Sunday, August 31, 2014

Famous Latin American Cooking Recipes

By Mattie MacDonald


Latin American food is aromatic, tasty and colorful, simple and mostly easy to prepare. They use local ingredients, and that's why you will find many differences between different local cuisines. There are several really popular Latin American cooking recipes you can try preparing in your own kitchen.

Brazilian empanadas are very popular, and it isn't complicated to make them. You need three cups of flour, some salt, one small spoon of turmeric, ten tablespoons of butter, six tablespoons of shortening, one egg and one half cup of beer for the dough. First you have to mix dry ingredients with butter, and then you have to add the egg and the beer, and leave the dough to rest.

Now you have to prepare the filling. Saute one diced onion on two tablespoons of butter, add one can of diced palm hearts and two small diced tomatoes. After few minutes, add some Sherry and one spoon of tomato paste. When it is done, add peeled and diced shrimp, maybe one half pound. Add some salt and fresh ground pepper.

Flatten the dough into rounds, maybe three inches in diameter, and add a spoon of filling on each round. Brush edges with egg yolk, fold every piece in half and use a fork to seal the edges. Fry your empanadas in deep oil for four minutes. Oil should be on 190 degrees of Celsius.

Cuban sandwich is truly a whole meal. Some people put mayo, ketchup or some other ingredients there, but here is the original recipe. First, you need two slices of hard crust Cuban bread. If you don't have it, use French bread instead. Prepare yellow mustard, not Dijon or some other type, slices of pickles, roast pork, ham and Swiss cheese. One portion usually contains four slices of each ingredient, but the point is to place it in a sandwich press for maybe five minutes, with or without butter.

Coconut rice is really simple recipe to try. This traditional dish is prepared quickly, and you will love it. You will need only few simple ingredients, including two cups of rice and water, one can of coconut milk, two spoons of sugar, some salt and a half cup of raisins and some coconut flakes for decoration, preferably toasted. Long grain rice is usually used for this dessert.

Mix together sugar, salt, rice, water and coconut milk. Stir occasionally until water evaporates. Set on the lowest temperature, cover the saucepan and continue cooking for another twenty minutes. Use a fork to mix in raisins, remove from the heat and leave it rest for a while. Sprinkle with coconut flakes and serve hot or cold.

Churro, or Spanish doughnut, is widely popular snack. It is easy to prepare and really tasty. There are numerous recipes for preparing it, and here is one of them. You will need two cups of flour, some salt, three or four tablespoons of sugar and the same amount of vegetable oil for the dough.

Place three spoons of sugar, some salt and three spoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan and let it boil. Pour in two cups of flour and stir until you get a ball of dough. Make long strips using pastry bag. Fry in hot vegetable oil, until golden and drain on kitchen towels. Roll each doughnut in the mixture of cinnamon and sugar, and that's it. Simple, funny and delicious.




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