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Aji de Gallina (Chicken with a creamy sauce)
Ingredients:
3 lbs. Chicken breast boiled and shredded (no salt)
4 C of chicken broth (obtained from the chicken above)
4 slices of white bread
1 C of shelled walnuts
1 C evaporated milk
1 can evaporated milk (optional)
1 C parmesan cheese
1 C onion finely chopped
1 T crushed garlic
vegetable oil
"blended aji"*
salt, pepper
To serve and decorate:
2 boiled eggs sliced
3 boiled Yukon Gold potatoes
sliced (1/2 inch thick) chopped Italian parsley
* "aji" is found in several Mexican markets and is found frozen or already blended. A new recipe for "aji" has been added below.
1 Blend white bread, walnuts and 1 can evaporated milk to make a fine cream, set aside.
2 Heat oil in a medium size pot, add chopped onions, garlic, blended aji (according to taste), salt and pepper and cumin. Cook until golden brown
3 Add the creamy mix from step 1, bring to a boil, cook for five minutes (low heat) stirring constantly.
4 Add shredded chicken, chicken broth and parmesan cheese to get a soft creamy consistency. Only if needed, you may add more evaporated milk. Cook over low heat for another 5-10 minutes.
5 Serve with white rice and decorate with eggs and chopped parsley. Place the potatoes on a serving dish next to the "Aji de Gallina".
Alfajores (Filled cookies with caramel)
Ingredients Cookies:
2 C of all-purpose flour
1 C of corn starch
1 Whole egg
1 C of salted butter
1 C powdered sugar
3 T milk
Bakers Joy Spray
Powdered sugar for sprinkling
Filling (caramel "manjarblanco"):
1 Large can of condensed milk: place unopened can in pot and cover with water. Boil it for 3 hours checking water level and adding water as needed. This will make the necessary consistency for the filling
1 Sift the flour, cornstarch and powdered sugar at least once. Set these dry ingredients in a large bowl and cut in butter.
2 Add the egg and mix until it forms a soft dough. (Add a spoon of milk -one at a time- only if necessary to soften the dough). Let stand for 15 min.
3 Cut dough in 4 pieces
4 Spray cookie sheet with Baker's joy.
5 Sprinkle some flour over a smooth and clean surface and lay out a piece of the dough, stretch it with a roller to 1/8 inch thickness. With a round cookie cutter make the cookies and lay them on cookie sheet.
6 Bake at 350° for approximately 12-15 min. or until they are golden brown. Making the cookies...
7 Let the cookies dry completely at least 4 hours.
8 Apply a small amount of the caramel to one cookie and attach another cookie to make a sandwich
9 Roll cookies in powdered sugar to coat all over
Papas a la Huancaina (Potatoes on a creamy sauce)
Ingredients:
For the cream:
1 package of white cheese: "Queso Cacique tipo Cotija"
1 can or 10 oz. of evaporated milk
1 garlic clove
1 small slice of white or yellow onion
3 T Vegetable oil
3 T blended "aji" *(or according to taste) or 2 whole "ajies"
1 hard boiled egg
To Serve
2. lbs. boiled, peeled and cut in slices Yukon Gold potatoes (1 bag)
3. hard boiled eggs quartered butter lettuce for decoration black Greek olives for decoration
*"aji" is found in several Mexican markets and is found frozen or already blended.
1 When using whole ajies, first clean out the seeds and blend them with some of the oil.
2 Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until a cream is formed. Please note that no salt or additional seasoning is needed because the cheese is salty enough.
3 To serve, arrange the sliced potatoes over a bed of butter lettuce and cover the potatoes with the cream. On top decorate with the black olives and sliced egg. Serve cold.
Seco de Carne (Beef stew with a cilantro based sauce)
Ingredients:
2lbs Tri-tip beef roast, clean from fat and cut in stew size pieces
1 T Vegetable oil
1h C chopped onions
1 bundle fresh cilantro washed and stem free
1 C frozen spinach or 1 bundle of fresh spinach
1 C water
1 C frozen peas
1 C Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut in 1 inch square pieces, keep covered with cold water
1-2 T crushed garlic
2-3 C water
salt, pepper, cumin
powdered beef broth
zest of 1 lime
1 Season tri-tip roast pieces with salt, pepper, cumin and minced garlic, set aside and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2 In a large and heavy pot heat vegetable oil, add meat and brown lightly. Add chopped onions cook until translucent. Add 1 C water and boil until meat is tender (this can take up to 45 minutes) keep adding water until meat is tender.
3 Blend cilantro and spinach with 1C water add this mix to pot
4 Add potatoes to pot, cook for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are ready. Add frozen peas cook for two more minutes. Before serving add zest of lime.
5 Serve with white rice.
Here is a simple appetizer that is popular and easy to make and will appeal to even those who are not ceviche aficionados. Ceviche of many types are popular in Peru. This can also be served as a light lunch, served on crusty French or Italian rolls. (Spirit of the Earth, Cox, Jacobs)
Cebiche De Atun (
Peruvian Canned Tuna Ceviche)
Ingredients:
one 6-oz can solid white tuna in water
1 fresh jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 ripe tomato, diced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and fleshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (1-2 limes)
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Drain the tuna invert it onto a small platter. Sprinkle the chile and onion
over the tuna and allow it to stand for a few minutes. Then add the tomato,
chopped cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste, and gently mix together. Sprinkle
the lime juice over all, and drizzle with the oil. Garnish with sprigs of
cilantro and serve.
AJI (Andean-Style Chile Paste)
makes 1/2 cup
Chile pastes, made with fresh or dried chiles, are used in soups, stews,
and sauces. Many Andean cooks keep containers of different aji pastes
on hand in the refrigerator or freezer.
Ingredients:
1 to 3 fresh or dried aji rocoto or 6 fresh or dried aji amarillo or
rojo, aji mirasol, or aji ponca
3 to 4 tablespoons mild salad oil (canola or corn) or water
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
If you are using fresh chiles, peel them (if desired), seed them, and
remove the ribs. You may either blanch the chiles in boiling water
or roast them
for easier peeling. Coarsely chop the fresh chiles. Combine the chopped
chiles, oil, and salt in a blender, and puree. If you have chosen not
to peel the
chiles, press the mixture through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl for
a smoother paste.
lf you are using dried chiles, soak them in hot water to cover
for 30 minutes. Then drain, peel (if desired), seed them, and
remove the
ribs.
Coarsely chop
the reconstituted chiles. Combine the chopped chiles, oil,
and salt in a blender, and puree. If you have chosen not to
peel the chiles,
press
the
mixture through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl for a smoother
paste. The paste may be stored in a tightly covered container
in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for several
months.
NOTES: If none of these chiles, or their substitutes, is available,
we suggest using Asian chile-garlic sauce, which you can
find in jars in
the specialty
food section of most supermarkets, as a substitute for
the red or yellow aji paste or sauce. The sauce contains garlic,
so you may want to reduce
the amount of garlic called for in the recipe. Some brands
are very hot, so proceed with caution. The commercially available
ground aji powder-such as ground aji mirasol-is convenient, but it tends
to be hotter than
the paste because the chiles
are often ground with the seeds and ribs intact. lf a recipe
calls for 3 tablespoons
of aji paste, substitute 1 1/2, to 3 teaspoons powder,
depending on the heat of the particular chile.
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