PASTEL DE CHOCLO

A recipe from Chile. I love it. Pastel de Choclo is, in fact, a corn and meat sort of pie. Sweet or savory? Some people make it sweet, others savory. I will ad salt and a bit of sugar. Let’s cook.

Ingredients:

For the choclo:

¾ cup corn

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon basil

For the meat:

1 little onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

½ chicken breast, cut into little strips

½ pound ground beef

Some extra virgin olive oil

Some salt to taste

Some freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon oregano

For the cake:

2 boiled eggs, sliced

Some black olives, pitted and sliced

Some raisins

Some breadcrumbs

A pinch of sugar (optional)

First, prepare the corn. To do it, put it in a blender or food processor. We can add some milk to make it easier. It will be creamy too. You have to get a sort of corn dough, not too liquid. When you have it, add the salt, the sugar, the black pepper and the basil. Then put in a pan and cook it for about five minutes stirring continuously. Reserve.

The next thing will be preparing the meat for our pastel. Start frying the chicken strips using just a bit of hot oil. Remove the chicken from the pan in three minutes and reserve.

Go on sautéing the onion in the pan. Five minutes later add the garlic and the ground beef. Add the cumin and the oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook till the meat starts losing its red colour.

And then, start finishing the pastel. Grease an oven mold lightly and put the cooked meat with the onion first. On top that put the chicken. The next layer will be the boiled egg in slices, the olives and the raisins. Finally, the corn we have cooked before. The last thing will be adding some breadcrumbs and, if you want, this is optional, a bit of sugar.

Then take it to the oven, preheated to 350ºF. Bake it for about 15 minutes. Let it cool a bit before serving.

And then you will have your Pastel de Choclo ready. If you want it to be a bit lighter, you can omit the chicken.

You will really like this pastel. It is delicious and rewarding. Ready to eat, now. Enjoy!

**more pics**

HARIRA

Today we will travel to the North of Africa. Harira is a delicious soup/stew, similar in a way to the Spanish Cocido but in fact, closer to a soup than to a stew. It should be cooked with lamb but you can use beef if you want. It can also be made without meat. The results are also delicious. This recipe is for a pressure cooker. An easy and convenient way to cook it. And good. Try. You’ll see.

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpeas

½ cup lentils

½ chopped onion

1 chopped carrot

½ cup chopped celery

1 clove of garlic, chopped

½ pound lamb, cut in not very small pieces

Some extra virgin olive oil

8 oz crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon cilantro

Some salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon powdered ginger

A pinch of powdered cinnamon

A pinch of saffron

Some flour

1 egg, beaten

Some fine pasta, like fideo or vermicelli

The first thing to do is soaking chickpeas and lentils on water overnight.

The next day put some oil in the pressure cooker. When it is hot, add the lamb and sear it for about three minutes. Then add the vegetables, cut and prepared previously (onion, carrot, celery and garlic). Add the chickpeas and lentils to the cooker too. Add the crushed tomatoes but reserve one tablespoon more or less. Then add the parsley, the cilantro, the spices and the saffron. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Let it cook for about two minutes and then cover everything with water. Close the pressure cooker and follow the instructions for your cooker. With my cooker, I wait till it starts steeming and then I have it cooking for 20 minutes at a lower fire.

In the meantime, mix half a cup of hot water with a tablespoon of flour and the tablespoon of crushed tomatoes we had reserved.

When you can open the cooker, add the vermicelli, the mixture with the flour and the beaten egg. Go on cooking at a low fire. The Harira will be finished while the pasta is being cooked.

And then it will be ready. A wonderful dish. Harira. Serve hot. Enjoy!

**more pics**