A Two-Fer! Traveling Tuesdays...Portugal and Peru

I decided to group these two recipes together even though they are waaaay different...except for the pepper paste/sauce for each of these recipes. Pretty similar and both VERY good! The first recipe I got from our awesome neighbor who was across the street from us in Leavenworth. She lent me her book on Portuguese cooking, called Portuguese Homestyle Cooking by Ana Patuleia Ortins, and I was able to copy some recipes that sounded great! Here's one of many:

BEEF PORTUGUESE STYLE
Serves 6 (great for leftovers, I put the meat in a yummy salad...and also great for a Maggie dog)

Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Sweet Red Pepper Paste (recipe to follow)
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, plus another 2 for later
2 teaspoons paprika
2 bay leaves, crumbled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 3 1/2 lb chuck roast or bottom round roast
2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper (optional!)
1 cup red wine
1 to 2 cups water, as needed
2 large ripe tomatoes, peeled seeded and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
6 large new potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used red potatoes)
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

This recipe for the Sweet Red Pepper Paste is awesome! It takes some time...but it's well worth it. I believe you may be able to find it stores, but it's not complicated at all. The recipe for this WAS in the book that our neighbor lent me, but silly me was soooo excited that I wasn't paying attention to the "look on page 166" direction.  So I found this one online and it's so tasty.

SWEET RED PEPPER PASTE
Makes about 1 1/4 cups

Ingredients

8 medium (or 4 large) sweet red peppers, washed, cored, seeded and cut lengthwise into about 1in wide strips
2 tablespoons course or kosher salt
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/3 cup olive oil (approx.)

First...how to make the paste! Take your red peppers and wash, core, and seed them. Then cut them lengthwise. Put these strips into a bowl, salting the strips in layers. I took each pepper, cut it, and when I placed it into the bowl sprinkled salt on it. That way each pepper cut got an equal amount of salt. The salt will draw out any extra water.

After all of the strips are salted and placed in the bowl, set the bowl somewhere on your counter, and leave it there for about 24 hours. The strips will be flimsy and sad. But don't fret! They are about to be amazingly happy and tasty!

After the 24 hours, pour off the salty water and take your strips, place them in a 250 degree preheated oven and leave them alone. Don't even touch them for 2 hours. When they are done, they will be soft and slippery and ready to peel.

It takes a little work, but if the skins are slippery enough, they should come off pretty easy! See? Once they are peeled, place them in a blender or food processor along with the minced garlic and start blending. Pour in the olive oil as it's going until the paste is a creamy, deliciousness. Now your ready to cook the beef!

First you take the garlic and mash it as best you can. If you have a pestle and mortar, use it. I did not. I just used my knife; blade AWAY from you though! Combine the garlic with the parsley, paprika, and bay leaves. Mix well and drizzle in the olive oil. Rub this mixture on the meat and place it into a Dutch oven (I used a large pot because I don't have one...surprisingly!) along with the onions and crushed red pepper (if you're using it). Mix the water and the wine together and fill your pot up until the liquid is up 1/3 of the meat. You may have to add water to get this. If you are wanting to marinate the meat overnight or for a few hours, now would be the time to do that.

Place your tomatoes in the pot as well along with the parsley around the meat, cover with a lid, and bring everything to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until tender. Add the carrots and potatoes after the 1 1/2 hours and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the beef and veggies are done. Remove the meat and veggies to a serving platter and reduce the liquid by half. Pour this over everything and garnish with some parsley! It was really tasty. I think I will marinate it next time to be honest. But overall it was great!

I'm not sure of the calorie count; however, similar recipes fell between 200-300 calories. The ingredients are all super fresh and simple. There isn't a lot of stuff going on with the meat besides the red pepper paste that's made with olive oil (which is a healthy fat!). So I feel it's a pretty healthy meal. Of course, it's all about portion control!! I served this meal with a....SALAD! How could you guess?!?

Here is the website for the Sweet Red Pepper Paste. And since the recipe for the actual dish is on a copied piece of paper sitting next to me, if you are interested feel free to email me if you know it or leave a comment and I can send you a pdf of the recipe! Now..onto the next!!

ANTICUCHOS WITH ROASTED YELLOW PEPPER SAUCE (aka...Peruvian Beef Kebabs!)
Serves 4-6 (depending on how much meat)

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons hot paprika or aji amarillo
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (Note: this WILL stain things yellow!)
Cooking Spray

FIERY RUB
3 tablespoons fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon hot paprika or aji amarillo
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

ROASTED YELLOW PEPPER SAUCE

1-1 1/2 yellow bell peppers
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon hot paprika or aji amarillo
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced 

First you want to cut your meat into 1/2 inch pieces and put them into a bowl along with the following six ingredients, which are the red wine vinegar, hot paprika (I used 1/2 teaspoon regular paprika and 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper for a little heat since I couldn't find the hot paprika), salt, pepper, cumin, and turmeric. Mix well, cover, and chill in the frig for a good 3 hours.

While that was chilling I made the Roasted Yellow Pepper sauce and the fiery rub. To make the sauce, preheat your broiler and slice the yellow bell peppers into strips. Put them onto a baking sheet and pop them into the oven for about 15 minutes. Remember to leave the door cracked!!!


 

After they are done, take them out and put them into a zip lock plastic bag. This will allow the skins to come off easier. Leave them in the bag for another 15 minutes or so.

Peel the skins off and put them into a blender or food processor. Blend in the remaining ingredients (green onions, vinegar, olive oil, water, lemon juice, cumin, hot paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper, and garlic) until everything is smooth.

Like this! And once you are done with that set it aside and make your fiery rub. Which is super easy.

Combine all ingredients for the fiery rub and set it aside until the meat is ready. And once the meat is ready, thread everything onto about 6 skewers. I ended up having about 12 pieces on each skewer, but it definitely depends on the size of the meat and how big you cut the pieces.




After threading the meat, rub the fiery rub onto it and then you are ready to cook it up!!! Personally the rub wasn't too spicy. I read on the reviews that you can substitute the hot paprika for regular paprika or even 1/2 regular 1/2 smoked paprika. It's up to you!

Grill the meat for about 6 minutes, turning only once, until the meat is done the way you prefer. I also covered the meat while it was cooking with some foil to trap the heat and make the meat more tender.







I served the meat with the Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce as well as the Sweet Red Pepper Paste/Sauce from the Portuguese recipe. Both tasted GREAT!!! with the meat. I also served hot white rice and a salad which included the other 1/2 of one of the bell peppers so it was super crunchy and yummy!!

The recipe calorie count (which includes the sauce!) is 188 calories per serving. It was super tasty. I know I do a lot of kebabs, but they are just so easy and experimenting with the different flavors of all around the world is a lot of fun!!! I really enjoyed this recipe and I hope you are able to make it and enjoy it too!!

Here are the links:
Anticuchos with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce
Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce

And here's a rainbow that appeared while I was making dinner after a little afternoon shower. It was really pretty! I'll leave you with that! :) Have a great day!!!!