76 replies to this topic

[prasantrin]

Chilean sopaipillas

I DID find some, from the same place at the fish market in Puerto Montt where I had the cheese and shrimp empanada.
Not ours, but took the picture of them when others got them. Served with pebre it looks like. That woman in that shop "knew" dough, you can just tell they are crispy and light.

Thanks for the picture! They look just like the ones my friend's mom used to make. I really loved them, so I was always disappointed when I ordered them in restaurants. Restaurant sopaipillas were always so heavy compared to hers.

re: empanadas--I have a great empanada dough recipe that I love. It uses lard. If you want it, I'd be happy to send it to you so you could try it out.

[Darienne]

re: empanadas--I have a great empanada dough recipe that I love. It uses lard. If you want it, I'd be happy to send it to you so you could try it out.

I'd love to have it, prasantrin. Please.

[JTravel]

re: empanadas--I have a great empanada dough recipe that I love. It uses lard. If you want it, I'd be happy to send it to you so you could try it out.

Me Too, Please. It was amazing the look, texture and "feel" of the different doughs. But I'm not happy with mine.
Thanks

Edited by heidih, 02 May 2012 - 05:25 PM.
Fix quote tags

[JTravel]

ONCE IN A WHILE...when you're hot and tired and thirsty...and need a bathroom...there is a beacon to welcome you. Many places in the world.

Calling to you:


This McDonalds in BA did not disappoint. It was cool, it had rest rooms, relaxed type seating, a McCafe with all kinds of coffee drinks, and a dessert cafe with great looking goodies. Lots of business from locals...lingering as we were.

DH had this:

and I had a McFish.

But the highlight of a visit to McDonalds on a hot day in BA is this beauty:

A McFlurry as done only in South America. The "bits" are pieces of milk and white chocolate or remarkably good quality. The final touch is a big blob of Dulce de Leche (it really is in everything). After being a tourist for several hours we cannot scoff at that cold, sweet and yummy cup of goodness. It was about $4.50 and it was enough to share...but just barely.

[JTravel]

Now, for a bit of miscellaneous food, and drink shopping. With large provided breakfasts in our B&Bs we really had no need for snacks. But despite being told we could drink the water we stuck to bottled water to keep the tummies content. Plus DH likes a cold beer at the end of the day and we both enjoyed a glass of Marbec on the patio. Besides, what's more interesting than a foreign supermarket.
One sort of interesting thing is that all the city Supermercadoes seem to be run by Chinese people. Each market, has the same layout and organization with some variation in fresh things.


A couple kinds of liquid refreshment:




There is also an old traditional market in San Telmo. Not busy when we were there.

On Saturdays there was a neighborhood market on Armenia Square. Interesting in that you waited in line for a clerk and then that clerk helped you choose all the things you wanted from the fruit and veggie part.

Nothing like an ice cold Iguana at the end of a hot day.

[rotuts]

McD's burgers look better in The South!

thanks continue!

[JTravel]

Nothing like a homemade ice cream on a hot day in Buenos Aires. We were lucky in San Telmo to have found "Nonna's Helado".
There were LOTS of choices:



Then sit on the rickety old bench out in front and enjoy.

Read about BA Ice Cream...Dulce de Leche appears again:
 BA ice cream.pdf   474.76K   44 downloads

[JTravel]

OK, I promised Beef with purple sauce...but first an example of a different beef place...this time in San Telmo.



And in case you don't know the cuts, a chart is provided at another place.



At Lo de Jesus in Palermo we ate outside and shared a Steak with Malbec Sauce, roasted potatoes and a salad with lettuce and tomatoes. A nice meal, not fabulous but it made for a pleasant dining experience. The purple sauce was a bit odd looking, but we liked it.

[Darienne]

Did I miss it? Or just why is it purple?

[JTravel]

My Omission....It was Malbec sauce. Rather sweet but good...I might even try it at home. Color was surprising.

[JTravel]

One of the great things about BA is the Cafe Notables...which are a group of protected cafes which are not allowed to change. We visited Bar Federal which was one of my very favorite meals of the trip. I would have liked to had several more visits to it. There were lots of choices I would have liked to try.
Opened in 1864 it is not only fascinating to sit in, but the food was delicious. Just a very interesting way to spend time.




DH had a Chicken Supreme which was just a pounded, breaded and fried chicken breast. But I liked how they left the little wing on...maybe to show you it was a real breast. That came with toasty hot (homemade?) waffle potato chips.


I had the most "eat every bite and lick the plate" tasty Sorrentions. Excellent pasta, lovely ham and cheese filling, wonderful sauce.



What we needed was more places like this to eat.

[Darienne]

Is it government policy that a restaurant can't change? Very curious.

[JTravel]

I think it is just like our "Landmark" status in the U.S. The look of the building must stay the same; I can't be sure of the menu itself but now that they are special why would they want to change it. They are local favorites AND some are listed in guidebooks. Once we started looking for them we found several.

A nice article in NYTimes:

http://travel.nytime...12journeys.html

[JTravel]

OK....this if the big ending of 32 days in South America. A very good trip with wonderful sights, especially Bariloche and Iguazu Falls.
Good food all along the way, never a meal we didn't enjoy.

The whole trip I had heard about "Tablas" and we'd seen these great looking plates of meats and cheeses. So, next to the last night we went to the (sort of ) nearby square, picked out a sidewalk table and enjoyed outdoor Friday night in BA. Had the special drink of the night and ordered the Tabla (or Picada) for 2. Now service tends to be a bit slow, but I think the waiter took a vacation after he took our order. Finally a waitress took pity on us , took our order again and eventually it came.

To say we were overwhelmed is an understatement. Two Huge wooden cutting boards arrived...one with all kinds of meat, the other with cheeses. There were caramelized onions, and giant green olives. A basket of rolls came with it. SO much meat and cheese at one time. WOW.







Everything was of great quality and was delicious but we could hardly make a dent in it. Afraid that our now re-appeared waiter did not understand that we wanted to take the leftovers, I followed him to the counter where with translation from the chef boxes appeared and all was saved.

There was so much left over that we had meat and cheese with our breakfast the next two mornings, a sandwich to eat while wandering, and dinner in the B&B living room with our bottle of Malbec. I had set aside the hard cheeses and they went to the airport with us for snacking.

I have not talked about prices for food, we did not find "bargains" unless it was decent wine from the supermarket. Most meals started around $10-12., it was hard to get a small meal or snack. Not expensive but after day after day of big meals you sometimes would like just a little something. For this feast it was around $40. with 2 drinks, a bargain considering the quality.

I end with two "cutest" empanadas....in Puerto Iguazu. One time when I actually did only order a little thing.

Thanks to those of you who have followed along , it's been fun.

[rotuts]

This has been a wonderful thread. Many thanks for putting in all that hard work.

[Darienne]

This blog has been wonderful. It's right up there at the very top of the eG blogs. Thanks so much.

[JTravel]

The Empanada FINALE!


Thanks to a crust recipe from Prasantrin I was able to make mini empanadas for a dnner. I did the crust VERY thin though for the bigger ones I would make it a bit thicker. They were tender but crisped up nicely and tasted great. I might bake them a minute or two longer, they were done but a bit white. The secret of course is lard. They may have been a bit full so I wasn't able to braid the edges but they looked OK.

I grated 2 kinds of mozz, the soft "homemade" kind and regular store stuff. I would not bother again, cubes would have worked better. I added tiny cubes of ham. There was a bit of (crispy/toasty) leakage. The other filling I sort of made up. It was chopped fried baby bella mushrooms, onion, a bit of tomato and some leftover black beans which were mashed. Genius if I do say so.