Клео Коул - Espresso Shot

Add the mussels and shrimp to the pot. Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes. Add more stock during this stage if necessary. With 1 minute left, add the precooked peas to reheat them. Garnish with scallions and serve immediately.

This hearty dish is the Peruvian version of meat and potatoes. It’s a “mom and pop” meal with versions served in virtually every restaurant and home in Peru. Like spaghetti sauce, Mulligan stew, or shepherd’s pie, no two versions of lomo saltado are exactly alike. Make this dish your own by tossing in additional ingredients, such as a pureed tomato, or try different types of peppers. You can even marinate the meat for an hour prior to cooking. Use your favorite beef marinade recipe, or try soy sauce, or even cold coffee (which will impart an earthy note and help tenderize the meat).

Approximately 6 servings

Sirloin tips sliced thin, approximately two pounds

2-3 russet potatoes

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 cloves garlic

Tomato purée (optional)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 yellow onions

2 red onions

2 red peppers

2 yellow peppers

1 large (or 2 small) jalapeno pepper

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1 cup white rice (optional)

Cut the meat into thin strips and marinate for one to two hours (if desired).

Julienne and fry the unpeeled potatoes in a separate pan and keep them warm.

Now place a nonstick pan over medium heat and add the oil. Sauté the minced garlic and add the meat. When cooked through (two to three minutes) reserve the juice in a separate container.

Add the tomato purée (if desired), the sea salt, and ground pepper to the meat in the pan. Cook for a few minutes, then add the soy sauce while stirring the contents of the pan. Next add chopped onions, chopped peppers, oregano, and the chopped cilantro. Return the reserved juice from the meat to the pan. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.

To serve, place meat and vegetables in a large serving dish and garnish with fried potatoes. In Peru, this dish is also served with cooked white rice.

TIP: Be sure to start with blanched almonds. (To save time, look for slivered almonds in the store, which are already blanched). Toast the almonds by spreading them on a cookie sheet and baking them in the oven for about ten minutes (350°F.). Then you can grind the almonds in a food processor, or just put the nuts in a plastic bag and bang away at them with a cleaver until you have a powder. (I use a small coffee mill to grind my nuts and spices, but I only use it for that purpose. The mill you use to grind your whole bean coffee should only be used for coffee.)

For a quick shortcut, use peach nectar.

The highly nutritious grain quinoa (aka Inca rice, still popular in Peru after 5,000 years) may be substituted for regular rice in this recipe.