Tag: main course
Bollos Pelones
Bollos Pelones
Bollos pelones are a great example of Venezuelan home cooking. The dumplings consists of corn flour dough balls filled with seasoned ground beef. They’re boiled, then covered with a tomato sauce. They remind me if you crossed a tamale and a matzah ball. These meat dumplings can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner as an appetizer or as your main course.
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 1/4 cup masa harina
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 tsp salt
Filling
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium white onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 roma tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 pinch sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat up the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown the ground beef. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Heat up olive oil in a small pot over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Addin the tomatoes. Season with salt. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce. Set aside.
- Mix together all of the dough ingredients.
- Form into a dozen balls.
- Make a hole in the center of the ball with your thumb. Fill it with 3 tbsp of the filling.
- Close up and re-roll the balls.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the balls.
- Boil for 10 minutes. The balls are ready when they float to the surface. Drain the balls. Hehe.
Oxtail Stew
Oxtail Stew
Oxtail stew is an extremely popular Jamaican comfort food that deserves more recognition than it gets. Oxtails we’re once considered a cheap throw away cut that was eaten by lower income families. Now days, oxtails are kinda expensive. The tails of cows contains gelatinous meat with marrow running through the center. Once braised, the meat falls off the bone. This dish can be prepared on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, and even a pressure cooker if you’re pressed for time. If you can’t find oxtails, beef short ribs are a suitable replacement.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 lbs oxtails
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 2 habanero
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 allspice berries
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 can butter beans
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown the oxtails for 8 minutes.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients except the butter beans. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 3 hours.
- Uncover. Stir in the butter beans. Simmer for 30 more minutes.
Spiced Lamb with Fennel, Chili, and Tomato
Spiced Lamb with Fennel, Chili, and Tomato
Kothu kari kulambu is a spiced ground lamb dish from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Seasoned ground lamb is cooked with onions, garlic, and tomatoes. A spice paste consisting of coriander, fennel, cumin, Kashmiri chilies, and curry leaves is stirred in, then cooked down with the lamb. The lamb is served with flaky parathas.
Equipment
- Spice grinder
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs ground lamb
- 8 garlic cloves
- 1” ginger
- 1 green bird’s eye chilies
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 curry leaves
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Spice Paste
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 5 Kashmiri chilies
- 10 curry leaves
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Add the 6 garlic cloves, ginger, and green chili to a food processor and process into a paste.
- Mix the paste with the ground lamb and set aside.
- Add the spice paste ingredients to a spice grinder and turn into a powder.
- Mix the spices with a tbsp of water to create a paste. Set aside.
- Heat up the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the 2 minced garlic cloves and curry leaves for a minute.
- Stir in the onions and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat up to medium high and brown the lamb for 8 minutes.
- Add in the spice paste, water, and salt. Simmer for 3 minutes.
- Cover the pan. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Uncover the pan. Squeeze over the lemon juice.
