Tag: Latin American
Seco de Borrego (Ecuadorian Stewed Lamb)
Seco de Borrego (Ecuadorian Stewed Lamb)
Seco de borrego is lamb stewed with beer, white wine, and some type of juice such as tamarind, naranjilla, and passion fruit, in an onion/tomato/bell pepper base. You can use either boneless lamb leg or bone in lamb shoulder. The shoulder will take a little longer to cook than the leg, but both are good regardless of what you choose. The lamb stew is served with rice, yucca, vegetables, avocado, and pickled red onion.
Equipment
- food processor
- blender
Ingredients
Lamb Marinade
- 4 lbs boneless leg of lamb cut into 2” cubes
- 1 large red onion diced
- 1 head garlic peeled
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp mustard seeds ground
- 1/4 cup mixed herbs parsley/cilantro
- 1 cup beer
Lamb Stew
- 1 large white onion diced
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 2 bell peppers 1 red, 1 green; seeded and diced
- 1 tsp annatto powder
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 2 cups beer
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate
- 3 tbsp panela sugar grated
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Add the lamb marinade ingredients to a food processor and purée.
- Marinate the cubed lamb for 4 hours.
- Place the white onion, bell peppers, and tomatoes in a blender. Purée.
- Heat up the oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Pour in the purée along with the annatto powder and chili powder. Sauté for 8 minutes.
- Add in the marinated lamb, beer, white wine, water mixed with tamarind concentrate, panela, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 2 hours until the majority of the liquid has evaporated.
- Garnish the stewed lamb with cilantro.
Cuban-Style Pork Chops
Cuban-Style Pork Chops
Cuban-style pork chops are marinated in sour orange juice, white wine, a lot of garlic, cumin, and oregano. The pork gets seared for a few minutes a side, then removed from the pan. Onions are sautéed, then quickly simmered with the reserved marinade with the pork chops finishing off in the citrusy sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in pork chops 3/4” – 1” thick
- 1 white onion thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Marinade
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Mix the marinade ingredients together.
- Marinate the pork chops for 8 hours.
- Heat up half of the olive oil on a large sauté pan or griddle over medium high heat. Place the pork chops on the griddle, reserving the marinade.
- Sear the pork chops for 3 minutes a side. Remove from the pan.
- Heat up the rest of the olive oil. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes until translucent.
- Pour the marinade into the pan. Place the pork chops on top of the onions. Turn the heat to medium low and cook the pork chops for 4 more minutes, turning over in the sauce and onions every minute.
Spaghetti con Pollo y Salsa Criolla
Spaghetti con Pollo y Salsa Criolla
There’s obviously a huge Italian influence in this pasta recipe. Spaghetti with chicken in criolla sauce is a commonly eaten at dinner tables all over Colombia. The sauce consists of onion, garlic, tomatoes, and bell peppers sautéed then tossed with chicken and pasta. Instead of finishing it off with parmesan, queso fresco is crumbled over the top.
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried spaghetti noodles
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into small pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup fresh basil
Salsa Criolla
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 4 roma tomatoes chopped
- 1 small green bell pepper chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper chopped
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- queso fresco crumbled
Instructions
- Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté the chicken until it’s cooked through; about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Add another 2 tbsp of oil to the pan. Sauté all of the salsa criolla ingredients for 15 minutes.
- While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the spaghetti noodles and cook according to the package directions.
- Add in the chicken stock to the sauce.
- Toss the spaghetti noodles in the sauce.
- Toss in the chicken and basil. Cook for 2 minutes.
