Lolitas Red Beans Colombia Food

COLOMBIAN RED BEANS - FRIJOLES COLOMBIANOS

Steps:

• Sauté the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and reserve for another use, but leave the bacon drippings in the pan.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped scallions, and cumin to the pan. Sauté them in the bacon fat until they are soft, about 5 to 8 minutes.
• Add the beans (including liquid) to the pan. Add sugar, water, and the chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes more, until most of the water has evaporated and the beans have thickened.
• Remove from heat and stir in the chopped cilantro.
• Serve with rice.

SIMPLE COLOMBIAN BEANS

Steps:

• Wash beans well with water and take out any debris.
• Place in pressure cooker and cover with water up to the max line (approx 12 cups for a 5 quart pressure cooker).
• Place lid on cooker creating a tight seal cook on high for 35 minutes (this will soften the beans).
• Take pressure cooker of the stove and allow steam to escape completely before opening.
• Add carrots, plantain, sazon, and salt.
• If you like your beans more soupy (which I do) add more water to replace what has been lost, if you do not they will be rather on the dry side and you will have to watch more carefully on the next step because they have a higher risk of burning.
• Cover again and cook on med-high for 20-30 minutes.
• While beans are cooking sauté the tomato, onions, and cilantro in the oil add a pinch of salt.
• Once the beans are done add the hogado and test the beans for softness, if necessary cover and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.
• Serve with white rice and the meat of your choice, enjoy!

LOLITAS RED BEANS (COLOMBIA)

Steps:

• In large saucepan, saute onion in butter until lightly brown, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add the cabbage, and bean broth to equal about 1 cup, adding water to the broth if needed.
• Cook until cabbage is tender, about 5 more minutes. Add the chili sauce, and salt and pepper.
• Bring to boil; reduce heat simmer 5 minutes.
• Serve immediately with tortillas.

BLOCK PARTY BEANS

Steps:

• In a large dutch oven, brown beef over med. heat. Drain fat. Add onion & celery, cook until tender. Stir in soup, tomato paste & ketchup, simmer 15-20 minutes. Spoon into large kettle or roaster. Add all remaining ingredients. Stir well. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 1 hour.

CHICKEN ENCHILADA DIP OR SPREAD

Steps:

• Mix everything together in a mixing bowl until well blended.
• Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased/sprayed medium baking dish.
• Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown.

CHILE CON QUESO ( EMERIL )

Steps:

• Roast peppers by placing them on open gas flame, turning frequently with tongs until all sides are charredblack, about 7-10 minutes. Can also roast peppers under broiler or on the grill. Place blackened peppers in a plasic or paper bag, and let rest until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Peel peppers, split in half lengthwise, and discard all seeds and stems. FInely chop and set aside.
• In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cayenne and cook, stirring, until very soft, about 6 minutes. Add flour and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and chopped chilies. Cook for 1 minute. SLowly add cream and stir until thick, 3-4 minutes. Add cheeses and cook, stirring, until melted and smooth.
• Remove from heat, adjust seasonings to taste and pour into fondue or warming dish. Serve with tortilla chips.

VENEZUELAN CHRISTMAS HALLACAS ALSO SERVED IN COLOMBIA

Steps:

• FOR THE MEAT FILLING: Put beef, pork, and bacon in a large pan. Puree the tomatoes with the peeled onion and garlic. Add mixture to the meat pan along with the salt, marjoram, and leek. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and continue cooking until all meat is tender, about 2 hours.
• When meat is tender, add to the meat mixture the capers, mustard pickles, vinegar, bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Raise the heat to high and cook the filling, stirring, until almost all liquid in the pan has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the raisins and set filling aside.
• FOR THE MASA DOUGH: Over a low heat, melt 1/3 cup lard with the annatto seeds. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes.
• Whip remaining lard until fluffy. Beat in masa harina, salt, cayenne peper, and water. Finally, beat in melted, strained lard, discarding annatto seeds. Form dough into 24 balls.
• FOR THE FINAL PREPARATIONS: Put a ball of Masa Dough in the center of each corn husk. Flatten dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Top each masa-coated husk with an equal distribution of the meat mixture, chicken, hard cooked eggs, almonds, pimentos, and olives. Sprinkle on Tabasco sauce to taste.
• Fold corn husks to completely encase the filling. Tie each hallaca with thin strips of corn husk or kitchen string. When tightly assembled, steam halacas for 1 hour. Serve piping hot.
• NOTE: Hallacas are easily refrigerated or frozen. Reheat by steaming again until hot. Makes 24 Hallacas.
• source--Macuto-Sheraton Hotel, Caracas, Venezuela.

EMPANADAS - ANTIOQUIA, COLOMBIA

Steps:

• The Dough.
• Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and begin to add the chicken broth until you have a smooth, humid, easy to work dough. Cover the bowl and let the "masa" rest for about one hour.
• The Filling.
• In a frying pan, heat the butter, margarine or oil over medium heat and partially fry the onions and tomatoes. Add the hamburger meat and brown thoroughly. Drain.
• In a large bowl, combine the browned meat mixture with the rice, potatoes, chopped cilantro and spices.
• The Empanada.
• Now, if you have a tortilla press, you're sitting pretty for the next step. If you don't have one, two pieces of 1" wood about 8" square will do just fine. Lacking that, anything flat and a counter top will work. Or, if you feel adventurous, you can use your own two little hands!
• Roll the "masa" (dough) into little balls about 1" in diameter. Place the masa ball on top of a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper. Cover with another piece of plastic or wax paper and press it into a flat circle (depending on the size of the original masa ball, the flat circle will turn out to be about 3 to 4 inches in diameter). Remove the top piece of plastic. Now add about one rounded tablespoon of the filling to the middle of the circle leaving about 1/2" of space on the sides. Using the plastic, fold the circle in half and press the edges together so it forms a half-moon. Remove from the plastic and, using your fingers, press the edges firmly together so the empanada is sealed. I like to make them pretty so, after the empanada is sealed, I take the tip of my finger and fold the edges at small intervals so that the empanada has a "scalloped" look to the edges.
• Cook them in bunches but don't prepare too many at a time and let them sit while the others cook since this tends to dry out the masa too much. Also, as you are cooking, keep the bowl of masa covered with a humid towel to keep it from getting too dry.
• Cooking.
• The traditional method, of course, is to fry the empanadas in a large, iron cauldron (approximately 50 years old), on top of a wood fire, outdoors, in about twenty pounds of pork lard that was used to fry the empanadas for the last month and a half.
• However, tradition does not always mean that it is right. Most of the time tradition simply means "lack of technology and alternate methods.".
• I use a deep-fat fryer filled with Canola or Peanut oil. For even healthier empanadas, they can be baked in the oven at 350 degrees F on a greased cookie sheet. Baking them, of course, takes longer and you will have to turn the empanadas once. Bake or fry until golden brown.
• If you fry them (the best method because they turn out nice and crunchy), make sure you place the finished empanadas on a cookie sheet whose bottom you have lined with a thick layer of paper towels. This will allow the excess oil to drain.
• The tradition in Colombia is to have an empanada in one hand and a wedge of lemon in the other. As you take a bite, you squeeze a few drops of lemon juice inside. A bowl of your favorite salsa and a teaspoon will also do the job quite well. This recipe should yield approximately 4 to 5 dozen empanadas.
• Waste not, want not.
• I made a bunch of empanadas the other day and found that I had mad way too much masa for the amount of filling I had. I did not want to waste the masa nor did I want to put it in the refrigerator until the next time I made empanadas. So, I thought about it for a while. I had about two pounds of masa left so I added a large package of shredded Monterey Jack cheese, a whole lot more cumin, some more onion powder and garlic powder and a little more salt. I then browned one pound of ground sausage and added it to the mixture.
• I rolled the mixture into 1" balls and deep fried them. They were great! I love it when my weird experiments turn into new recipes!

AREPAS REINA PEPIADA

Steps:

• For the filling:.
• Mix together the chicken, cilantro, mayonnaise, salt, pepper to taste, the avocados and lime juice. Cover and refrigerate. For the dough: Mix together the water and salt in a large bowl, and then slowly add the cornmeal as you mix with your fingers. Mix and knead until it forms a soft dough. When you can pick up all of the dough in one mass, it's ready to form the arepas. Divide the dough into 8 balls, then gently flatten and form into discs.
• Heat a lightly-oiled griddle or nonstick skillet over high heat. Preheat a grill to medium heat.
• Cook the arepas on the griddle until they release from the cooking surface and are able to be moved, about 1 minute 30 seconds, and then flip and cook the other side for another 1 minute 30 seconds. Transfer the arepas to the grill and grill until lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes per side. The arepas are ready when they sound like a drum when tapped.
• Split the arepas in half, then scrape out and discard some of the middle. Stuff the arepas with the chicken mixture and eat while still piping hot.

SMOTHERED POTATOES - PAPAS CHORREADAS, COLOMBIA

Steps:

• 1. Scrub the potatoes and place in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Boil until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain potatoes and let cool slightly.
• 2. Finely chop the shallots or onion. Chop the white part and a inch or two of the green part of the scallions into 1/2 inch lengths. Finely chop the rest of the green parts of the scallion and reserve for a garnish.
• 3. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Saute the 1/2-inch pieces of scallion, the shallots, the cumin, and the chile powder in the butter until soft, about 5 minutes.
• 4. Add the diced tomatoes and cilantro, and cook until the tomatoes are soft and fragrant. Add the tablespoon of flour and stir briefly.
• 5. Stir in the cream, anato and cheese, and heat until sauce just comes to a boil and cheese is mostly melted. Remove from heat.
• 6. Slice potatoes into halves or wedges, and arrange potatoes onto a platter. Pour sauce over potatoes. Garnish with chopped green onion.