When I got to Tracie's it was like Christmas all over again! I have been ordering a few things lately and having the sent here, so did I have fun!
First and foremost - my pkg. from Labs which I have been looking so forward to was not a disappointment. Here's what he sent -
"Pkg. from Labs –
Contents:
2 packages of Papas Secas - Peruvian dried potatoes
2 jars of Ají Panca - A Peruvian pepper paste, similar to the yellow one I sent at Christmas time, but not as hot and a different flavour.
1 can of Rocoto pepper halves - HOT, but oh, so delicious flavour. Rocotos became my favourite peppers the first time I tried fresh ones in Honduras.
The first two items are part of Carapulcra - the stew that I made and mentioned recently. There IS a recipe for that on the bag of the potatoes, but the recipe I used is one I translated from a Peruvian website (although the differences between the two are not that big).
The Rocotos are just something else with which you can experiment. I had some frozen ones from the same store and made a stuffed-pepper dish with them (and have been remiss in posting about it). To reduce the heat of the peppers, soak them over night in a mixture of water, vinegar and sugar or boil them for one minute in salted water, and repeat the process two more times, changing the salted water each time, then put them into some ice water.
Enjoy!"
The next few days will be hectic, but then I can play with these goodies. Thanks so much Labs!!
One other item I ordered was Ruhlman's book on braising and wow, every picture has me drooling - this will be a fun book even though it's summertime, there will be cool ones that I can play with braising. Can't decide which first! Thanks for mentioning this one, Maryann.
First and foremost - my pkg. from Labs which I have been looking so forward to was not a disappointment. Here's what he sent -
"Pkg. from Labs –
Contents:
2 packages of Papas Secas - Peruvian dried potatoes
2 jars of Ají Panca - A Peruvian pepper paste, similar to the yellow one I sent at Christmas time, but not as hot and a different flavour.
1 can of Rocoto pepper halves - HOT, but oh, so delicious flavour. Rocotos became my favourite peppers the first time I tried fresh ones in Honduras.
The first two items are part of Carapulcra - the stew that I made and mentioned recently. There IS a recipe for that on the bag of the potatoes, but the recipe I used is one I translated from a Peruvian website (although the differences between the two are not that big).
The Rocotos are just something else with which you can experiment. I had some frozen ones from the same store and made a stuffed-pepper dish with them (and have been remiss in posting about it). To reduce the heat of the peppers, soak them over night in a mixture of water, vinegar and sugar or boil them for one minute in salted water, and repeat the process two more times, changing the salted water each time, then put them into some ice water.
Enjoy!"
The next few days will be hectic, but then I can play with these goodies. Thanks so much Labs!!
One other item I ordered was Ruhlman's book on braising and wow, every picture has me drooling - this will be a fun book even though it's summertime, there will be cool ones that I can play with braising. Can't decide which first! Thanks for mentioning this one, Maryann.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
www.achefsjourney.com