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Cilantro Stew - "Seco"

 This is another traditional Peruvian dish, with ingredients that you can find easily at the store. The name in Spanish is "Seco" (it means "dry") I think it has a lot of Indian influence, I have tried something very similar in an couple of Indian restaurants.
In Peru, the traditional way to do it is with lamb, beef or chicken. I did it with zucchini instead of meat.

Seco de Zucchini

1 medium zucchini
2 bunches of cilantro
3 garlic cloves
1/2 red onion
2 medium carrots
2 medium Yukon potatoes
1 cup of frozen peas
1 cup of frozen yellow corn
1 tsp aji amarillo *optional
1 tsp aji colorado*optional
2 tsp dry cilantro *"verdecito"

First as always chop the fresh veggies.

Zucchini is bite sizes, carrots are little squares and potatoes in quarters.

Finely chop the onions and garlic. Set a side










For the cilantro, after you wash and rinse it, put it in the blender with 1/2 cup of water, and make a paste. Set a side.

When I was a Kid my mom will tell us that you only use the cilantro leafs, so she will make us separate them from the stems, now I don't know if that's true or if it was her way to keep us busy meanwhile she cooked.

Or maybe a little bit of both.


Let me explain to you about "verdecito", since this dish is "green=verde" and it's a very popular dish; in the stores in Peru you can find dry seasoning for it and it's call "verdecito", every time I go back to Lima I bring some of this little spice mix with me, they just add a little familiar flavor to my dish. But I don't always have some at home so you can do this stew with or without this "verdecito". The same happends with "aji amarillo" and "aji colorado"

We have talked about "aji amarillo", today I also used "aji colorado" (red mild chili pepper), it's similar to California chili pepper or New Mexico chili pepper, it's used as a paste and it gives a great addition to your stews. But one more time, you can still make this dish without it. You also can find this aji colorado on line, as "aji panca".

Now it's time to cook our Seco, once you have all your veggies cook and ready to go, put a pot on medium/high heat, and add some olive oil, just enough to cook our garlic and onions, when they start to sizzle add the peppers (aji colorado and aji amarillo) let them cook for a little, then add the cilantro and let it cook until the color changes from bright green to dark green.

In a separate pan gold the zucchini and set a side. I don't add it to the stew until the very end because they get soft too fast and we like them al dente.

Add all the rest of the veggies to the stew pot and cook until the potatoes are almost done, include the zucchini and voilá.

It's traditionally served next to rice and kidney beans.

Brownies for dessert!

 I was looking for a recipe without milk and butter for brownies, and I found one that with my modifications worked really good for me. They were very moist.

Great combination with vanilla ice cream and a maraschino cherry on top

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 eggs
2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup of boiling water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tps instant coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan.

In the mixer add, cocoa, baking soda, coffee, 1/3 vegetable oil and boiling water. Mix until blended and thickened. Stir in sugar and eggs, add apple sauce.

By hand add the flour, vanilla and baking poder, mix together. Poor it in the pan.

Bake it for about 40 minutes, make sure that it's cook by inserting a toothpick into the cake until comes out clean.

Sprinke powder sugar on top.



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