Avocado, Tomato, and Romaine Salad

This salad is great to take to an event at someone else’s home because you can (1) assemble this salad and (2) make the dressing separately and all the way up to 4 hours ahead.

Chill the salad, leave the dressing at room temperature and serve with the salted grilled flank steak.

Salad ingredients
1 avocado pitted and peeled
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
4 cups bite-size pieces romaine lettuce leaves
1 big ripe tomato cut into wedges

Dressing ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
About 1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper

Slice avocado thinly — arrange slices along one side of a shallow bowl. Brush the avocado with the vinegar. Put the lettuce in a mound in the middle of the bowl. Add the tomatoes opposite the avocado.

In small plastic container with a lid, shake together 3 tablespoons vinegar, the olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

If you are ready to serve, pour the dressing over the vegetables; mix gently at the table, adding pepper and more salt to taste.

This salad is simple.
This salad is easy.
This salad can be made up to 1 day ahead of time as long as you cover it and keep it cold.

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped finely
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 cups frozen corn kernels (yes I know I should say fresh, but six cups of boiling and slicing is quite a lot of work, and I’m eager to get outside).
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper

Directions
Stir chopped onion in oil that’s been heated in a frying pan over medium high heat for no more than 5 minutes — or until the onion is a little brown.

Add the corn and chicken broth and stir until liquid is evaporated, 8 to 9 minutes. Pour the corn mixture into a bowl and add lemon juice, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. If you’re feeling saucy, you can sprinkle the salad with chopped chives and lemon peel wispies for garnish.

You can serve this either warm or cool. This also goes well with the salted flank steak.

This salad, though not necessarily Chilean in execution, goes fantastically with the salted flank steak.

It reminds me of my mother’s seven layer salad, a bacon-y, mayonnaisey, pea-ey and most importantly, tasty concoction perfect for spring days.

Ingredients
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
2 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce
3 strips of bacon, chopped small and fried up
lettuce leaves
Salt and pepper

In a small bowl, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, and vinegar.
In a bowl, mix peas and lettuce. Stir dressing into vegetables and add salt and pepper to taste.

A fun, unusual dessert which is a great way to use up the bounty of summer fruits. Here you can also use frozen or even (gasp) canned fruit.

3 peaches, sliced thin
2 pears, sliced thin
3 plums, sliced thin
3 apricots, sliced thin
1 cup cherries, halved
1/4 c. butter
2 c. sour cream
1 c. dark brown sugar

About a half-hour before serving, put sour cream in a small pitcher or gravy boat. Pack the brown sugar on top of the sour cream. Don’t stir. Just let the sugar and sour cream sit at room temperature. The sugar will “melt” on top of the cream.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Gently mix all fruits, and put in a large, deep casserole dish. Dot with butter on top.

Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the fruit and juice is nicely hot.
Serve hot, and pass the sour cream mixture to each person to top his or her portion. Be sure to dip down to the bottom to get both the cream and the brown sugar

Since it’s tax day, you need a stiff drink. You also are probably feeling a little risky. So be forewarned, this drink has a raw egg white in it. This (oops) wine blogger bears no responsibility for salmonella poisoning.

(And if you’re pregnant, or a child, you probably shouldn’t be drinking this anyway.)

Both Chile and Peru claim pisco as their national drink. They’re still arguing over which country is the sole owner. I say Chile wins this one. Delicious!

Ingredients
4 ounces pisco
2 ounces lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 egg white
2 dashes Angostura bitters

In a large pint glass, mix two shots of pisco, the juice of two limes, the egg white, a half shot of the simple syrup. Shake and shake and shake the drink until the egg white gets frothy. Pour the mixture over a glass full of ice and top with two dashes of bitters.

Salud!

From my research, I’ve deduced that Chileans like their meat. This flank steak goes well with the avocado, tomato and romaine salad and the sweet corn salad in the days to come. This steak is great for a crowd, and delicious with tortillas. Easy. Peasy.

I’d eat it with a tasty bottle of (oops) Cabernet Franc.
(but that’s just me)

Ingredients
2 beef flank steaks (2 1/2 to 3 lb. total)
2 tablespoons kosher or coarse salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions
Light a gas or charcoal grill so that it’s so hot you can hold your hand at grill level for only 2 to 3 seconds.

Rinse meat, pat dry and rub salt evenly onto all sides. Rub all over with oil.
Let sit for 30 minutes.

Put meat on the grill and cook, turning once, until meat is done to your liking, 7 to 9 minutes total for medium-rare.

Transfer meat to a platter and let stand at least 5 minutes.
Cut into thin slices and serve with tortillas!

Tasty!

Manjar blanco or dulce de leche is sweetened condensed milk that’s boiled until it becomes all carmelly.
Dulce de leche isn’t hard to make, you just need to make sure you pay attention

You can make it in the can!
(It’s the easiest and the most amazing way to do it.)

Put an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a pot, cover the can with water, and bring the water to a boil. Keep the water at a low boil for two to three hours. It’s important that you make sure there is always more water in the pan than the top of the can or you’re risking an exploding can.

The longer the can cooks, the thicker the dulce de leche.

After two hours, it should be pourable. After three hours, it will be thick enough to spread.

Cool the can completely before opening.
Happy Dulce de leche-ing!