Frijoles Negros Volteados (Fried Black Bean Paste - Guatemala)
2 cups black bean puree (canned
refried black beans)
1 tablespoon oil
Heat oil over moderate heat in skillet. Add bean puree and mix well with wooden spoon. Stir until puree thickens and liquid evaporates. Continue until mix begins to come away from skillet and can be formed by shaking the skillet to give a sausage shape. Serve warm with tortillas, farmers cheese, sour cream, bread or with all at once.
Chuchitos (Cornmeal Dumplings Stuffed with Meat - Guatemala)
1 pound boneless chicken or pork
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups sliced ripe tomatoes
1 chile guajillo, seeds and stem removed
2 tablespoons water
4 cups Masa Harina
8 tablespoons margarine (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh green or dried cornhusks, wet
Cut the chicken or pork into 1-inch cubes and fry in oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Set aside.
Process the tomatoes, chile pepper and 2 tablespoons water into a smooth sauce. Set aside.
Mix the masa, margarine, 1 1/2 cups cold water and the salt together into a thick mush. Put 1/2 cup mush in each wet cornhusk, push an indentation into the mush, and add 1 tablespoon sauce and a chunk of meat. Cover the stuffing with the mush and wrap the dumpling into a sausage shape with the corn leaves. Steam the chuchitos over hot water over moderate heat for 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap and eat warm or at room temperature.
Avocado Cream Soup (Sopa de Aguacate)
3 large ripe avocados, peeled, halved, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 cups chicken stock, fresh or canned
1/4 cup pale dry sherry (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon round white pepper
3 corn tortillas, quartered and fried until crisp
Puree the diced avocados in 3 batches, combining 1/3 of the dice and 1/2 cup of cream at a time in a blender container and blending at high speed for 30 seconds.
In a 3-quart non-reactive saucepan, bring the stock to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to low, and when the stock is simmering, stir in the avocado puree. Add the sherry, salt and pepper, and taste for seasoning.
To serve the soup hot, pour it into a tureen and strew the top with tortilla quarters or avocado slices. Or refrigerate and serve it cold.
Carne en Adobo (Beef in Tomato and Pepper Sauce - Guatemala)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 red peppers, seeded and chopped
3 pounds lean boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
10 ounces canned tomatillos
4 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup beef stock
2 stale flour tortillas
Heat oil in saucepan and saute onion, garlic and pepper until onion is soft. Add meat and everything else except tortillas. Add more stock if needed so liquid barely covers meat. Cover, simmer gently 2 hours until beef is tender.
Soak tortillas in water, squeeze them out and crumble. Add to casserole and simmer uncovered until sauce thickens.
Serve with Arroz Guatemalteco.
Arroz Guatemalteco (Guatemala Style Rice)
2 cups long grain rice
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, celery, sweet red
peppers, finely chopped, and green peas)
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups chicken stock
Heat oil in heavy saucepan and add rice. Saute lightly until rice has absorbed the oil, being careful not to let it color. Add mixed vegetables, salt, pepper, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes until rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
Serves 6 to 8.
Arroz con Pollo Chapina (Guatemala Style Chicken and Rice)
3 pounds chicken pieces, skin and fat discarded
1 tablespoon corn oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped ripe tomato
1 1/2 cups raw rice
1 cup sliced carrots
1/3 cup stuffed green olives
1 tablespoon capers
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup green peas
1/2 cup sweet red pimiento, cut into strips
1 hard cooked egg, sliced
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
In a large skillet brown the chicken in the oil over medium heat for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Remove the chicken and set aside.
In the same skillet with the chicken fat, fry the onion, garlic and tomato for 2 minutes. Add the rice and fry for 2 minutes more. Add the carrots, olives and capers and mix everything together. Pour in the broth and chicken pieces. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover skillet and simmer until broth has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
Add the green peas. Cover skillet with aluminum foil and punch 8 holes in the top to allow steam to escape. Bake at 300 degrees F for 30 minutes. Fluff up the mixture once or twice during the baking time.
Serve warm. Decorate the surface with the pimiento strips and egg slices and sprinkle with the cheese. The rice should be dry, loose and not sticky. Serve with fried ripe plantain slices, salsa picante and pickled vegetables.
Serves 6.
Argentinean Stew in a Pumpkin Shell
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons oil
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup dried apricots
3 white potatoes, peeled and diced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups beef broth
1 medium pumpkin
Butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 (16 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
Trim any excess fat from beef and cook with onion and garlic in oil until meat is browned.
Add tomatoes, green pepper, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, sugar, apricots, white potatoes, sweet potatoes and broth. Cover and simmer 1 hour.
Meanwhile, cut top off pumpkin and discard. Scoop out seeds and stringy membrane. Brush inside of pumpkin with butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Stir sherry and corn into stew and spoon into pumpkin shell. Place shell in shallow pan and bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour, or until pumpkin meat is tender.
Place pumpkin in large bowl and ladle out stew, scooping out some of pumpkin with each stew serving.
Bunuelos (Fritters) with Sweet Syrup (San Salvador)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1 cup water
1/4 pound butter
3 eggs
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Sweet Syrup
Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Combine the water and butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and, using a wooden spoon, beat in the flour mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating only enough to incorporate them into the batter.
Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. The oil is hot enough when a bread cube put into the oil sizzles and turns brown.
Shape the batter into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Carefully slip them into the oil, being careful not to crowd the pan (work in batches, if necessary). Using a wooden spoon, keep moving the bunuelos around so they will puff up and brown evenly. When golden brown, remove them to a plate lined with paper towels.
Serve as soon as possible with Sweet Syrup.
Yields about 24 bunuelos.
Per bunuelo: 70 calories, 1 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat (3 g saturated), 37 mg cholesterol, 54 mg sodium, 0 g fiber
Sweet Syrup
6 pieces piloncillo (see note)
2 cups water
3 cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup brown sugar
Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes, until the mixture is reduced to a light syrup.
Yields enough syrup for 24 fritters (bunuelos).
NOTE: Piloncillo is rock sugar. It is called dulce de atado in some Central American markets.
Per recipe: 560 calories, g protein, 142 g carbohydrate, 0 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 0 g fiber