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Niçoise salad

2 May 2012

Seattle on a sunny spring day is one of the most beautiful places to be, colorful daffodils and cherry blossoms brighten everything up. You will have a clear view of Mt Rainer and the Olympic mountains over the Sound. Unfortunately, we don’t always get a lot of those types of days – I mean, it is Seattle; and spring can sometimes feel like an extension of winter. Whenever we do a get a day (or couple of days) of true Spring, it seems to inspire everyone: parks are full of happy kids, the favorite hiking spots are packed, any restaurant with a good view of the water will be very busy, Farmer’s Markets are bustling, it’s an amazing place. All this activity inspires me to cook food that matches the settings: colorful, vibrant, healthy, something you would enjoy eating on the patio or as a picnic. But at the same time I want to prepare dishes that can be prepped ahead of time and are not too time consuming, because I also want some time to go hiking, or just sit on patio and enjoy the sunset with a glass of Washington wine. (more…)

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Categories : All, Europe, Meatless, Salads, South America, Vegetables
7 Comments
Posted on May 2, 2012

Llapingachos de mote or hominy corn patties

25 April 2012

Llapingachos are stuffed patties cooked on a hot griddle, they are typically made with potatoes and stuffed with cheese; however, they can also be made with other ingredients. These llapingachos de mote are the result of having a good amount of leftovers after making fritada de chancho, a type of braised pork dish very similar to Mexican pork carnitas. Fritada is served with a variety of side dishes, one of which is mote or hominy corn. I love having leftovers, but I also like experimenting and turning leftovers into something different than the original dish. It’s a good way to test new recipe ideas and it also makes leftovers more appealing to my kids – which helps minimize the “why we’re having the same thing as yesterday” comments. One of my favorite things about eating fritada is when you get a bite of the pork combined with some hominy, pickled red onions and hot sauce. These hominy patties recreate that taste, but also add a little extra yumminess with the creamy peanut sauce drizzled on top. (more…)

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Categories : Appetizers, Breakfast and brunch, Cheese, Comfort food, Corn, Meat, South America, Vegetarian
4 Comments
Posted on April 25, 2012

Lilou’s apple cake

15 April 2012

I’ve mentioned before that I prefer desserts that are easy and simple to make. Whenever I have friends over for dinner, I usually get caught up in making several different courses and tend to run out of time for dessert. I’ve learned to delegate dessert to Nicolas, who likes to keep it simple. He loves making this apple cake and considers it an example of a delicious dessert can be simple to make. Last summer we were lucky enough to spend some time in the south of France. We stayed with Nico’s aunt Lilou, who happens to be an amazing cook and spoiled us with some of the best meals ever. One of her desserts was this apple cake, it was so good, I had to ask her to share the recipe. Nico was in charge of taking notes for Lilou’s recipes and he also prepares this cake most of the time when we make it at home. (more…)

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Categories : Desserts, Europe, Fruit, Kid friendly, Quick
13 Comments
Posted on April 15, 2012

Semana Santa or Easter in Ecuador

1 April 2012


Semana Santa or Easter is a very important holiday in Ecuador, throughout the country there a many different celebrations that include processions, special ceremonies and other events. As most holidays in Ecuador –and Latin America, Lent and Easter have a strong connection to food. The most important dish for Easter in Ecuador is a thick soup called fanesca. Traditionally fanesca is mean to be eaten on Holy Thursday, think Last Supper, however it has become a popular dish and you can find it in many restaurants on the menu during the whole week. Fanesca is made with salt cod, many different types of beans and grains – both fresh and dry, squash, spices, and many other ingredients. This soup requires a lot of prep work: the fresh grains needs to shucked and cleaned, the salt cod needs to soak for 24 hours, the grains and vegetables are cooked separately. The assembly of all the ingredients is the easiest part of making the soup.

(more…)

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Categories : Holidays, South America
11 Comments
Posted on April 1, 2012

Caldo de pata or cow feet soup

27 March 2012

Caldo de patas de res or cow feet soup is another one of those typical Latin dishes that people either love or hate, nothing wrong with that; but at least try it before you decide to hate it. As a child I was a picky eater about some foods, especially those that didn’t look or sound normal, however even then I liked this soup (so I was forced to try it the first time, but I actually liked it once I tasted it). This might sound weird, but there is something comforting about a good caldo de pata – those of you that have had this soup (and liked it) can relate to this.

Caldo de pata is a soup that I’ve wanted to make for a while, but didn’t know where to find cow feet or cow hooves. When I saw them at Uwajimaya, a local Asian grocery store, I knew I had to make it. Uwajimaya, for those in Seattle, is a great source for hard to find meat cuts, you can also find tripe, brains, tongue, and many other non-mainstream meat parts. (more…)

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Categories : Central America, Comfort food, Hangover cures, Meat, Soup, South America
1 Comments
Posted on March 27, 2012

Canelazo and naranjillazo spiced drinks

11 March 2012

Canelazo is a traditional spiced hot drink from the highlands in Ecuador. The original canelazo recipe is made by boiling water with cinnamon and sugar or panela, and then it is mixed with a local sugar cane alcohol called punta or aguardiente. The climate in the Sierra or highlands of Ecuador is usually mild during the day, as long as the sun is out you will be fine wearing a t-shirt. However, it can get cold at night, especially when it rains, and most houses in the highlands don’t have gas or electric heaters – we have thick blankets called colchas. If you’re home at night you are typically fine, however during local festivities there are a lot of outdoor nightly activities, including shows, fairs or firework displays. This is where hot canelazo comes in; if you are feeling the cold a drink of canelazo will definitely warm you up. One of my best memories of drinking canelazo was with a group of friends during the local fiestas. One night we took a ride on a chiva; this literally translates as a goat, however in this case it’s a rustic open bus. It was a very cold night, but thankfully they were serving canelazo on the chiva – that was probably the time where I appreciated it the most. (more…)

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Categories : Drinks, Holidays, South America
3 Comments
Posted on March 11, 2012

Miel de panela

7 March 2012

Miel de panela, also called miel de caña, is a sweet syrup made by melting panela or piloncillo with water. Miel de panela is used as a sweetener, think honey, to sweeten drinks (juice, coffee, tea). There is a spiced version of miel de panela, where you add cinnamon and cloves, which is used to drizzle over fried pastries called pristiños. Miel de panela is also served with buñuelos, a type of fluffy fried fitters, and also with muchines de yuca, cheese-stuffed yuca or cassava dumplings. Panela syrup is also great drizzled over fresh fruit, especially grapefruit or pineapple slices. I also like to use the spiced panela syrup as an alternate to maple syrup on pancakes or waffles.
A very typical dessert in my hometown of Loja, is miel con quesillo, which is a slice of fresh cheese drizzled with panela syrup. It’s a very simple dessert, but is the perfect mix of a cheese course with something sweet. Quesillo is a very fresh cheese, almost like a young farmer’s cheese. I’ve been lucky enough to find something very similar to quesillo at the local farmer’s markets in the Seattle area. Another alternative is fresh mozzarella or even a slice of queso fresco goes great drizzled with some sweet panela syrup. (more…)

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Categories : Basics, Central America, Desserts, Mexico, Quick, South America, Vegetarian
1 Comments
Posted on March 7, 2012
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