Saturday, April 11, 2009

My Kitchen My World -- Guatemala


Our first My Kitchen My World country this month is Guatemala. I did not know much about Guatemalan cuisine before starting to research recipes for this event, so it was a fun challenge to learn some new recipes. Apparently two main staples of the Guatemalan daily diet are black beans and corn tortillas. This morning I started a big pot of Guatemalan Style Black Beans in the electric pressure cooker. Something went wrong with the cooking temperature and soon my yummy garlic and onion scented beans smelled scorched! I quickly figured out that I hadn't added enough water, oops! I checked to see what I could salvage and found charcoal encrusted chunks of black beans stuck to the bottom of the pot, and that was my last package of black beans. Oh-well. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, right? Right! I did find a package of dried pinto beans in the pantry and decided to use those in place of the black beans but still follow that recipe, and even my very picky husband ended up liking them!

My second Guatemalan dish was Arroz Guatemalteco -- Guatemala Style Rice, which was a delicious yet mild flavored simple rice side. During my "research" on Guatemalan recipes I read that Guatemalan food is very mildly spiced, unlike other Latin cuisines. That was just fine with my family, while I personally enjoy both mild and hot and spicy dishes, the rest of my family prefers mild, and loved this dinner.

My last dish was homemade corn tortillas which were a huge success. I could not believe how much I enjoyed these, I am usually a flour tortilla fan but these were delicious and I can't wait to make them again. My whole family from picky toddler to picky husband really enjoyed this meal so that brought a huge smile to my face. After such a great meal I will be on the lookout for more Guatemalan style recipes and foods for my family. Be sure to check out My Kitchen My World, maybe you'd like to join us for our next culinary destination -- Turkey, which we will be posting about two weeks from today. Thanks for visiting!


7 comments:

Lisa said...

This is so cool, I was wondering why no one had come up with a blogging event that made dishes from specific countries each week or month, but here it is! Once I'm healed and can stand and cook in the kitchen again, I'm in! Your dish looks delicious!

NKP said...

You made a great feast! I especially love the corn tortillas, yum!

Deb in Hawaii said...

I love homemade corn tortillas and the whole meal looks amazing!

Hmm...I need to start thinking about joining you guys for Turkey.

Elyse said...

So good to find out more about Guatemalan food. It all sounds delicious. Your tortillas turned out fabulously. Wish I could have one right now!!

Flourchild said...

Happy belated Easter! Your Food looks so good. Wonderful looking meal!! I missed SMS this week too. The cake sure sounded good but I just got to busy. I really want to make the turnovers..Im going to plan early!

Anonymous said...

Everything looks yummy. I love Central American food.

KC said...

You've inspired me to try making tortillas at home. Great feast, Andrea! Thanks for hosting.

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