Presea's Recipes - Many Ecuadorian and some [Paleo] recipes

[Presea]

This thread is for my favorite recipes.  My boyfriend is from Ecuador, so I end up learning and cooking a lot of Ecuadorian recipes.  However, I also love lots of other cuisines and make (or try to make ) dishes from all over the world (including my home country, 'Murica).  We rarely eat out, but we're both busy so I end up doing a lot of batch cooking on the weekend.  A lot of these recipes are primal, paleo, or easily modified to be so.  My boyfriend isn't in to healthy eating, but he likes almost everything I cook and has a big appetite.

 

To start things off, here's one of my favorite Ecuadorian dishes:

 

---Paleo, unless you go with some non-paleo toppings---

 

Encebollado de Pescado - a soup with tuna, yuca, and red onion.

 

recipe - http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/03/01/encebollado-de-pescado-or-tuna-soup/

 

Laylita's recipes are usually pretty spot-on; I highly recommend her blog. 

 

Notes:

- Since fresh albacore tuna is difficult to find and cost prohibitive where I live, I usually make this with canned tuna (I get the Wild Planet brand from Costco).

- The way my boyfriend's parents make it, they cook the onion in the soup rather than pickling it.  I love it both ways.

- I like the soup as is, while my boyfriend likes adding a squeeze of lime juice, tostado, chifles (recipe here or you can buy them in a latin american grocery store), or popcorn.  Another traditional accompaniement is toasted white bread, but we usually skip this.

[Presea]

---Not Paleo, but you should seriously try it anyways---

 

I studied abroad for a semester in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.  After graduating from my universtiy, I went back for a couple weeks to visit friends.  While I was there, one of my friend's mothers taught me how to make Pozole. 

 

Pozole

 

Ingredients

4 guajillo peppers

3 ancho peppers

1/2 kg pork shoulder

1/2 kg pork ribs (any kind)

1 tsp dried oregano

2 bay leaves

1 chicken bouillion cube

1 medium onion

1 small head of garlic

1 kg cooked hominy

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

 

chopped romaine lettuce

diced radishes

diced onion

tortilla chips

lime wedges

 

Instructions

1. Cut meat into medium chunks, trimming excess fat (no need to cut off every little piece of fat, you want some for flavor.  just trim the larger sections of fat).  Place in a large soup pot or in a large crock pot/slow cooker.

2. Remove stems and seeds from dried chiles, put in a medium sauce pan, cover with water, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Blend chiles and water with bouillion cube.  Pour over meat.

3. If you have a gas stove, char onion (quartered) and garlic over flame.  Another option is dry roasting in a skillet.  In both cases, be careful not to burn, just lightly char.  Sometimes I just wrap them in foil and throw them in my toaster oven on broil.  Blend onion on peeled garlic cloves with as much water as needed.  Pour over meat.

4.  Add oregano and bay leaf.  Simmer until the meat is fall-off-the-bone-tender/shreds easily with a fork (when I use the slow cooker, I usually do two cycles to make sure the flavor is really developed and the meat is really tender.  I only use the stovetop if it's the weekend and I can be home for at least 4 hours supervising.)

5.  Remove meat, shred with two forks.  Return meat to pot, add cooked hominy and simmer until both are heated through.  Chop cilantro and stir in.

6.  Serve in large bowls with the romaine, radishes, onion, lime wedges, and tortilla chips on the table for each to top as desired.

 

I often double the recipe and we eat it all week.  Needless to say, we love this pozole!

[Presea]

My Guacamole - [Paleo], unless of course you eat it with some delicious tortilla chips

Note - this recipe makes a lot, because I buy my avocados at Costco.  Scale the recipe to the # of avocados you have.

- the most important thing to make sure your guacamole turns out delicious is the ripeness of the avocados.  Too firm or starting to go bad avocados will guarantee your guacamole is no good.  I usually buy them very firm, then let them sit on the countertop until they give a little when gently squeezed.  Then, I put them in the fridge until the day I'm ready to make the guacamole.  I've had them stay at that perfect ripeness up to a week after putting them in the fridge.

 

Ingredients:

- 6 avocados

- 1 large beefsteak tomato, or 2 if using a smaller variety

- 1 medium red onion

- 5 cloves of garlic

- juice of 2-4 limes

- salt to taste

 

Mince the garlic as fine as you can, then finely chop the onion.  Place these in a large bowl with some salt and lime juice, so that the latter can take some bite off the former while you prep the remaining ingredients.  Chop the tomato - medium sized; add to the bowl.  Cut the avocado in half, rotating around the pit.  Twist and separate the halves.  Remove the pits; scoop the flesh into the bowl.  Mash with a pastry cutter, potato masher, or your hands, being sure to evenly distribute the onion and garlic.  Taste, add more lime and/or salt as necessary.

[Inoke]

Thank you for posting these! I love the idea of fish soup, but it's hard to find recipies that aren't... sad. This one sounds delicious!!!

[Presea]

Let me know if you try it!  There's another, different Ecuadorian fish soup I hope to make and post about soon. 

[Presea]

Llapingachos (Potato patties filled with cheese)

 

If you're looking for a new way to prepare potatoes, these go well with just about anything.  They're called llapingachos, basically potatoes that you mash and season, form into patties, fill with a little cheese, and cook on a griddle.  Laylita recommends shredded cheese, but I've found it easier to buy a block of mozzarella or queso quesadilla into cubes and stuff one cube into each patty.  I make them on the larger size (maybe around the size of a billiard ball, or slightly smaller), and this is what my myfitnesspal recipe give for 1 llapingacho:

-138 calories: 7g fat, 15g carb (2g of which are from fiber), 5g protein

[ch3]

The potatoes looks amazing, sadly I don't have an over, I suscribed to this topic, thanks for posting!

[Presea]

This past weekend I invented a recipe that's perfect for bulk-cooking lunches for the whole week.  I'm calling it:

 

Chicken, Mushrooms, and Cauliflower Roasted in Pesto

"Pesto" (not really because it doesn't have the nuts or cheese; I was lazy)

Place 5 cloves of garlic in a blender, then fill the jar up with basil.  Pour in ~1/2 cup oil (could replace some w/water to lower calories) and blend, stopping to push the loose basil leaves down towards the blades.

 

Toss 2 lbs sliced mushrooms, 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets, and 2-3 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts with the pesto and divide between 2 rimmed baking sheets.  Place in an oven preheated to 350F and bake until the chicken is done (juices run clear when pierced w/knife).  May experiment with higher temperature in the future to get some browning action on the chicken and veggies.

[Presea]

I also needed to use a bunch of zucchini from my Dad's garden.  I decided to try making stuffed zucchini.  I read a few different recipes on the internet, and ended up making my own variation:

 

Turkey, Italian sausage, and Muenster Stuffed Zucchini

I had 2 really big zucchini and 3 medium sized ones - in total, probably equivalent to ~7 store-bought zucchini.

 

Heat oven to 350F.  Slice zucchini in half lengthwise, then place cut side down on two rimmed baking sheets and bake until tender. 

 

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbs butter in a skillet, then add 2 medium onions, diced.  Let them brown, then add 5 cloves of sliced garlic.  Add ~5 cups whole peeled tomatoes in heavy puree (I used 1/2 of one of those giant cans of san marzano tomatoes from Costco; I think 2 of the normal 28-oz cans would be about equivalent), breaking them up with a wooden spoon as they cook.  Let cool, then mix half of the tomato mixture w/2 lbs ground turkey, 1 lb bulk italian sausage, and 1 lb of muenster cheese.  Season with oregano, black pepper, and salt. 

 

Flip the zucchini over, and use a spoon to remove some of the seedy flesh in the middle.  Pile on the stuffing, then top with the other half of the tomato mixture.  Return to the oven and bake until the stuffing is fully cooked.

 

This makes a lot, probably like 12 servings (one stuffed zucchini half per serving, or half of a half for the really big zucchinis).  Definitely scale it down if you're not trying to get rid of a ton of zucchini from your garden.  I froze a third of them after baking, so I'm curious to see how well those defrost.

[Presea]

Easy Shredded Chicken for Salads

 

~5 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

and

a sauce depending on the flavor profile you want, for example for a southwest salad:

-1 Tbsp olive oil

-4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

-5 cloves garlic

-1 Tbsp cumin

-2 Tbsp dried oregano

-2 cups fresh cilantro

Combine sauce ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth, then dump over the chicken in a slow cooker.

Make sure all sides of all of the chicken breasts are coated, then set to low for ~8 hours.

When it's done, shred the chicken in the crock with two forks.  It will soak up the cooking liquid as you shred it.

I immediately froze half for another week of lunch salads sometime in the future; the other half put in a tuperware and took it to work with me to use on lunch salads throughout the week.

[Presea]

Porcini Risotto - makes 8 servings

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

2 pounds fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 medium onions

2 cups frozen peas

6 cloves garlic

1 quart chicken stock

2 cups short-grain rice (I used sushi rice)

5 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 ounces shaved parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp sage or thyme

 

Boil a couple cups of water, drop in the dried shrooms and turn off the heat.  Let soak for 30 minutes (meanwhile, chop the other veggies and sautee fresh mushrooms in 2 Tbsp butter).  Remove the mushrooms and chop, then strain the mushroom liquid through a sieve lined with paper towl into a medium saucepan.  Add the chicken stock and set over medium heat to simmer, then drop to low to keep hot.  Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a large, deep skillet.  Add onion and sautee until it starts to brown, add garlic, reconstituted chopped mushrooms, herbs, and black pepper.  After a minute, add the rice, stir to coat.  After another minute, add a few ladels of the hot stock mixture.  Stir until almost all the liquid is absorbed, then add a couple more ladelfulls.  Continue the process until the rice is no longer crunchy on the inside, 20-30 mintues.  Stir in the sauteed mushrooms and the frozen peas.  Finally, stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter and the parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately sprinkled with a little more parmesan and accompanied with some chicken.

[Presea]

Zucchini Moussaka

Trying to use up zucchini from my dad's garden, I decided to make Moussaka, subbing in zucchini for most of the eggplant.  I did have a few eggplants from the garden as well, but by far the minority.

 

Makes 12 large servings

 

6 medium zucchini

2 small eggplants

2 medium onions

6 cloves garlic

4 pounds 88/12 ground beef

1 small can tomato paste (8oz?)

2 cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes (14 oz each)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp each cloves and allspice

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 cup red wine

4 cups 2% milk

just shy of 1 cup flour

10 Tbsp unsalted butter

3 oz parmesan

3 egg yolks

freshly grated nutmeg

3 Tbsp olive oil

 

Slice the zucchini and eggplant about 1/2 inch think, sprinkle both sides with salt, and set in a collander to drain (~30 min).  In the meantime, chop the onions and garlic, then sautee in a large, deep skillet with a dab of butter or olive oil.  Add ground beef, breaking up with a wooden spoon.  Add spices (except nutmeg), red wine, tomatoes and tomato paste, and simmer until the liquid is almost all gone (~30 min).  Preheat the broiler.  Rinse the zucchini and eggplant slices, then arrange on 3 baking sheets, each rubbed with 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Place under broiler, turning once they brown.  It may take awhile because they've still got a lot of water in them - that's okay, they need to dry out and the hot air in the oven will help that happen.  Place about half of the zucchini and eggplant in an even layer in a large baking pan (bigger and deeper than a 9x13 -- maybe 11x17?  not sure.  Could also do two smaller pans, like 9x13 and 9x9).  Spread ground beef mixture over slices, then top with the rest of the vegetables slices.  Make the bechamel: melt butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in flour.  Cook for a minute, then pour in milk and stir with a whisk until very thick.  Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, remove the milk mixture from heat, and whisk in egg yolks and shaved parmesan.  Grate in nutmeg, then pour over the top layer of vegetables.  Bake in 350 oven until nicely browned on top.  Let cool completely if you want the slices to come out intact - you can reheat the individual slices in the microwave.

[Archon]

My Guacamole - [Paleo], unless of course you eat it with some delicious tortilla chips

Note - this recipe makes a lot, because I buy my avocados at Costco.  Scale the recipe to the # of avocados you have.

- the most important thing to make sure your guacamole turns out delicious is the ripeness of the avocados.  Too firm or starting to go bad avocados will guarantee your guacamole is no good.  I usually buy them very firm, then let them sit on the countertop until they give a little when gently squeezed.  Then, I put them in the fridge until the day I'm ready to make the guacamole.  I've had them stay at that perfect ripeness up to a week after putting them in the fridge.

 

Ingredients:

- 6 avocados

- 1 large beefsteak tomato, or 2 if using a smaller variety

- 1 medium red onion

- 5 cloves of garlic

- juice of 2-4 limes

- salt to taste

 

Mince the garlic as fine as you can, then finely chop the onion.  Place these in a large bowl with some salt and lime juice, so that the latter can take some bite off the former while you prep the remaining ingredients.  Chop the tomato - medium sized; add to the bowl.  Cut the avocado in half, rotating around the pit.  Twist and separate the halves.  Remove the pits; scoop the flesh into the bowl.  Mash with a pastry cutter, potato masher, or your hands, being sure to evenly distribute the onion and garlic.  Taste, add more lime and/or salt as necessary.

I will have to try out your recipe :-)

 

Mine is similar, but I do not add tomato and I use cilantro instead of garlic. Also, it sounds like you use quite a bit more lime than I do, I usually use 1 whole lime for 3-4 large avocados. Using lemon instead of lime makes a more mild guacamole (fun for doing something a little different) and I sometimes will add some fresh jalapeno too (I never take the seeds out of my jalapenos when cooking though, so only good if people can tolerate a little spice with their guacamole).