Favorite Peace Corps Recipes

Those of you who know me know that I love food. And that presented a problem in Honduras, because there is very limited range of not only prepared foods but also ingredients available for purchase. Here are some of my favorite recipes, made from ingredients that are easy to procure in any medium-sized town:

Chocolate Rum Cake

Cake:
1 package chocolate cake mix
2 chocolate pudding cups
4 eggs
1/4 C water
1/2 C Rum (or more)
1/2 C Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Glaze:
1/2 C (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 C sugar
1/4 C Rum (or more)
1/4 C Water

Preheat oven to about 325F. Grease cake pan. Place walnuts in the bottom of the pan. Mix cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, and rum. Pour batter into the pan. Bake at 325F for 50-60 minutes, until skewer or knife comes out clean.

Glaze: Combine butter, sugar, rum, and water in saucepan over low/medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Pour immediately over still-warm cake.


Lemon Bars

Crust:
1/3 C butter or margarine
1/4 C sugar
1 C flour

Filling:
3 eggs
3/4 C sugar
3 Tbs. flour
3 tsp. lemon zest
5 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Mix crust ingredients with a fork until crumbly. Press into an ungreased 8"x8" pan. Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, combine filling ingredients and mix well. Pour over baked crust. Bake 20 minutes more at 350F or until center is set. Cool before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (if you can get it).


Cold-Brewed Coffee

Mix: 2 parts coffee grounds to 9 parts water. (e.g. 1/3 C coffee to 1 1/2 C water.) Let sit overnight. Strain out grounds and pour over ice. Coffee comes out very stong, so dilute with water to taste (for me, that's about 1 part water to 4 parts coffee).


Pizza Crust (from PCV Annie Gingerich)

1 C warm water
1 pkg (2 tsp) yeast (levadura)
1/2 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 C flour
2 Tbs olive oil

Combine water, yeast and 1 1/2 C flour. Mix well. Add oil, salt, and rest of flour. Knead for 5 minutes. Let rest in oiled bowl covered with damp cloth for 1 hour.

P.S. Quesillo is a great substitute for mozzarella in Honduras. Freeze it ahead of time for easier shredding.


Fruit Pancakes (adapted from my friend Andrea's recipe)

1 1/2 C flour
1/4 C oats (avena)
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 Tbs oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 1/4 C soft fruit (for example, sliced banana, ripe mango, or strawberries)

Mix flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix milk, oil egg, and egg white until well mixed. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

Heat griddle (a comal works great) over high heat with 1 Tbs oil. Once griddle is hot, reduce heat to Med-High. Pour 1/2 ladle of batter onto griddle, and top with 4-5 pieces of sliced fruit. When pancake has bubbles, flip and cook until both sides are brown.

Serve with butter/margarina and honey.


Bean Burgers

2+ C cooked beans, drained and blended. (I use 1 or 2 bags of frijoles licuados.)
1 lb. tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, diced or crushed
1 can corn
1-2 C other cooked veggies of choice (optional)
1 small can jalapenos (optional)
2 eggs
1/3 C flour
1 C oats
2 tsp salt

Sautee onion and garlic, then add tomato and other veggies. Cook until tomatoes are a bit soft. In a blender, put beans, veggies, corn, jalapenos, eggs, and salt. Blend until smoothish. Pour mixture into a bowl, and stir in flour and oats. Desired consistency is like a thick pancake batter. Place a couple spoonfuls onto a hot oiled comal and shape it into a patty. Cook until it forms a brown crust on each side.