Peruvian Lomo Saltado

Sorry the picture doesn't quite do it justice.. I keep forgetting to take a picture before we've already eaten!

Start off by cutting your golden potatoes into strip, for french fries and soak in cold water..reserve in fridge(this releases some of the starch)
Slice your steak into strips and marinade in a ziploc bag: a few dashes of cumin, paprika and soy sauce, with a little bit of salt and pepper. reserve
take out your potatoes and drain and dry
cut up a few baby carrots, roma tomaotes, white onion, red onion, green onion, and cilantro.
heat olive oil in pan on med-high. remove meat and fry until meat is about medium, remove and reserve in bowl.
add 1 tbsp olive oil, add onions and carrots and fry for 1 minute. add tomatoes and meat . add a few splashes of white wine vinegar and soy sauce. cover and simmer on medium heat.
fry french fries on med-high for a few seconds, drain, then turn up heat to high and fry again unti golden brown, drain (drain in strainer, not paper towel).
add french fries to stir fry and cilantro and a few sprinkles of parsley. add salt and pepper to taste!
This one tastes pretty authentic for you Peruvian food lovers! Serve with rice and black beans (recipe to come)

Peruvian Alfajores

1-1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup ground almonds
3 cups flour

Manjar Blanco Filling:(doce de leite)

5 cups whole milk
1-1/8 cups sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Prepare the Manjar Blanco filling. Put the milk, sugar and vanilla in a medium saucepan and let it come to a boil. Continue to boil the mixture, stirring occasionally, until thickened, approximately 45 minutes. The Manjar is ready if you put a bit on a plate and it does not run.
2. Cream butter with confectioners' sugar until fluffy.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients.
4. Wrap and chill 30 minutes (if you leave it longer, just let it warm up to the point of being able to be rolled out).
5. Roll dough out to 1/4" thickness. Cut in 2 1/2" circles and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. They won’t expand much, so you can place them pretty close together.
6. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.
7. Cool cookie sheets between batches and cool cookies on wire rack.
8. When cookies have completely cooled, carefully spread some manjar blanco on one cookie and top with another cookie. Other alternatives to fillings: chocolate nutella.. yum, also dulce de leite (you can buy in a can.. or you can put a can of sweetened condensed milk in a pan full of water and boil for 3 hrs) I added the manjar blanco with a little of the dulce de leite.. super yum!
9. Dust tops with confectioners' sugar and enjoy immediately.

Here is a different version: instead of sandwiching the cookies together, add the manjar blanco on top of a thumbprint type cookie :)

Peruvian Pollo Saltado

I was super excited for this recipe I came up with.. I crave it often! we go to Rincon..I think that's what it's called (some Mom & Pop Peruvian restuarant  with our friends and it delicious! just wanted to try out my own little version of what they make.. so here you go)

Ingredients:
1-2 tbsps minced garlic
1/4 of red onion cut in wedges
1/4 of white onion cut in wedges
1/4 cup of diced green onions
2 tbsps chopped cilantro
4 potatoes
3 large chicken breasts cut in small slices/pieces/strips..whatever you want
cumin
paprika
soy sauce
black pepper
white wine vinegar
peanut, vegetable oil, or olive oil ( I used olive oil)
red & green bell peppers (opt) or sliced baby carrots (what I used)
1-2 tomatoes

in a ziploc bag.. put chicken (cut up) in with a few tablespoons of soy sauce, a few dashes of cumin and paprika. marinade in fridge for 15 minutes or so. In a wok or deep pan, heat oil, a few tablespoons to coat bottom and cook marinated chicken (work in small batches to cook evenly). reserve cooked chicken in bowl. meanwhile, cut up potatoes into french fries and fry in oil (vegetable oil preferably) until golden brown. drain and set aside.

add about a tablespoon of oil (olive oil) in same pan used for chicken and add garlic until golden brown. add the onions and (opt you can add red/green bell peppers.. I opted out, since I don't like them and just added sliced baby carrots..even better!) stir and fry for a few seconds. add a few splashes of soy sauce and white wine vinegar. add a few pinches of cumin and stir. then add the sliced tomatoes and add a few pinches of paprika, stir. return chicken to pan and toss gently. add chopped cilantro and then the french fries. stir gently and serve with white rice (which I am assuming everyone can make..if not, let me know and I will post..thanks!)