Arepa de Huevo or Empanada con Huevo

While this dish, conceived in Cartagena- Colombia was originally named "Empanada con Huevo", it is most commonly known as "Arepa de Huevo" in other Colombian cities and abroad.

Recipe

Total Time: 60 min

Servings: 10

Ingredients for the dough
2 cups yellow corn meal
1 tsp salt
vegetable oil

Ingredients for the stuffing
8 oz lean ground beef

1/4 white onion, minced
1 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
10 eggs
salt to taste

Other ingredients
3 cups vegetable oil

Steps
1. In a pot pan, heat 2.5 cups of water. Bring to a boil
2. Add the corn meal to a large bowl and slowly pour in the boiling water and 1 tsp salt while carefully mixing with a spoon
3. Mix thoroughly with the spoon. As soon as it cools off, start kneading with your hands. Use extra water if it is too dry or extra corn meal if it is too moist
4. Let the dough rest and set aside
5. In the meantime, heat a frying pan over highe heat. Add oil and beef, stirring constantly

6. Add onions and tomatoes as soon as the beef is cooked. Keep stirring until onions have changed color and the tomato water has been absorbed
7. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Mix well and set aside

8. Divide the dough into 10 equal size portions and form each portion into a ball by rolling between the palms of your hands

9. Pour a little bit of oil on a chopping boar. Place a ball on the board and flatten gently with your hands. Round the edges with the palms of your hands, trying to get a circular shaped and flatten dough of about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat this same procedure with the other 9 balls

10. Heat about 2-3 cups of vegetable oil in a pot pan (enough to deep fry the arepas, one by one)
11. Add the arepa to the oil and fry until it floats and inflates. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Turn it over for about 30 seconds and carefully remove from oil using a slotted spoon

12. Drain on a paper towel. When it is cool enough to handle, with a sharp knife, make an opening about 1.5 inches long, on the edge side of the arepa. This should look like a mouth or a pocket
13. Crack an egg and divide the yolk and the white. Add a pinch of salt to both yolk and white

14. Add about 1 tbsp cooked beef into the arepa through its "mouth". Pour in the yolk and next the white
15. Quickly place the arepa again in the hot oil with the opening up, it will start to slowly fall into the oil. You can close the opening with some dough before placing it in the oil, but if you like the egg white crispy, leave its "mouth" open. It is ok if some of the white comes out, it will remain sticked to the arepa in a crunchy browned form. Leave it in the oil for about 3-5 minutes to cook the egg

16. With a slotted spoon, remove the arepa from the oil. Drain on paper towel and serve immediately. Repeat this procedure with the other 9 arepas
17. Accompany with hot sauce, suero (a typical colombian sour cream,) hogao (a typical colombian tomato and onion sauce) or ketchup

Egg Salad- Great as Soup Topping

This egg salad will go perfectly as a topping for soups. Try it with the Colombian Sancocho (Published June 25 2013)... A match made in culinary heaven!

Recipe

Total Time: 15 min

Servings: 6

Ingredients for Egg Salad Topping

2 boiled eggs, peeled and diced

1.5 tsp salt

3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Steps
1. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients, serve and enjoy!

Serve with

Colombian Sancocho (Published June 25 2013)

Colombian Sancocho

The Sancocho recipe has many variations among different Latin American countries and even within these countries' inner regions. This specific recipe belongs to Colombia's Caribbean region. The traditional ingredients can even add up to 7 different kinds of meats, including: pork chops, chicken breasts, chicken legs, short ribs, salt pork, udder and salt beef. The following just calls for five of the most common meats. Even though this recipe is supposed to yield six servings, take into account there is one piece of each meat per person. It is very uncommon for one person to eat these many pieces of meat, so according to your guests' appetite and choice of meat, the recipe may be appropriate for a larger group.

Recipe

Total Time: 3 hours

Servings: 6

Ingredients

6 pork chops

6 chicken pieces (breasts and/or legs)

6 short ribs

6 salt pork pieces

3 tsp freshly ground black pepper

6 tsp ground cumin

1 garlic head, peeled and minced

6 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

8 oz apple cider vinegar

3 tomatoes, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

2 cubanelles, top removed, unseeded and chopped
salt to taste

2 tbsp green onion, chopped

6 cilantro branches, cut in 3

2 col or cabbage leaves

2 ripe plantains on the shell, cut in 3 pieces each

3 corn on the cob, cut in 3 pieces each

3 lbs yuca, peeled and cut in large pieces

3 lbs ñame, peeled and cut in large pieces

Steps

1. In a large pot pan season pork chops, chicken pieces and short ribs with black pepper, cumin, garlic, tomatoes, onion, cubanelles, lime juice and vinegar

2. Add enough water to soak the meats and come about 3 inches above the pieces. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil

3. As soon as the water boils, remove the lid, add the salt pork pieces and cover again

4. After a couple of minutes, remove the lid, taste the water and add salt to taste, if necessary. Cover again

5. After 1/2 hour check if the meats are thoroughly cooked and start removing from pot in the following order: chicken legs, chicken breasts and pork chops. The chicken legs should take approximately 30min, the breasts 45min and the pork chops about one hour. Leave aside

6. Add corn, yuca and ñame, cover and cook these, the salt pork pieces and the short ribs for 40 more minutes

7. Remove the lid and add the plantains on the shell, the green onions, the cilantro branches and the col or cabbage leaves. Cover and cook for 20 more minutes

8. Just before serving, add back the chicken pieces and pork chops to warm these up
9. For an easier serving, place the meats on one large serving tray; the corn, yuca, ñame and plantain on another large serving tray and the broth in a large serving bowl. In this way each guest will be able to select their desired ingredients. They can either have the dry ingredients separately from the broth, or they can chop the chosen dry ingredients and add them to a soup bowl mixing these with the broth

Serve with

Egg Salad- Great soup topping (To be published June 25 2013)

Tamales or Hallacas

Tamales have many variations among different Latin American countries and even within these countries' inner regions. This specific recipe belongs to Colombia's Caribbean region, where these are commonly known as Hallacas.

Recipe
Total Time: 4 hours
Servings: 12

Ingredients for meat stuffing (pork)
4 lbs pork tenderloin, chopped
5 tsp salt
2.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 tsp cumin powder
1 garlic head, peeled and minced
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 red onion, sliced
1 large tomato, sliced
1 cubanelle, chopped
1/2 cabbage, chopped
2 cups large string beans, chopped

Ingredients for dough
6 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 cubanelle, minced
4 cups of yellow corn meal
Vegetable oil, if needed

Ingredients for non-meat stuffing
4 boiled eggs, peeled and sliced (get about 24 slices)
1/2 red onion, sliced and cut in half (get about 12 slices)
1 tomato, sliced and cut in half (get about 12 slices)
1.5 cups green onion, chopped
4 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 tsp cumin powder
2 cups apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup cappers
1 cup raisins

Assembly Ingredients
24 plantain or "bijao" leaves, washed and dried* (approx. 20 inches or 50cm long)
Extra plantain or "bijao" leaves, washed and dried
Sewing thread or "mahagua cordage"

*If you're using bijao leaves, use a meat tenderizer to soften the veins. You don't need to do this when using the plantain leaves.
When washing the bijao leaves, soak them in boiling water for 5 minutes. For the plantain leaves you can just clean them up with a water-dampered cloth"
If you can't find these leaves, use foil paper for wrapping

Steps for meat stuffing (pork)
1. In a large pot pan season pork pieces with salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, vinegar, onion, tomato, cubanelle, cabbage and string beans
2. Add enough water to cover these ingredients and put a lid on the pot. Heat over medium-high until the pork is thoroughly cooked. This should take aprox. 45 minutes. Set aside
3. In the meantime, heat a pot pan over high heat. Add 6 cups of water

Steps for dough
1. In a large pot pan, heat 6 cups of water and add chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, cumin and cubanelle. Bring to a boil
2. Add the corn meal to a large bowl and slowly pour in the boiling broth while carefully mixing with a spoon
3. Mix thoroughly with the spoon. As soon as it cools off, start kneading with your hands. Use extra water if it's too dry, extra corn meal if it's too moist or oil to smoothen it if necessary
4. Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes

Steps for non-meat stuffing
1. Place the eggs, onion, tomatoes and green onions separately in four different bowls
2. Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp vinegar to each of these bowls, thoroughly mixing with each of their original ingredients. Set aside
3. Place capers and raisins in individual bowls. Set aside

Assembly steps
1. Place a plantain or "bijao" leaf on a large, flat surface
2. Place a second leave crosswise over the first (If you're using "bijao" leaves, the vein should be facing down)

3. Add 1/4 cup of the dough in the center of the upper leave and press. Top it with pork (from the meat stuffing) and a bit of its broth and the following ingredients from the non-meat stuffing portion: 1 or 2 egg slices, 1 onion slice, 1 tomato slice, a fingerful of green onions, capers and raisins
4. Top with 1/4 cup of more dough, sealing the edges as well as possible

5. Tuck in the sides of the leaves and roll

6. Place the roll over the second leave, tuck in the sides and roll again

7. Tie securely, crossing over the thread (or cordage) like a present and finishing up with a knot, not a bow (this can be loosened easily)
8. Repeat these steps for a total of 12 hallacas. You'll end up with stuffing left overs

9. In a large pot pan, add the broth in which the pork was cooked. Add extra water if you think it will be needed to cover the 12 hallacas

10. Add the extra leaves to the bottom of the pot and bring the water to a boil. As soon as the water boils, place the hallacas on top of these leaves and cover with the remaining extra leaves and the pot's lid
11. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from pot and let them rest "standing up" vertically. After they drain for about 10 minutes, cut the knot off and open the leaves carefully

12. Serve immediately. You can save some for later use after they have cooled off. If you are going to eat them within a couple of days, store the hallacas in the fridge and cook in boiling water with a pinch of salt and some vinegar, for about 15 minutes (wait until water is boiling to place the hallacas in the pot.) If you are going to eat them after more than 3 days, don't cook for 30 minutes on step 11, but just for 10 minutes. Store the hallacas in the freezer and whenever you want to eat them, boil enough water with salt and vinegar to cover the hallacas. As soon as the water boils, place the frozen hallacas in the pot, cover with a lid and cook for approx. 1 hour

Coconut Rice

Recipe

Total Time: 90min

Servings: 10

Ingredients
5 cups white rice
4tbsp salt
1.5 cups sugar
10 cups canned coconut milk, divided
2 cups raisins


Steps

Titote

1. Add sugar and 6 cups coconut milk into a large pot pan and cook over high heat mixing periodically so sugar doesn't stick together. This liquid should get brown. This is called TITOTE
2. As soon as titote is ready, add rice, salt, raisins, 4 cups coconut milk and 6 cups of water. Mix thoroughly

Dry rice

3. Cover pot as soon as rice dries
4. Turn heat to low and cook for approx. 30 minutes until rice is ready






Serve with

Roasted Turkey with Ground Pork Stuffing (Published May 28 2013)

Russian Potato Salad (Published May 28 2013)

 

Roasted Turkey with Ground Pork Stuffing

Recipe

Total Time: 5 Hours

Servings: 12

Chopped tomatoes and onions

Ingredients for Stuffing
1lb ground pork
1 roma tomato, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup canola oil
6 oz tomato paste
3.5 tsp salt, divided
1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1/2 cup milk
4 slices white sandwich bread with no crust

Egg slices

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup green olives, pitted and drained
1/2 cup capers, drained
1 cup raisins

Ingredients for Turkey

Diced potatoes

14 pounds whole young turkey

1/4 cup butter

6 oz tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 cups white wine, divided

Food processor

Steps for Stuffing
1. Grind tomato and onion using a food processor
2. Dissolve tomato paste in 1 cup of water
3. Heat oil in a deep frying pan over high heat

Ground pork

4. When the oil is hot, add pork, tomato and onion mix, dissolved tomato paste, 3 tsp salt and pepper. Stir constantly so that ground meat doesn't stir together

Soak bread

5. In the meantime, heat enough water to cover the potatoes. Add 1/2 tsp salt and potatoes when water has boiled. Cook potatoes al dente and rapidly remove from heat so they don't overcook. Drain and set aside
6. Crumble bread in milk and let soak. Set aside

Mixing stuffing

7. When ground pork mix is dry and well cooked, remove from heat. Add bread and milk mix, worcestershire sauce, sugar, al dente potatoes, egg slices, olives, capers and raisins. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are well combined
8. Set the stuffing aside. It's time to prepare the turkey


Steps for Turkey

Injecting turkey

1. Thaw turkey completely, if frozen
2. Remove turkey giblets
3. Preheat oven to 400 F
4. Place turkey in a turkey roasting pan with lid

Tomato paste mix

5. Thoroughly mix butter, tomato paste, salt, pepper and vinegar
6. Inject in 1 cup of wine, all over the turkey, especially in the breasts

Stuffing turkey

7. Thoroughly rub the outside of the skin and inside the turkey's cavities with the paste mix
8. Spoon the stuffing into the neck cavity. Pull neck skin over stuffing to the back of the turkey and sew up using trussing needles and a thick thread
9. Spoon stuffing into the body cavity and repeat the sewing procedure. You can also use a turkey stuffing cage

Sewing turkey

10. Pour 2 cups of wine and 2 cups of water over turkey
11. Close with lid and place into oven. Cook for an hour
12. Remove lid and reduce temperature to 300 degrees F. Moist with its own sauce and keep cooking

Cooked turkey

13. Check turkey every 45 minutes. It should be ready in less than 4 hours. Pinch it. Turkey is done when no liquid comes out of it
14. When ready, remove from heat. Dig out the stuffing and serve on a deep serving tray
15. Slice the turkey, preferably with an electric knife

Cooked stuffing

16. Use the broth in which the turkey was cooked to serve as sauce. Thicken with flour, if desired












Serve with

Russian Potato Salad (To be published May 28 2013)

Coconut Rice (To be published May 28 2013)