From Argentina With Love

Yerba Mate

 

The economy is on everybody's lips lately, and Argentineans are expert economisers--with all of their own economic ups and downs, they know that the best things in life are free.

A walk in the spring air, watching the trees blossom, a hug from a child, an afternoon nap, the company of a good friend. 

Argentineans are masters at slowing down, enjoying life and its wonders.  They spend time with friends and family they care for, they have a glass of wine and sit down to dinner as a family.   This is something I admit Istruggle with--I have a hard time letting myself nap or taking time to just slow down, let go and enjoy something beautiful for 5 minutes--like the view of the fog rolling over the mountains outside my window.

As Americans, we seem to always be rushing, trying to 'get things done'--when really, 'done' doesn't ever happen.  Life can pass us by without stopping to savor its pleasures.

Today, I am stopping to take a breath.  To enjoy being alive, to share a mate with my husband, to chat with a friend, to hug my son (and maybe even take a nap!).

Yerba Mate is drunk by most Argentineans, regardless of class or background--it is a sort of common denominator.  It's drunk once a day: "from morning till evening", as many Argentineans say! 

Typically, groups of friends at any outdoor excursion or gathering will bring along a thermos of hot water, a mate and yerba.  Or families will meet after waking from siesta to drink mate.  Traditionally, it is drunk communally in a group--the same mate straw (a bombilla) shared by everyone.  The mate is refilled with hot water using the same leaves, until they lose their flavor.

It is something that fosters community, strengthens friendships, encourages sharing and bonding.  Over the past year, I've had the pleasure of building a community with other bloggers, food writers, and readers--thanks to you all!  Today, I will be sipping my mate with you, even if it is just virtual--I'm stopping to appreciate what great things surround me.  I hope you'll do the same!

Yerba Mate

Yerba Mate Tea

Yerba Mate (comes in a variety of styles--we drink mate cocido sin palo, but you can also try those infused with citrus or peppermint!)

sugar, to taste

Hot water (NOT boiling, or you'll burn your mouth!)

bombilla filter straw

mate (gourd or other)

A note:  Yerba Mate, and a mate kit with the mate bowl it's commonly served in, can be found at shops like Whole Foods, or at many Latin supermarkets (like Rancho Liborio) where it is much less expensive.

Fill the mate (bombilla inside) with the yerba about 2/3 full.  Add the sugar to taste, do not stir.  Pour the hot water over the yerba in a circular motion until full but not over-flowing.  Drink from the bombilla.  The yerba will be very strong at first, but will mellow after several refills.

Relevant posts:  Yerba Mate, Argentina's National Drink (with mate preparation video)

Follow me on Twitter: FromARWithLove

More photos on my flickr photostream, From Argentina With Love.

Qualtaye--Artesenal Cheese and Preserves Workshop

 

On 2 acres in Maipu,Monica Da Fre created Qualtaye--a small artesanal cheese and preserves workshop just a short distance from the bustle of downtown Mendoza, where Da Fre lives with her family. 

But her heart is in Maipu, on the 2 acre farm used by her family as a weekend getaway spot.   Though it fell into disrepair after her father's death,  Da Fre couldn't bear the thought of selling, so decided instead to create a workshop there.  It took her a year to clear out the waist-high weeds choking the garden and replant.

Now, the garden flourishes under the heat of the Mendoza sun, an oasis of tomatoes and herbs, plus an orchard of plum, almond, pear, cherry, olive, quince and fig trees, all of which are used in her preserves.  Her herb garden is full of oregano, rosemary, and other herbs used in preserves and cheeses. 

The name Qualtaye means 'mountain range' in Quechua, the indigenous language historically spoken in the Mendoza area.  And as the indigenous people of this region had a great respect for the land that provided so much, so does Monica Da Fre--any by-products of the production process are either composted or fed to local pigs.  She gardens, and cooks, organically, using no preservatives or colorants in her products.  Even her cows and sheep's milk cheeses are painted with olive oil for preservation before packaging, rather than coated in wax--Da Fre prefers that everything be natural and edible if possible.

 

Products made and canned by hand by Monica Da Fre in her cottage in Maipu include Fig Jam, Strawberry Jelly, Quince Paste, Apricot Jelly, Preserved White Figs, Peaches, Figs with Walnuts or Almonds, Apple Compote, Raisins, Whole Olives, Olive Tapenade, Olive Oil, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and several types of cheeses which she makes by hand in a small tiled cheese room.

Da Fre had always dreamed of starting a small business making artesenal products, since she already knew how to make them at home.  Now, she does this, and also offers tours of her small workshop, plus classes in cheese making or preserves-making to interested parties.  Amazing to think that all of this flourishes just a short scenic drive from a city.  Walking around her farm in the Mendoza summer, there is a feeling of peace in one's heart, and a rumbling in the belly--to be filled with cheese, preserves, and home cured olives.

Qualtaye

Address: Videla Aranda at the corner of Saramiento, Crus de Pidra, Maipu (Mendoza)

Phone: (0261) 420 4904

Email:  Qualtaye@Argentina.com

Relevant posts:  Mendoza Mercado Central, Home-Made Ricotta

More photos available on my flickr Photostream, From Argentina With Love

Follow me on Twitter--FromARWithLove

Rosca de Pascua--Easter Bread Ring

 

Here's how I know a recipe will be a success:  It's when Guillermo is lingering around while I'm taking photos of the food!  When this came out of the oven, I was skeptical, as I often am in my half-Argentinean kitchen--many recipes are so foreign to me!

But in this case, Guillermo was practically pacing the living room floor. 

Finally, I was done shooting.  He looked at me.  He looked at the rosca and the cup of coffee.  He looked back at me, and said "OK!  Can I eat that now, and drink the cup of coffee that's with it?"

He said that the flavor was just right--yeasty, sweet bread complimented by the pastry cream on top, with a little sweet touch from the cherries and sugar.

Rosca is the name for any ring-shaped cookie or bread--this slice started out as part of a larger ring.  Rosca de Pascua is served at Easter and is very similar to a King's Cake (Rosca de Reyes) served at Mardi Gras/Epiphany.  It's sweet bread, rather than cake.  I mention this because my taste buds were hoping for a lemon cake with pastry cream filling!  Alas.

 The tradition of Rosca de Pascua comes from Spain, where the cake is called 'Mona de Pascua'.  The cake is eaten family-style with coffee or yerba mate (of course) on Easter day.  I topped mine with powdered sugar and sliced maraschino cherries, but some people bake hard-boiled eggs into the top of the dough, or top it with chopped almonds, and some pastry shops decorate the rosca with chocolate eggs that have a small prize inside!   There are as many recipes and ways to decorate it as there are cooks making the bread.

This is sure to become an Easter tradition in our house, and maybe next year I'll even try decorating with the hard-boiled eggs!  Enjoy, and a happy holiday to all.

More photos available on my flickr photostream, From Argentina With Love.

Follow me on twitter:  FromARWithLove.

Relevant posts:  Empanadas de Vigilia I and II.

Rosca de Pascua

Easter Bread Ring

For the Bread:

3 tablespoons yeast

3/4 cup warm water

pinch of sugar

1 lemon, zested

1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

4 cups flour

1 egg, beaten, to paint the top of the bread

For the pastry cream:

2 egg yolks

1 cup warm water

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons corn starch

a dash of vanilla

In the bowl of a stand mixer, swish around some warm water to warm the bowl.  Dump the water, then add in the 3/4 cup water, the yeast and the sugar and dissolve.  Let sit for about 15 minutes, until the yeast is risen and bubbling.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the lemon zest, butter, vanilla, 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk, egg, and beat together.  Add to the bowl of the stand mixer and beat on low speed for 5 minutes.  Add in the flour a cup at a time, mixing to incorporate, until you have added all 4 cups.  You will be left with a sticky, dense dough.  Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, set in a warm place covered with a towel, and let rise for 1 hour.

After the hour is up, punch down the dough and remove it from the bowl.  Put it on a floured and oiled counter top and roll in to a long, even cylinder.  I found it easier to do two smaller cylinders and connect them at either end to make the ring, but you can do it either way.  You can use a buttered and floured ring pan, a bundt pan, or (as we did) a rimmed round pizza pan with an empty 28 oz. can in the center.  (Empty the contents of the can first, clean out, remove both ends and the label.  Butter and flour the part of the can that will touch the dough)  Lay the cylinders of dough out on the pan to form a ring.  Cover with a towel, set in a warm place, and let rise 2 hours more.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Start the pastry cream--heat the egg yolks, water, sweetened condensed milk and corn starch in a small sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  As the mixture gets hotter and comes to a boiling point, stir more rapidly.  As it starts to thicken, remove it from heat.  The consistency should be like a pudding, not thick enough to stand on its own.  Stir in the vanilla.

Spoon the pastry cream onto the top of the ring of bread.  It will ooze over the edges, that's ok.  Paint the remaining space of the bread with the beaten egg.  Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the bread is a nice golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  Decorate with confectioner's sugar and sliced Maraschino cherries.

Tuna and Roasted Red Pepper Empanadas--Empanadas de Atun y Morrones

 

Being from land-locked Colorado, I'm not much of a seafood eater.  So the idea of an empanada with stuffed with tuna--well, I'll admit it didn't immediately have my mouth watering.  I thought it sounded like a strange combination, but in the interest of experimenting, I decided to (pardon the pun) take the plunge .

I'm delighted to report that the experiment results have been calculated, and that this empanada is delicious.

I was so surprised by the flavor of these empanadas, that I found myself actually hoarding them!  I kept stuffing them in my mouth when I thought no one was around--it was Guillermo who busted me.  "Where did all the empanadas go?"  he wandered in to the kitchen and asked. (I think he had some hoarding plans of his own...)

This is another of the Empanadas de Vigilia--Lenten Empanadas.  They avoid red meat, as many observant Catholics do during the season of Lent.  Seafood is a common filling in these--fish and celery being a common combination; shrimp or lobster (often fried empanadas) are also typical.

These empanadas can be made any time--not just at Lent--for anyone who eats 'almost meatless', (like the book available in my Amazon store!) or for a change in the regular empanada routine.  (I hope you have an empanada routine, or maybe even habit, as we do!) 

And as Lydia at the Perfect Pantry recently noted, if you can buy the pre-made tapas or discosfor empanadas at your local Latin market (try the frozen section--I really believe that if I can find them in Denver, they're available everywhere) making empanadas is fun and fast enough to be a weeknight meal.  The filling takes about 10 minutes to assemble, then it's filling (even kids can help with this) and into the oven for 15 minutes.  Price wise, the total per dozen is around $12 --add a green salad and dessert, and you have a meal!

And join me in taking the plunge!

Relevant posts: Empanadas Mendocinas, Empanadas Margaritas, Potato Picante Empanadas

More photos available on my flickr photostream, From Argentina With Love.  Follow this blog on Twitter, FromARWithLove

 

Empanadas de Atun y Morrones

Tuna and Roasted Red Pepper Empanadas

1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and sliced

1 can of tuna, drained

1 small jar roasted red peppers (or 1 pepper, if you roast your own)

1/2 cup salsa blanca (recipe follows)

3 tablespoons Mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon oregano

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

1 dozen tapas (discos) for empanadas (store-bought or homemade)

small glass of water

1 egg, lightly beaten

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Hard boil the egg, then let cool.  Dice the red pepper.  In a medium bowl, put the tuna, separate with a fork, mix in the red pepper, and start the salsa blanca.  To make salsa blanca, put 1/2 cup milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and let cool for about five minutes.  Add the sauce to the tuna and red pepper mixture, then add in the cheese, oregano, salt and pepper.

Lay the tapas  out on the counter to fill assembly-line style.  (But fill them one at a time, so the center of the dough doesn't get mushy) In each round, put a spoonful of filling then top with  a small slice of the hard-boiled egg.  Wet your index finger with a little water and moisten the top half of the tapa.  Fold the bottom half to meet the top half, pressing around the edges to seal.  Cup your hands around the filling, packing the filling with the outside edge of your hands.  Seal using the repulgue technique, folding edges over and over in a pattern, or seal the edges using the tines of a fork.  Place the sealed empanadas on a lightly floured cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.  Brush the beaten egg mixture over the top of each empanada.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the top is a golden brown. 

Springtime Hearts of Palm Salad--Ensalada de Palmitos de Primavera

 

Spring has sprung, and salads are back on the table.  Our bodies naturally follow a lighter diet, cleaning out our systems from winter's heartier stick-to-your-ribs meals.  This salad combines the unique flavors of its components--a typically Argentinean arrangement--a composed design, a juxtaposition of tastes.

The salad contains lettuce as a base, but adds delicate slices of hard-boiled egg, wedges of red tomato, chopped celery ribs, glistening sliced hearts of palm, and topped off with thick chunks of beets.

Many of these vegetables are considered super-foods--those foods that pack an extra punch to help the body detoxify--so this salad is the perfect companion alongside a steak, or for lunch on a lighten-up day.

Easy to make, fun to arrange.  Top it with a basic vinagrette, and serve.

Ensalada de Palmitos

Heart of Palm Salad

1 head of lettuce, leaves washed an torn (I used green-leaf lettuce here)

1 tomato, sliced into wedges

1 rib of celery, sliced into pieces cross-wise

1 can hearts of palm, drained

1 can cut or sliced beets, drained

1 hard-boiled egg, shelled and sliced

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Vinagrette Dressing:

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Hard boil the egg before anything else.  To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake to combine.  In the bowl of your choice, place the lettuce.  Add about half of the dressing and toss until the lettuce leaves are klightly coated.   Layer the egg slices, then a ring of celery slices, a ring of hearts of palm slices, finishing with the beets in the center.  Add the tomatoes fanning around the beets. 

More photos are available on my flickr photostream, From Argentina With Love.

Please check out the updates in my STORE!

Relevant posts:  Beet and Apple Salad, Asado Argentino