If I ever went to Ecuador, I know I’d have no problem with the cuisine and eat well there.  Lolita of Lolita’s Recipes post several recipes from Ecuador and over time, I’ve tried and enjoyed many of them.  Here is the latest – Green Banana Soup (Repe Lojano), a traditional soup from the province of Loja in Ecuador.  Basically it’s a creamy soup of green bananas, onions, garlic, milk, cheese and cilantro (cilantro!).   Instead of green bananas, green plantains may be substituted. 

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I mistakenly thought that green bananas and green plantains were the same.   I later learned I was wrong.   They’re definitely two different foods.  They taste slightly different and it takes a little longer for one of them to cook.

Depending on where you live, green plantains are more readily available than green bananas.  Luckily, I have no problem finding either in the supermarket. 

Lola includes tips in her post on how to peel green bananas or plantains.   They can be a little hard to peel. 

I made my repe lojan on Christmas Day and served it, as suggested, with avocado, cheese, and aji (an Ecuadorian hot sauce, which I love).  There was a little bit of soup left over and I think it tasted even better the next day.  Next time, instead of green bananas, I plan on trying the soup with green plantains.

According to Laylita, there are different variations of this soup.  Arvejas con guinea is a famous version and includes split peas.   Another version, repe mestizo, is made with potatoes. More variations to look forward to making.

Paz

Repe lojano  (green banana soup)

Laylita’s Recipes

Ingredients

Instructions

Delicious!  That’s how this Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter tastes.  Just delicious!

I hadn’t planned on cooking anything yesterday evening.  I was tired.  Then someone complained about being hungry.   I remembered this recipe from 101 Cookbooks and thankfully had all the ingredients – well almost all the ingredients, except the chives and broth.  My soup still tasted really good. 

The instructions say to puree the lentils soup with an immersion blender.  I don’t have an immersion blender and I really couldn’t be bothered trying to putting the lentils in a regular blender.  Too much work.  Remember it’s me.  I like easy and simple.   No fuss.  Besides, I like the texture and bite of the whole lentils in my mouth.  I was happy with the outcome of my soup.  It was perfect for a cold day and is definitely a perfect meal for cold New Year’s Day.  

I don’t believe this specific soup is a customary good luck meal but it contains lentils, which are traditional symbols of good luck (they represent money)  in many countries.  So, I consider this a perfect meal to enjoy at the start of the New Year.  I like that.  May the New Year 2012 be a good year for all of us. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012, everyone!

Peace, love, hope, joy, good heath, and prosperity,

Paz

Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter

from 101 Cookbooks

You can use either green lentils of green split peas here. Both are delicious, but the green split peas tend to lend a brighter green color to the soup.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, ghee, or extra-virgin coconut oil?
1 large yellow onion, chopped
?3 cloves garlic, chopped?
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
?5 1/2 cups / 1.3 liters good-tasting vegetable broth or water

1 1/2 cups / 10.5 oz / 300 g green lentils or green split peas, picked over and rinsed

3 tablespoons unsalted butter?
1 tablespoon Indian curry powder
?1/2 cup / 125 ml coconut milk
?Fine-grain sea salt?
1 bunch fresh chives, minced

small cubes of pan-fried paneer (optional)

Combine the 2 tablespoons butter, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large soup pot over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the onions soften, a couple minutes. Add the vegetable broth and lentils and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender. This usually takes 20 to 30 minutes, but can take as long as 50 minutes.??

In the meantime, warm the 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and let it brown. When it starts to smell nutty and fragrant, stir in the curry powder and sauté until the spices are fragrant, less than a minute.??When the lentils are finished cooking, remove from the heat, stir in the coconut milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and puree with an immersion blender. You can leave the soup a bit chunky if you like, or puree until it is perfectly smooth.

Stir in half of the spiced butter, taste, and add more salt, if needed, typically a couple of teaspoons if you used water instead of a salted broth. Serve drizzled with the remaining spice butter and sprinkled with chives, (and paneer cubes if you’re using them).??

Serves 4 to 6??

Prep time: 5 min – Cook time: 45 min

Family friend, Helin, made some chicken soup for us.  Originally from Honduras, she made her chicken soup the way she would make it in her country.  We loved her soup, which contained chicken (of course) squash, yams (yucca), green bananas, corn, cabbage, carrots, green bell pepper, onions, cilantro, and culantro. 

The seasonings included a Maggi cube, coriander and annatto Goya Sazón, and Adobe Seasoning.   The soup was left to simmer for about 45 minutes.

Helin said that sometimes she adds angel hair pasta in the soup but this time, she left it out.  The soup is served with a side dish of rice for those who want even more substance with their soup.  We skipped the rice, too.  Everyone enjoyed the soup and it hit the spot.  Just right for a cold day January day.

By the way, Helin said you can substitute the chicken with beef.  Thanks, Helin!  This was really good and tasty.

Paz

Black-eyed peas soaking in water

Last year, I didn’t cook much but the start of the New Year found me preparing my first meal of the year.   That’s a good start to 2010, huh?   I think so. 

I find it interesting that depending on the country or culture, certain foods, when eaten at New Year’s, are considered to bring good luck.  The traditions may be different but the foods and the beliefs in the type of luck they bring are similar, worldwide.  The foods range from cakes, grapes, fish, pork, greens to legumes.  Here are a few examples of what’s eaten all over the world:

Special cakes are made between Christmas and New Year’s:  In Greece, it’s vasilopita, a cake baked with a hidden coin; in Mexico, it’s a rosca de reyes, a ring-shaped cake, baked with surprises and decorated with candied fruit; in Scotland, it’s a black bun, a type of fruit cake; in Italy, it’s chiacchiere, honey-drenched fried pasta dough balls. dusted with powdered sugar; in the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland, they are donuts; in Holland, it’s ollie bollen, puffy donut-like pastries filled with apples, currants and raisins.  I’ve wanted to make ollie bollens for the longest time.  Perhaps that’s what I’ll make next year.

Grapes (12 grapes — one for each stroke of the clock) are eaten just before midnight in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Peru, Venezuala, Mexico, Ecuador and Cuba. 

Pork generally stands for progress, wealth and prosperity.  In one form or another, it’s served in the U.S., Italy, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Cuba and Portugal. 

Legumes such as beans, peas and lentils represent money. Brazilians eat lentil and rice or lentil soup; while Germans eat split pea soup with sausage or lentils with sausage; Japanese eat sweet black beans called kuro-mame.  Italians eat cotechino con lenticchie (a large spiced sausage and green lentils).  One New Year, I actually made cotechino con lenticchie.  It was good.

Greens such as kale, collards, cabbage and chard (because their leaves are thought to look like folded money) also symbolize financial wealth.   Germans eat cabbage (sauerkraut); Danes eat kale (stewed and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon); while American southerners eat collard greens.

I learned from Stephen Cooks  and Christine Cooks  about the southern American tradition of eating black-eyed peas (normally with cornbread, rice, ham and collard greens).  After doing a little bit of reading, I found out that this practice of eating black-eyed peas started with Sephardi Jews in the 1730s in Georgia.  Around the time of the American Civil War, non-Jews later followed this custom.   Very interesting!

Using Stephen’s recipe, I decided to make Black-eyed pea soup.  My soup turned out well and tasted very good.  I ended up making it two days in a row because a certain picky eater in my household liked it so much.  The only changes from the original recipe was that I didn’t use ham hocks and instead of garnishing the soup with scallions, I used cilantro.  Actually I first used the scallions but preferred cilantro.  My soup tasted really good.  To insure extra luck, I made sure to have an extra serving of my black-eyed pea soup.     

May we all have lots of luck this New Year.

Paz
 

Black-eyed pea soup with a healthy squirt of hot sauce.  

Black-eyed Pea Soup

Yield: 8 one-cup servings
Steven Cooks

Ingredients

8 oz dried black-eyed peas

1 strip bacon, cut in small pieces

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 carrot, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 celery rib, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 sweet red pepper, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Hambone or smoked ham hocks (optional)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Salt and hot sauce, to taste

Method

1. Inspect the peas to be sure there are no stones included (most beans are mechanically processed and there are occasional inclusions). Soak them overnight, then drain and rinse well.

2. Sauté the bacon slowly in a skillet until just starting to crisp. Remove to a side plate. 

3. In the bacon pan, slowly sauté the onion, carrot, celery and sweet red pepper until the onion is translucent.

4. Place the peas, bacon, vegetables, thyme, red pepper flakes and hambone or hocks (if using) in a slow cooker or soup pot. Add about 6 cups water. The peas should be at least covered by the water. Cook at a slow simmer for about 2 hours, until beans are tender. If you’re using the optional ham bone or hocks, skim fat from the surface occasionally.

5. Whisk the cornstarch into a cup of the soup broth and then stir into the soup. Cook another 15 minutes or so until the soup thickens. 

6. Correct seasoning.

Mmm… Mmm Good!