Salvadorian: Platanos Fritos May 7, 2012

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe plantains, peeled, cut in half crosswise, then lengthwise
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Heat about 1/2-inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the plantains, a few pieces at a time, and saute until golden browned. Turn and saute the other side.
2. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with the rest of the plantains. Sprinkle with a little salt serve hot.

Variations:

• The plantain can be sliced in round circles.
• Top the plantains with a little brown sugar.
• Other possible garnishes are crumbled queso fresco, grated parmesan cheese, sour cream or seasoned tomato sauce.

Story:

This is a typical saturday or sunday breakfast for my dad. For a healthier version of the plantain he puts it in the toaster oven for about 30 minutes.

Salvadorian Lunch and Trying New Things May 5, 2012

Today I went out to lunch with my parents, and we decided to eat Salvadorian food. Although I chose to share Italian food as my culture for this project, only half of my family culture comes from there. I am also half El Salvadorian. My parents have been together for many years, practically growing up with each other, and eating lots of each other’s cultural foods. My mom and I have been talking a lot lately about Italian food for this project, and when I began telling her about the Salvadorian food I tried, she began telling me all of her favorites. When we got to the restaurant, La Santaneca on Mission Street, we ordered all of their favorites.

Pupusas

Yuca Frita Con Chicharron

Platanos Con Frijoles Y Crema

Tamal De Elote Con Crema

Everything was so good that we almost forgot to take pictures! I can’t believe I never ate half of these foods before. My favorite was the pupusas and the platanos. I also loved the yuca frita. Whenever I go to Salvadorian restaurants I always go straight for the pupusas. I was glad to try something new and learn more about this half of my culture. Talking with Glenda helped to open up my interests about Salvadorian culture, and learning more about my dad’s culture has been a great experience.

-Jenny

Salvadorian: Tamal de Elote May 1, 2012

Ingredients:

• 12-15 corn husk for wrapping
• 1/4 cup lard
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups masa harina (flour)
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2-3 ears corn on the cob

Directions:

1. Add the cornhusks to a large pot. Pour boiling water over them and let them soak for at least 30 minutes to make them pliable.
2. Add the lard, butter and baking powder to a food processor or mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Cut enough corn kernels off the cobs to make about 2 cups. Scrape the cobs with a knife to get all their milk. Add the corn kernels and their milk to the food processor and pulse until fairly smooth but still a little chunky
4. In a large bowl, mix together the masa harina, salt and warm water and knead to form a pliable mass. Pulse a little bit at a time into the corn and lard mixture until smooth.
5. Drain the cornhusks and wipe dry. Lay out a husk with the pointed end up and add about 1/4 cup dough to the center. Fold in each side to cover the dough. Then fold up the bottom husk. Finally fold down the pointed top and insert it into the bottom to make a package. Tie the tamal with strings if needed. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
6. Set up a steamer and steam the tamales for 30-45 minutes. Remove and serve hot with a little cream poured over the top.

Story:

Tamales de Elote are a traditional breakfast meal. My grandmother adds refried beans to the tamales sometimes just to give it a different flavor. One of my favorite traditional breakfast foods.

Salvadorian: Pastel de Tres Leches April 30, 2012

Ingredients:

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 cup, or 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup sweetened, condensed milk
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk

Whipped Cream Frosting

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree, and grease and flour an 8×11-inch baking pan.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Reduce mixer speed to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time, allowing each one to get incorporated before adding the next. Finally add the vanilla and continue beating until foamy.
4. Remove the bowl from mixer and fold in the sifted flour until is well incorporated.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 30 minutes, or until done. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
6. Pierce cake all over with a fork, toothpick or skewer. Mix the whole, sweetened, condensed, and evaporated milk together and pour the mixture over the whole cake.
7. Refrigerate cake for anywhere from 6 to 8 hours, or until liquid is completely absorbed and cake is well chilled.
8. Beat the cream, sugar and vanilla together until the cream holds soft peaks. Frost the cake with the whipped cream and serve.

Variations:

Substitute coconut milk for the whole milk if you like. Scatter the frosting with coconut flakes.

Substitute 1/2 cup rum for half the whole milk for a pastel with a punch.

If you would like a layer cake, divided the batter between 2 prepared, round cake pans. For layer cakes, you can add a fruit filling between the layers. Try pineapple filling peaches, bananas or any fruit that suits your fancy.

Story:

I’m not a big fan of cake, but I do like to bake. So I make this Pastel de tres Leches a lot for my parents and younger brothers. I like to see how much they enjoy it!

Salvadorian: Empanadas April 25, 2012

Ingredients:

• 10 ripe plantains
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk
• 8-10 tablespoons cornstarch
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Wash plantains with a lot of water. Cut each plantain in 4 pieces. Pour 5 cups of     water onto a pot. Add the plantains, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Cook this mix on medium heat for about 1/2 hour or until you feel the plantains are cooked. Let them cool.
2. In separate pot, add the milk. Slowly add the cornstarch and stir until it has fully dissolved into the milk. Note: make sure you don’t add to much cornstarch at once. Add it little by little while the milk is still cold. Add a bit of sugar to the mix, but don’t make it to sweet. Add a bit of vanilla extract at your discretion and taste. Add a hint of powdered cinnamon to this mix at your own discretion and taste. Put this mix on medium heat. Making sure you are constantly stirring to avoid it from getting too thick. When it starts boiling, turn off the stove. Remove the milk mix from the stove and let it cool.
3. Now that the plantains are cool, mash them into a doughy consistency. Take this plantain dough and flatten it on your hand, like a small, thick tortilla. Create as many as the dough allows you to, and put them on a plate. The milk mix should already be cool and very dense. Put a couple of teaspoons of this milk mix on the little tortillas. Fold the tortillas up, enclosing the dense milk mix inside. Press on the edges to make sure the milk mx is secured inside. These are now your empanadas.
4. Pour the oil on a frying pan and heat it up (without burning it). Drop the empanadas on the hot oil, making sure they are completely covered in the oil. Cook until they are golden. You may spread some sugar on them after they are cooked.

Story:

Thanks to this project I was able to try and learn how to make Salvadorian Empanadas. So Sweet, you can also stuff them with refried beans and it can become a dinner plate. When my mom mentioned Empanadas as a dessert, my first thought was that this is a dinner plate, because I’ve had other Latin American Empanadas for dinner.  As she explained the recipe to me, I realized how this really was dessert. I love the dessert idea better!

Salvadorian: Horchata April 24, 2012

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice
• 6 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Soak the rice overnight in 3 cups of the water. Add the rice, soaking water and cinnamon to a blender and puree until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
2. Strain into a pitcher through a fine-meshed sieve or several layers of cheesecloth. There should be no grit or large particles in the liquid.
3. Stir in the remaining 3 cups water, sugar and vanilla. Adjust sugar to taste and serve well chilled.

Story:

Horchata in El Salvador is made with morro seed (from the calabash tree ground). Morro is hard to find in the United States. So people just use rice here. The taste is similar, but it’s more sweeter flavor with morro seed then with rice. Horchata is a drink that is always available at my house. When my family travels to El Salvador we bring morro seed back with us. The morro seed we bring back with us is grown in my uncles farm.

Salvadorian: Flan de Leche

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 ( 14 ounce) condensed milk can, sweetened
• 2 cups whole milk or water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the 1 cup sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir to dissolve the sugar. Place over medium heat and boil the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to turn a honey brown, around 10-15 minutes.
2. Remove the caramelized sugar from heat and pour into a 9-inch cake pan or in equal amounts into each of the 6 individual ramekins, swirling to coat the bottom. You may not need all the sugar. Place the cake pan or ramekins in  a baking pan large enough to hold them without touching.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, condensed milk, whole milk, or water, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Pour into the cake pan or into each of the ramekins.
4. Fill the baking pan with enough warm water to come about 2/3 of the way up sides of the containers. Place in the oven and cook until a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean, anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour. Do not overcook your flan or it may curdle.
5. Remove the custard from the water bath chill well. Run knife around the edges of the custard, invert over a serving dish and serve.

Story:

Flan is a very well known dessert in Latin America. When I was a young girl, I did not like flan. While learning to make it with my mom, I would have to sample it to see if it had the right taste. Eventually, after so much sampling it became one of my favorite deserts.

Salvadorian: Atol de Elote ( Corn Beverage)

Ingredients:

• 6 to 7 ears Yellow corn on the cob
• 4 cups water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• ground cinnamon ( for garnishing)

Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut enough kernels off the corn cobs to make 3 to 3 1/2 cups. Then scrape the cobs with a knife to remove all their milk. Place 2 1/2 cups of the corn in a blender along with 2 cups of the water and puree well.
2. Strain the pureed corn through a sieve into a medium saucepan and discard the solids. Stir in the remaining corn kernels, 1/3 cup sugar and salt.
3. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, or until lightly thickened. If the atol doesn’t thicken to a creamy consistency mix the cornstarch with a little cold water and whisk into the simmering liquid until it is just thick enough to coat a spoon.
4. Pour the hot atol into mugs or small bowls, sprinkle with a little cinnamon and serve hot with a spoon to scoop up the corn kernels.

Story:

One of my favorite warm soup/beverage my grandmother makes on a cold rainy day. It warms your stomach with its sweet smell and taste.

Potluck April 14, 2012

Today our group had a potluck, we all shared dishes that we either grew up having or enjoy making now. Everything was so delicious, and we all learned about and tried foods we’ve never had before. Below will be recipes for each dish made at the potluck.

 

Potluck dishes included:

• Pastelles
• Pupusas
• Tamales
• Persohki
• Garlic Potatoes with dill
• Creme Brulee
• Tiramisu
• Crostini with Buffalo Mozzarella
• Mushroom Raviolis with mushroom marinara

Salvadorian: Salsa Roja April 2, 2012

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 serrano or jalapeno chile pepper
• 2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• salt and pepper- to taste
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium flame. Add the onion, garlic and chile and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
2. Stir in the tomatoes and oregano and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool a bit.
3. Puree the tomato sauce in a blender until smooth, adding a little water if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir in cilantro.

Story: One of my favorite sauces!!!