Mi Cocina

It's no secret that I love to cook.  Things can get a bit tricky sometimes when you're in Central America though.  The ingredients are different.  The stores don't carry products that I am used to.  I have learned to adapt and adjust recipes to fit my lifestyle here.  Here are some of the tricks that I have learned:

1.  Baking in the Microwave
We cook by a gas stove.  This usually is helpful because we lose electricity so often.  It's nice to be able to still prepare a home-cooked meal.  But what happens when the propane runs out in the middle of baking?  You would assume that your dish would be ruined, but this is not the case.  Did you know that you can bake in the microwave?  Just prepare your cake according to the normal directions.  Make sure your dish is microwave safe.  Blast that sucker on high  (we did 10 minutes at a time and kept checking until it was cooked all the way through).  Our cake took 60 minutes, but the power on our microwave can be pretty low sometimes.  I would do the 10 minutes and check method.

2.  How to Make Ricotta Cheese (or at least a good substitute)
I love lasagna, but they don't carry ricotta cheese.  I've tried using other recipes with cream cheese, but for me, nothing beats the texture that ricotta brings.  One of my Peace Corps friends taught me this trick.  Boil a pot of vinegar. Pour cold milk into the pot.  Soon there will be "ricotta" floating to the top.  Skim the mixture from the surface.  When it is cool, squeeze the vinegar out.  It isn't exactly ricotta, but when I mix in an egg and some herbs, it does the trick!

3. Cooking With Local Ingredients
Foods are very seasonal in the market here.  There are some imported items, but they can be quite expensive.  For example, I can get a green apple for 12 lempira, or a bananna  for 1 lempira.  I'll go with the bananna!  Here are some ingredients I've learned to use:

Pataste

This is a starchy vegetable that can be found in the markets almost year-round here.  It is good in soups or can be sauteed with other vegetables and served as a side.  Its lime green color adds a nice color to dishes.

Platano (Plantain)

This has been one of my favorite tipico dishes.  At first glance you might think this is just a banana.  In fact, some of my colleagues have made the unfortunate mistake of trying to make banana bread with these.  They are a little firmer and not as sweet as an ordinary banana.  My favorite way to eat these  is fried.  Slice them up and put them in a skillet with a little oil.  Brown them on both sides.  You don't have to salt, sugar, or season them at all.  I think they're delicious just as they are! 

Queso Seco

Sadly, cheese is scarce around here.  There is a brand called Sula that sells cheese, but everything is just a little bit off and it can be more expensive than the typical cheese. Translated, queso seco means dry cheese.  That's exactly how I would describe it.  It crumbles like feta.  I will admit that it took me a little while to aquire the taste.  It is extremely salty and has a strange smell, but I have come to love it.  Most often, I'll eat it crumbled in baleadas (If you're unfamiliar check out this post).  It's also nice served sliced alongside beans, eggs, avocado and tortilla (a traditional dinner here). 

So next time you think something can't be done, get creative!  There's always a substitution or a solution.