Chile is guarded by the looming Andes Mountains. Yet, Chile is not primarily a mountainous country. It holds a desert, river valleys, islands, as well as the mazes of mountains.
So basically, Chile is pretty tight.
Over 17 million people call Chile home, and 99% of them speak Spanish, while a mere 10% primarily speak English or English as a second language. So make sure to pack your Spanish dictionary when you make your trip!
The currency of Chile is the Chilean peso, valuing at $636.49 for every 1 US dollar, which kind of boggles my mind. A gallon of milk in Chile is worth 2,599.32 CLP, which would equate to 4 US dollars. So it's not like you can just move to Chile and automatically be rich!
Chile is the host of Easter Island! It's the world's most isolated island, lying some 2,300 miles west of Chile. Known for it's 887giant statues carved from volcanic stone, don't confuse these moai statues with Stonehenge! The Polynesian Rapa Nui people carved the Easter island statues.
Chile holds the record for the longest dry spell in the world. The Atacama Desert did not receive rain for 40 years.
The world's smallest deer is only found in Chile and just look at how freaking cute it is.
 |
| The Pudu deer |
There are more UFO sightings in Chile than in any other place in the world. Because of this, Chile is one of the few countries on Earth that has a government-funded UFO research program.
There have been so many sightings, in fact, that the town of San Clemente built a 19 mile UFO trail with plateaus that UFOs can use for landing pads.
After doing tons and tons of research, we could find no "national dish" of Chile, albeit the national staple food of Chile would have to be corn and seafood, you just can't escape it. Because of this we decided to make a native, popular Chilean dish, hoping our research would be over. Then it came to the fact that almost every dish is made with corn, and corn isn't very THM friendly.
More research.
I probably Googled "Chilean recipes" 10 different ways, trying to get different results. We just couldn't decide.
Then finally, FINALLY, we found this recipe and decided it was the one!
Caldillo de Congrio!
 |
| (Definitely not our finished product. This is way too beautiful) |
This fish stew we decided is an S meal because of the heavy cream used.
This was, by and far, the easiest meal we have made yet (out of 3 meals ha). It took us only about 30 minutes to make. It was so easy, and spoiler alert, it was so good.
Let's get started!
Ingredients:
 |
| That Mickey Mouse thingy on the right holds our pepper. LOL. |
2 Tbs coconut oil
1 onion-- thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic-- minced
1 Tbs paprika
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup white wine
4 cups seafood stock
2 Tbs cilantro-- chopped
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste
1 lb. white fish-- cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream
10 oz. large shrimp-- peeled & deveined
1 jalapeno pepper (optional!!!)
1 lime-- cut into slices
Optional hot sauce
This recipe was awesome because we only had to change one thing for it to be THM approved! Coconut oil instead of olive oil. I'm surprised I haven't started sprouting little coconut hairs with all the coconut oil I've been consuming lately. But talk about a gift sent from heaven!
Traditional Chilean caldillo de congrio does call for eel fillets. We used cod instead. I also put three exclamation points behind the optional jalapeño pepper because o m g, this was spicy!! Use with caution!
Steps:
Heat 2 Tbs coconut oil in a large pot over medium/high heat. Add 1 thinly sliced onion and sauté until translucent. (3-4 minutes)
Stir in garlic cloves, paprika, and jalapeno and sauté 1-2 minutes.
 |
| The steam had a good ole time messing up my pictures. |
Stir in diced tomatoes (reserving the juice) and white wine. Cook for 5 minutes.
We admit that we are no wine experts. I'm underage (boo) and my mother just doesn't drink wine. We used this wine. Who knows if it was the right choice. If you happen to be a connoisseur in wine, feel free to use whatever kind you think would fit best! The guy is fishing in the picture in the wine we chose, so why not?
 |
| Random wine from the alcohol isle in Kroger |
Add 4 cups of seafood stock. We used "Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold Classic Seafood Stock" instead of making our own seafood stock from scratch. It makes 4 cups total which is what the recipe calls for - PERFECT! We used the reserved liquid drained from the diced tomatoes and added water to equal 4 cups, then added the stock mix.
Along with the seafood stock, add cilantro, bay leaf, and salt & pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium/low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
 |
| The smell of this got everyone excited! |
Add fish and shrimp and continue to simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until fish is cooked through.
Stir in cream and immediately serve in bowls. Garnish with cilantro, optional dash of hot pepper sauce (not for us due to the already spicy jalapeño we used), and a lime squeezed over.
Savor.
Yummmm!
Thoughts and Comments:
Madeline: I don't know how we've lucked out to where each of the three meals we've made were on different continents, but we did! It's amazing to actually taste the differences between the cultures. Chile was pretty great. I can honestly say that without this project, I would have NEVER suggested to make this for dinner. Or any type of fish stew for that matter. That's why I love this project so much because I'm getting to eat foods I would have never tried before. I L-O-V-E spicy food. This dish though, I guess because it's a soup, the jalapeño pepper was in your face the whole time you ate it. It was good, but even I would say maybe half a jalapeño next time. And yes, this was good and easy enough for there to be a next time. Also, shoutout to my sister, Catherine, for helping us for this meal; although it seems her favorite part of each meal is hitting the random number generator button to see which country is next.
 |
| Catherine suited up for the meal-making! |
Lisa: I am not the biggest onion fan. As a child, if I even SAW an onion in something, I would refuse to eat it, causing my Mom to blend onions with whatever liquid was in the meal before cooking. Now I will eat them cooked - still can't handle them raw! So we sliced the onions thinly as called for. Next time I would dice them. Even cooked, I did not enjoy seeing the big rings of onions on my spoon! We had a lot of fun planning this recipe and shopping for the ingredients today and cooking together. Such a fun Mother/Daughters afternoon! My husband does NOT like any type of seafood so it was a good thing he was at work today. We bought a new candle to burn so the smell wouldn't knock him over when he comes home tonight! Oh! And I was excited about adding the shrimp, but surprisingly enough, I enjoyed the cod pieces more!
Up Next: Turkey!
( ^^^ that's not us. I wish it was though. Maybe we'll reveal what we look like in the next post. In the meantime, enjoy these talented Chileans that I found on YouTube.)
Once again, Caldillo de Congrio:
Heat 2 Tbs coconut oil in large pot over medium/high heat. Add 1 thinly sliced onion and sauté until translucent. (3-4 minutes)
Stir in 4 garlic cloves (minced), 1 jalapeno chopped and seeded, and 1 Tbs paprika. Cook 1-2 minutes.
Drain 1 can diced tomatoes and reserve the juice. Stir in tomatoes and 1 cup white wine. Cook 5 minutes.
Add 4 cups seafood stock, 2 Tbs cilantro, 1 bay leaf, and salt & pepper to taste. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium/low. Simmer 15-20 minutes.
Add 1 lb. chopped white fish and 10 oz. shrimp. Simmer 5-8 minutes, or until fish is cooked through.
Stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream. Serve immediately. Garnish with cilantro and freshly squeezed lime.
Serve and savor.
No comments:
Post a Comment