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Comida South America!

For a long time now South American food, esp Peruvian, has held a special place in my heart. Recently i was generously given a gift of a couple of Rocoto sauces from friends overseas. So I thought id start this thread in hopes to learn more about the cuisine and also try my hand a little more often to cook some of their dishes.
 
tonights dinner is a couple of my Peruvian favorites:
 
*Anticuchos - Traditionally beef heart is used.... i used blade steak marinated in 1/2C vinegar, 2T Aji Panca paste, garlic, scotch bonnett, oregano, cumin
*Ajiaco de Papas- 1/2 onion diced and sauteed in butter/oil, add 200g of diced halloumi (or queso fresco), add 3T Aji Amarillo paste, 1/2C stock, 1/2C evaporated milk. Stir and mash in 1kg of cooked potatoes.
*Others - Rice, Salsa Criolla (onion) and one of my favorite beers, Cusquena Negra.
 
 
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I have similar experiences with seafood. I'm not the biggest fan of "fishy" fish. What it sounds like is that you like a lean white flaky fish, i.e. grouper, flounder, halibut, id say mahi mahi even. snapper is a bit fish, so probably not that, but maybe swordfish? The first time I made ceviche was actually in cleveland, I made it with Turbot, Swordfish and halibut. You might also be very fond of kingfish, wahoo and if you can find it, cobia. Coba is my prize fish I love to eat. But at the same time, if you can find a big trigger fish, I call those the pork chops of the sea. Nice thick filets of white meat. Every time I catch a Mahi, after I filet it, I use my knife along the parts that i missed to make very thin slices, as if I were making carpaccio. I would actually suggest this style of thing slicing over the "chunking" you see in your standard suviche, as the texture could throw you off of the first time. But in all honest, it's a very fresh tasting dish, just have to put fresh ingredients, cilantro garlic citrus juice, diced peppers etc 
grantmichaels said:
 
I grew up not liking fish ...
 
Eventually, after college, I found fried grouper ...
 
Then I realized that I loved to catch and eat snook ...
 
Then I found I liked shellfish (my mom was really allergic, so we didn't have it growing up) ...
 
Then I found I could make the flounder she massacred growing up, better ...
 
Then I tried some other fish last year ... liking halibut a bit more than grouper ...
 
And that's where I'm at ... so far ...
 
I do have a source for fish I'd trust to try ceviche with, so I mostly just need to try to nail the right recipe for me to start with, so I have a good experience ...
 
I'm a cautious seafood eater, I guess ...
 
I find the taste and smell of cooked/cooking salmon entirely offensive ... all that lox and capers my family was eating w/ bagels ruined me early on, I guess ...
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Ceviche really is super easy.  Find the fish you like/trust, add some diced hot pepper, cukes, cilantro, maters if you like, a touch of onion and garlic and then squeeze in a couple three limes.  The acid from the juice 'cooks' the fish - longer you leave it to marinade the more cooked the fish will be.  :)
 
BigB said:
I have similar experiences with seafood. I'm not the biggest fan of "fishy" fish. What it sounds like is that you like a lean white flaky fish, i.e. grouper, flounder, halibut, id say mahi mahi even. snapper is a bit fish, so probably not that, but maybe swordfish? The first time I made ceviche was actually in cleveland, I made it with Turbot, Swordfish and halibut. You might also be very fond of kingfish, wahoo and if you can find it, cobia. Coba is my prize fish I love to eat. But at the same time, if you can find a big trigger fish, I call those the pork chops of the sea. Nice thick filets of white meat. Every time I catch a Mahi, after I filet it, I use my knife along the parts that i missed to make very thin slices, as if I were making carpaccio. I would actually suggest this style of thing slicing over the "chunking" you see in your standard suviche, as the texture could throw you off of the first time. But in all honest, it's a very fresh tasting dish, just have to put fresh ingredients, cilantro garlic citrus juice, diced peppers etc 
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Yeah, I'll give it a try ...
 
I'll order some fish from catalinaop.com and do it up one of these days ...
 
I'll try pieces like a piece of sugar-less gum, perhaps? ... 1" x 3/8" x 1/8" or so, maybe? ...
SmokenFire said:
Ceviche really is super easy.  Find the fish you like/trust, add some diced hot pepper, cukes, cilantro, maters if you like, a touch of onion and garlic and then squeeze in a couple three limes.  The acid from the juice 'cooks' the fish - longer you leave it to marinade the more cooked the fish will be.   :)
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Yeah, it's been really popular around town here for like 15 years now, but it's just not been something I've explored personally ... and Danielle won't touch it.
 
I'll try it, though ...
 
Thing is, I don't usually like cilantro either, so there's that too ...
 
The only time I use cilantro purposefully is in chimichurri ...
http://www.selvagrill.com/press.html
 
Selva grill has a vast ceviche selection - menu looks good.  :)
 
I'll cut fish into 1/2" squares about 1/4" thick for ceviche - little cubes instead of slices like for sushi.  Can add all manner of seafood too - shrimp, octopus, shellfish, etc.  
 
SmokenFire said:
Selva grill has a vast ceviche selection - menu looks good.   :)
 
I'll cut fish into 1/2" squares about 1/4" thick for ceviche - little cubes instead of slices like for sushi.  Can add all manner of seafood too - shrimp, octopus, shellfish, etc.  
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fresh shrimp almost don't exist, with most all being frozen right on the boat these days ... so I'm assuming you can thaw shrimp and make using that, too? ...
my beer journey has me pretty comfortable w/ microbial control from pH management ;)
 
grantmichaels said:
 
fresh shrimp almost don't exist, with most all being frozen right on the boat these days ... so I'm assuming you can thaw shrimp and make using that, too? ...

my beer journey has me pretty comfortable w/ microbial control from pH management ;)
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Indeed - frozen raw shrimp, thawed and drained, then mixed in.  
 
grantmichaels said:
I've never had ceviche ...
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Awesome. You need to try a ceviche.
 
Do not try cook you the first time. I advise go to a good peruvian restaurant for know the real flavor and texture.... So after you can imitate as like you already did know, it's very easy to make
 
When I've been there, I've found the Lomo Saltado irresistible ...
 
I've also had their paella, although I prefer my paella to have been cooked over fire ... they develop some maillard by browning, but it's not cooked over fire and I like the taste of fire-roasted paella personally.
 
We usually go for mom's birthday, so maybe I'll try the ceviche this year ...
 
Honestly, though, I'm happy to give it a shot using some seafood from catalinaop.com ... they have the freshest seafood ever, for having the best system of flash-freezing/cryovac'ing ...
 
I've never experienced seafood less fishy in my life ...
 
I made some Ají de gallina for dinner tonight, one of my favorite Peruvian dishes to make I layered it on a bed of potatoes after cooking. The dish is relatively intricate to make, so I'm not posting the whole thing, just the ingredients and end results.
 

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Very nice Tgcm!! I love Aji de Gallina!!
 
Grant your're pretty much onto it.... its an aji amarillo sauce, with stock/bread/milk mixture to give it body,sometimes a little cheese is added, cooked shredded chicken is incorperated at the end
 
Very good comfort food, hard to describe as i cant really compared it to something more familiar, unique taste and texture but it is very popular and a crowd pleaser
 
You pretty mutch nailed it Tinnie. I would have been more specific on the cooking process with my post last night, but I was stuck in a food coma.

I sautee up the onions with the reserved fat from the roasted chicken until they are caramelized. Then blend the aji amarillos with some chicken stock, and add it to the pan where the onions were cooking. Next I shred up the chicken finely, and add it to the pan with the liquified aji amarillos, chicken stock and onions. I usually let that simmer for a good 10 minutes, so that the chicken soaks up the flavor of the aji amarillo. I then add about half a loaf of white bread and some milk to my blender and liquify it. That bread/milk liquid, I then add to the pan with the chicken and other ingredients. I mix that up well, and simmer for 15 minutes so that it thickens up nicely.

While the aji de gallina finishes, I boil/bake some potatoes, and boil some hard boiled eggs. Once everything is done I layer a bed of potatoes in a casserrole dish, then layer the aji de gallina on top, cover that with sliced hardboiled eggs. If I have them in my cupboard I like to crush and sprinkle some peanuts or pecans on top. I didn't have any this time, but it doesn't really make a big difference, just a nice crunchy texture with the creamy aji de gallina. I serve it with rice, and usually a couple of olives. I was out of olives this time, but it doesn't make a huge difference on the dish. The main event is the aji de gallina anyway, which was delicious.
 
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