colombian recipes Archives

Arepas & Chicharrón recipe

18th April 2020 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

While there’s much talk of how we should be using our time in isolation, I fully support the school of thought that if we just get through this, it’ll be enough.

So while you are under zero obligation to “be productive” or “try something new”, if you’re curious about Colombian food or share my inclination towards recipes involving any form of fried meat, you could give the below a go.

Today’s recipe is for Arepas con Chicarrón, or corn-cakes and fried pork belly. The arepas require a precooked corn flour called “masa harina”. You can’t sub this out for regular corn flour so I recommend looking in your local cash & carry or international supermarket for this; popular brands are Pan and Goya.

The pork belly recipe is a cracker; the meat pretty much takes care of itself, boiling down in water until the last few minutes when you fry it off in its own fat to get it gloriously golden and crunchy. Give it a bit of attention the night before with some salt and bicarbonate of soda to dry it out for extra crisp.

Arepas

Makes ten

Ingredients

250 grams masa harina
250 ml water
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Pour out your water into a bowl big enough to allow you to mix in
Shake in your masa harina, salt & pepper
Combine ingredients with your hands, forming a dough
Cover bowl with a tea towel and leave for 10 minutes
The dough is now ready to mould. Separate it into 10 equal sized balls and flatten down to about ½ inch thickness and mould into a round shape, either with hands or use a cup to cut out the shape, like a cookie cutter
Lightly oil up a griddle or non stick pan and cook arepas until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes on each side.

Chicharrón

For four people, served alongside arepas and other nibbles

Ingredients

500 grams pork belly, cut into cubes about 4cm x 4cm
1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tbsp salt
Seasonings of your choice (I used sweet paprika, cumin, garlic power)

Method

The night prior to cooking, place pork belly out on a plate and rub skin with the bicarb of soda and half the salt
The next day, when ready to cook, place pork belly in a pan big enough to fit it comfortably and add enough water to cover the meat completely
With the flame on very low, leave meat to simmer, checking on it every half an hour to turn the meat
2-4 hours after you have started to cook the meat, the water will have evaporated off – this is time to turn up then heat and get your meat golden brown and crunchy
With the heat on high, carefully and lovingly fry the belly (no extra oil needed as it’s now cooking in its own fat). This should take 3-5 minutes – careful because the fat spits.
Once nicely golden and crunchy, remove meat from pan and place on top of kitchen roll laid on a plate to absorb extra grease.
Sprinkle spices and remaining salt on top – you can use the suggested sweet paprika, garlic powder and cumin or whatever your preferences are.

These can be served alongside a whole host of toppings, below is what I went for: some pickled onions (left in red wine vinegar and a dash of sugar to take away the acidity), avocado, grated cheese, some chopped tomatoes with coriander and lemon and coriander to garnish.

***Barranquilla in Golders Green, isolation edition***

These are two very simple recipes that can serve as base for a whole Latin-American inspired meal. There’s loads of other Colombian recipes on my blog you could use as well: Colombian-style chicken wings, patacones (fried plantain slices, but this recipe does them in the oven), arroz con pollo (chicken with rice). Choices for pudding include a guava cake you could anglicise with jam instead of guava and a passionfruit and dulce de leche victoria sponge.

https://www.instagram.com/bidmeadbites/ — ***Guava cake pulled from the archives, recipe available here***

So if you’ve finished Tiger King and are at a loss for what to do next, why not give this a go? Let me know how you get on!

Dinner for 80?

15th March 2015 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Colombia is a country of contrasts. Hot Caribbean beaches, deep, dense jungles and cold, steep mountain ranges. African-influenced music such as champeta plays next to the indigenous music bambucco, with some modern day reggaeton thrown in the mix too. While these are differences to be celebrated, Colombia also possesses less desirable contrasts, such as the stark comparison between the rich and the poor.

Thankfully, there are many charities within the country working to help change the situation of millions of families who live in poverty. One such organisation is TECHO, who work to provide emergency housing for families living in sub-standard housing conditions.

I’ve already written about some of the work I have done with TECHO here, and my most recent experience was the task of feeding 80 hungry volunteers during a weekend of construction with four families in Puerto Colombia, down by the beach here in Barranquilla.

I had to provide two breakfasts and one dinner and my job involved planning the menu, managing the budget, buying the food and of course…cooking it all too! Another volunteer and I worked together to achieve this mammoth task. We came up with a menu of well-loved Colombian classics, two of which I’ll share with you all today.

The breakfast on the first day was huevos pericos served alongside bread rolls. This is a classic Colombian breakfast dish and is a quick, easy and nourishing option that is just a tad more exciting than your everyday scrambled eggs recipe.

Spice up your scrambled eggs with the recipe here below!

Eggs for 80

Huevos Pericos (serves 4)

Ingredients
– 6 eggs
– 3 finely chopped tomatoes
– 2 tablespoons olive oil (replace one of these with butter if you like your eggs a bit richer)
– 2 strands of spring onion, finely chopped
– Salt to taste

Method
1) Add in oil (and butter if using) to the pan while it heats up. Once the pan is warm, add in chopped onions and watch and stir until the start they change color.
2) Add in chopped tomatoes with a good pinch of salt. Stir around with onions for about 5 minutes, until tomatoes are looking cooked but not mushy.
3) Now crack eggs straight into the pan and mix around, and when starting to scramble turn off heat. Stir around a bit more, but don’t let them dry up – runny eggs are best!

This can be served with some chopped coriander stirred through, or sprinkled on top.

Breakfast on the second day was a very traditional dish called cayeye – boiled guineos (smaller, green plantains) mashed up with butter, salt and cheese. Added suero (a kind of sour cream) is optional, indulgent and completely recommended! Sadly, in the sheer mayhem of boiling 80 bananas and grating over 5 kilograms of cheese (all before 5:30 am this is), I forgot to take any pictures. So you’ll just have to trust me when I say this is one breakfast dish you should try!

Ingredients for Cayeye – photo credit not my own, taken from food catering company aldimark

Breakfasts done, what’s for dinner? The much-loved Colombian dish arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). Tackling such a classic dish, I did my research talking to various mums/grandmas/cleaners and cooks in order to get their top tips. Everyone has their own little tricks for making this dish, and here is a compilation of those pearls of wisdom to help you try your hand at this classic Colombian eat.

Arroz con Pollo (serves 4)

Ingredients
– 250 g (1 cup) of white rice
– Stock cube of chicken stock
– 3 cloves on garlic, chopped
– A fair bit of salt (various pinches, we will say)
– Trisazon spice (now I doubt this is hanging around in Tesco. It’s basically a mix of cumin, garlic, paprika and red colouring. Use these 4 and you should be good!)
– 1 teaspoon tomato puree
– 3 carrots, grated
– Half a bunch of coriander, chopped, with some leaves reserved for serving
– 1 green pepper, cut into small cubes
– 1 red pepper, cut into small cubes
– 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
– 1 large onion, finely chopped
– 2 chicken breasts

Method

1) First cook the chicken. Place breasts in a pot with the first 3 chopped cloves of garlic, the stock cube, and cover with water until all of the chicken is submerged. Boil for about 30 minutes until the breasts are cooked through, and remove chicken to cool on a plate but reserve this chicken stock (you will use it to cook your rice).

2) Now, in the water you cooked the chicken in, you’re going to cook your rice, adding in the grated carrot for colour. Make sure there is exactly twice as much water as you have rice – if you haven’t got enough chicken-y water for your rice, add in more plain water. Likewise, if you’ve too much water, drain some out. Simple!

3) While the rice is cooking, shred your chicken breasts with two forks. Save aside, and crack on with the veg.

4) Cook onion in a separate pan until it starts to take a golden colour and then add in peppers. Add salt and spices and garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes, and then add in tomato puree. Add in shredded chicken, chopped coriander and give a good stir for about 1-2 minutes.

5) Checking your rice is nice and cooked (about 20-25 mins), it’s time to mix it all up! Add cooked chicken and veg to rice, stir it all up and taste. A bit pale looking? Try a squirt of tomato ketchup! Not feeling flavorsome enough? Add some more spices. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh coriander, and enjoy.

Arroz con pollo is a great feed-a-crowd dish, and if I managed it for 80, this recipe for four should be a breeze!

Overall, the weekend was a tough, long, but unforgettable experience. It was my third time participating in a construction with TECHO, and it never ceases to amaze me how in just two days the lives of families can be transformed so positively. So after you’ve hit the kitchen to cook up these two Colombian classics, please also take the time to read up about TECHO and the work it does across Latin America.

Until next time, where BidmeadBites takes a brief holiday away…stay tuned to find out where to!

Plantain, how do I cook thee? Let me count the ways…

20th October 2014 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Commonplace in many Latin American and African cuisines, the plantain is a member of the banana family. Its color varies from green to black depending on its ripeness and although inedible raw, this starchy vegetable lends itself to a wide array of both savory and sweet dishes when cooked. Here in Colombia you can’t go far without finding some platano somewhere along the line and recently I’ve been testing out a few recipes. Starting with ripened plantains, here are two variations of how they can be served, either savory or sweet.

The other day, getting home tired and hungry, I routed around for some dinner. Faced with these simple ingredients:

I could feel a good late night dinner calling. To make this savory, stuffed plantain, you will need:

The ‘Jacket Plantain’

(Serves 1 hungry person)

-1 yellow ripe plantain

-2 tomatoes, finely chopped

-1/2 onion, finely chopped

-1 can of tuna

-1 avocado, sliced

-1 lime, for a bit of juice squeezing

-Adobo seasoning (this is just a mix of paprika, oregano, salt and pepper. Use these if you have!).

Method

1) Slice off the ends of the plantain but keep the skin on. Place plantain in the oven, heated to 190 degrees. Leave to cook for 20 minutes and get on with your filling.

2) Heat some oil in a pan and cook the onion until it takes on a translucent color. Add in your seasoning followed by the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.

3) Open and drain the can of tuna, add it into the pan. Stir in with onion, tomato and spice mixture. By now your plantain will be cooked – take out of oven, carefully peel off skin and slice in the middle to open up like a book.

5) Place in your tomato tuna filling, and finish with a squeeze of lime juice and avocado slices.

Your stuffed savory plantain – a quick 20 minute meal

That’s dinner done then! But what if you’ve already had your dinner and are looking for something sweet to finish it off? Well here is potentially the easiest dessert recipe ever. With a similar cooking method to the ‘Jacket Plantain’, this sweet dessert contains the wonderfully exotic flavors of coconut, papaya and mango.

Plantain Split

(for four people, a plantain each, adjust accordingly)

-4 ripe plantains

-1 mango, cut into chunks

-1/2 papaya, cut into chunks

-1 can of coconut milk

-2 tbsp brown sugar

-Handful of desiccated coconut for sprinkling

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees, cut the ends off the plantain and place them in their skins in the preheated oven.

2) While they are cooking, get on with making your coconut cream. Pour coconut milk into a bowl and add in brown sugar. Either with a whisk, hand whisk or blender, whizz up milk until it takes on a thicker texture. Once it looks like it has a bit of body, it’s ready.

4) Now pour/spoon over coconut cream, and pile on fruit. Sprinkle generously with desiccated coconut, and a touch more cream for good measure.

5) When plantain skins are black (20 minutes or so), take them out of the oven and (just like for the jacket plantains) peel them and open up like a book.

A tropical treat for any day of the week! Feel free to play around with the fruit you use to fill your plantains. Maybe you could go for some berries? Perhaps even some chopped up oranges with a dash more sugar would go well. It’s a really easy dessert and a nice spin on a well-loved classic.

Banana split? Try this plantain version for a more tropical twist

For the next recipe, I have looked to common food trends for inspiration. The popularity of dishes such as spaghetti squash and cauliflower crust pizza highlights how we can use vegetables to substitute certain carbohydrates. While traditional pizza and pasta is wonderful, a slightly lighter substitute every now and then is a nice way to try out new recipes, as well as being a healthy option. This next recipe replaces rice with green plantain and works really well – give it a go and see what you think!

Plantain Fried Rice

(serves 2)

-1 large green plantain, chopped into little cubes

-1/2 onion, finely chopped

-1 red pepper, finely chopped

-1 green pepper, finely chopped

-Half a can of sweetcorn

-Drizzle of honey

-Salt and pepper

-Dash of chilli sauce

-Lime zest (a tad)

Method

1) Firstly you want to chop your plantain really small. I managed this with a box cutter, which pushes vegetables through a grate, but this could be just as easily done by hand.

2) Cook your onions for 2-3 minutes, just to give them a bit of colour. Then, add in your plantain, tomatoes, red and green peppers. Add in salt and pepper along with lime zest.

3) Stir well and make sure it doesn’t burn. As you don’t want this to be greasy, if it looks like it’s sticking to the pan add in some water.

4) Cook for a further 10-15, add in sweet corn, and just before taking off the heat add your drizzle of honey and chilli sauce. Finish with a squeeze of lime and that’s it!

A Caribbean twsit on an Asian classic

Continuing on with our green plantain and healthy alternatives, we arrive at the popular dish that is patacones. Patacones are fried plantain rounds that often sit alongside many other fritos, which are a typical street food. Cheap, tasty and filling, these fried snacks will certainly keep you bouncing until lunch.

Patacones are not once but twice fried green plantain rounds. While delicious, they obviously aren’t the most health-giving food out there, so I took on a challenge. Could I make healthier, baked patacones, without making any colombian abuelita shudder in disgust at the very concept?

The much loved Colombian frito

The answer? Yes! Easy to make, and far better for you than the original, these baked patacones will allow you to sample some Colombian food while watching your waistline. For this recipe you will need:

Baked Patacones (plantain chips)

(serves 2 as a side/starter)

-1 green plantain

– Drizzle of olive oil

-Salt

-Lime…

And that’s it! And as if this wasn’t simple enough, we’re even going to use a microwave. If you don’t have one, just stick it in the oven, but for double the time.

Method

1) Cut off the ends of the plantain, and slice the skin down the middle length ways, so steam can escape.

Microwave at full force for 6 minutes, or in the oven at 200 degrees for 12-15.

2) Once cooked, remove the skin of the plantain. Chop diagonally into 3-4 cm slices and use whatever you have to hand (a pan, a chopping board, a glass) to flatten each slice into a flat round.

3) Place on a baking sheet, generously cover with olive oil, salt, and a squeeze of lime juice. Bake at 200 degrees celsius for 15-20 minutes, turning over once or twice.

(Below is a step-by-step picture guide – you can see how to slice the plantain before it goes in the microwave/oven, then how to cut it diagonally, along with the flattening into actual patacones).

And out come delicious, crispy baked patacones! Sure they taste different to their fried siblings, but they are still darn good. These serve as a great base for a whole range of toppings – try your hand a typical Colombian hogao (a tomato and onion sauce) or why not make some guacamole? Equally you could try some cooked up mince meat, or even a poached egg. Or, serve as they are, with another shake of shake and squeeze of lime.

With four different recipes, ranging from savoury to sweet, you’ve got no excuse not to give these dishes a whirl. Put down your dreary old potato and try something more exciting. Rich in vitamin C and A, plantains are paleo-friendly and are incredibly versatile and easy to cook with. So what are you waiting for? Head on down to your nearest international supermarket or large supermarket and get cooking!