Archive for March, 2006
VILLA SIRENA
Friday, March 31st, 2006


Hace tiempo que las playas de Máncora están de moda. En sus orillas se acaba de casar Morgana Vargas Llosa, hija de nuestro ilustre escritor, y allà es donde oleadas de turistas, nacionales y extranjeros, van a disfrutar del mar y la comida. Sin embargo, a riesgo de sonar contradictorio, es posible encontrar playas tan solitarias que parecen existir solo para nosotros.
A cinco minutos de Máncora se encuentra Vichayito, y en un extremo está Villa Sirena un cálido albergue, suerte de oasis en medio del desierto, propicio para holgar en familia. No hay vecinos cercanos. En diez minutos de caminata hacia el norte se encuentran otros hoteles y a treinta minutos al sur está la caleta Órganos donde se puede comprar pescado fresquÃsimo y delicioso.
La arquitecta Claudia Romero diseñó un proyecto integral que incluye búngalos, muebles, lámparas, adornos y detalles. Ella y JoaquÃn de Osma viven en Vichayito y conocen bien los materiales tÃpicos del lugar. Nada agrede el entorno, más bien el respeto a la naturaleza es evidente. Los techos son altos, los muebles de cuero blanco, las lámparas de concha y caña. Una cama de dos plazas instalada en plena sala invita a la siesta comunitaria. Los espacios son abiertos, no existen los vidrios ni las ventanas, sin embargo se han creado zonas diferenciadas que dan privacidad a quien la busque. En medio de este ambiente marino hecho para el disfrute y el relajo, la comida juega un papel fundamental.
SABOR REGIONAL
Hace varios años, la señora Mary Monquenchú, una auténtica sullanera de sazón ancestral, se encargaba de la limpieza en importantes hoteles de Lima mientras observaba cómo cocinaban los maestros. De regreso a su pueblo, la guisandera recreó lo visto y pronto los comensales se agruparon en la puerta de su casa. Villa Sirena la llamó hace tres años, justo cuando inauguró el albergue, y desde entonces se encarga de cocinar para los huéspedes. Sus platos son creaciones personales que guardan el resabio de la tradición. Ofrece cebiche en crema de rocoto, pescado en salsa nikkei, ensalada de langostinos y naranjas, pescado a la crema de ajÃ, filete de pescado a la mandarina y cualquier otro que el comensal describa. Mientras tanto, en la barra, Oswaldo Malásquez, administrador, barman y hombre orquesta, prepara un estupendo pisco sour.
Vichayito tiene un mar maravilloso y sol todo el año. Poderosas razones para visitarlo.
Loving Boyfriend’s thing
Friday, March 31st, 2006Loving Boyfriend has a "thing"
for cucumbers.
A thing for cooked cucumbers.
Now, I know that you're all on my side
(what other side is there?)
so that when you hear those two words together:
"cooked" + "cucumber" =
you want to throw up.
Think about it: cuke even rhymes with puke!
But Loving Boyfriend, being the adventurous soul that he is, never ceases to toss a few cukes into a stir fry, a bulgogi-type dish, a casserole...
all the while cackling evily and ignoring my gagging noises in the background.
The first time he told me he wanted to make Sauteed Salmon with Cucumbers, I immediately thought, "Oh no, not again."
(Blech. Gag. Cough.)
But the fact of the matter is: I was wrong.
So, so wrong.
Yes, that's me admitting that I was wrong.
Enjoy it while you can, LB.
Because I am never wrong.
Except maybe this once.
Don't worry, it won't happen again.
(This, of course, does not mean that you were "right,"
only that I was mistaken.)
This time, and this time only, sauteed cukes were incredibly delicious. So delicious, in fact, that although the recipe says it will feed "4," it really only feeds "2..."
in one glorious, hedonistic sitting.
Try it, you'll see. This has become one of our favorite dishes (really). It looks heavy in all of its luscious creaminess, but it's not. It's just perfect, and light, and oh so tasty.

1 lb salmon filet, skinned
3 tbsp. butter
2 spring onions, chopped
1/2 cucumber (we use English cucumbers so we don't have to seed them)
4 tbsp. dry white wine
1/2 cup creme fraiche
2 tbsp. snipped fresh chives
2 tomatoes, diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cut the salmon into thin strips. Melt the butter in a large saute pan, add the salmon and saute for 1-2 minutes. Remove the salmon strips using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the spring onions to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cucumber and saute for 1-2 minutes, or until hot. Be extremely careful not to overcook the cucumber, or the texture will be lost and remember: overcooked cuke still = pu... Remove the cucumber and keep warm with the salmon. Add the wine to the pan and let it bubble until well reduced. Stir in the cucumber, creme fraiche, 1 tbsp. of the chives and the salt and pepper to taste. Return the salmon to the pan and warm through gently. Sprinkle the tomatoes and remaining chives over the mixture and serve at once.
**PS. Yeah, um, those of you who have been with me since the early days of my little blog might be wondering what happened to The Challenge. Well, truth be told, ever since the couscous incident, we pretty much haven't opened the book since. Five days of trying to make that stuff edible sort of burnt us out (I really do hate wasting food...even if it means I have die a slow death of eating awful, unsatisfying food that I've cooked myself). The Challenge itself, I think, is over because we are so behind but after opening the book once more to get this little gem of a recipe out, you might be seeing a few more recipes in the future. We'll see.
El reto de escribir una receta
Friday, March 31st, 2006Hace un par de meses mi hermana Gladys, que vive en Australia, me pidió mi receta de panqueques. Es lo primero que aprendà a preparar cuando era chica y - modestia aparte - a todo el mundo le gustan mis panqueques. Pero a pesar de eso y de que soy una fanática de seguir instrucciones, nunca tuve medidas exactas para confeccionarlos. Siempre los hice al feeling y siempre me salieron bien, hasta el dÃa en el que me pidieron la receta. Fui a la cocina y empecé a medir los ingredientes conforme los iba añadiendo a la masa. Calenté la sartén con poquÃsimo aceite y cociné 4 panqueques (para mÃ, mi mamá, mi hermana y mi sobrina) para probarlos. Salieron mal, muy pesados. Tuve que ajustar cantidades, cambiar la harina y volver a hacer los benditos panqueques. A la segunda salieron bien y apunté la receta.
Curiosamente, ahora que estoy estudiando y que supuestamente tengo que hacer la mise en place con gramajes exactos, sucede lo contrario. Y ahora que estoy cocinando mi almuerzo diario con las cosas que sé que hay en la casa y las pocas verduras y demás insumos que compro los fines de semana, cada vez invento más y sigo sin apuntar las recetas. Me estoy volviendo en la tÃpica ama de casa, qué horror.
Pero, lógicamente, esto tiene que cambiar. El cheesecake de manzana con gelatina de manzanilla que presenté en el examen final de PastelerÃa I tiene que quedar como receta de batalla. Igual que el risotto de brócoli y portobello, los spaghettis con salsa de brócoli al vino tinto y el cheesecake de 3 chocolates que presenté con mi grupo en el examen sorpresa "de bienvenida" de PastelerÃa II. Tantas cosas por cocinar, tan poco tiempo y sobre todo, tan difÃcil-de-bajar porcentaje de grasa... qué stress.
GÜISQUILES AL HORNO CON SALSA BLANCA
Thursday, March 30th, 2006An Apology and a Few Cookies
Thursday, March 30th, 2006Last week I could take no more, the intermittent working of my laptop had gotten to me and I made the mighty decision to move on with my life and have Santiago build me a computer. Yes, that is right, build. His brother had some of the parts(which he had left for the youngest brother to hang from his bedroom wall), and others (such as the lovely 17 inch monitor) I had to purchase new. The computer is shoved inside a case that doesn't quite fix which leaves the power source sitting on top (or so I am told, I wouldn't be able to identify these parts if my life depended on it, which is why it is so very nice to have someone around the house that is so hand.
While all of this computer fixing was going on I was jetting around the city with another one of Santiago's brothers handing out my resume. I even already got a job, well a part time job anyway, as a substitute teacher about 30 minutes (walking of course) from our apartment. I am teaching English to a lively bunch of 11 year old girls and having a blast, I am sure the next few weeks will blaze by!
What all of this means is I was very heavily in debt, to brother one for the parts, brother 2 for letting me remove his wall decor, and brother 3 for driving me all over the place. This means serious business.
Cookies.
They all love plain old chocolate chip, which is fabulous but not something I would write home about (ha ha ha)
besides the old standby (which by the way I get from the joy of cooking, and add a ton more flour) I made snickerdoodles and oatmeal coconut. I was surprised that the oatmeal coconut ones came out super tasty, I made up the recipe just throwing things in so I would never be able to remember it or recreate it (but if you would like to try, I basically just used my oatmeal cookie recipe sans spices, a little less flour and about 1/2 cup of coconut), but the snickerdoodles I can and certainly will share!
Snickerdoodles1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together the sugar, butter and then add the eggs one at a time. Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt and add those to your wet ingredients. Mix together, and grease a baking sheet then form small balls, the size you want your cookies to be. Roll these in a mixture of 2 tablespoons of sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and place them on the baking sheet a few inches apart. Take out the cookies while they are golden but still soft, between 8-10 minutes.
Alfajores Santafecinos
Thursday, March 30th, 2006
Ingredientes
8 Cdas. de Harina
1 Cdita. de Polvo de Hornear
80 Grs. de Manteca
3 Yemas
Dulce de Leche Repostero
Glasé Real: (2 claras y 1/2 taza de Agua Caliente)
Preparación
1) Tamizar la harina junto con el polvo de hornear, agregar la manteca y trabajarla hasta formar migas.
2) Unir lentamente añadiendo las yemas hasta formar un bollo tierno.
3) Dejar descansar y estirar la masa bien fina sobre una mesada espolvoreada con harina.
4) Cortar en cÃrculos, pincharlos con un tenedor, distribuir en una placa y llevar al horno hasta que estén bien sequitos.
5) Pegar de a tres colocando entre cada tapa un poco de dulce de leche.
6) Bañar los alfajores con el glasé real. Dejar secar.
LISTO!
USTED ACABA DE APRENDER A HACER
ALFAJORCITOS SANTAFESINOS
FELICITACIONES!!!
Dulce Julián
Happy 100th post to Myself! I got up this morning …
Thursday, March 30th, 2006I got up this morning so excited that I actually cooked again last night and have something new to post today. I have been watching the numbers of my posts and thankfully my 100th post was the last post about my cooking slump and the recipe that helped bring me back to cooking reality. I am not sure that hubby is always thrilled about my inspirations and how they affect him. He has been working long hours and then has to come home and fire up the grill to cook my latest inspiration. From now until he has to shiver in the freezing rain, that grill will be going full steam ahead. The moment the sun shines and the leaves on the tree start to bud, I am plotting about what can go on the grill next. I love grilling. Rather I love to watch hubby grill. I know that I prep everything and then he has to do all the work; running back and forth to make sure he didn't burn the dinner. In my wicked heart I think this is pay back for all the fall and winter foods that require me to do all the prep and cooking while he sits in the livingroom watching TV or hovering around me giving me his verbal support. So...
I love going to the grocery store on my days off and checking out the aisles in a slow manner. When I am shopping for my clients, I go armed with a check list and the ulimate goal of going, getting and leaving in a very timely manner. It's an organized fly though the grocery store. When I don't have to fly through the store, I can see things that briefly caught my eye the day before and then give them a closer inspection. The meat counter has been on my radar for quite some time. There has been a trend here to help the consumer speed up dinner but not the way you think. I know that you are thinking that speeding up dinner via the grocery store means, prepackaged unhealthy foods. Not so in every case.
The meat counter has taken to a great tactic to up their sales. My favorite item is the pre-preparation of meats that you can just come home and throw on the grill. There are two preparations that I love because they make my chuckle. One is the beef pinwheel. I know that many of you have seen these in the stores where you live. The one that is most common here is the Spinach Pinwheel made with Flank Steak.
After the flank steak has been sliced and pounded, a layer of some sort of white cheese is laid down in a neat fashion on the meat. Then a rather large layer of spinach or some dark greens are then laid upon the cheese. The end result is rolled up and then sliced to be put on skewers for the grilling pleasure of the consumer. I have to say that I think that is a working man or woman's dream. Nothing complicated, not too many ingredients and you are good to go. Is that a great marketing tool for the meat department or what??
The second item that seems to be gaining popularity are kabobs. Beef is the main one in my area but I have seen a few with chicken. Again, this is a cleaver marketing tool for the meat department. Who could resist buying a package of these kabobs with chunks of red meat or chicken with onions, mushrooms and green or red bell peppers already skewered? It's a no brainer for the busy working consumer. If I didn't cook for a living, I would be plunking down my money to save time in my daily meal planning.
So not to be out done by my local supermarket, I think I have duplicated what they are selling the consumer. It's not hard. There is no recipe and only a few items.
You will need a nice thick flank steak that can be butterflied. Be sure not to be too heavy handed with the knife or you will have two pieces of flank steak to roll up. Cover the meat with either wax paper or plastic wrap. The way I like to do it for easy clean up is to insert the meat in a large gallon zip top bag and then seal it almost shut and pound away. You will tear up the bag but meat won't be splattering all over the cutting board or the counter this way. Salt and pepper the meat. Pick a cheese that you didn't spend a lot of money on. There is a reson for this I promise!

Wash and dry some sort of a green, I think spinach works the best. It doesn't take very long to be steamed by the cooking of the meat. Try to layer the spinach in a neat fashion. It will make rolling up the meat easier. Roll up the meat length wise. You can tie the meat with butcher's twine to help it not fall apart. The piece of meat that I had weighted 1.75 pounds. It was enough to get 6 varying sized of pinwheels for the skewers.
I recommend you use a cheaper cheese in the rolls. It all drips out of the rolls while they are on the grill. The upside to that is, the cheese leaves some flavor in both the meat and the spinach. There was no visible cheese once the skewers came off the grill. I have to say they were very tasty though. I only ate one pinwheel and hubby ate two. There are three wrapped up in the refrigerator. So it fed us really well.

The one last thing that brings me happiness and joy is the sighting of yellow things at 4 for $1, that's the season's first ears of corn. So I bought 4 and figured they were grill worthy. I sprinkled some Mrs. Dash, Garlic and Herb, s&p and some melted butter on them , then wrapped them up in the foil.
They were wonderful and that rounded out the meal! I hope you try this where ever you are and post what your take on this meat dish was. It's so simple that you really don't have to buy it at the supermarket. No recipe, no brainer! 


