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Latin American Recipes

Huevos Pericos – Colombian Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoe and Spring Onion

I will never forget the first time I was asked in a hotel in Colombia what I wanted for breakfast. I replied: “arepas“, a flatbread made from corn, which there are millions of variations of. The person looked at me in disgust, clearly, there were going to be arepas, duh, the question was how I wanted my eggs. Whether I wanted regular scrambled eggs, or scrambled eggs with sausage, or with tomatoes and spring onions, which is the “huevos pericos.” I had never tried this version and therefore asked for “huevos pericos.” Below I introduce you to the recipe and also outline how a typical breakfast in Colombia looks like and what is going to be served.

Typisches kolumbianisches Frühstück mit arepas und RühreiA typcial Colombian breakfast: arepa con queso with scrambled eggs and freshly pressed juice

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Colombian Arroz Paisa (Rice Stew)

“Arroz paisa” or “arroz antioqueño” comes from the region Antioquia in Colombia. It is related to the national dish bandeja paisa. The main difference between these two dishes is that in this case all ingredients are mixed together. Some components are also missing here, but I believe this dish is just as delicious. Arroz paisa contains fried meat, yellow plantain that is also fried, and the sauce named “hogao” or “guiso”. For this sauce you will fry onions with tomatoe and use some typical herbs. The dish is rounded off with rice, black beans, avocado, and lots and lots of cilantro.
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Creamy Passion Fruit Ice Cream

Due to the request of my hubby today you will get creamy passion fruit ice cream. It is made with a custard, which contains egg yolks, cream, and milk. You will need an ice cream machine for this ice cream. You will be rewarded an extremely refreshing ice cream with a distinct passion fruit flavor. We have made it several times this summer. Even though I don’t like ice cream too much (I know, I am weird), I have to say, this one is different. Even I ate my fair share of it. So if you have an ice cream machine and want to make ice cream the classic way, let’s get going, this is so delicious!

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Pasteles Gloria from Colombia

Have you ever heard of pasteles Gloria from Colombia? These are not to be confused with the ones from Spain, which contain marzipan. One distiction is that the Spanish ones are called pasteles DE Gloria. The Colombian ones are made with puff pastry, quince paste (originally with guava), and mozzarella. Often the caramel spread named arequipe is also added.  Mozzarella combined with jam is very popular in all of Latin America.  These turnovers aka empanadas with quince paste and mozzarella are just one example. I am going to make the puff pastry myself. I recently found out that bought puff pastry often contains palm oil instead of butter. This also explains why the first time around they didn’t taste very nice as I used store-bought. Instead we are going to do it ourselves, trust me, they will be amazing!

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Panchos Uruguayos or Urugayan Hot Dogs

Have you ever eaten a Uruguayan hot dog? Funnily enough, it is not similar to the Argentinian choripán, but has more resemblance with the New York hot dog as the same type of sausage is used. However, the toppings are completely different. You will find chips in the shape of fries and different sauces. Below I will also give you a recipe for homemade buns. Typically in Uruguay hot dogs are not literally translated as “perros calientes”, but are called “panchos”. I hope you enjoy this version of it.

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Empanadas with Chicken Filling

Guys, we need more empanadas in our lives! Today I am presenting these turnovers very popular in all of Latin America with a chicken filling to you. My love for empanadas is pretty visible on my blog, I have a lot of recipes on here, for an overview, check out these eight empanada recipes in this blog post. Just a warning, yes, empanadas do require a bit of time. You will need to make the dough, you will need to make the filling, and then you need to make each empanada separately before baking them. However, what I do love about empanadas is the fact that you can do everything in advance. You may make the dough as well as the filling two days in advance. For me filling each empanada is better than yoga, it really calms me down. Once you get to the baking part, you will be awarded some delicious food!

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Argentinian Crescents – Medialunas

Argentinian crescents are called medialunas, which translates as half moons. I would say they are a distant cousin of French croissants or the Italian cornettos. However, instead of creating a layer of butter seperately, which is then folded into the dough, we will add it directly to the dough. The whole laminating process, which means that the dough is rolled out and folded and then chilled, is kept to a minimum. We will only do it one round. I think this is the perfect compromise, it gives us some of those flaky layers, but does not require as many resting times as the traditional croissant. However, despite a reduction in resting times, this still is a yeast dough, which means that you will need time before you can finally bite into one. I have to admit, suddenly I had eaten three even though I only wanted to eat one…

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Brazilian Carrot Cake or Bolo de Cenoura

If you have ever watched a “Latina” mom while baking or cooking for a large crowd, you know why cakes need to come together fast. This Brazilian carrot cake falls into this category, the cake really is prepared rather quickly. You basically throw together all ingredients and then whiz them in a food processor. Pour the mixture into a baking pan and then the oven takes over. The second time I made this cake, it only took me ten minutes before it went into the oven. Can I interest you in this bolo de cenoura?

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Pan de bonos from Colombia (gluten-free)

Wow, guys, really? 85% of you said on Insta that you want another pan de bono recipe on the blog. So I will happily oblige. Below version is made with Russian tvorog, which is a cream cheese also available here in Germany. My Colombian hubby says this is the closest I have gotten to the Colombian original, so I will take this as a huge win. Believe me, I have made probably thousands of pan de bonos by now, I have tried so many different cheeses, I have used mozzarella, and feta, I used queso de Burgos in Spain and a cheese called “Schichtkäse” here in Germany. Now we will  turn to tvorog as this seems to be pretty close to the Colombian “queso costeño”, which is used originally.

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New Edition: Alfajores Marplatenses

I probably sound like a broken record, but my very favorite cookie from my birth place Uruguay is alfajores marplatenses. This translates to a chocolate sandwich cookie, which is filled with caramel aka dulce de leche. A decadent delicacy. Obviously I already have a recipe on the blog, however, this time I thought I may give another recipe a try. The recipe below follows the recipe by Isabel Vermal, an Argentinian pastry maker. Her dough is slightly different from my first recipe, it is slightly drier and contains more flour. It is a beautiful contrast to the dulce de leche filling. May I interest you in making below recipe?

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