Peruvian Dried Potato Stew

Want to try something with completely different textures and flavor combinations.  It’ll either blow your mind or not.

For our Peruvian dinner last night we cooked with recipes from Saveur Peruvian Cooking section except for this traditional dried potato stew that I learned from author/blogger/food writer/critic, Peru’s Grand fabulous Maria Elena Cornejo. When I was in Lima recently she organized a life time experience gastronomic our of Lima and I am forever grateful for all the recipes she shared with me.

Ingredients:

!1 pound dried potatoes (I used a Peruvian brand)

1 pound pork stew meat cut in 1/2-inch squares

2 red onionc, finely chopped

3 tablespons home-rendered lard or vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves, pureed

3 tablespoons aji panca paste (available at Kalustyan’s

1 tablespoon aji amarillo paste (available at Kalustyan’s and Mi Bandera in Jersey)

1 cup sweet wine (Port will do)

1 cup roasted peanuts, dinely ground but not made into peanut butter

1 tablet unsweetened chocolate, ground

4 large sprigs cilantro or 2  culantro, whole or chopped

2 cloves, ground

1 teaspoon cumin, ground

Toast the potatoes in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cover with boiling water to inch higher. Let rest for one hour.

Heat the lard over medium heat until rippling, add  the pork and cook until browned and remove wih a slotted spoon to a bowl to catch the juices. To the same fat in the pan, add the garlic, onion, and chile pastes, stirring well to combine.  Add the reserved pork, stirring well to combine.  Add the potatoes and their soaking water. Taste and add salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Cover and cook over low heat for about 35 minutes, stirring often as the potatoes tend to stick to the bottom of the pan.  Add water a litle bit at a time if needed.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook for abot another 10 minutes.

Maria Elena Cornejo’s Carapulcra

1/2 kilo de papa seca

3 cucharadas de aceite