La Gran Comilona - Lima

De alguna manera quedamos en comer en Lima. No una comida, 9 dias de descubrimiento gastronomico ingredientes nuevos a nuestro vocabulario y paladar. Todos hemos dicho que fue idea nuestra, yo, mi padre y mi tio, pero la verdad es que caimos en fortuna de todos tener el mismo tiempo disponible y nos tiramos. Llegamos a lima a los finales de Mistura el festival gastronomico mas grande de latinoamerica, y claro decidimos atender. La feria esta ubicada con vista a la playa.
 Mistura pretende dar apoyo y reconocer los cocineros, los agricultores y los interpretes de los productos peruanos. Llegamos en coche, al abrir las puertas. Tras comprar boletos de entrada y para la degustacion dimos la vuelta. Las areas se dividen entre bebdidas, comida criolla, comida fusion, el mercado, anticucheros etc.
  Probamos varios platos... Ceviche de conchas negras
 otros ceviches variados...
 
 Tras los ceviches probamos los platos calientes Nos comimos un chaufa (arroz frito) con conchas y mariscos Cordero al horno de leña
 y chancho (cerdo o lechon) al horno Y "al Palo" La verdad es que Mistura fue un buen previo de lo que se puede comer en el Peru, de sus increibles ingredientes, de sus interezados cocineros. Empezamos muy bien.

Mofongo de Yuca

mofongo
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I had a Yuca root sitting around and decided to make a mofongo with it. It's the same technique as when making a plantain mofongo. Frying the yuca in two steps and combining it with pork chicharron garlic and salt. So I cut up the yuca in pieces.






then fried the Yuca first at 350 deg till soft, around 10 minutes



Then at 400 for just a couple of minutes



I had a piece of roasted pork (head in this case)



I fried up the skin to make the chicharron



I then combined two cloves of garlic, some peppercorns, salt and oregano in the mortar and created a paste. The yuca was then pounded in the mortar in 3-4 batches and turned into a chunky mash. I mixed in the pork crackling and roughly molded it



Turned out very tasty with a garlicky pork taste.

La Quercia acorn edition ribs

The Racks
Originally uploaded by ericmonasterio

My brother was the recipient of the ribs of our La Quercia acorn edtion pig share. He went full acorn edition on it. Smoking the ribs with cherry wood and acorn shells.



for six hours at under 275 deg



It was to be served with jalapeno corn bread from their garden



The final result moist, tasty with the fat full of acorn flavor

Fideua

done fideua
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

Fideua is the pasta based alternative to a paella. cooked in a very similar manner either with thick or thin short noodles. This one has chorizo, pork and butter beans. The stock was made from beef bones.

The ingredients



Butter beans about 3/4 cup
small chorizo sausage (from La Tienda)
Pork Shank meat
grated fresh tomato and garlic



Pimenton
short thin dry noodles (I think I may have bought this at Olio)
Preparation
Heat olive oil in your pan, and sautee the ingredients step wise



The meats



the grated tomato and garlic



The beans and some sofrito



2 tablespoons of pimenton went in sautee for 30 sec then
I then added the beef stock and seasoned with salt to taste



I did not measure the liquid but filled the pan to just underneath the handle rivets, then once the liquid began to boil, I added a single line of pasta across the diameter of the pan till the pasta was about a centimeter above the water line. Then mix to distribute.
15-20 minutes later it was done and looked like this





The noodles are a much different texture than a regular rice paella, crispy on the bottom, creamy in the center and firm on the top. The butter beans were a good choice here adding a nice sweetness and crunch.

Sancocho

sancocho
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I had been craving sancocho for some time. This is a soup/stew starch heavy and typically made with multiple lesser cuts of meat, and mixed meats, chicken, pork , beef all comingling. I went with straight pork, but used a homemade chicken stock for the base.
Ingredients
(chop all roots + vegetables into cubes)
1 large yucha root peeled
1 sweet potato
6 small yukon gold potatoes
2 large carrots
2 large turnips
1 large onion
2 large leeks cleaned and chopped
6 cloves of garlic
4 pork shanks rubbed with salt, garlic, oregano, black pepper and left overnight in fridge

1 large can (20 oz) of hominy (this is not a typical ingredient, but I had been saving it to make pozole and said what the hell. Normally a couple of corncobs would be substituted)

3 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup of sofrito
salt and pepper to taste

I cooked it all outside as it was summer, and I could jump in the pool between doneness checks. The shanks were browned on the grill



We had bought them at the farmers market



Once browned the sofrito is sauteed in the cooking vessel (oven safe) and all the roots and vegetables (except the hominy) are added. I then put the shanks on top of the vegetable mix and cooked at approximately 350 degrees for an hour.



This way the fat and rub drips down onto the roots. After an hour I added the liquid ingredients and the hominy tasted and adjusted for salt and pepper and cooked for another half hour. After that I boned out the pork and returned it to the pot. You should have a very thick broth from all the starch with contrasting textures from the different roots and corn. The meat should be soft and easy to chew.



Makes for great leftovers as well

Blackberry Ribs

rub Ribs
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

The Girl picked a recipe for baby back ribs and we made them this weekend.

For 5 lb of ribs we created a rub using
5 tablespoons of chili powder
8 garlic cloves minced
8 peppercorns crushed
2 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of dry oregano
2 tablepsoons of cumin
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce

We rubbed the ribs in this paste



and rubbed



on all sides including the bone side



We then covered them and let them rest in the fridge for 3 hrs while we made the sauce. Ingredients

close to 3 cups of blackberries (ours where fresh)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 roma tomatos
3/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of fresh ginger

This was all put in a blender and blended



We then strained and cooked the suace till it reduced by half



taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper (and or hot sauce) as needed



The ribs were cooked on the grill at around 250-300 degrees for 2 hours We added some smoke from dried thyme and rosemary that had succumbed to the heat. Finally se basted with the sauce till they looked like this





We served it with pimiento de padron fried and served over salt



Which makes a great tapa by the way... these were from La Tienda



Even the dog got a taste of ribs



but mostly we enjoyed them, and the fun of cooking with my kids!



My daughter is a stickler for following the recipe and deserves all the credit on not letting me screw up.