Latin American Recipes
67 recipes found

Stuffed Avocado, With Herbed Scallop Ceviche

Tembleque (Coconut Pudding)
The journalist and cookbook author Von Diaz cooked her way through the classic Puerto Rican cookbook, Cocina Criolla, about six years ago, eventually using the experience as a jumping off point for her own cookbook, "Coconuts and Collards." Her recipe for tembleque, the delicious coconut-milk pudding set with cornstarch and chilled in the fridge, is simple, but it does involve one laborious task: making coconut milk from scratch. As Diaz notes in her book, the effort is greatly rewarded — fresh coconut milk is infinitely more complex, floral and delicious than the kind that comes in a can. Mature coconuts, the ones ideal for making coconut milk, should be brown, hairy and very heavy. If you shake them around, you should be able to hear the water inside. (That said, you can absolutely use canned if you like; just cut the sugar back to a half cup.)

Fried Mushroom and Cheese Empanadas
Whatever their shape and size, empanadas are a very worthwhile addition to a cook’s repertory. I found that the dough is easy to make in a food processor, so whipping up a dozen or more is not a challenge. Baking, instead of frying, is a healthier and convenient option. But the dough has to be rolled as thin as possible, especially for folded Chilean-style empanadas that result in several layers along the edges.

Puerto Rican Dishes, From the Spicy to the Sweet Cazuela

Seviche

Boliche Mechido

Halibut Ceviche With Jalapeño and Parsley

Empanada Dough

Aji Pique (Hot sauce)

Puerto Rican Rice and Chicken

Dee Dee Dailey's Pigeon Peas and Rice

Julia Alvarez's Pudin de Pan (Bread Pudding)

Lomo Saltado

Baked Meat-Filled Empanadas (Empanadas al Horno)
To Chileans, empanadas mostly mean empanadas al horno, which are frequently baked in a wood-burning oven. The classic versions are filled with seasoned minced (not ground) meat and onions and garnished with hard-cooked egg, olives and raisins. They can be made either in the half-moon shape that they usually take throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, or in a distinctively Chilean squared-off form made by folding all but the straight side of the semicircular turnover to make a package that is often four inches across. The dough is made with lard.

Felipe Rojas-Lombardi's Quinoa Atamalada

Sweet Ginger Flan

Ceviche With Confetti Peppers

Honduran Ceviche

Arroz Con Pollo
Variations on this staple chicken and rice casserole, an easy one-pot meal, can be found throughout Spain and Latin America. The first step is to brown the cut-up chicken well on all sides. Saute the onions, garlic, green peppers and diced ham; then add the tomatoes, saffron, bay leaf and chicken broth. When the mixture comes to a boil, the rice, capers, olives and chicken are added. The dish cooks, covered tightly, in 20 minutes. To get the most authentic flavor, use high-quality saffron threads.