Chacarero, an easy steak, green beans, tomato sandwich

Whoever happened to think that green beans belongs in a sandwich deserves our gratitude. Even my husband who is Chilean had forgotten how good is this sandwich and was not excited with this diner, then obviously wanted more. In Chile, is made in marraqueta, but you can replace it with French bread.
This sandwich has no mayonnaise or ketchup, if you like heat you can slice a light green chile, I usually use the thai chile.

Chacarero, an easy steak, green beans, tomato sandwich
for 2 people

Ingredients:

•      1 marraqueta or French bread slices lightly toasted
•      1 sirloin steak tenderized or cube steak
•      green beans
•      tomato
•      butter

Preparation:

1. Wash the green beans, cut the ends, and cut them lengthwise with a knife. Place them in a bowl and add a splash of water and sprinkle of salt, cook in the microwave 6 minutes, taste and cook until tender but still crisp. In my microwave they take 8 minutes. Allow to cool.
2. Add salt and pepper to the meat. In a medium skillet over high heat heat 1 teaspoon oil and cook the steak 1 minute per side. Cut into strips if desired.
3. Cut the tomatoes into slices and season with salt.
4. Cut and smear the bread with butter, place the meat, then tomatoes and chile if using, and finally the green beans. Serve immediately.

Truffle cake, truffle torte

This cake is very popular in Chile, is not your usual pancake, their are very thin layers of cake, much like tradicional European pastries. It is a labor of love, but the taste is amazing.

Truffle cake pancake
for a 24cm or 8' diameter cake, about 30 people

for the ganache,

     450 grams of chopped couverture chocolate, I use one with 60% cocoa, Callebaut brand
     2 1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream cold
      4 tablespoons butter at room temperature

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.
Place the cream in a small saucepan or in a Pyrex glass, heat over medium heat or microwave until it boils gently and you can see bubbles around the edges. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and let stand 1 minute. With a spatula or wooden spoon stir, in circles starting from the center out, the mixture to obtain a shiny chocolate cream, this takes some time, it is important to stir gently to keep it shiny, do not beat. Add the butter and stir until completely dissolved with the same gentle and circular movements.
Cool the ganache over the counter, will solidified to have a consistency like mayonnaise, this is the time to use it to fill and decorate.

for pancakes,

     500 grams of flour all purpose
     2 teaspoons of baking powder
     400 grams of granulated sugar
     12 eggs
     375 grams of butter at room temperature

preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.
Prepare 15 circles of 24cm-8' diameter of silicone paper, leaving an ear to handle them.
Separate the whites from the yolks. Combine the flour with the baking powder.
In a bowl beat the egg whites until foamy with mixer on high speed, about 3 minutes.
In a bowl working with a mixer cream the butter with the sugar. With the mixer on low speed now start adding the yolks to the butter mixture wait to be incorporated before adding the next egg yolk, in total about 5 minutes. Then add 1/3 of the mixture of flour and baking powder, beat at low speed to incorporate, add half of the egg whites, then the other 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining whites and the latest addition to the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until it forms a homogeneous batter.Place 1/2 cup of batter in each prepared paper and spread with a spatula or knife, leaving an even layer, work on top of a half sheet pan.Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, do not let it brown because they have more tendency to break and stick. Peel the paper of and start filling the cake immediately, putting a thin layer of ganache between each pancake. You will have some 15-16 pancakes.Covered the whole cake in ganache and then put a layer of chocolate glaze.For glaze,Reserve 1/2 cup of ganache in a pyrex jar, heat 10 seconds in the microwave, add 1 tablespoon or honey, mix and drop into the center of the cake, then gently tip over the cake, refrigerate for 5 minutes to solidify.
This cake does not need to be refrigerated, leave it rest the whole night. Enjoy the next day.
For more pictures you can visit my Spanish blog

Honey cake

Here are not very popular, but I grown up eating honey cakes and I love so. This recipe came from a dear friend, is a family recipe, obviously you have to use a honey like because the cake will have that flavor, the other important thing is that grows a lot in the oven, so do not fill the mold beyond half or they overflow.
Honey cake
12 muffins or 1 pound cake


Ingredients:

• 1 cup honey
• 125 grams of butter unsalted
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup warm milk (20 seconds in the microwave on high)
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white
• a pinch of salt or 1/4 teaspoon
• 2 1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C or 350F.
2. Pour the honey in a glass pyrex bowl add butter and heat in microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir well (for 1 minute), this should melt all the butter and mix with honey, if it is necessary,  heat 20 seconds more.
3. With a mixer, beat eggs on medium speed until frothy, about 2 minutes, add the honey and melted butter, milk, salt and vinegar, beat on low speed until incorporated everything. Sift the flour with baking powder and pour over the batter, beat at medium speed for 1 minute, at first the dough will look lumpy, must beat until it is homogenous and look like a batter. Pour into buttered pan covered with paper or silicone, may use a long cake pan or a round or make 12 cupcakes, just remember not to fill a lot of the molds.
4. Bake 45-50 minutes for large cakes or cupcakes for 25-28 minutes, test with a stick should come out dry. Cool in pan 5-10 minutes, then unmold and let cool completely.
5. You can save it in a bag for up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months.