Another new hire, Trina and I have been talking about taking Ecuadorian cooking classes since we first moved here. Last week we finally made it happen after she organized for us to cook dinner at a fellow teacher’s house. Bacha has taught at Colegio Americano for close to 35 years and has a gorgeous apartment with a nice big kitchen. She invited us and a few other teachers over with the condition that if we brought the groceries, she would teach us how to use them. It was lots of fun and left us all about to explode by the end of the night. Here are some of the delicious things we stuffed ourselves with:
I was official note taker for the night so that we could all remember how to make things again once we got home. Look at me hard at work!
Our main dish for the night was llapingachos. These are kind of like a potato pancake filled with queso fresco. We topped them with a fried egg. Yummmm!
Bacha fried the llapingachos up reeeeaaaal slow so that the cheese in the middle would melt.
Recipe:
Peel a bunch of potatoes and boil
Smash potatoes up and add a little bit of corn oil and some achiote until the color is yellowish orange.
Form a pinch pot and add some shredded queso fresco and green onion into it.
Close up the pinch pot and form a patty.
Fry the patties slowly in corn oil.
Top with a fried egg
Recipe:Peel a bunch of potatoes and boil
Smash potatoes up and add a little bit of corn oil and some achiote until the color is yellowish orange.
Form a pinch pot and add some shredded queso fresco and green onion into it.
Close up the pinch pot and form a patty.
Fry the patties slowly in corn oil.
Top with a fried egg
Since we “slaved” over the llapingachos, Bacha prepared a few things ahead of time for us including this fabulous shrimp ceviche. I probably could have eaten just this for dinner it was so good!
This remolacha (beats) dish is a tradition Ecuadorian item too. It has cilantro and lime in it.
We finished the night off with figs and cheese and apple pie. No wonder I thought I was going to explode! Everything was excellent and now when you come to visit you can expect me to make you llapingachos!
From Russia with Love 
“Form a pinch pot…”
Hello, art teacher! ^^
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Yum! I want to take a cooking class!!! I also want to take a wine class. Why didn't we do these things at the union for like $20 in college?
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I will be expecting you to teach me this in a few months! 🙂
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Beets are so pretty and so good for you. Especially with cilantro. Yummy. What fun. Good idea too. Bacha has a beautiful kitchen.
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We can organize a cooking class with Bacha in exchange for Mexican cooking What about that??
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