Saturday, October 4, 2008

My Kitchen My World -- Ecuador


This week for My Kitchen My World, Shelby chose Ecuador as our country to taste. I knew nothing about cuisine from Ecuador, and honestly had a tough time finding recipes. I googled away, and finally found some recipes from Ecuador on recipehound.com They had a few interesting sounding dishes, but I went with something pretty simple, Locro, a potato soup. Apparently Locro in different South American countries refers to different soup/stew style dishes, but in Ecuador it's just potato.
After doing lots of online research, reading though lots of recipes, I noticed that many called for potatoes and munster cheese. I'm not sure why munster is the cheese of choice, or if it is just a close copy of the cheeses you would find in Ecuador, but more readily available so used in recipes? I love munster cheese so this was a great excuse to buy some :)


Locro -- Potato Soup of Ecuador

2 pounds potatoes, cubed, I used Klondike Rose potatoes, not from Ecuador, but one of my favorite all purpose varities

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 1/2 cups water

2 cups whole milk, warmed

4 ounces shredded munster cheese & additional cheese to sprinkle on top


Place cubed potatoes in a large, heavy saucepan, add the water. Stir in the salt, onion powder and paprika. Bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are almost done, add the milk and cheese, continue to cook a few more minutes. Mash up the potatoes, I used an immersion blended and left some chunky tatoes. Season to taste with salt, and serve immediately. Avocado slices are sometimes served with the Locro.













This soup was really easy and had a smooth mellow flavor, it reminded me of a potato chowder. There was another dish from Ecuador that really caught my eye, Llapingachos, which are little fried potato cakes, made with mashed potatoes and a munster cheese filling. I will try these in the future because they sound so yummy, and have the same flavors of the Locro, which was really nice.


10 comments:

Michelle Dargen said...

I made Locro too. :) My recipe was different from yours but so tasty. I will definitely be making it again. I made postinos (pumpkin fritters) to go with it.

Mmmm, potatoes and muenster. YUM!

NKP said...

I would love to try this cheese, what is it like?
Great job on the soup, it is very popular this week!

Dewi said...

Well done Andrea, sounds really comforting soup.

Deb in Hawaii said...

The soup looks delicious! I love munster cheese and with the potato it sounds so good!

Cathy said...

This soup looks wonderful -- so comforting for fall! It looks delicious!

Teresa said...

Yum! I may have to whip this one up for lunch today. Sounds wonderful on a cool fall day.

Zuri said...

Hi,
Ecuador food is more and more gaining recognition worldwide. There is a great variety of fruits and juices. Different types of plantains and bananas are a treat.

Among the best dishes you can find are: Fritada, Llapingachos, Fanesca Soup, Churrasco and of course Locro soup. Ceviche and Encebollado are also very popular in the coast and in the highlands of this country.

Next time you visit Ecuador don't forget to try one of the above delicious dishes.

Zuri

Shelby said...

Your soup looks really delicious! (and so does the pizza right below the MKMW post!!)

Susie Homemaker said...

I like your version of the Locro - yum! Wish I had used muenster! :)

Shandy said...

I love Munster cheese too and this soup was delicious! I love yours and you even blended it for smoothness. Great idea =D

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