Baby Head Cake (Week 15 - Chile)

 

OUR EXPERIENCE

We had a lovely fortnight, but I am so behind with my overseas cooking - need to do some major catching up! I was fascinated to discover that Chileans eat ‘pinone’ nuts, which are from the monkey puzzle tree (araucaria); a tree I have loved since childhood and never knew produced edible nuts – not that I am going to seek them out, in case the British variety are the wrong sort. We had ‘Lomo a lo Pobre’, the difference for us was piling everything on top of each other; normally, for us, everything is served separately. I also cooked salmon with the lovely seafood salsa; with a salad. I think we would have enjoyed the empanadas more if we had not been away to Cornwall and experienced Cornish pasties! They were very nice though, but I didn’t make them with the correct dough, instead I used short-crust pastry.  The most amusing part of the Chilean experience was their celebration cake. I got the recipe from a website, and I didn’t read it properly. One thing I overlooked is that sometimes the translations are not quite right, and I need to read it properly, rather than take it literally. So, in the end we ended up with the largest, most solid cake ever. My son referred to it as ‘Chilean baby head cake’, as it was so big. Inside the hard exterior it was very nice, so I will be making this again, but making slight alterations.

Post script: I have made this twice since. The second time with revisions to the amounts and it turned out to be rather yummy – although I didn’t add the brandy, the third time was completely different I put the ‘dough’ in a tin and cooked it, and although it tasted as before, something was significantly different; the previous version were more of a bread/scone consistency, yet the final version was more cake like.

 

Cooked with score (out of 100):

Pan de Pascua (Christmas Cake)………………………………….73

Salsa...................…………………………………………………………83

Empanadas de Pino........................................................80

Wanted to cook:

Butternut Squash Casserole

 

 

Pan de Pascua (Christmas Cake)

or to be forever to be known to us as “Chilean Baby Head Cake”

Source: Secret recipes” by Cecilia Young

 

Ingredients

125g butter

1 ½ cups sugar

6 eggs

4 cups plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

½ tsp fresh grated ginger

½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg

8 tbsp brandy (I used milk)

2 cups of mixture of sultanas, raisins, walnuts and a variety of dried fruits i.e. apricots, pears, figs.

 

Method:

1. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl, add eggs one by one.
2. Sift all dry ingredients into mixture alternating with the brandy.
3. Mix in equal parts of sultanas, raisins, walnuts and dried fruits.
4. Pour into a greased tin and bake in a moderate oven for about 1 hour.
5. Turn out and sprinkle with icing sugar.
   NB: This made a very big cake, we reduced the quantity by half, used milk instead of brandy and put on a tin rather than in a tin.
    

Seafood salsa 

This recipe serves 6 and uses 450g / 1lb king prawns, 12 clams, 12 mussels, 6 scallops, 6 oysters and 12 razor clams. But it is the sauce that I was after...

60ml / 4tbs chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

15ml / 1 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 fresh green chilli, seeded and finely chopped

Juice of 2 limes

30ml / 2 tbsp olive oil

 

Combine the salsa ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Make the salsa a few hours in advance, if possible, so the delicate flavours have time to develop. Cook the seafood, either by steaming or boiling and arrange on a plate, drizzle the salsa over and serve.

Source: “The Illustrated Food and Cooking of the Caribbean, Central and South America” by Jenni Fleetwood and Marina Filippelli.

 

Empanadas de Pino

In Chile the most traditional filling is called ‘pino’. Source: southamericanfood.about.com

Prep Time: 35 minutes, Cook Time: 30 minutes

 

Empanada dough (I used short crust)

3 large onions, chopped

1 pound ground beef

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 beef bouillon cube, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped olives

2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk

 

1. Prepare empanada dough (pastry) and chill.
2. Cook the onions and garlic in the vegetable oil and butter until softened. Add the ground beef, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, beef stock, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook the beef, stirring and crumbling the meat, until browned. Add the flour and continue to cook for 5 or 10 minutes more. 
4. Remove the meat mixture and let cool. The beef mixture will keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
5. Shape the empanadas: Separate the dough into golf ball size pieces, and roll into smooth balls. Let rest for 5 minutes. On a floured surface, roll each ball of dough into a 6 inch diameter circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Add 1 tablespoon of the beef filing, a few raisins and some chopped olives, and a slice of hard-boiled egg to the middle of the circle.
6. Brush the edges with water and fold the pastry in half over the filling, to make a semi-circle.
7. Seal the edges by pressing down with your fingers. Brush the sealed edge lightly with water, then turn the edge toward the middle and press with your fingers to seal.
8. Mix the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons milk, and brush the empanadas with the mixture.
9. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
    
    

Butternut Squash Casserole

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash

1 cup chopped onion

2-3 gloves garlic, crushed

1 -2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 -2 dash cayenne pepper

1 cup red bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1 cup green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1 tsp salt

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups corn kernels (fresh / frozen)

2 cups grated sharp cheese

 

Method

1. Cut squash in half, length ways and scoop out seeds.
2. Bake cut sides down at 425F for 45-50 minutes until very soft at thick end.
3. Let squash cool and scrape out of the shell; mash as smoothly as you can.
4. Meanwhile, sauté the onion, garlic and spices in olive oil until onion are translucent.
5. Add peppers and salt, stir and cover and leave on low heat for 5 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350
6. Stir the beaten eggs into mashed squash and add corn, sautéed vegetables and grated cheese. Stir to mix well.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, covered and then uncover and bake for 20-3 minutes more.

Country

Chile is famous for its copper reserves, the largest in the world and its wine, which it produces over 700m litres of wine a year which is exported around the world. The biggest flying bird, the condor is found in the mountain range. It is a very long, thin country – the longest in the world (3,400km long), and rarely more than 200km wide.  There are mountains, valleys and in the north of the country the driest place in the world – some parts have had no recorded history. 

 

 

CUISINE

Chile’s best offering are its raw ingredients, those found in the markets and its fantastic array of seafood.  The food does lack in spices and variety, but more than makes up for in its abundance and wine is always served. I have read, in more than one publication, that coastal Chileans eat anything that ‘swims, crawls or slithers’ and a common way to serve it is in soups. Meat is eaten and served very simply, despite the country’s long coast line it is meat that Chileans love. The most common dish is “Lomo a lo Pobre” or “poor man’s steak”, which is a slab of beef, topped with fried eggs and buried in salty fries. An accompaniment to meat is “chancho en piedra” which is their version of tomato salsa, with vinegar and coriander (cilantro).