lemon tart was done in closer to 45 minutes.

When the top is beginning to appear golden and the center is firm, remove the dessert from the oven. Sift the remaining powdered sugar over the top.  You should wait until the lemon tart is cool to serve it, so that it comes out in clean squares when you cut it. However, if your husband / family prefers warm desserts over the cleanliness of the presentation, it is safe to eat warm-ish.

Recipe from Frutas by Brian Glover

Mongolian Pancakes: Gambir

Last week, two of my students started to learn about deserts. We had learned that the definition of a desert can include cold as well as hot places, as long as they don’t get very much rainfall. We had a brief introduction to their geological characteristics as well as the plants and animals. This week the focus was supposed to be on the people and their homes.  Our class ended up only covering a little bit of information about Mongolian nomads and (I’m sure you aren’t surprised) some of their food.

Jorge’s “30 minute” class almost doubled, because he didn’t realize how much time had passed by the time we finished making pancakes

Esteban joined the fun in time to cut out and glue together his own paper model of a Mongolian nomad’s dwelling (yurt), although he was more eager to hear about Shasta’s adventures on the edge of the Narnian desert (The Horse and His Boy).

Mongolian pancakes remind me of an elephant ear you might buy at a fair, although the recipes I see online include a lot more ingredients. Other than to experience something from a different culture, I can’t say that they are extremely interesting.

To prepare the dough, you mix a cup of flour with a few “dl” of water. My guess is that dl stands for dollup (?).  Once you have a pliable dough, you are supposed to let it rest for 15 minutes before dividing it into 4 parts. You roll each of these into a thin sheet. Next you spread some melted butter and sprinkle sugar on the sheets before rolling them up. You are supposed to do this to distribute the sugar and butter equally through the dough. You would think it would be just as easy to just mix  the ingredients all at once, but who knows!  You are to flatten this new dough and roll it into a circle that will fit into your frying pan.  Jorge was careful to measure the pancakes to be sure they were the correct 3 mm thickness.

In the center, make 2 verticle slits to ensure even cooking, as well as to make the finished crisp pancake easier to break into pieces. When you fry the Gambir (pancake) you are supposed to do it “slowly” so that the surface isn’t black before the inside is cooked.

My first attempt with a first grader (can you really label a home-school kid?) was a little bit gooey on the inside. When I re-tried the recipe at home, the result was a bit more pleasing.

Beans for Breakfast

Last week Joel asked for an omelette stuffed with refried beans.
I’m not terribly fond of eggs, but this creation is pretty tasty
(Joel says it is “the best omelette ever”.).

Ingredients:

2 eggs
salt

refried beans
campesino cheese

sour cream
green sauce

Los Tequeños

While reading about Peruvian Cuisine at this website, I came across another Spanish word that I didn’t know:  tequeños.   It turns out that they are a Venezuelan fried food.  In Colombia, they are called deditos de queso. In the USA, we call them fried cheese sticks.

However, the difference among the countries is not only in the names.  First of all, the recipe I found for South American cheese sticks calls for queso fresco rather than mozzarella. Secondly, the tequenos aren’t rolled in breadcrumbs. They are wrapped in  something that appears to me a cross between pie crust and pizza dough.

I must admit that I haven’t ever bought any authentic tequeños, although I have seen them in the frozen section of different grocery stores around town.  So, I can’t tell you whether or not the following recipe is what the “natives” use. Also, I chose to bake rather than deep-fry my cheese mummies, so the flavor won’t be as rich.

Los Tequeños

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
125 gm cold butter
1 egg
1/4 cup cold water

1 lb queso fresco (for those in the USA, you are most likely to find this as a “Mexican” cheese that sort of looks like Feta, but should be much cheaper.)

Prepare the dough as you would for pie crust, adding the egg  just before the cold water.  Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. Meanwhile slice your cheese into equal pieces about the size of your “pinky” finger (one recipe suggested 5 x 1 x 1 centimeter).

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, to a thickness of about 1/2 a centimeter. Cut this into long strips about 1 centimeter wide.  Wrap each piece of cheese in strips of dough. First, lengthwise, from head to toe, then around like you would imagine bandaging an Egyptian mummy.  Be sure that there are no openings for the cheese to leak out.

At this point you can do several things. You can freeze your cheese sticks for later. You can deep fry them in oil until they are golden. Or you can bake them in an oven that has been preheated to 400*F for 10-15 minutes.

The website for Peruvian cuisine suggested that people like to eat Los Tequeños with hot sauce, but I think they’re just fine with a cup of hot chocolate (Joel might suggest Juan Valdez coffee).   If you want to try something a little different, you can vary the fillings like this company in Miami, Florida. They offer guava with cream cheese  or chocolate fillings.