I’m a little late in posting this recipe for humitas. Though I read about them weeks ago and made my first batch a couple of days ago, a lot of have-tos (and a few want-tos) have gotten in the the way. Initially, I didn’t recognize them as the tamales I’d grown up with. They were of course and they weren’t. Depending on whether you’re in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela or the Caribbean, they’re known as humitas, humintas, tamales, tamalli, tamalitos verdes, chapanas, bollos, choclotanda, chumales, cachapas, chapanas, chiguiles, envueltos de mazorca, ayacas, hallacas, juanes, pamonhas. The filling can be sweet or savory, made with fresh or dried corn, plantains or potatoes, wrapped corn husks, banana leaves or parchment paper, steamed or baked, served as a snack, side dish, casserole or heavy stew. Continue reading ‘Humitas Ecuatorianas’
Archive for the 'Basic Techniques' Category
Humitas Ecuatorianas
Published 18 July 2010 Appetizers , Basic Techniques , Breakfast/Brunch , Ecuador , General , Latin America-General , Light Lunch , Vegetarian 3 CommentsTags: corn, Ecaudorian humitas, humitas, humitas Ecuatorianas, Maria Baez Kijac, Tamales, The South American Table
Panqueques Celestinos
Published 23 June 2010 Argentina , Basic Techniques , Chile , Desserts , General , Uruguay 7 CommentsTags: Ad Hoc at Home, Crepes, Dulce de Leche, Francis Mallmann, Jeffrey Alford, Julia Child, La Bonne Cuisine, Madame E. Saint-Ange, Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent, Manjarblanco, Maria Baez Kijac, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Naomi Duguid, panqueques celestinos, panqueques de dulce leche, pâte à crêpes, Peter Kaminsky, Santiago Soto Monllor, Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentinian Way, The South American Table, Thomas Keller
It’s hard not to be drawn to a recipe by a beautiful photograph. Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent, and Francis Mallman’s Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way have all escaped from my kitchen shelves to my coffee table (where both the books and I feel they belong). Not surprisingly, Santiago Soto Monllor won this year’s James Beard award for Best Photography for Seven Fires. Continue reading ‘Panqueques Celestinos’
Chilaquiles
Published 15 May 2010 Basic Techniques , Breakfast/Brunch , Light Lunch , Mexico 7 CommentsTags: Chilaquiles, Chilaquiles Veracruzanos, Diana Kennedy, Julia Child, Lourdes Castro, Simply Mexican, The Essential Cuisine of Mexico
I’ve wanted to make chilaquiles for awhile but was a little overwhelmed by the choices. I love the precision of cooking and there was no set way to go about making these. The tortillas can be fried or baked, topped with chicken, chorizo or eggs, sprinkled queso fresco or Cotija, sauteed or covered on Oaxacan cheese then baked, the sauces can be red or green or mole, the peppers fresh or dried. Elbow deep in books and online recipes, I saw a an opportunity to throw in some staples that I overbuy but under use testing the tips and side notes that the cookbook obsessed pick up and file away. They can be a breakfast or brunch dish, a perfect way to use leftover tortillas, and a sometimes cure for hangovers. A generous dish. With no set path, there was no way to fail. Continue reading ‘Chilaquiles’
A Mother’s Day Meringue
Published 9 May 2010 Basic Techniques , Cuba , Desserts , General 6 CommentsTags: Merengue con Crema de Leche, Meringue, Merengue, Leche condensada, Merengon, Cuban desserts
Many people have a hard time imagining their parents as children, but I very much see my mother in the little girl pictured above — sweet, expressive and indistinguishable from the cake set before her, in essence if not in form. Last year around this time, I asked my mother to show me how to make her merengue con crema de leche. A combination of meringue and custard sauce, it’s similar to a French île flottante but much, much sweeter — Cuban sweet. She always made it for special occasions, though never the same way twice. Used to feeling her way around until she got it right, I distracted her with questions. I tried to note everything down, but secretly believed she was making things up as she went along. When I caught her consulting with her chihuahua about the consistency for the syrup, I knew we were in trouble. Continue reading ‘A Mother’s Day Meringue’
Lesson Learned
Published 19 April 2010 Basic Techniques , Cuba , Desserts 5 CommentsTags: Bread Pudding, Bread Pudding with Walnuts and Dates, Caramelo, Dates, Datiles, Nueces, Pudín de Pan con Nueces y Datiles, Pudin de Pan, Walnuts
I never thought of myself as spoiled but since starting this blog, I am constantly coming across ingredients and recipes that I disliked as a child for no good reason. Pudín de pan is another example. It’s only crime against me was not being natilla, panetela or another of my grandparent’s desserts that I loved. I’d come to their house for lunch, excited to see the flan tin brimming with the tell-tale amber glaze, only to be disappointed when a caramel drenched bread pudding filled with dried fruits and nuts would arrive at the table. The adults were thrilled but the kids were underwhelmed. Where was the flan? Did that pruny pudding thing eat it? Continue reading ‘Lesson Learned’
Asopao de Pollo
Published 14 April 2010 Basic Techniques , Brooklyn , Light Lunch , Main Course , Manhattan , Puerto Rico , Soups/Stews Leave a CommentTags: Ad Hoc at Home, Ajices, Asopao de Pollo, Batista Market, Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, Chicken, Culantro, Essex Market, Puerto Rican Cookery, Puerto Rican risotto, Sofrito, Thomas Keller
A few weeks ago, a friend gave me a list of Puerto Rican classics to try that included asopao de pollo. As she described it, it’s a Puerto Rican risotto that’s not quite soup and not quite stew. My soups often go to gumbo by mistake so I was curious to know what would happen if I made it that way by design. At Jennifer’s suggestion, I checked my Puerto Rican Cookery book first. I realized after additional searches that there were thousands of recipes for asopao, a one-pot, comfort food solution for family dinners and leftovers. After reading them over, I finally circled back to Carmen Aboy Valldejuli. Continue reading ‘Asopao de Pollo’
Frida’s Fiestas
Published 25 March 2010 Appetizers , Basic Techniques , Light Lunch , Main Course , Mexico 3 CommentsTags: Fijoles Refritos, Frida Kahlo, Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo, Guadalupe Rivera, Marie-Pierre Colle, Papas en Salsa Verde, Potatoes in Green Sauce, Tomatillos
A few months ago a friend recommended Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo. Written by her step-daughter Guadalupe Rivera and Marie-Pierre Colle, it’s part cookbook and part food memoir. Organized by month, each chapter centers on the holidays and seasons as they were celebrated in the Blue House in Coyoacán. Describing a trip with Frida to the pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacán, the author writes:
After offering us the traditional refreshment of agua de chía, doña Rosa invited us to eat. She had prepared a number of Lenten dishes typically served throughout the central Mexican plain, where the gods that Frida invoked in her paintings had once upon a time resided. As it turned out, doña Rosa and don Tomas extended their hospitality to us for three more days, days in which reality was inseparable from magic. Continue reading ‘Frida’s Fiestas’
Tostones on the Fly
Published 20 January 2010 Appetizers , Basic Techniques , Cuba , Fruits/Vegetables , Miami , Vegetarian 6 CommentsTags: Plantains, Empanadas, Churros, Bunuelos, Deep fryer, maduros, tostones, chatinos, tostonera
Until recently, I rarely fried anything at home. I hated the smell, the splatter, the guilt. When I started writing about Latin American food, I knew I couldn’t avoid it much longer and finally bought a deep fryer. While it produces perfect batches of churros, empanadas and buñuelos, it’s the SUV of fryers requiring such a massive amount of oil that I keep it parked most of the time. It wasn’t practical for smaller, any-night batches of plantains. Maduros I can handle. Overly ripe, they caramelize Continue reading ‘Tostones on the Fly’
The Imperfect Present
Published 10 January 2010 Basic Techniques , Desserts , General 6 CommentsTags: Chocolate Whisperer, Kir Rodriguez, Orange, Orange Rum Truffles, Rum, Truffles
A little beginner’s luck is a dangerous thing. I made truffles for the first and only time a couple of years ago for a dinner party. They came out well and everyone raved. I was outwardly modest but secretly thrilled. Hoping I’d discovered a secret talent for handling chocolate, I could see the Brooklyn storefront in my future -warm chocolate shop, pretty apron, tiny smudge on my cheek. Though I hadn’t made them since then, a mixed bag of failures and moderate successes have shown me just how difficult it is to work with chocolate. It has a temper and when it turns on you, it is not cute. Continue reading ‘The Imperfect Present’
Practical Packages
Published 18 November 2009 Basic Techniques , Bread/Baked Goods , Light Lunch , Spain 2 CommentsTags: A Taste of Old Cuba, Alhambra, Anya Van Bremzen, Empanadas, Empanadas de Pollo a la Moruna, Granada, Hernan Cortes, Maria Josefa Lluria de O'Higgins, Mexico City, Pastel Moruna, Puff Pastry, Sophie Coe, The New Spanish Table
With the holidays coming fast and furious, I had the uncharacteristically practical thought that it was time to make empanadas, an easy way to use leftovers. So sensible, but after a poor initial batch involving sirloin tips and too-buttery dough, I had to start from scratch. I was looking for something in a chicken, baked not fried, and maybe a little sweet. That’s when I found Anya Von Bremzen’s recipe for pastela moruna, Moorish chicken with dried fruits and Continue reading ‘Practical Packages’
