World Cup Special - Ecuador

 It is the World Cup again.  Another chance to cook dishes from other countries that, perhaps, I would not even contemplate. I could not pass up the chance to tackle a South American country; but which one?  We had already done Brazil, Mexico and Costa Rica in previous World Cup cookups... contemplated Argentina but thought too meaty... so that left Ecuador.  It was perfect for the first match and a promising cuisine to experiment with

Naranjillazo

This drink is  made from aguardiente (a spirit dirived from sugar cane), cinnamon, sugar and orange juice.  The aguardiente produced in Ecuador is normally not flavoured like the Columbian version which is flavoured with anise; unfortunately I could not source the Ecuadorian version and had to substitute with the Columbian anise flavoured version.  It was still a great drink and perfect for winter; so will use up the aguardiente later over Christmas.

I had to make another replacement by using orange instead of naranjilla.  Now the naranjilla or lulo looks like an orange on the outside, a tomato on the inside and tastes like a citrus tart. The replacement with orange was as close as I could get but it has left me interested in actually tasting a lulo.  Find out more about the narajilla at the food hog.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of water
• 2 cups of naranjilla concentrate previously frozen
• 1 ¼ cup of sugar or grated panela
• 8 cinnamon sticks
• Aguardiente to taste

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients, except for the aguardiente, in a medium sized pot.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes. To make the fast or cheater version you can simply boil it for 10-15 minutes.
3. Mix in the aguardiente and serve immediately.

Hearts Of Palm Ceviche

Ingredients

• One can of whole hearts of palm
• Half a small red onion, cut into small pieces
• One extra small red  pepper, cut into small pieces
• One large tomato, cut into small pieces
• One to two chilies, cut into small pieces and deseeded for milder heat
• 10-12 green pitted olives, cut into small pieces and to taste
• About ¼ of a bunch of coriander, roughly chopped including the stems
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 3 large limes or 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt, to taste 
• Half an avocado, sliced into small pieces

Instructions

1. Drain the hearts of palm and rinse them under cold water.
2. Chop all of the ingredients and measure out the juices.
3. Add nori or salt with seaweed to the hearts of palm and give a mix around. I just added about 3/4 of a tsp of the salt with seaweed as it was powerful flavours.    
4. In a large bowl combine the hearts of palm, onion, bell pepper, tomato, chilies, olives and cilantro until well combined.
5. Next drizzle in the orange juice and stir to combine, then add the lime juice and stir again.
6. Add the olive oil and mix, then the salt if needed and give it a good mixing. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
7. After marinating in the fridge give the ceviche a taste, and if needed add more salt or lime juice if needed or desired.
8. I served on small plates on a bed of the sliced avocado.
9. It is great if you serve with corn crisps or tostadas. I did that the following day and had a lovely fresh and zingy lunch.

Llapingachos

Ingredients

• 5 large potatoes about 3 lbs, ensure you use a potato that is good for mashing

• 2 tbsp sunflower or avocado oil

• ½ cup finely chopped white onion

• 2 tsp ground achiote (also known as annatto)

• 1 cup grated quesillo or mozzarella cheese (the vegan cheese I used was pre grated so easy to integrate into the dish)

• Salt to taste

Serve with sides of salsa di mani (peanut sauce), onion, chilli and tomatoe salsa, avocados, and chorizo style sausages (vegan of course).

Instructions

1. Bake the potatoes in the oven (I pre cooked the potatoes in the microwave so you do not have to keep the potatoes in the oven for so long).  You are looking to get the potatoes crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. 

2. Heat the oil over medium high heat to make a refrito. Add the onions and achiote; cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. My version of achiote was in a paste form so if you are using this sort spend some time trying to integrate it in with the onions so you do not get unmixed blobs of the achiote.

3. Scoop the potatoes out of their skins and into a fairly large bowl.

4. Mash the potatoes (it is worth spending some time getting all the lumps out, mix in the onion refrito and salt to taste.

5. Cover the potato dough and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour.

6. Make slightly larger than golf size balls with the potato dough.

7. Make a hole in the middle of each ball and fill with the grated or crumbled cheese.

8. Shape the dough into thick patties and let rest in the refrigerator for about ½ to 1 hour. This lets the potatoes firm up and make it easier to fry.

9. Cook the patties on a hot griddle until browned on each side; they were quite delicate so be careful when trying to turn the patties.  

10. Serve with a fried egg (if you are not doing a vegan version), salsa di mani (find the recipe down below), salsa of onions, chillies, and tomato, avocado slices and some chorizo style sausages (chorizo style vegan sausage that worked perfectly.) Added some sliced lettuce and tomatoes.

Salsa de Mani or Peanut Sauce 

Ingredients

• ¾ cup peanut butter unsweetened
• 1 cup milk (can use almond milk for a vegan version)
• ½ cup finely diced white onion
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground achiote
• 2 tbsp peanut oil or butter
• 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
• 1 aji or hot pepper finely minced (optional)
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Mix the peanut butter with ½ cup of milk to help dissolve the peanut butter.
2. Heat the butter or oil to prepare a refrito, add the onion, achiote, cumin and salt, cook until the onions are soft.
3. Add the peanut butter and milk mixture, as well the remaining ½ cup of milk. If the mixture is thick put in a little more of the milk you are using…. Mine turned out quite thick and you could not pour the sauce over the potato cakes.
4. Stir well and simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Add the coriander, and aji.
6. Whizz up in the blender to have a smoother version.
7. Serve warm.

Score: Qatar 0  Ecuador  2

Football Score : 3 (Qatar could not quite keep up with Ecuador but still quite a tense and exciting game. Great start to the World Cup).

Food: 4 ( The Llapingachos were a trimuph.  So good with the peanut sauce, avocado and the tomato, onion and chilli salsa.  I will be definately doing them again.  The hot toddy like drink, Naranjillazo, was disappointing but due to too much sugar - a mistake on my part.  I still have some Aguardiente left so will try again after the World Cup and put in the correct amount of sugar this time. )