Nicaraguan Taste + Tortillas

Hello I'm back again with another exciting recipe, and this time it's one that I should of done a long time ago, but sadly always that I wanted to do it some other recipe crossed my mind and then I skipped it, however this time is going up finally.

So it's tortilla time! This is how we make tortillas back in Nicaragua. Tortillas are pretty much an all time basic starch just like rice. In Nicaragua however not everyone makes them at home but there are "tortilla shops" technically folks that sell tortillas for a living, most of them being women they start rather early in the morning as tortillas are most popular to go along with breakfast, some also sell in the evening when people have dinner.

It's a starch that has a very big presence on Nicaraguan food and it's widely use for many dishes and side dishes, so it's a must to know how to make them, however there's another detail, the traditional way of making tortillas is by boiling dry corn seeds in salty water, with some ashes then when the corn is soft they strain the water and mill it adding a bit of fresh water so it forms a paste and from that paste they make the tortillas.

Now there's a simpler way of making them and this is what people that make them at home mostly use which is the same paste but it comes in a powder form, and it's called Maseca, you could call it corn flour but it's not completely corn flour it's different, so it's the closest you can get to an authentic tortilla. Now depending on where you live this may be or not available, if you're in the USA then you're likely to find it on Mexican food shops or any Central American food shop, but if you're outside the USA then you have less chances to find it so then again you can find something similar which is a corn flour called Harina Pan, but try to get the Maseca because it's the real deal.

That being said let's get to the recipe!

serves 4

For this you will need

Maseca Flour (alterntive Harina Pan)
2 Plastic bags

To cook

First we need to get the flour into a dough, you can follow the instructions on the back of the bag, I don't really use measurements unless I'm baking, but I calculate most of the time how much I'm going to need.
So I use around 500 grams of Maseca and I just add water until I have a nice dough not very soft but still moldable and moist.

Now the reason you'll need plastic bags is because the dough is very sticky and it works as a base as well for the tortilla so supermarket bags should work fine or any medium sizes bag just cut a circle out of them you'll need about 4


Once you're done with that you can start to make the tortillas!

Start by simply grabbing some dough and make a ball, it can be the size of a tennis ball try to use about the same amount of dough all the time so the tortillas look even

What I do is that I make the balls first, so I have them as even as possible and I also can see which ones are bigger or smaller

So if you're not too sure about your calculation I'd recommend you to do that first

Once you're done grab one of the plastic circles you made and put the ball on the center of the circle and then press it down

Now a little note, the tortillas are hand made so it's better to do it that way trying to use a rolling pin will not work so it's a bit of hard work but just remember that the folk at the "tortilla shops" can produce 2 per minute hehe.

Now with one hand give the round shape and with the other press down the dough like in the picture.

Keep doing that until you have around a quarter of a centimeter of thickness.

I'd recommend to first use all your plastic circles so you don't struggle too much, so meanwhile your tortilla is cooking you use that time to shape the remaining dough balls and as you cook the tortillas you free your circles so it's like a synced process.

Now to cook them, in Nicaragua the "tortilla shops" have grills and on top the have a flat metal plate, they add a bit of oil to it and then with a cloth they spread it and quickly throw the tortilla in the plate putting it in their hand so the plastic circle is up then they take of the circle and throw the tortilla in the metal plate

Just like in the pic to the right, if you have something similar then it's fine to use however if you don't a non-stick pan should do the job, but there's another detail, that you need it pretty hot so yeah I'd recommend as well to turn off for a while your smoke detectors and or have a window open and have air flowing in because your kitchen can get pretty smoky, I'd also recommend to use an old pan you don't want to ruin a nice pan so a pan that you don't use too much is better, just in case

So your tortilla should be looking like this before you cook it not perfectly round but with a nice circular shape

So first get your pan really hot then add a little bit of oil, and with some kitchen paper spread out the oil, here is when it gets smoky but it's fine nothing to worry then put the tortilla in your hand and remove the plastic it should come off pretty easily then just quickly turn your hand and throw the tortilla on the pan.

Reduce the heat now from high to medium-high and let it cook each side for 2 minutes

Then wet in cold water the tip of a cooking cloth and push the tortilla down.

This generates vapor inside of it so it cooks evenly, do this before you take the tortilla off the pan, but let it cook for a few seconds after you pushed the tortilla with the wet cloth

It should look like this pic below when it's ready.

Then take the tortilla off the pan and repeat the process until you get them all! I'd recommend starting with some time because sometimes some recipes are very tricky and this one is no exception and there are a lot of terms in here that will confuse one or two people.

But you know it's my job to keep you entertained!


So that being said once you're done then off it's just time to relax and enjoy your very own hand made tortillas

As always I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you like it then why not share it?! That's the best way to help my blog! If you have any suggestions, comments or just simply are wondering about something write a comment below or email me, you can find more info in the contact section! Happy cooking!

Nicarguan Taste + Guiso De Pipian

Hello! I'm bringing you a very nice stew today it's one very of our own and it's one good thing when it comes to a very bad rainy weather like here in Bergen, although this city has some of the best sunny days most of the time it's raining, so for those days when you feel in a bad mood why not eat something that'll put a smile on your face?

I was a little skeptical about this recipe a few years ago, long before I wanted to be a chef and did all this blogging, I didn't even liked to cook so I was always in the mood of I don't want to try this and that but I finally tasted it and boy it was good, so don't feel too insecure about eating something new you never know when you'll find out something very tasty!

One more thing! I use a white squash that in my country we call it Pipian and this is the main ingredient so I don't really know how it's called in English. Pardon me but I'll leave you a photo down here so you can check it out!

Serves 4

For this you will need

2 White squash ( Pipian in Nicaragua)
Half a bell pepper
A quarter of an onion
2 Tomatoes
100 ml of double cream (you can also use 3% fat milk)
2 Eggs
Salt

To cook

First remove the the tip and the bottom of the squash then cut them in two, in a pot with water (half filled it's fine) set them to boil and leave them boiling at a medium heat for about 10 to 12 min or until the center is transparent.

Once they're done remove them from the water, these things absorb a lot of water so place them in a cutting board in a place where they can drain. I recommend you to let them drain for about 20 mins so they're good to go

Meanwhile cut your veggies cut the tomatoes, the bell pepper and the onion as I always show you, when you're done with that proceed to cut the squash as I show you in the pic below as well

Add oil to a pan and then add the veggies and the squash saute them lightly at a medium heat and then add the cream or the milk, let it reduce a little just like in the pics in left

Let it reduce for 3 minutes. Then add the butter and stir the veggies so all gets mixed well

Let it reduce a bit more for another 3 minutes at a low heat and then add the eggs. Now to clarify something, the original recipe has eggs on it, but some people don't like the texture and the look that the eggs give to the stew, so it's optional, however the eggs give it another flavor, I recommend adding the eggs but then again it's your choice, that doesn't mean that it tastes bad without them ;)


So once you add the eggs stir well, let the eggs cook at a low heat once the eggs are cooked let it rest form some minutes and serve!

You can serve this with rice, it also works rather good as a vegetarian dish, no meat in here!
You can also serve it with both rice and boiled plantain.

So for the rice recipe click here

I still haven't got anything for boiled plantain but if you want to do it
Just click here it's basically the same thing peel off the skin but this time
cut the plantain in half vertically and then horizontally set a small
pot with water and let it boil until soft, to check just pinch
the plantain with a fork and if it goes through easily then they are
ready to go

As always I hope you enjoy the recipe, I'm always open to any kind of feedback, so if you are wondering about something or need more explanation just write a comment below or email me. Happy Cooking :) !

Nicaraguan Taste + Maduro Frito

Maduro Frito is basically fried mature plantains, a dish of it's own, although is not really a dish but more of a side for many Nicaraguan dishes, they are sweet and delicious whether you boil them or fry them always are very good treats


serves 4

For this you will need

4 Plantains ( if you're not sure about buying them, you can ask in any Mexican food store for Plantanos Machos)
Oil

To cook

If you  have a deep fat fryer then it will come in handy, if you don't then use a pot you wil require a lot of oil for this one 

Peel off the skin cut in circles or basically what ever form you want to it's optional then proceed to fry until the center is soft, You want to star to fry in hot oil and after lower the heat to a medium temperature.

When cooked place in a plate with some kitchen paper to absorb excess oil and serve!

Sadly I don't have pics for this I just have one when finished I hope it gives you guys an idea I promise to upload some photos asap! Happy Cooking