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Carne guisada puertorriqueñaBeef stew with sofrito

Carne guisada is the Puerto Rican stew that simmers on Sunday stoves from Bayamón to the Bronx, served over white rice with habichuelas and a few tostones. Chunks of beef are browned, then braised in sofrito, tomato sauce and a little achiote with potatoes, carrots and briny alcaparrado until the meat falls apart and the sauce turns thick and glossy. The usual mistake is crowding the pan when browning, which steams the beef grey and loses the deep flavour; brown it in batches. It is done when a piece of beef breaks apart easily with a spoon. Chef's tip: make your own sofrito by blending onion, green pepper, garlic, culantro and coriander; a big batch freezes in ice-cube trays for months.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

CanoasPlantain boats with beef

Canoas, or canoas de plátano maduro, are a Puerto Rican family dinner and party dish from Arecibo to Caguas: whole ripe plantains are baked until soft, slit along the top like a canoe and stuffed with savoury picadillo, then topped with cheese and baked again. Sweet plantain and salty, olive-studded beef is the whole point. The common mistake is using plantains that are too green, which never turn sweet or soft; choose them yellow with plenty of black. The beef must reach 71 °C, and the canoas are ready when the cheese bubbles. Use a cheese made without animal rennet if you avoid it. Chef's tip: brush the plantain skins with oil before the first bake, so they stay supple and don't split.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

JibaritoPlantain steak sandwich

The jibarito was created in the 1990s at a Puerto Rican restaurant in Chicago's Humboldt Park and is now on menus across the city and back on the island. Instead of bread, two flattened, twice-fried green plantains hold thin garlicky steak, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and garlic mayonnaise. It contains egg (mayonnaise) and milk. The mistake is using ripe yellow plantains, which are sweet and too soft to hold the filling; you need hard green ones. The plantain is ready when golden and crisp on the outside but still pliable, and the steak needs only a minute a side. Choose a cheese made without animal rennet if you avoid it. Chef's tip: flatten the plantain halves between a folded freezer bag with a heavy pan, so they spread wide and don't stick.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pollo guisado puertorriqueñoBraised chicken with sofrito

Pollo guisado is everyday comfort in Puerto Rican homes, the weeknight pot from Mayagüez to Orlando that turns a few chicken thighs into a rich, saucy stew for rice and beans. The chicken is seasoned with adobo-style garlic and oregano, browned, then braised in sofrito and tomato with potatoes, peppers and olives until the sauce is thick and orange from achiote. The common mistake is using skinless breast, which dries out and turns stringy in a long braise; bone-in thighs and drumsticks stay juicy. It is done when the thickest piece reaches 74 °C and the meat starts to pull away from the bone. Chef's tip: leave the browned skin on for flavour and spoon off the extra fat before serving.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TripletaThree-meat sandwich

The tripleta is the late-night star of Puerto Rico's food trucks and roadside chinchorros, especially around Piñones and the San Juan nightlife. A soft, long pan sobao roll is stuffed with three meats: thin marinated beef steak, chicken and ham, with melted cheese, shredded cabbage, tomato, crunchy potato sticks and a ketchup-mayo pink sauce. This version contains pork (ham). It contains wheat, milk and egg. The usual mistake is piling cold meats in, which leaves the sandwich lukewarm and the cheese unmelted; griddle the meats and ham hot and close the roll on the griddle. The chicken is done at 74 °C. Chef's tip: press the closed sandwich on the griddle under a heavy pan for a minute, so the outside crisps and everything melds.

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Flan de cocoCoconut caramel custard

In Puerto Rico flan de coco is the dessert of Nochebuena, Three Kings' Day and every family birthday from San Juan to Ponce, usually sharing the table with tembleque and arroz con dulce. Eggs, coconut milk, condensed and evaporated milk and grated coconut are baked over a dark caramel in a water bath, then turned out so the caramel runs down the sides and the coconut settles into a chewy top layer. It contains milk and egg. The usual mistake is a hot oven without a water bath, which leaves the flan full of holes and weeping; bake it low and slow in hot water. It is done when the edges are set and the centre wobbles like jelly when nudged. Chef's tip: chill it overnight before turning it out; a warm flan cracks and sticks.

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Mont-Saint-Michel soufflé omelette

On the tidal island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, pilgrims and travellers have long been fed a tall, cloud-like omelette named after Annette Poulard, the nineteenth-century innkeeper who served it to hungry visitors. At home it makes a quick, rather showy supper: the eggs are whisked so much air goes in that the omelette rises in the pan, golden underneath and soft and foamy inside, folded over and eaten with a green salad. The common mistake is whipping the whites until they are stiff and dry; they then won't fold into the yolks and the omelette weeps liquid. Chef's tip: stir a spoonful of the whites into the yolks first to loosen them, then fold in the rest in two goes.

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ManalaBrioche men

On 6 December, St Nicholas' Day, Alsatian bakeries fill with manala (also mannele): little brioche men with raisin eyes and buttons and a snipped belt, given to children by St Nicolas, who brings treats to good children. They are eaten for breakfast or an after-school snack, dipped in hot chocolate. The dough is a soft, buttery milk brioche. Chef's tip: shape the figures loosely and well apart, because they double as they rise and bake, and thin arms that touch become one blob.

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Bacalao guisadoStewed salt cod

In Puerto Rico, bacalao guisado is the dish of Lent and above all Good Friday, when meat is not eaten. Soaked salt cod is stewed with sofrito, tomato sauce, potatoes, olives, capers and peppers until thick and fragrant, and served with white rice, boiled root vegetables (viandas) or avocado. It is homely, salty-sweet and very comforting. Chef's tip: soak the cod in the fridge for a day and a half and taste it before seasoning; most of the salt in the stew comes from the fish.

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KaguyjyWhite corn pudding

On the night of 23–24 June, Paraguayans celebrate San Juan with bonfires, games like walking over hot coals and the 'paso de fuego', and a table of traditional foods, and kaguyjy (also mazamorra) is one of them. It is a soft, creamy pudding of cracked white corn (locro) simmered slowly in water and then milk with sugar or honey, sometimes with orange peel. It is eaten warm or cold. It is gluten free. Chef's tip: soak the corn overnight and cook it until each kernel is tender before adding the milk, or it never turns creamy.

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Dowina (Kurdish yogurt soup)

Dowina, called ash-e doogh in Persian, is warming spring food in Kurdish homes around Newroz, when yogurt is plentiful and the first herbs are cut from the garden. Rice and chickpeas simmer in a tangy, lightly thickened yogurt broth, finished with fresh dill, coriander and a sizzle of dried mint in oil. It is eaten warm, never boiling hot, with flatbread. The common mistake is to heat the yogurt too fast without stirring, which makes it split into grainy curds. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoonful of rice flour into the yogurt before it goes on the heat; it holds the soup smooth all the way to the simmer.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pâté de Pâques berrichonPork, veal and egg pastry loaf

In the Berry region of central France (around Bourges and Châteauroux), Easter Sunday lunch begins with pâté de Pâques: a long loaf of puff pastry filled with seasoned minced pork and veal around a row of whole hard-boiled eggs, so every slice shows a golden yolk in the middle. It is eaten warm or cold with a green salad. Some cooks marinate the meat in white wine or Cognac; this recipe uses no alcohol. Chef's tip: cut a chimney in the top crust and keep it open with a roll of card, so steam escapes and the pastry stays crisp.

110 minFrenchMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

TaloaMaize flatbread with ham and cheese

During the Fêtes de Bayonne in July, when the whole town dresses in white with red scarves, stalls in the Pays Basque sell taloa: thick flatbreads of maize and wheat flour cooked on a hot griddle and folded around fillings. The classic is with jambon de Bayonne (a cured pork ham), with sheep's cheese or with ventrèche (cured pork belly), and it's eaten hot in the street. Cheese alone makes a good vegetarian version. Chef's tip: cook the taloa on a dry, very hot pan; it should blister and puff in patches like a tortilla.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gardianne de taureauBull beef braised in red wine

Gardianne is named after the gardians, the mounted herdsmen who raise black bulls on the marshes of the Camargue, and it is served at the summer ferias and village fêtes of Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer with nutty Camargue red rice. Taureau (bull meat) is lean and deeply flavoured, braised slowly in red wine with onions, garlic, herbes de Provence and black olives until dark and tender; beef shin or chuck makes a fine substitute. This recipe contains alcohol: for an alcohol-free version, replace the wine with the same amount of beef stock plus 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1 tbsp grape juice. Chef's tip: marinate the meat overnight in the fridge for the deepest flavour.

235 minFrenchMeat
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Brioche de Saint-GenixPink praline brioche

In Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers, in Savoie, this round brioche dotted with bright pink sugared almonds is baked for the feast of Saint Agatha on 5 February, and its shape is said to recall the saint's martyrdom. Today it is sold all year in the bakeries of the Savoie and Lyon, rich and buttery, with the pralines melting into sticky pink pockets. The dough rests overnight in the fridge, so start the day before. Chef's tip: crush the pralines roughly and fold them in at the very end, or they dissolve and stain the whole dough pink.

595 minFrenchBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chipa so'oCheese bread with spiced beef

In Paraguay, families bake chipa in the clay tatakua ovens on Holy Wednesday so there is food for Thursday and Good Friday, when cooking stops. Chipa so'o ('chipa with meat') is a cassava-starch and cheese bread wrapped around a little filling of minced beef cooked with onion and egg, then baked until crisp outside and chewy within. It is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: knead the dough until it no longer cracks at the edges when pressed; dry dough splits around the filling.

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BrasucadeGrilled mussels with garlic and parsley

At village fêtes around the étang de Thau in Languedoc, and on beaches in summer, people gather round a brasucade: mussels piled into a large pierced pan over a fire of vine prunings until they open, then doused with a garlicky oil of parsley and a little chilli and tossed. It is smoky, juicy and eaten by hand with bread. A barbecue grill works at home. Chef's tip: use a lid or a sheet of foil over the pan; the trapped steam opens the mussels evenly while the fire adds smoke.

25 minFrenchFish
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Galette comtoiseChoux king cake

While most of France eats a puff-pastry galette des rois at Epiphany in January, Franche-Comté has its own: a flat golden cake made from a choux-like dough, tender and slightly custardy inside and scented with orange-flower water. As elsewhere, a fève (a little charm or a dried bean) is hidden inside, the youngest child under the table calls out who gets each slice, and whoever finds the fève is crowned king or queen. Chef's tip: let the cooked paste cool for a few minutes before beating in the eggs, or they scramble.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chichi frégiChickpea flour fritters in sugar

On the seafront at L'Estaque, the old fishing quarter of Marseille, and at summer fêtes all along the coast, kiosks fry chichi frégi: long, ridged fritters of wheat and chickpea flour, rolled hot in sugar and eaten in a paper cone. The dough is a yeasted, egg-free batter piped straight into the oil, crisp outside and soft inside, with a faint nutty taste from the chickpea flour and a hint of orange flower. Chef's tip: keep the oil at 175 °C; cooler and the fritters soak up fat, hotter and they burn before the middle cooks.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

CornuellesAniseed biscuits

On Palm Sunday in Villebois-Lavalette, in Charente, stalls sell cornuelles, hard triangular biscuits with a hole in the middle, threaded onto a stick or a sprig of blessed box. The three points are said to stand for the Trinity, and children carry them home from church. They are crisp and scented with aniseed, glazed with a thin sugar icing. Chef's tip: roll the dough thin and even, about 5 mm, so every biscuit bakes through crisp without burning at the points.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KalanehWild leek stuffed flatbread

In Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Newroz arrives with the first spring greens on the hillsides, and families gather wild leeks to fold into kalaneh, thin griddle breads cooked over a fire or a hot pan and soaked in melted butter. The dough is plain and soft, rolled very thin around a pile of chopped leek or chives with a little salt and pepper, so the greens steam inside as the bread blisters. Eat it hot, torn into strips, with yogurt and tea at a Newroz picnic. The common mistake is wet greens, which turn the dough soggy and make it tear; dry them well after washing. Chef's tip: brush the butter on the moment the bread leaves the pan so it soaks right in.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pajagua mascadaBeef and cassava patties

Pajagua mascada is a Paraguayan street-food classic that appears on every table for the San Juan festival on 24 June, when bonfires burn and the night is full of games and traditional food. Minced beef is mixed with mashed cassava, onion, garlic and a little egg and flour, shaped into flat patties and fried until crisp. The name comes from Guaraní and refers to the 'chewing' of old Paraguayan cooks, who made it from leftover meat. Chef's tip: dry the boiled cassava well and remove its woody core, which keeps the patties light and crunchy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Macaronade sétoisePasta with beef rolls and sausage

In Sète, on the Languedoc coast, families of Italian origin cook macaronade for Sunday lunch and above all for the Saint-Louis festival in August, when the harbour hosts its famous water-jousting. Thin slices of beef are rolled around garlic and parsley (braciole), browned with Toulouse-style pork sausage and simmered for hours in a tomato sauce, which then dresses thick pasta. Traditionally a splash of white wine goes into the sauce; it is optional here, and stock works just as well. Chef's tip: simmer the sauce very gently, with the lid ajar; the beef rolls need time to turn tender, not fast boiling.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pâte de coingsQuince paste

On Christmas Eve in Provence the gros souper ends with the treize desserts, thirteen small sweets set out together and left on the table until 27 December. Pâte de coings, a firm, glowing amber quince paste cut into squares and rolled in sugar, is nearly always among them, beside nougat, dried fruit and fougasse. It is simply quince pulp and sugar cooked down slowly until it pulls away from the pan, so it is vegan and gluten free, and it keeps for months. Serve it in small cubes, or with a sharp cheese. Chef's tip: cook the quinces whole with their skins and cores, which hold most of the natural pectin, and only sieve them afterwards.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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