Re:visiting Peru | Cerdo Relleno con Manzana

---

---

I made one heck of a dinner tonight, thanks to that old cookbook my mom sent up. "Cerdo Relleno con Pure de Manzana" is a simple dish, perfect for those nights that you don't want getting too complicated.

If you do it right, the pork is tender, the apple sauce is savory, and it's so tasty, you won't even want a side dish (that's all filler, anyway).

To reproduce this dish you'll need-

• 2 lb pork tenderloin
  
• sea salt
  
• freshly ground black pepper
  
• powdered cumin
  
• 1 tbsp of raisins and 1 tbsp of cranberries
  
• 4 tbsp olive oil
  
• 4 tbsp butter
  
• 2 medium-sized onions (small dice)
  
• 2 large apples (peeled, cored, sliced)
  
• 1.5 cups chicken stock (as required)
  
  1. trim excess fat and silver membrane off pork tenderloin; wash and pat dry
  2. butterfly the pork and season both sides liberally with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and powdered cumin
  3. place either the prunes or the raisins and cranberries in pork
  4. dice the onion; peel, core and slice the apples thinly, set aside
  5. sear pork until golden in olive oil over medium heat, set aside
  6. discard the olive oil, add butter to the same pan and saute onions and apples for 5 minutes over medium heat
  7. return pork to the pan and add 1/2 cup of chicken broth
  8. cover pan, adding chicken broth as needed so that the mixture doesn't become dry
  9. cook for 25 minutes (or to your preferred temperature), flipping the pork over halfway through
  10. slice pork in 1/2" thick slices, serve with rustic apple sauce on side
  
  

I took a few liberties with the recipe, substituting cranberries and raisins for the recommended prunes. I also plumped up the raisins and the cranberries by heating them in chicken stock, before placing them in the pork. I added cumin to the list of seasonings, as well - and you can see from the picture that the apple "sauce" isn't, since I prefer apples in their rustic form. I also added some fresh goat cheese (with lemon pepper) as a counterpoint to the sauce's sweetness.

The end result was better than I could have asked for, and definitely a recommended "bucket list" recipe!

Re:visiting Peru | Seco de Pollo

---

---

My mother knows there aren't many Peruvian restaurants in Ohio, so she sent me an old Peruvian cookbook. Now, I'd rather have a Peruvian cook than a Peruvian cookbook, but I guess visas are hard to come by (unless you're willing to marry the guy).

Regardless, my mom's little gift inspired my recent desire to push Peruvian cuisine through my "Re: visiting Peru" articles.

With that in mind, I took the cookbook on a test-run right away, making the Seco de Pollo shown above.

Seco de Pollo is a delicious, cilantro-infused chicken dish served with peas, carrots, rice and potatoes. "Seco" literally means "dry" in Spanish, but (if you do it right) this dish is anything but, with moist chicken and flavorful starches.

If you want to reproduce this dish, you'll need -

• 6 pieces of chicken
  
• salt, black pepper, ground cumin (to taste)
  
• olive oil
  
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  
• 1 cup of diced onion
  
• aji verde (to taste)
  
• 1/4 cup of blended cilantro
  
• 3/4 cup of peas
  
• 1 cup of sliced carrots
  
• lime juice (about 1 lime's worth)
  
  1. season the chicken with salt, black pepper, and ground cumin
  2. fry chicken in large sauce pan until golden brown; set aside
  3. fry the onion, garlic, and aji verde on lower heat in same pan until onion is translucent
  4. add cilantro, peas, and carrots
  5. add chicken and cook on medium-low heat for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is done
  6. squeeze the juice of the lime into the pot once finished
  7. serve with rice and potatoes
  
  

Cilantro can be difficult to find fresh. Try to buy cilantro when it's cheap, pluck the leaves off the bunches, and blend it with a bit of water. You can also freeze pureed cilantro in an ice cube tray, keeping it fresh.

Aji verde might be a even more difficult to come by. "Aji" is a pepper indigenous to South America, which has a very distinctive taste. You can substitute jalapeño peppers if you can't find any version of aji in the Latin section of your grocery store ... but if you want to keep the recipe fully authentic, you can always order aji verde online from Amigo Foods or Latin Market.

I hope you try this version of the recipe ... and let me know what you think in the comments!