recipes – Andrea Casals

The first time that I tried this meal I think it was at my beloved grandma’s. But also one of my sisters in law, Neny, -from Ukrainian ancestry- prepares this deliciousness every now and then and whenever I’m visiting her in Argentina, I asked her to prepare varenyky for me. They are amazing!

I grew up in Posadas, the capital of Misiones. This state was home to a lot of immigrants from different places of the world. In fact, each year Misiones celebrate the National Immigrant Festival where different communities sell their traditional food/drinks while offering live music or dances from their country. It’s a very important festival during the year and it’s a great moment to visit if you’re ever visiting Argentina 🙂

Back to the varenyky recipe. I had to do my research and experiment with different recipes because the family one that I had wasn’t working here since the flour is different.

So, after my experiments I got to this one that’s pretty, pretty… amazing!

You’ll need:

2 1/4 cups organic all purpose flour
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons grass-fed butter
1 organic egg yolk
1 organic egg
1 cup organic sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
extra: 1/8 cup organic all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted grass-fed butter (it doesn’t have to be hot!), organic sour cream, organic eggs, yolk and canola oil.

Add the wet ingredients into the flour and stir until blended. Cover the bowl with a cloth, and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Transfer dough to a floured surface and use a rolling pin to make it thinner. Add the 1/8 cup extra flour if you need to, so it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin.

Use a cookie cutter to make the circles. You can also use a regular mug or glass if you don’t have a cookie cutter; just add a little bit of flour to the borders so it doesn’t stick to the dough.

Add a spoon of the filling to each circle of dough and use your fingers to fold them over into half-circles and press to seal the edges. If you find it difficult to seal them, you can use just some drops of water to the edge to help you to seal the dough.

*I used a ricotta filling made with this ricotta, salt and pepper.

Place varenyky on a cookie sheet, and freeze. Once they’re frozen, you can transfer them to freezer bags.

Whenever you want to cook the varenyky, just bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook them until they float to the top. It’s about 3-5 minutes (depending on the size).

Remove the varenyky with a slotted spoon and serve immediately.

You can add some warm heavy cream and/or tomato sauce.

They are a delicious winter meal.

Enjoy!

mbeju recipe

recipes

Andrea CasalsNovember 17, 2015October 5, 20234 Comments

Hi folks, I decided to start this new week sharing a new South American recipe on the blog: Mbeju.

Let’s say that it’s great for breakfast, dinner or as a snack. You’ll feel satisfied and won’t get hungry for several hours after eating this cheesy, gluten-free tortilla-like.

Actually it’s a recipe from Paraguay, but you guys now that I was born in Misiones, just a river separates us from our brothers in Paraguay. In both sides, we grow tapioca (mandioca) and its flour it’s a fundamental ingredient in the diet of these regions… or was 😛

More about this food here.

For one mbejú, you’ll need (did I mention that it’s actually shareable?)

1 cup tapioca flour (available in Whole Foods, Latin Grocery Markets and guess what? Some Asian markets also carry tapioca starch or flour and it’s super cheap, something like $0.79 per pound).
1/2 cup gouda cheese (curds or grated)
1/8 cup organic milk
1/8 cup water (room temperature)
2 tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp salt

*****If you have a food processor: Put all ingredients in the food processor until it looks like coarse sand (about 1 minute or less). Then follow same steps to cook it.

For the manual process: Begin by combining the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the melted butter.

When it has a crumble consistency, add the milk, cheese and then the water. Use your hands to integrate them after each addition.

It will have this crumble look. Don’t worry, it’s going to become something in a few minutes.

COOKING IT:

Add a little butter to a large pan and set it to medium heat.

Add the mixture to the pan and set it to a lower heat.

Use a spoon to give a more flatten look to this crumble mixture.

When the cheese starts melting it might be the moment to turn it over. You’ll see that’s it’s easy to unstick it from the pan using a spatula when it’s done.

Usually, I slide the mbeju to a dish using a spatula and then flip it with the help of another dish.

Use what’s easier for you to flip the mbeju and cook it on the other side for another 3-5 minutes. Serve warm.

All those golden-brown pieces of deliciousness…

Serve warm.

Enjoy it with a cup of mate cocido!

Yum!

homemade bagels

recipes

Andrea CasalsAugust 10, 2015October 5, 2023

One of the things that one can surely miss from living in New York is, definitely, a fresh bagel.

Last Sunday, I woke up at 6am (that’s the latest that we get up ever since Marco was born hehe!) and started preparing the dough for the bagels. By 9 am we were enjoying some great bagels!

For this recipe, you’ll need:

2 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp organic sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
2 tsp dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

In a large mixing bowl add the sugar, salt, undissolved yeast and 1 cup of flour. Stir gently.

Attach the kneading hook to your kitchen aid and slowly add 1/2 cup of the warm water into the bowl while mixing on medium speed.

Add the rest of the flour and the rest of the water gradually. Scrape the bowl if necessary. Knead for about 10 minutes.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dry kitchen cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes. This dough will rise but it won’t double in bulk.

After that resting time, transfer the dough to a floured surface. Cut small balls of the dough and make the bagel shape by creating the whole in the middle of the ball using your thumb.

Place the bagels over a baking sheet using parchment paper below.

Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 more minutes.

After the resting time, bring water to a boil in a big sauce pan. Simmer bagels for 3 minutes on each side and remove them.

Place them on the parchment paper covered baking sheets. Let it cool for 5 minutes. If your want, this is the moment when you can sprinkle some sesame or poppy seeds to the bagels.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove them and brush them with the slightly beaten egg white with the tablespoon of cold water. Return bagels to the oven and bake for 12-15 more minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool.

Enjoy with cream cheese and scallions!

argentinian sweet aniseed breadsticks

recipes

Andrea CasalsAugust 3, 2015October 5, 2023

These sweet aniseed breadsticks were one of my favorites back in my childhood.

If I’m right, they are actually from Spain but, as so many other things, we adopted it from our European immigrants and make this sweet bread a classic at any bakery (specially in the Northeast of Argentina).

For this recipe, you’ll need:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup organic sugar
2 tsp aniseed
3/4 cup water
4 tbsp unsalted butter (I use Kerrygold, made from grass-fed cows, the most similar to the Argentinian butter)
1/4 tsp salt
1 large organic egg

In a small sauce pan bring to a low heat the water with the aniseed. Don’t let it boil, it has to be just a little bit warm.

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar, dry yeast. Stir Gently.

Attach the mixing hook to your kitchen-aid and pour the warm water with the aniseed slowly into the bowl with the dry ingredients.

Add the egg and the butter. Feel free to add a little bit more of flour if the dough needs it (in this case I added about 1/8 cup more). Once the dough is sticky but uniform, cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen cloth and let it rest for 1 hour.

After its resting time, put the dough over a floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes.

Cut pieces of the dough and shape them into little sticks. if you turn them two or three times, you’ll get the shape of traditional breadsticks.

Put them on a non-stick cookie pan or use parchment paper below. As you see in the picture, I used both methods. I prefer the parchment paper because it’s less messy afterwards.

Cover them with plastic wrap and let it rest for unless 30 minutes.

Take out the plastic wrap and bake them at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

Optional and delicious: You can glaze them with a light syrup made with 3 tbsp of sugar for 1/2 cup water and 1 tsp of aniseed.

Let it cool for 15 minutes before serving these sweet breadsticks.

They go perfect with a latte or capuccino!

Enjoy!

argentinian sweet ricotta cheese pie

recipes

Andrea CasalsJuly 6, 2015February 22, 2018

This week, I’m baking another of my favorites argentinian pies!

We’ll use the pastafrola pie crust but this time, we’ll filled it with ricotta cheese and honey. Delicious.

You’ll need:

1 pastafrola pie crust
1 1/2 cups organic ricotta cheese (if you find the Organic Valley made from pasture-raised cows, better. The taste it’s pretty similar to argentinian ricotta cheese).
1/4 cup organic sugar
1 egg yolk
about 1 tbsp honey

Put the yolk, the ricotta and the sugar into a medium bowl. Stir all the ingredients.

Add the honey and stir.

Grease and flour a pie or cake baking pan.

Put the pastafrola crust in the pie/cake pan; the pie dough must be at room temperature to use it.

Use the leftovers of the dough to garnish the pie.

Bake the pie for 45 to 50 minutes at 350F.

Let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Prepare some “cortado” (machiato) and imagine yourself in any Café Porteño (coffee shop from Buenos Aires).

Enjoy!

quince pastafrola

recipes

Andrea CasalsJune 29, 2015February 22, 2018

I LOVE pastafrola. It’s an italian dessert that it feels like argentinian to me because I have it all my life and it’s a pie that you’ll find in any bakery in Argentina.

The pie crust for this recipe was adapted from the “Baking with Julia: Sicilian Desserts” TV shows. I made some changes, of course.

The rest, it’s my family recipe, what my dear grandma taught me about pastafrola.

For this amazing pie, you’ll need:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 organic sugar
1 stick organic unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 organic large eggs
1 tsp lemon zest
1 lb quince sweet (dulce de membrillo, Trader Joe’s usually sells one but otherwise, the best argentinian membrillo is this one). Note* This time, I used the Esnaola brand but I didn’t know it has high fructose corn syrup until I got it on my door from Amazon. I won’t use it again, I rather stick to the Arcor brand which doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup.

First, add the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) to a large mixing bowl and mix them together.

Ad the butter already cut in cubes and keep on mixing until it gets like a crumble.

Add the eggs, one at a time.

Keep mixing on low until the mixture become mostly one dough, something like the picture below.

Transfer dough to a floured surface.

Knead just a little bit until it becomes one ball.

You’ll now need a a rolling pin and some flour.

Give the dough a pie shape.

Here there are 3 ways to do this. You choose was best for you.

The first and most difficult one: wrap your dough in plastic wrapping paper, let it chill in the refrigerator for about two hours. Let it rest then at room temperature for 10 minutes before using it.

The second, since this dough will make 2 small pies, you can freeze one!

Just roll one of the pies dough using parchment paper in between, then cover it with plastic and put it in the freezer to use in some other time.

When you need to use it, just thaw overnight or let it at room temperature for about 3 hours.

Now, the third way to do this. Let’s just use the pie crust right away! For this, you need the pie pan to be greased and floured.

A friend of mine gave me this idea and it’s great! You can use the tin of the quince/sweet potato as a pie pan! (yes, you can do pastafrola filled with argentinian creamed sweet potato and the flavor it’s absolutely different from american canned sweet potato).

Now, put the pie crust on the pan and filled it with the membrillo/quince sweet.

This is another useful idea. Sometimes the dough sticks to some parts of the surface where you were kneading it. Use a knife -if you don’t have a special spatula- to help you pick it up without breaking it.

To prepare the quince for the filling, you’ll need a fork and about 1/8 cup of hot water.

Just add the water and smash the quince until you get a texture similar to the picture below. Some people add a little bit of cognac to this part, others add lemon juice. For us plain hot water is perfectly fine.

Fill the pie with the quince.

Us the leftovers of the dough to garnish the top of your pie.

And voilá! This pie is ready to go to the oven at 350F for about 35 minutes.

Now, brew some coffee and enjoy it as an afternoon snack.. or how we call it in Argentina: Merienda.

Quince Pastafrola it’s my favorite!

Enjoy!

hallacas

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Andrea CasalsJanuary 14, 2015September 16, 2023One Comment

Hallacas is a traditional venezuelan meal that is served during Christmas holiday. It’s a recipe that gathers the family on its preparation and it also transmits the multicultural heritage of Venezuela since it needs ingredients from different continents.

I’ve only tried this dish twice in my life before attempting cook it. Both times the same presentation was the same but the stew that was inside and also t he dough was different in taste. That’s because it has a lot of variations and of course, each family has kind of their own way of doing it.

Nevertheless, I like challenges. So, I searched and found a recipe that could be adapted to the ingredients that I could find in America and guide me a little. I also watched some videos on Youtube and of course, I had the best guide: Victor, who ate Hallacas a million times in his life so he was kind of my guide thru this almost impossible task.

I bought everything I needed in the 16th and Mission (latin neighborhood in San Francisco) and at Mexicana Produce in Downtown San Bruno. I needed 24 hours to do everything BUT if you have more time, it’s absolutely better. All the flavors of the stew will arise with unless one more day.

I have to say that I’m very proud of myself on accomplishing this task and preparing a delicious meal that can also transmit part of my husband’s family cultural heritage.

So, today I’m proudly sharing with you the most difficult recipe that I’ve ever done: my own adapted recipe of Hallacas.

You’ll need:

For the Stew

1 hen (about 2.5 lbs)
8 cups water (enough to cover chicken)
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup scallions
2 tsp garlic salt
1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
2 lbs pork shoulder, with some fat remaining
1 lb ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups white onion, diced (about 2 medium onions, I used the already sliced from Trader Joe’s)
1 cup leeks, white and pale green portion only, thinly sliced (I used the frozen ones from Trader Joe’s)
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups red bell, green and yellow peppers sliced (I used the frozen and sliced from Trader Joe’s)
1 can organic diced tomatoes
1⁄4 cup capers, finely diced
1⁄2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives, sliced
1⁄2 cup muscatel (Muscat) wine
1⁄2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp lime juice
1/2 cup organic raisins
1 cup shredded papelon / piloncillo (sugar cane cones sold al Latin stores) dissolved in 1 cup water.
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt

First, put the water and the hen in a large sauce pot. Bring it to a boil and add the celery, scallion and garlic salt. Cook for about 30 minutes at a medium heat.

Transfer the hen to a plate and save stock. When the hen is at room temperature, pull the meat from the bones and shred it using your hands.

In a large sauce pot, heat oil and add the pork and ground beef to cook. Stir frequently until the has brown a little.

Reduce heat to medium-minimun and add more vegetable oil. Then, add the leeks, green onions, onions and garlic. Add 1 cup of the saved hen stock and stir frequently. Don’t let the vegetables go brown.

Add peppers, diced tomatoes and 1 more cup of the stock. Let it cook for 10 minutes at low heat.

Add the diced capers, olives, the papelon already dissolved in warm water, the organic raisins, sliced olives, muscat wine, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, lime juice and one more cup of the stock. Let it cook on low heat for 30 minutes stirring ocassionally.

Finally add the shredded hen. Let it cook for 30 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and let it covered until it’s cool. Refrigerate overnight until 2 hours before using it.

For the Dough:

1 package of Harina PAN (pre-cooked white corn flour, available at Latin grocery stores).
3 cups of hen stock
4 sticks of unsalted butter
3 tsp of achiote paste (available at Latin grocery stores)
1 tbsp salt

Place the achiote paste with the butter in a pan and warm it until they dissolve and create a reddish liquid. Set aside.

Using a large bowl, mix the flour and the salt. Slowly add 1 cup of the melted reddish butter to the flour and start mixing it. Then, add 1 cup of hen stock and continue kneading the dough. Repeat the steps adding fat and then the stock until you get a soft but firm consistency. The dough should be a dark yellow/orange color, smooth with no lumps.

Make medium balls of the dough using and your hands, set aside and cover with a humid cloth. By the way, your hands should be very shiny from the fat used on the dough. If they are not, add more butter or shortening to the dough.

Wrapping:

2 packages of frozen plantain leaves (available at Latin grocery stores).
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 piece of clean kitchen cloth or papel towels
cooking twine

The day before using the leaves, thraw the frozen package in the refrigerator overnight and leave it at room temperature 2 hours before cleaning them.

Use the the cloth or paper towel damped in the vinegar dissolved water to rapidly clean the leaves over the two sides. Set aside for the hallaca assembly.

Each hallaca uses 3 leaves. You should cut them prior to its use.

The first leaf -the base- should be about 10 x 14 inches. The second, also called the “shirt”, should be about 8 x 10 and the last one, called “belt”, should be about 4 x 6 inches. I’m not completely sure about this meassures, but they can work as an approximetely. I suggest you watch some videos to learn how to properly wrap the hallaca since I’m not and expert AT ALL in that matter (Victor is!).

Cut about 1 yard of twine for each hallaca. For this recipe you’ll need about 20 yards.

Assembly

You’ll need:

stew (room temperature)
20 colored medium dough balls
plantain leaves already cut
20 yards already cut cooking twine
3/4 cup colored butter (made with achiote paste and regular organic butter, like the one for the dough)
garnish ingredients

Garnish Ingredients

1 cup roasted peppers (sold in jars at Trader Joe’s)
2 medium sliced onions (in rings)
1 cup sliced olives
1/2 cup capers
1/2 cup organic raisins
1/2 whole or sliced raw almonds
1/4 cauliflower pickled style (this is optional, I just had this in my fridge and thought of adding it)

Prepare your mise en place -prepare and organize everything you’ll need- for the assembly.

Arrange the base leaf and add 1/2 tsp of red-colored butter. Use your fingers or a cooking brush to spread it through the leaf.

Put a medium dough ball in the center of the leaf. Flatten the dough, we used a plastic cutting board for this process, covered with a piece of plastic bag so the dough doesn’t stick to the board.

Add 1/4 cup of the stew in the middle of the dough. Add the garnish ingredients.

Fold over the plantain leaf carefully so it doesn’t break, first one side, then the opposite. Finally bring the ends of the leaf up covering the filling.

Place the hallaca over the second square of the plantain leaf and fold it again. Finally use the third leaf (belt) to hold the two pieces of leaf under it, wrapping the hallaca around with it.

Tie the hallaca using the cooking twine to keep it secure during the cooking process.

Final process!

Bring water to a boil in large sauce pot. Place the hallacas in the pot, they must be covered by the water. Cook for 1.30h to low heat but keeping the water boiling, add more water if it needs it.

Remove it from the water and allow them to drain for 5 minutes standing on one of its sides over a plate.

If you want to freeze them, only cook them for 1 hour and then remove them from the water and let them cool down to freeze them. When you’d like to eat the hallacas, you’ll just need to cook them (frozen) for 30 more minutes. You cannot reheat them in the microwave.

Serving

Use kitchen scissors to remove the twine and the plantain leaves, remove them carefully. Serve immediately.

Our Christmas dinner: hallacas, pan de jamon (ham bread), and ensalada de gallina (hen salad).

Enjoy it!

chipas recipe

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Andrea CasalsOctober 15, 2014September 16, 2023

As many of you know, I was born in Posadas, the capital of Misiones, in the north east of Argentina.

The most traditional snack from my homeland is “Chipa“. This is a little cheese-roll made with tapioca flour and it’s also a traditional snack in Paraguay and in the south of Brazil (with some differences).

Today, I’m super happy to share with you my family recipe for this yummy gluten-free delicacy.

You’ll need:

1 lb tapioca starch
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups gouda cheese shredded or crumbles
6 tbsp unsalted organic butter
1/2 cup organic milk
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp aniseed (Optional)

Make a crown with the flour.

Add the eggs, cheese, salt, baking powder, butter (which should be at room temperature), milk in the middle of the crown and the aniseed (optional).

Start making a dough.

Tapioca flour/starch doesn’t have gluten so it will resemble to corn meal in the beginning because it’ll be crumbly and it will be a little bit difficult to create an homogeneous dough. But keep going, it’ ll be good at the end.

After 5 to 8 minutes you’ll have a dough like this. If it’s still too crumbly, add a little more milk. Try adding 1/2 tablespoon first.

Once you have an uniform dough, separate the dough and create 4 rolls. Use a knife to create a thin line thru the roll (it will help to cook the inside).

Chipas can be storage raw in your freezer for up to 3 months. You don’t need to defrost the dough before baking; just put them straight to the oven at 375F for 25 minutes… Isn’t that great?

If you’re going to bake them without freezing them, then set your oven at 350F and bake them for 30-40 minutes. Serve them warm!

… And enjoy!

***If using a Kitchen aid:

1. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) to the bowl and stir.

2. Add cheese crumbles, soft butter, eggs slighted beaten and milk. Mix until it becomes a homogenous dough. Then follow steps to create rolls and cut the little pieces.

swimming

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Andrea CasalsOctober 8, 2014September 16, 2023

seriously, I still don’t get it.

my favorite challah recipe

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Andrea CasalsAugust 13, 2014December 6, 2017

After experimenting with a lot of challah recipes, this is my favorite. You’ll need:

4 cups unbleached all purpose flour*
1 1/4 cup of warm water
1 package dry active yeast
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 cup of honey
1 large egg
2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
optional: 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
optional: quickly beaten egg for brushing

In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water. Add honey, oil, 1 egg, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, using the kitchen aid at medium speed.

Knead until it become a smooth and elastic dough but no longer sticky. It will take around 15′ using the Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Cover the bowl with a cloth. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 1.30 hours.

Separate the dough in 3 pieces, flatten a little bit and make a braid. Cover the dough with a clean cloth and let it rest for 45′ more minutes.

After the resting time, you can either use a slightly beaten egg to brush it or just sprinkle the sesame seeds.

Bake it at 350F for 30′ minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Remove it from the oven and let it cool. The result is impressive and delicious!

Enjoy it!