Author: Mucha Ale (page 18 of 19)

Serving lentils on Mondays is a Peruvian custom for abundance and also a good habit for nutrition. Since I was a child, I always knew what I would eat on Mondays. I cannot complain. I like lentils and fortunately I never grew tired of them. However, I do allow myself more time than a week before having them again.

For this week’s recipe I wanted to make a simple, traditional, and healthy dish. Lentils are a good source of iron, protein and zinc. Here is the recipe and video for how I make them. I hope can try it and let me know how you like you lentils.

Ingredients
2 cups lentils
4 cups water
1 onion
3-4 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

Preparation
Wash lentils and add to a medium pot with double their amount in water. If you forgot to wash them, don’t worry, I also forgot.

Cut the onion in two halves and add ½ to the water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Cook the lentils until they are bland.

When this occurs, remove the cooked onion and mix it with half of the lentils in a blender. Separate all the lentils in a bowl.

Mince and saute the other half of the onion and garlic in the same pot. Add the lentils and cook until it is all mixed. Let’s say about 15 to 20 minutes.

Traditionally, the lentils are served with a fried egg and white rice. I really like it with a fried egg and with Peruvian Sauteed Chicken. Sorry about the picture, you can barely see the lentils under the egg!

Serves 3-4 people

Comments
Keep an eye on the lentils when cooking. Add water if evaporates before they cook.

I must confess that I find it rather difficult to publish regularly on the blog, even though I’m in the middle of a slightly sabbatical period in my life. The reason I was absent last week was because I dedicated it exclusively to visiting friends and family. I celebrated the early birthday No. 30 of a very close friend, kissed my only living grandmother on her birthday No. 90, and also met some new people.

I will not go into detail about my visiting week. Instead, I will upgrade the first recipe I shared with you for Peruvian Style Sauteed Chicken. In my earlier post, I was testing a very nice recipe from Peruvian chef Gaston Acurio. I realized that I have started to make it slightly differently (without the bbq sauce) and I wanted to share this new version as a recipe and video.

As always, I hope you will like it and use it in you menu this week.

Ingredients
1 chicken breast
1 small red onion
3 tomatoes peeled
¼ cup soy sauce (approx.)
1 tablespoon vinegar (optional)
Salt and pepper
1 Peruvian yellow pepper (optional)

Preparation
Place thick vertical strips of the onion and tomatoes into a medium bowl. Make sure to remove most of the seeds and liquids from the tomato. Add chicken in strips or square cuts.

Remember that more thickness in the chicken means it will take longer to cook.

Add Peruvian yellow peppers in small squares or as paste. This step is optional and will add spice, depending on your taste.

Marinate with salt, pepper, soy sauce and vinegar. Vinegar is optional. I have made it without it and it has come out alright.

Let the mix rest for 5-10 minutes or more. I seldom leave it in the refrigerator since the morning after this step, and finish cooking it just before serving. Remember to cover it if you will leave it in the refrigerator, as it will dry up otherwise.

Heat oil in a pan or wok. I use a medium pot to avoid the oil which slatters.

 Stirfry the chicken and vegetables in 2 or more turns. First, add the chicken to the oil until it cooks. Remove the chicken and cook the vegetables

If you add all the ingredients at a time, it will make a lot of juice and will be or less fry and more bland consistancy. You can always cook it this way if you prefer.

You can garnish it with cilantro leaves. Peruvians usually serve it over french fries and with a side of rice, or with mix of beans and rice known as tacu tacu. I have tried to make this last dish, but I am still practicing.

Serves: 3-4 people

I love Peruvian stuffed “causa”. This is a typical Peruvian dish that can be described as a kind of pressed potato cake with filled layers. Today I will share its recipe and a video guide.

What I really like about this dish is its versatility. I have seen it stuffed with tuna, crab, squid, octopus, and also vegetarian. I’ve tried it with and without mayonnaise, and with coloring other than its traditional bright yellow. As an entree or a main course, the causa can be prepared in many ways.

Today’s entry is thought for a traditional version with chicken and cooked vegetables. Its filling includes chicken, boiled eggs, peas and carrots. However, feel free to make changes to the filling according to your preferences (ripe avocado goes well with everything). Just remember to press the potatoes well and season them generously with yellow Peruvian pepper.

Ingredients
1 – 1.5 kilos of potatoes (preferably yellow)
Yellow Peruvian pepper
Lemon juice
Oil
Salt and pepper
Filling
1 chicken breast
4 hard boiled eggs
1 – 2 cups of cooked and chopped vegetables – peas and carrots
Mayonnaise (optional)

Preparation
Boil the chicken and shred the meat. Set this aside.

Boil the potatoes, and let them cool a little before you peel them. Press them. I strongly recommend using a potato press.

Blend the yellow pepper* or use paste.The amount of chili depends on you, I used two whole peppers.

Knead the potato with the yellow pepper, and add salt and pepper. Add lemon juice, depending on your preference. Separate this dough into three parts.

Spread ⅓ of the dough on a greased dish with oil.

Cover the spread dough with chicken. I had previously added some drops of olive oil to the chicken for flavouring. You can also mix it with mayonnaise, that never fails.

Cover with ⅓ of the dough.

Cover with slices of boiled egg, and place the boiled vegetables over them. You can add mayonnaise to this layer if you wish. You can see in the photo I added mayo to one half to test which side I preferred.

Cover with the remaining ⅓ of the dough.

You can garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serves 4-6 people

Comments
– Its recommened to use yellow potatos, which are very tasty, but you can use others. I used russet potatoes.
– I’ve learned that the most important thing for causas is to press the potatoes well (one time I just used a fork) and also season them well with yellow pepper so that they can have a lot of flavour, and their yellowish coloring.

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Hello everyone! I am excited to dedicate today’s post to the Peruvian dish known as “ají de gallina”, “ají de pollo” or my bad translation: Peruvian chili chicken. Also, I’m thrilled to share a short video that, I hope, will help with it’s preparation.

The Peruvian chili chicken is a very tasty dish, of a rich consistency and flavor. Its color and flavor is due to it’s peruvian chili pepper ingredient, which also gives it an ever so slight spice. When I made this dish I had really been missing it.

I made the video as test version in response to the bad luck I’ve had when checking out some recipes online. My biggest frustration is finding too many versions and very long videos (though well-intentioned). Consider it a “dummies” version or for beginners.

Ingredients
1 chicken breast
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 whole or ground yellow Peruvian pepper
2 tablespoons ‘panca’ Peruvian pepper sauce (optional)
4 slices of bread (white)
Oil
½ – 1 cup fresh milk
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Preparation
Boil and shred a chicken breast. Separate the broth.

Remove the crust from the bread and soak in part of the broth.

Chop the onion and garlic. Finely chop the yellow pepper if you don’t have it in a paste. It’s my preference to bring the chopped ingredients together in a blender, for better consistency. You can finely chop them if you do not wish to use a blender.

Sauté this mixture into a greased pot. Add the “panca” Peruvian pepper sauce (optional).

Add the soaked crumbs. Stir the mix over a low heat.

Add the chicken, nuts and cheese. Add milk at the end.

Serves: 4-5 people

I hope you enjoy

Comments
– This recipe is inspired by the cookbook “What to cook today” by Nicolini and my mom’s version. My deviation is that I did not use “mirasol” Peruvian chili (I didn’t have any), I consider “panca” chili optional, and I used fresh milk instead of evaporated milk. Also, I used peanuts because I didn’t have walnuts.
– The consistency should be thick but if it is too solid or watery, add a little chicken broth or soaked crumbs, respectively.
– You can sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and cilantro leaves when you serve. Traditionally, it is served over boiled potatoes and adorned with olives and a slice of hard boiled egg. Also, in Peru it’s served with a lot of rice. I accompanied it with potatoes baked in oil and butter ❤, and steamed broccoli.
– For the English version, in case you are wondering what the difference is between the “gallina” and “pollo”, it’s an age and gender distinction of in the Spanish vocabulary. “Gallina” is a like a hen and has a “pollo” is a very young chick.