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Bandeja Paisa
Bandeja Paisa
Bandeja paisa is the most popular dish in Colombia. It’s really more of a platter than a dish. This caloric feast consists of fried chicharon, chorizo, powdered beef, beans, rice topped with a fried egg, fried plantains, a cheese arepa, and sliced avocado. There’s no way around it, you don’t want to eat this very often. Once or twice a year tops. But when you are in the mood for this protein overload, prepare to work for this meal. Plan out a timeline for making all of the components. I recommend making the beans and powdered beef the day before.
Ingredients
- chicharron
- chorizo
- carne de pulvo
- white rice
- fried eggs
- Colombian beans
- cheese arepa
- fried plantains
- avocado sliced
Chicharrón Colombiano
Is there a greater gift to man than the belly of swine? The answer is no. No there isn’t. It is so great that we make the decision to fry this gift in it’s own rendered fat while naked, bathing in it’s crackling bukkake of lipidation. Oh yesss! Pinch that pork nipple.
Ingredients
- 1 lb skin on pork belly
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- water enough to cover
Instructions
- Cut 1” cuts crosswise into the meat of a piece of pork belly, but not into the skin. Rub with baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the pork belly to a large sauté pan. Add enough water to cover the belly. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook until all of the water has evaporated.
- Cook the pork belly for 15-20 minutes depending on thickness. Flip the pork belly every couple of minutes to get even browning. The pork will render out plenty of fat, so no oil or lard required.
Argentinian Chorizo
When we talk about chorizo in South American countries like Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, etc., it couldn’t be more different than Mexican chorizo. Argentinian chorizo usually has a 2 to 1 ratio of pork and beef. It is seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, and fresh garlic. Red wine is also a major flavor component to the sausage. It is also a raw chorizo, as opposed to the dried Spanish chorizo.
Equipment
- standing mixer
- sausage stuffer
Ingredients
- 3 lbs ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 1/2 tbsp salt
- 3 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup red wine
- hog casings
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a standing mixer.
- Mix with the paddle attachment on low speed for 2 minutes until all of the ingredients are homogeneous. Place the sausage in the refrigerator for an hour before stuffing.
- Pipe the sausage through a stuffer into the hog casings. Twist to 6” each link.
- Let rest for a couple hours in the refrigerator before cutting.
Cooking the Sausage
- Heat up a tbsp of cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the sausages. Cook for 5 minutes a side.
- Make 5-6 slits half way into the sausage. Cook for a couple more minutes.
Powdered Beef (Carne en Polvo)
Powdered beef is commonly eaten in Colombia as part of a bandeja paisa platter. Flank steak gets marinated, boiled, then pulverized in a food processor until it resembles a powdered form. Carne en polvo is great for little kids who might have a problem chewing pieces of steak. Not me. I was consuming meat at 6 months old like a champion.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb flank steak
- 5 cups watet
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup white onion chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the flank steak in a storage bag with the garlic, green onions, white onions, cumin, salt, and pepper. Marinate for 24 hours.
- Put the flank steak in a pot of water.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for an hour.
- Strain the meat. Let cool.
- Cut up the flank into chunks and place in a food processor.
- Process until it is finely shredded.
Frijoles Antioquenos
Frijoles antioquenos is a Colombian bean soup that’s bursting with flavor. Pinto or cranberry beans are simmered with pork hocks, plantains, and carrots. After simmering, the carrots are scooped out, puréed in a food processor, then stirred back into the soup to thicken. But the main source of the flavor of this soup comes from the alinos and hogao sauce, which I’ve attached the recipes for below.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried pinto beans soaked overnight
- 3 smoked pork hocks
- 1 plantain cubed
- 2 large carrots each cut into 3 pieces
- 1/2 cup alinos sauce
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 9 cups water
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 1 cup hogao sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the beans and smoked hocks to a pot of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat medium low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the cumin, alinos, carrots, and plantains. Simmer for 1 hour.
- Add in the hogao, cilantro, salt and pepper. Continue simmering for 30 minutes.
- Scoop out the carrots along with 1 cup of the bean broth.
- Purée until smooth.
- Add the purée back into the beans. Scoop out the hocks. Cut off any meat and return to the pot. Simmer for 10 more minutes.
Arepas de Rellenos Queso
Arepas de rellenos queso is stuffed with mozzarella cheese and is fried for an extra 2 minutes a side, allowing the cheese to melt. Top it off with a little hogao sauce and cilantro. This is similar to a grilled cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 arepa corn cake
- 2 slices mozzerella
- 2 tbsp hogao sauce
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Cut your arepa in half; like you would an english muffin.
- Put 2 slices of mozzarella inside.
- Add it back into the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes a side until the cheese is melted.
- Top with hogao sauce and cilantro.
Tilapia Stew
Tilapia Stew
Cold outside? Stuffed up? This tilapia stew is exactly what you need. The soup is full of napa cabbage, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and ginger with a sour and spicy broth flavored with lime juice, bird’s eye chilies, cumin, and mustard seeds. The soup is rounded out with tilapia for aquatic protein. It all comes together in one pot; ready in 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped herbs and more bird’s eye chilies if you want more heat.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil
- 1 medium white onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp ginger grated
- 2 red bird’s eye chilies finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 lbs tilapia fillets
- 4 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 small napa cabbage chopped
- 2 limes juiced
- 8 cups water
- salt to taste
Garnish
- parsley chopped
- cilantro chopped
- red bird’s eye chilies finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat up the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- Add in the garlic, ginger, cumin, mustard seeds, pepper, and chilies.
- Add in the tilapia, tomatoes, napa cabbage, lime juice, water, and salt.
- Simmer for 20 minutes until the tilapia fillets flake in the soup.
Spinach and Chickpeas
Spinach and Chickpeas
This Moroccan dish has Spanish influences; with Spain being right across the Alboran sea. What makes this dish unique is that cubed bread is sautéed with garlic and spices, then processed into a paste with red wine vinegar. The paste is used as a thickening agent to bring all of the ingredients together. The spinach and chickpeas are seasoned with smoked paprika and a little freshly squeezed lemon juice to add acidity.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz baby spinach
- 15 oz canned chickpeas drained
- 1 slice bread cubed
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 3 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat up 2 tbsp of the oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the spinach. Season with salt.
- Cook for 4 minutes until it is wilted. Remove from the pan.
- Add in 1 tbsp of oil. Sauté the bread cubes for 5 minutes.
- Add in the last tbsp of oil and sauté the garlic, cumin, and chili flakes for a minute.
- Add the contents of the pan to a food processor. Pour in the red wine vinegar.
- Process into a paste.
- Add the paste back into the sauté pan with the chickpeas and tomato sauce. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the spinach back in. Cook for a minute. Season with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
