Tag: Latin American
Arepas
Arepas
Arepas are a very important part of Colombian cuisine, comparable to tortillas in Mexico. They are practically eaten every day in their various forms for breakfast, lunch or dinner, as a snack, an appetizer, a side, or even as a main course. They are simply fried corn cakes that can be stuffed or topped with pretty much anything. There’s really no wrong to making these.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups masa flour
- 1/2 cup corn meal
- 1/2 tsp salt
- warm water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Mix all of the dry ingredients together. Add enough warm water to form a dough similar to the consistency of firm mashed potatoes.
- Form a ball of the dough a little larger than a golf ball. Place it on a tortilla press.
- Make sure to have it cover by wax paper or plastic wrap.
- Press it down to 1/4” thick.
- Heat up cooking oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add in an arepa.
- Cook for 2 minutes a side.
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.
Arepa con Camarones y Hogao
This arepa is topped with shrimp cooked in hogao sauce; garnished with diced avocado and pickled red onion.
Ingredients
- 1 arepa
- 1/4 cup hogao sauce
- 4 shrimp cooked
- avocado diced
- pickled red onion diced
Instructions
- Heat up a 1/4 cup of hogao sauce with 4 shrimp for 2 minutes. Op the arepa with the sauce, shrimp, diced avocado, and pickled red onion.
Arepas con Pollo y Aguacate
This type of arepa is topped with a simple chicken salad and slices of avocado. While the arepa is hot, the chicken salad is cold.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or breast
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup white onion diced
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
- avocado sliced
- arepas
Instructions
- Season chicken with paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Let cool.
- Chop up the chicken. Mix with the mayo, onion, sugar, lime juice, and cilantro.
- Top an arepa with the chicken salad. Top with avocado slices and chopped cilantro
Chicharrón and Bean Arepas
This arepa is topped with refried beans and pork belly. In this recipe, I happened to have leftover white, red, and garbanzo beans. The beans got fried in rendered fat from the pork belly and mashed together with diced Chicharrón.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp lard
- 1 cup beans pinto, kidney, Black, white, or garbanzo
- 1/4 cup Chicharrón finely chopped
- 2 slices chicharron
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp water
- white onion thinly sliced
- cilantro chopped
- arepas
Instructions
- Finely dice a 1/4 cup of Chicharrón.
- Heat up lard in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the Chicharrón for 2 minutes.
- Add in the beans, salt, cumin, and water. Start mashing the beans.
- The beans should be smooth with little chunks of fried Chicharrón. Add more water if too thick.
- Top an arepa with 2 heaping tbsp of the beans. Add 2 slices of pork belly to the beans. Garnish with thinly sliced white onion and cilantro.
Arugula Corn Egg and a Bean Salad
Arugula Corn Egg and Bean Salad
This is mighty tasty if I must say. There are so many layers to this salad; from the pepperiness of the arugula, the roast flavor of the corn, the creaminess of the beans and egg, all cut through by the acidity of the dressing. This salad can be eaten as a side dish or as a main course. This recipe makes a real large batch. You will end up eating half of it before you serve it to anyone else.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups corn fresh, frozen, or canned
- 1 cup garbonzo beans
- 1 cup white beans
- 1 cup red beans
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved
- 4 oz arugula substitute spinach if you can’t find
- 4 hard boiled eggs sliced
Dressing
- 2 limes juiced
- 1 lemon juiced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the corn.
- Sauté for 6-8 minutes until the corn gets a little color. Let cool.
- Mix together all of the dressing ingredients.
- Mix together all of the salad ingredients. Pour the dressing over the salad. Let chill for an hour in the refrigerator before serving.
Coffee Encrusted Pork Chops
Coffee Encrusted Pork Chops
Coffee is used a lot in Colombian cooking as a spice rub. Fresh ground coffee is combined with paprika, chili powder, garlic and onion, giving it a kind of smoky flavor. The coffee isn’t very overpowering, believe it or not. This spice rub is also great on ribs, lamb chops, and steaks.
Ingredients
- bone in pork chops 3/4” thick
- salt
- pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Coffee Spice Rub
- 2 tbsp ground coffee
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Mix all of the coffee rub ingredients together.
- Season your pork chops with salt and pepper. Coat each side with a generous amount of the coffee rub. This rub recipe is enough for 4 pork chops.
- Heat up cooking oil in a grill pan over medium high heat. Cook the pork chops for 4 minutes a side.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
