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Latin-American Cuisine

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Wed Jul 21, 2021 1:32 pm

Well grilled chicken ( pollo asado) is available all over South America. There are enormous restaurants dedicated only to chicken. Depending on which country you´re in, the flavouring will be different; more or less spice, acid, etc. Here in Venezuela it tends to be sweet-ish, spurred on by the addition of basting with a raw sugar (papelón) wash. This version, from Nicaragua, looks really interesting and easy enough to make:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pollo ... Of_The_Day

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:42 pm

Curiously enough, another grilled chicken recipe, this time with a Mexican twist. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pollo-al-carbon?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=ba&utm_mailing=BA_Basically_072521&utm_medium=email&bxid=5c92ac862ddf9c5f6fe1df65&cndid=22204451&hasha=4ede91ae4d40021a5e70ca58b99bb484&hashb=11f3d642717dc4b1bdbb6ff45e4dce7988a88496&hashc=8b09095e3e72d55677ff434bfbae7b40c5f89ef2c46d1faac0c6da2c222af159&esrc=bouncexmulti_second&utm_campaign=BA_Basically_072521&utm_term=BA_Basically
Anyone who´s growing tomatillos can make their own, authentic Salsa Verde in the following way:
Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 1 large onion, about half a dozen large tomatillos, a handful of coriander, including stalks, 1 or 2 serrano or jalapeño chiles. Simmer until the tomatillos turn a darker shade of green. Strain the vegetables and save the cooking water, because you now want to blend all the ingredients together to make the salsa. Some like it thicker, others like it thinner, hence the water.
This recipe was given to my son by a Mexican friend´s grandma. Ideal for chilaquiles: a bed of totopos ( known as nachos over here) covered in salsa, topped with fried eggs and cream, or with fried chicken, shrimp, pulled pork - whatever takes your fancy.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Sun Jul 25, 2021 4:18 pm

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Hey Clive, youre on a BA roll! That pollo al carbon looks great and love pollo asada - anything asada actually!

Love tomatillo salsa too - raw and cooked. For cooked I like to lightly oil tomatillos, onion pieces, jalapeno and garlic cloves and sear for a few minutes in a very hot pan, moving around to blacken in spots, then blitz the lot with a handful of cilantro, salt tt, tiny drizzle of oil in a saucepan, add blitzings and cook for about 10 minutes.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby KeenCook2 » Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:36 pm

ooooo yum, I just hope all my empty tomatillo lanterns do indeed develop fruit inside :lol:

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby karadekoolaid » Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:51 pm

Don´t worry, LTC - the tomatillos take their time!

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Fri Feb 11, 2022 7:39 pm

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Bump for no soak beans which I posted earlier in the thread.

Rick Martinez frijoles olla
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/frijoles-de-la-olla

For plain beans I just throw rinsed beans into a slow cooker with about 4x amount of boiling water and a bit of salt- about half a teaspoon per 300g dry beans and 1200ml water. Water doesn't need to be hot, it just saves time heating, and if course the beans can be cooked in any conventional cooking vessel. Never gone back to soaking. A revelation.

Red kidney beans should be boiled in water on the stove for about 10 mins before being drained and cooked fully.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Gillthepainter » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:23 am

Such a good tip, Zero on the beans treatment.
And thank you for your prep ideas.
I tend to only cook white beans, and all things lentils from dried. I have an enormous bean pot that I got from a second hand stall.

It's great for bulk cooking of all kinds.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Earthmaiden » Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:13 pm

I'd never thought of doing them in a slow cooker. Brilliant idea as I hate boiling things for ages (steamy kitchen, dry saucepan etc). What is the minimum time they'd be ready? I seem to remember your (zerocook) slow cooker gets hotter than mine.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby scullion » Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:30 pm

i pressure cook dried kidney beans (and others of that type) for ten minutes then turn off and leave them in the pressure cooker until they are cool and plumped out - and cooked. some other beans, like butter beans, don't fare so well, done this way, and break up.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:05 pm

I’ve always tended to use a pressure cooker for larger amount of beans, and chickpeas.

Specially chick peas in fact, as they are very hit and miss any other way

Bean setting on Instant Pot works well

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby liketocook » Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:16 pm

I usually pressure cook mine and only soak in boiling water for an hour or so beforehand. Interesting that it probably not needed, I might give missing that step a try. I do soak dried peas overnight as I found the short soak wasn't enough.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Earthmaiden » Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:39 pm

I've cooked beans without soaking but believe the age of the bean matters. If they've been kicking around for a while, soaking really helps. If not, it just shortens the cooking time, a plus if you haven't got a pressure cooker.

I can see that using a slow cooker might be different as they would get a good soak whilst the cooker is heating up and would probably be in there for a long time.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:42 pm

I prefer to soak pulses, they are perfectly edible without, but my own experience is that I get a more even cook and less sloughing of the skins if I soak

Kavey recently posted a link to this article on soaking beans which is interesting but has one obvious flaw in the experimental design, no taste test! Personally I've tried using bicarbonate in the past and I can taste it and I don't want to.
https://www.seriouseats.com/baking-soda ... ns-5217841

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Lusciouslush » Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:22 pm

Ah - a slow cooker, that would explain it!
I don't possess one, but as I've said I enjoy cooking beans & don't find it a faff at all soaking them first - it definitely helps soften them if they're on the old side, plus I really like being able to control any husking that starts to happen.

I have a bowl of judions soaking as I type........ :thumbsup

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Rainbow » Mon Feb 14, 2022 7:01 am

I always soak beans and then discard the soaking water and rinse them.
Rose Elliot (the Bean Guru!!) says soaking makes them more digestible as some of the sugars that give beans their 'gassy' reputation are removed by soaking.
Of course it also means the cooking time is less as well, which is a bonus, even with a pressure cooker.

I find the short, hot soak to be good if you boil the beans for a few minutes, then leave them to stand, covered, for a couple of hours.

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby ZeroCook » Mon Feb 14, 2022 7:50 am

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Is the bean pot for on the stove, Gill?
Does your dedicated bean pot have any particular standout qualities for beans?

EM, I have other roaster/cookers that have settings from 0 to 240 deg. but my go to bean slow cooker only has two settings - low and high. Low keeps them just barely below boiling point, high is a tad above so that they simmer.

I just stick them on and check back every hour. Cooking without soaking certainly takes much longer. About 3 hours - anywhere between 2 and four hours depending on the beans. There's a school of thought that the soaking is basically to cut down the cooking time/fuel use. TBH I dont care too much about the length of cooking time as they are so easily reheated - my main motivation is not having to check that the water level is ok or having them burn. I can be a bit bad on the burning front. Beans aren't quick food for me. I also find the digestive side effects are by far less, almost negligible with a no soak long cook, whereas soaked beans with a shorter cook time do a real number on me. Also, importantly, I find the flavour of unsoaked beans much better.

I also find that unsoaked beans don't loose their shape or fall apart unless very overcooked. Soaked beans and Lima beans/large white beans fall apart badly when I presoak them. I think the only thing to be gained by soaking is a shorter cook time because of rehydration. I've always understood the longer beans are boiled the more the hard to digest compounds are broken down.

Everyone has their own favoured method, but do give the no soak method a try, even just once. I was a bit skeptical. Definitely worth it. Millions of Mexicans can't be wrong :D

“I don’t soak beans. Ever,” says Rick Martinez. “Think about it: Dried beans are very absorbent, and when you let them puff up in a bowl of water overnight, what they’re absorbing is just that—plain water. To me, the hour or two that process shaves off your cook time simply isn’t worth a plain-water-flavored bean. Instead, I do like most Mexican households and toss my beans straight into a flexible five-ingredient blend of water, salt, herbs, garlic, and some kind of allium. After a few hours of simmering (fresher beans cook faster, but any will work), every last bean is suffused with rich, savory flavor.” A good rule of thumb is to check for tenderness every hour to make sure they don’t overcook and start breaking apart. But if they do, it’s a great excuse to refry them—no one will ever know!

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Stokey Sue » Mon Feb 14, 2022 11:45 am

I too started with Rose Elliot’s instructions, Rainbow. Sami Tamimi says use 4 volumes of water to pulses, which is a good tip, it’s always enough

Sorry ZeroCook but I have a bit of a problem with that Rick Martinez quote

First it’s the assumption that the flavour of the bean itself isn’t enough, that it needs jazzing up

Second, I usually do cook beans, soaked or unsoaked, with flavourings appropriate to the intended use, but this mainly flavours the cooking liquid which also has bean flavour and colour and then becomes the bean stock that is used in the finished dish, but I find the aromatics flavour the liquid far more than the beans

For example you can’t really make good peas (red beans) and rice with canned beans, you cook the beans with celery leaves, thyme, possibly a bay leaf, a garlic clove and a whole Scotch bonnet pepper ( I put these in an empty tea bag so I can retrieve them) then the stock is mixed with coconut milk to make the rice dish. This gives slightly blushing rice and good flavour.

The Italians use the bean stock even without aromatics, as here

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... en-in-rome

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Gillthepainter » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:14 pm

Code: Select all
Is the bean pot for on the stove, Gill?
Does your dedicated bean pot have any particular standout qualities for beans?


It's a ceramic pot, which I think lends itself to this bean type of cooking.
In the oven, it's big, so you need that larger oven too.
The lid has a vent hole, which again I think helps.

And can be used to make a huge vat of: chilli, tagine anything you feel like. Slow braise, you'd probably need to bung up the vent.

I have a medium size leg of lamb to cook at some point this week.
I'll try it in the bean pot me'thinks. See how it fairs.

Sue,
I'm in 2 minds about Puy for example, whether to soak or not.
I love the flavour of unsoaked when cooked, but really like the texture of the pre-soaked Puys in a salad for example.

Image

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Stokey Sue » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:29 pm

That's very nice looking been pot Gill, and that's the shape I expect from an English or French bean pot

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Re: Latin-American Cuisine

Postby Gillthepainter » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:34 pm

It's one of my all time favourite finds, Sue. A fiver if I remember well, I had to have it.
I've not used it as a meat/ joint/ roast pot yet, so let's see if it performs well with the lamb - it cannot come to much harm in there, fingers crossed.

I should use it more often.

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