5 Dishes from 5 Countries that Prove Food is Love💗

A sincerely special thank you to Hannah, Dalitza, Noeris, Carla, and Alaina for sharing your memories and recipes with us. You all truly touched my heart and I feel very privileged to be able to share your stories!

Artist behind me is Jolanda Zürcher
Instagram:   / jolanda_zuercher  
Website: https://jolandazuercher.de/

RECIPES
Sauce Piquante:    • Chicken Sauce Piquant by The Cajun Ninja  
Funche:    • Funche Aliñado / Funche Criollo / Recetas ...  

Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup room temp unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar (plus 3-4 tbsp for rolling)
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup jam/jelly/preserves of any flavor you like
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until it turns fluffy and light in color
Add egg yolks one at a time
Add in the vanilla and mix
Add the flour, salt and baking powder until dough is just coming together.
Make 1 1/2 tablespoon sized dough balls. Roll into the sugar and place on baking pan.
Use your thumb or a small spoon to make an indent in the cookie. Spoon your choice of jelly, jam or preserves to fill.
Bake 10-15 minutes or just until the edges are slightly browning.
Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Bistec Encebollado
1 pack of minute steaks
Goya adobo seasoning with pepper
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 yellow or white onion

Note: Pound to tenderize the meat if you can.
The night before marinate the bistec by seasoning with adobo and brushing minced garlic onto both sides. Coat with olive oil and half the vinegar and refrigerate.
Cut the onion into thin rounds, set aside. Add the rest of the vinegar and the vegetable oil to a large pan. You want the vinegar/oil mixture to cover most of the bottom of the pan. Quickly sear both sides of the steak in high heat, then add a little water and a couple of onion rounds (these will melt and flavor the broth, we will add the rest later.) For the water about a third of a cup should do. Just enough to fully cover the bottom of the pan, but we don't want to completely submerge the steaks.
Lower the temperature to med-low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes flip the steaks and check for salt content in the broth. The water should not evaporate too much that the broth is too salty or there is no broth at all. If needed, you can add more water or more adobo throughout. Cover and cook for 15 more minutes, then flip and check broth again. Then one more 15 minute cook, totaling 45 minutes.
At 45 minutes you should add the rest of the onions. Try to shove them under the steaks so they can be cooked by the broth. Cook covered for about 10-15 minutes until onions are soft and translucent. Serve with medium grain white rice and spoon lots of broth and onion on top of the rice!

Seca de Pollo
1 lb chicken drumsticks
1 red onion, sliced into half moons
1 scallion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, sliced
1 large beefsteak tomato
2 red potatoes, cubed
Fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh cilantro, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
Adobo seasoning
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp cumin
Achiote seasoning packet
1 chicken bouillon cube
2-3 bay leaves
Dried oregano
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
Directions
Remove skin and season chicken with salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a large pot. Add chicken and season with adobo. Sear on each side until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Once browned, remove from pot and set aside. Depending on the size of your pot, you may need to do this in batches. To the same pot add red onion, bell pepper, scallions, butter, and the whole achiote seasoning packet. Stir to melt butter and combine. Let cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes or so. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, and dried oregano to taste. Cook for another few minutes before adding the chicken, including any juices, back in. Cover the chicken with the vegetables to make sure everything is distributed well. Add enough water to just barely cover the chicken and give it another stir. Add the bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Using a cheese grater, grate tomato directly into the pot. Add the bouillon cube and stir well. Add potatoes, a little more adobo, and half parsley and cilantro. Cover and cook until potatoes are just barely done (when you can stick a fork in them, but they don’t fall apart), about 10 minutes. Taste the soup and add more salt, pepper, or adobo as needed. Remove lid and cook for another 5-10 minutes to let reduce. Finish with the rest of your fresh herbs. Serve with white rice and avocado!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:28 Ecuadorian Seca de Pollo (Chicken Stew)
02:58 Trying Seca de Pollo
04:17 Creole Sauce Piquant (Cajun Chicken Stew)
07:00 Trying Sauce Piquant
09:30 Venezuelan Funche (Polenta Cake)
11:21 Trying Funche
13:35 USA Thumbprint Cookies
15:15 Trying Thumbprint Cookies
16:46 Puerto Rican Bistec Encebollado (Steak and Onions)
19:04 Trying Bistec Encebollado