It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. I’ve been out of town and rather busy, but alas things have slowed down a bit and I was up to some leisure activities this weekend. Sundays are dedicated to cooking at our house. Today we had a Peruvian feast featuring one of my favorite Peruvian dishes, Papa a la Huancaina or “Papa a la Wank” for short. It’s a dish featuring a velvety, yellow spicy cheese sauce poured over potatoes. In short, YUM.
Here is a quick recipe and some pictures I took of the Papa a la Wank-making process. Please note that having watched this made over the years by my mother-in-law and and having made it myself, I don’t have any exact measurements. I will try my best to put some in, but it’s been all instinctual up until this point. A splash of this, a dash of that. That’s how we roll. . .
You will need:
- a blender
- potatoes (about six)
- one yellow bell pepper
- one orange bell pepper
- about four yellow aji peppers (from Peru). You can substitute with another hot pepper if you don’t have access to Peruvian aji.
- one tablespoon olive oil
- one quarter of a red or white onion
- four gloves of garlic
- a few dashes of turmeric
- one package of queso fresco (white cheese)
- 4 or 5 Saltine crackers
- about 1/4 cup of milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- Boil the potatoes
- Quarter both bell peppers and poil in another pot
- In a small saucepan,saute garlic, onion, aji peppers, and turmeric.
- After bell peppers are soft (about 15 minutes) add them to saucepan and continue to sauté until everything is mixed and soft.
- In a blender, add queso fresco, the contents of the saucepan, milk, and crackers.
- Blend until smooth.
- Peel potatoes and slice.
- Pour sauce over potatoes and garnish with lettuce, black olives, and hardboiled eggs.
Papas
Making the a la Wank
Mmmm, yellow. . .
I was so caught up in eating, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! This is what it looks like when done (not my photo):
Papa a la Huancaina
