Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

Ingredients

• 1 large purple onion, diced
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon whole coriander, cracked
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup of natural chunky peanut butter
• 1 bunch of greens (kale, spinach, collards, or sweet potato greens), chopped

Preparation

1. Saute the onions, garlic, and ginger over medium-high heat until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add coriander, hot pepper flakes, sweet potatoes, and broth.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Stir in the peanut butter and bring back to a simmer. Add the greens and cook until the greens wilt, about 2 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and serve.

Sweet Potato and Black Eyed Peas Salad

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 cup cooked black-eyed peas
• 2 medium sweet peppers, diced
• 1/2 large sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped finely
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Arrange sweet potato cubes on a baking sheet and spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees for 12 minutes, or until tender.
2. While the potatoes are baking, prepare the dressing by whisking the oil and lemon juice together and allowing the basil to marinade in the dressing.
3. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.
4. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.

Coseppi Kitchen in Culture

Our article on Andean Quesillo has been published in the fall 2012 issue of Culture magazine! You can find Culture magazine at more than 4,500 retailers in the country including HEB, Central Market, and Whole Foods. We first saw the publication early in 2012 and were impressed with the quality of the photos and the breadth of the content. We were inspired by the DIY section to write an article on making the fresh cheese that we came to love while living in the high Peruvian Andes.

The recipe published in Culture is not unlike the fresh cheese recipe we published here a few months ago. The primary difference is that at higher altitudes water, and milk, boil at a lower temperature which also creates a smaller curd in the resulting cheese. We also enhanced the flavor with the addition of lime juice to form the curd. The resulting cheese is the perfect recreation of Andean Quesillo and ideal for the use in many of Peru’s most famous dishes including Aji de Quinoa, which can found on Culture’s website. Users of this recipe should know that the photo that accompanies the recipe on the website might be a little misleading. Aji de Quinoa does not contain large waxy chunks of potatoes and garbanzo beans. Rather, it is a classic Peruvian dish that an editor might think resembles the result of food and not necessarily food itself.

Aji de Quinoa

In anticipation of this publication we made some additional recipes with quesillo including Ensalada de Chocolo y Chocho (Corn and Edamame Salad) and Butternut Squash Crema.  Soon, we will also be making some sweet humitas with quesillo and dreaming of our next foray into the publishing world.

This salad is our combination of two popular Peruvian salads. Ensalada de Chocolo uses Peruvian white corn and quesillo and Cho Cho is extremely popular with Andean ceviche and uses an endemic lupine bean. Since we can’t find fresh Andean lupine seeds in Texas we have opted to substitute soy seeds which are textually and nutritionally very similar.  Together the salads make a great well rounded duo!

Ensalada de Choclo y Chocho

Ingredients

• 2 ears of fresh sweet white corn, husked and roasted
• 16 ounces frozen edamame, defrosted
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup quesillo, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon aji amarillo paste (optional)
• Salt to taste

Preparation

Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Season with salt to taste and allow to marinate at least 10 minutes before serving.

In Peru, cremas are are thick pureed soups with a dairy base. As often as not, that base is quesillo.

Butternut Squash Crema

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, cooked
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup quesillo, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

1. Bring the broth to a simmer, then remove from heat.
2. Combine the ingredients in a blender and combine until smooth. Add more water if necessary to reach the desired consistency.
3. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

This Greek-inspired salad uses a healthy portion of one of the most nutritious herbs that you’ve probably never heard of (though you might have seen growing in your sidewalk) – purslane!

Serve this salad as part of a nice home Meze platter, along with dolmas, hummus, pita, baba ganoush, and some olives for a refreshing Mediterranean meal.

Ingredients

• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled (optionally) and diced
• 1 cup purslane leaves
• 2 cups arugula
• 4 ounces feta, chunked or broken into small pieces
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (~2 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, cucumber, purslane leaves, arugula, and feta.
2. Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil, then pour over the vegetables.  Toss to coat.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Get a good dose of your summer greens with this hearty curry!  If you don’t have sweet potato and dandelion greens (often available during the summer at your local farmers’ market), you can substitute spinach, kale, chard, or nearly any other kind of greens in their place.

Sweet Potato Greens Saag Paneer

Paneer is an Indian fresh cheese. You can also substitute widely available dense, un-aged Hispanic fresh cheeses that  may be sold under a variety of names including, but not limited to, queso fresco, queso blanco, or panela. However,  for the best results, we suggest making your own fresh cheese at home!

Ingredients

• 8 ounces paneer, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin
• 1 teaspoon whole coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seed
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 serrano peppers, stemmed and roughly chopped
• 2 bunches (about 5 cups) sweet potato greens, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1 small bunch (about 2 cups) dandelion greens, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Prepared Basmati rice

Preparation

1. First, you need to prepare your fresh spices for the curry. Using a mortar and pestle or a clean coffee grinder, grind the whole cumin, coriander, and mustard seed into a powder. Set aside.
2. Use a food processor to finely chop the onion, ginger, garlic, and serranos down to a near paste-like consistency. Set aside.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat.  Once the oil is hot and moves freely in the pan, add the paneer cubes and fry.  Turn the paneer cubes every 10 to 15 seconds or so to get all sides fried to a light golden brown.  Remove the fried paneer from heat and set aside. Discard the excess oil.
4. To prepare the curry, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat in a large, heavy pot (a wok or karahi works best).  Add the ground spices and simmer in the oil for about 2 minutes until brown and fragrant.  Add the processed onions, ginger, garlic and serranos and lower the heat to medium. Fry this mixture for 10-12 minutes.  By the end of the 12 minutes, the onions should be browned and all the spices and fragrances should mellow and harmonize.
5. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the sweet potato greens, dandelion greens, and water. After about 5 minutes the greens should have cooked down to about half their original volume.  Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until the greens are very soft.
6. Add the fried paneer and garam masala, and cook for about 1 minute more to get the paneer warmed.
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt.
8. Serve with prepared rice and enjoy!

This Peruvian-inspired hot pepper sauce, or ají, is a great way to add some tangy heat to your meals.  Ajíes are commonly used as a tabletop condiment, but they also make a nice spicy base for sautes and stir fries.  As a commenter below pointed out, aji is actually the word for a species of chili pepper, but we found the term to be used pretty interchangeably for any pepper-based spicy table condiment in Peru and Ecuador.

We made this ají with seasonal peppers, including serranos, hinkelhatz, and sweet Ringos, from Johnson’s Backyard Garden in Austin, TX.  We seeded about half of the hot peppers, but feel free to seed more if you don’t like a lot of heat, or less if you like more!

JBG Ají

Ingredients

• 6 ounces mixed hot peppers, topped and (optionally) seeded
• 1 large Ringo pepper, chopped (or half of a yellow bell pepper) and seeded
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup key lime juice
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Combine peppers, garlic, and lime juice in a food processor or blender and process until thoroughly chopped.
2. Season to taste, but be careful because those tastes will be hot!

Store in a glass container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator (though you’ll probably use it up before then).

Eggplant Caponata

For me, eggplant caponata brings to mind fond memories of my grandmother’s caponata made from eggplants and tomatoes she and my grandfather grew on their small farm in Maryland.  My version is a little more full-flavored than my grandmother’s, but it still has that rich, warm quality I remember.  I like to put a lot of extra “stuff” in my caponata, like raisins, capers, and olives, so that each bite has a few hidden treasures, all bound together by the sweet and savory base of eggplant and tomatoes.

Preparation

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds Italian eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less depending on preference)
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. First we need to peel the tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  While the water is coming to a boil, make an X-shaped score on the bottom of each tomato and cut out the core of each tomato from the top.  Carefully place the tomatoes in the water.  Bring the water back to a boil and leave the tomatoes in for 5 minutes.  The skin should appear loose.  Plunge the tomatoes into an ice water bath for about 2 minutes.  The skins should come right off!  Dice the peeled tomatoes, reserving as much of the juice that comes out during chopping as possible.
2. In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium high heat until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the eggplant, lower the heat to medium, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  The eggplant should reduce drastically in size and be very soft and brown at the end of the 10 minutes.
4. Add the diced tomatoes and reserved juice, vinegar, raisins, olives, capers, thyme, oregano, 2 dashes of cinnamon, and red pepper flakes.  Continue cooking over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh basil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Let cool to room temperature or refrigerate before serving.  This caponata is great as a side dish, on top of toasted crostini, or as a main course.

The most important part of high-quality cooking is using what is fresh. We happen to have acquired a hefty amount of fresh shitake mushrooms at the farmer’s market this week so, when it came time to make a mushroom risotto we used what we had. Fresh shitakes are much less pungent than their dried counterparts but still retain a thick meaty texture. If you do not have fresh shitakes for this recipe we would recommend using what is available to you be it portobello, cremini, porcini, or something fun you found at the local Asian market (these are some of my favorite mushrooms and some day I will figure out their English names). Another alternative is to reconstitute a large quantity of shitake mushrooms in the broth you use for the recipe. This will add a substantial amount of flavor to your liquid, but be warned that the mushrooms may never be as tender as their fresh counterparts.

Shitake Mushroom Risotto

Whatever mushroom route you choose, if you choose risotto you are in for some laborious cooking. The techniques behind risotto are not difficult. What is hard, even for the most dedicated home cook, is not breaking attention on the task at hand. Risotto is meditative work so when the recipe says “stir continuously” it does not mean take a minute to check your email or refresh your cocktail. Keep stirring and a tender, flavorful reward awaits.

Ingredients

• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 large white onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced, divided
• 1 pound fresh shitake mushrooms, diced
• 2 sweet Ringo peppers or 1 large yellow bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and minced
• 4 shallots, diced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/4 teaspoon dry thyme
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

Preparation

1. Heat the vegetable broth and keep it warming on low-heat.
2. In a large pan, heat three tablespoons olive oil and saute the white onion and one of the garlic cloves until the onions are translucent.  Add the mushrooms and roasted peppers, and continue to saute until the mushrooms are thoroughly cooked – they should be very soft when finished– about 5 to 8 minutes.  Set aside while you cook the rice.
3. In a large pot, saute the shallots over medium-high heat for about two to three minutes in the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the dry Arborio rice and continue to saute for about 5 minutes.  This is to cook the starch on the outside of the rice, which will prevent the finished risotto from becoming just mushy rice.
4. Add the white wine and continue cooking over medium-low heat until all the wine is absorbed.
5. Now comes the laborious part: Ladle about 1 cup of broth into the sauteed rice.  Stir continuously as the rice absorbs the liquid. Add another 1 or 2-ladlefuls (about 1/2 cup) of broth, stirring constantly until that liquid is absorbed.  Continue to do this until the rice is cooked.  This process should take 45 minutes to 1 hour and should use all or nearly all of the broth.
6. Once all of the broth has been absorbed and the rice is cooked (not at all crunchy), add the thyme, rosemary, and cooked mushrooms and peppers.  Stir until incorporated and thoroughly warmed.
7. Serve yourself and your friends immediately and enjoy this fantastic dish.  Go ahead and have that cocktail now – you’ve earned it!