Colombian Cuisine - Some Typical Colombian Foods

By KC Kudra

Colombian cuisine features many exciting meals and ingredients and, if you are interested in South American cooking, it might interest you to learn a little more about what Colombians eat. Some Colombian dishes are similar to authentic Mexican food recipes and others are very different from any other cuisine.

The basic side dish to any Colombian meal is arepa. This is a cornmeal-based bread and it is a bit like a thick pancake. Arepa is eaten with butter. Another delicious side dish is arroz con coco and this Caribbean-style coconut rice is really good.

Cajiaco is Colombian comfort food. This chicken soup features two kinds of potatoes, sour cream, capers, corn and guasca, which is a South American herb. Lechona comes from the Tolima region and to make this you need to stuff a whole roasted pig with yellow peas, rice, spices, and green onions and then cook it for ten hours in a clay oven. Lechona is popular at large gatherings and parties and arepa is usually served with it.

Common Meals In Colombia

Morcilla rellena is blood pudding or blood sausage. It is a common food which is often served deep fried. Bandeja paisa is one of the most filling meals and it is known as Colombia's national dish. Bandeja paisa is a big platter containing fried pork rind, grilled steak, chorizo, rice, red beans, sliced avocados, banana chips and fried egg.

Another common recipe is sancocho, although the ingredients vary from town to town. This dish includes plantains, chicken, cilantro, potatoes, corn, and cassava. It might be made with fish or pork instead of the chicken in some areas.

Puchero is a light soup which contains green bananas, pork, chicken, beef, manioc and more. It is usually served with avocado pulp, boiled egg, and aji, which is a hot sauce. Quesillos are delicious and these are double cream cheese wrapped in banana leaves.

Changua is often served for breakfast and this creamy soup is made by dropping eggs into a milk, water, and scallion mixture. It is important not to break the yolks. Changua is served with stale bread, which soaks in the soup, and some cilantro.

Food You Might Not Want To Order

Some Colombians eat ants. These creatures are harvested during the rainy season and the queen ants are used to make the dish. Their wings and large legs are picked off and then they are soaked in brine and roasted in a ceramic pot.

Peasants in the northeast of the country are fond of this meal and the tradition dates back hundreds of years. This dish is thought to be an aphrodisiac, so it is often given as a wedding gift. The ants might be high in protein but they are also becoming extinct in some regions.

Another meal which you should not order if you see it on a menu in Colombia is charapa. This is a fresh water tortoise and it is becoming an endangered species, so it might be best to choose something else.

If you are interested in South American cuisine, you will find Mexican recipes to be delicious as well. The cuisine might have changed a lot through Mexican food history but modern Mexican meals are easy to prepare, healthy and truly mouthwatering. MexicanFoodRecipes.org When it has to be Real Authentic Mexican Food.

Aricle source: EzineArticles

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Boneless Chicken Recipe: Artichokes and Chicken Fettuccini

By KC Kudra

Whether you realize it or not, chicken is a great tasting type of meat that you can use to make all sorts of delicious dishes. It is a great choice of meat whether or not you are trying to stick to a diet or not. The best thing about it is that you can use so many different types of ingredients with it.

You can make this boneless chicken recipe tonight if you like. Serve it with a tossed green salad and some hearty side dishes. Add a great tasting dessert and you and your family can enjoy a great meal together.

Recipe for Artichokes and Chicken Fettuccini

What You Need:

1 pound cooked drained fettuccine noodles
4 boneless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup chicken broth
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 can drained, rinsed artichoke hearts
½ cup heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

How to Make It:

Remove the skin from the chicken breast halves, rinse in cool water, and then drain the liquid. Dry the chicken and then salt and pepper to taste.

Using a large skillet or saucepan you will add 1 tablespoon butter or margarine and allow it to melt over a low heat. Add the chicken halves and then sprinkle them with 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar. Cover with lid. Cook the meat for 3 minutes on each side at a low heat, or until the meat is done. After cooking remove from heat and place chicken in a large baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil. Set aside to keep warm until needed.

To the warm skillet you will add 1 tablespoon butter or margarine. Add the artichoke hearts. Saute until the vegetables are nice and warm. Remove the artichoke hearts from skillet. Set aside until needed.

Cook the fettuccine noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain away the fluid. Pour the noodles into a serving platter and then set aside to keep warm until needed.

Add 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar into the warm skillet and stir to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken broth. Stirring while simmering and then stir in the heavy cream.

Add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter or margarine in a small saucepan over a low heat to melt. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Using a small mixing bowl beat the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon cold water until the mixture is foamy. Whisk the egg and water mixture into the hot sauce in the skillet. Remove skillet from heat and continue whisking. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil after adding the egg yolk. Season as desire and add more red wine vinegar to taste while stirring. Add the freshly chopped parsley and stir.

Arrange the cooked chicken breast on top of the bed of fettuccine noodles. Arrange the cooked artichoke hearts along with the chicken breasts. Spoon the creamy sauce over the chicken and artichokes before serving.

You can always make something good to eat when you use chicken. For instance, you might like learning how to make various chicken salad recipes or maybe a delicious chicken parmesan recipe. If so, you need to visit our website today. We have lots of good eats to share.

BonelessChickenRecipe.com - Chicken so delightfully moist, you can almost smell it through your monitor.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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All You Ever Wanted to Know about Corn in Mexican Cooking

By KC Kudra

Corn is something which everyone is already quite familiar with; after all, this grain (which is often eaten as a vegetable) is a staple of American cooking but in Mexico, corn is a food, which has a great importance to the country's culinary tradition. From salads to soups, salsas and of course, as the basis for tortillas, corn shows up in a great number of easy Mexican recipes in one form or another.

This grain has been a staple food in Mexico since long before the arrival of Europeans on the continent. Used to make flour for tortillas, tamales and a variety of other dishes, corn was already central to Mexican cooking centuries, if not millennia before the Spanish came over in search of gold. The corn-based flatbreads acquired the name "tortillas" upon the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico, after the Spanish word for "little cakes" (a name also given to omelets in Spain).

Tamales and tortillas are the most well known corn-based Mexican foods in the US; while flour tortillas are more common here, corn tortillas are now widely available in grocery stores nationwide and are becoming more popular. If you have never tried making tacos with corn tortillas, you are in for a real treat - the flavor a warm, soft corn tortilla adds to the dish just cannot be equaled by any wheat flour tortilla.

Another Mexican recipe, which features corn as the most important ingredient, is the tamale. This classic Mexican comfort food has been around for many centuries and may be served as part of dinner, lunch, or even breakfast! Tamales are made from corn flour dough filled with meats, cheeses, or vegetables and steamed inside of a cornhusk. Somewhat similar to Italian polenta, tamales are even made in sweetened or fruit filled versions, which are great for dessert or breakfast.

It takes some doing to make your own tamales at home, but nothing can beat a fresh homemade tamale's flavor. It is certain to impress your guests if you are up for a few hours in the kitchen, making (and eating) your own tamales can be a very rewarding experience.

Corn is sometimes used in salsas, where its flavor blends perfectly with tomatoes, herbs, and peppers. One common combination is black beans and corn, which makes a very satisfying salsa; you might have even seen some of these salsas at your local grocery store. Corn salsas are great with tortilla chips and wonderful with a taco (made with a warm corn tortilla, of course) or tamale.

There are also some Mexican soup recipes, which feature corn. One of the most popular Mexican soups, which showcases corn, is pozole. This is a spicy, delicious soup traditionally made with hominy, pork, and hot peppers. The combination of the corn's earthy sweetness with the meat and the kick of the chilies is a wonderful one and you can easily make a meal from a bowl of this substantial soup.

There are even restaurants, which specialize in pozole; if you live in a larger city with a sizeable Mexican-American population, you may have one near you. This is a Mexican recipe, which is relatively easy to make at home - the next time you want to try making soup, try this delicious recipe, which features corn in a starring role as a change of pace.

Mexican cuisine is vast and varied and if you want to know more, you can visit MexicanFoodRecipes.org where you can see just how many easy Mexican recipes you can make at home. You will also find plenty of interesting information on Mexican cuisine, which is known for being nutritious as well as very tasty.