Colombian Aji Sauce

One of my longest relationships was with a half Colombian boy who I met in college. He was genuinely a really nice guy. But we were young and had a lot of learning and exploring that we needed to do on our own. We were together for 6 years and we cohabitated for about half that time.

While the relationship did not last, I became familiar with a lot of Colombian dishes. I had the best homemade tamales, hearty steak dishes, and delicious soups. Even though it has been awhile, I distinctly remember the Colombian Aji sauce that was often served with empanadas and steak. I used to smother it over every Colombian dish I ate. Like chimichurri, Colombian Aji sauce is packed with herbs, but it has a thinner consistency. It tastes really good with steak and crispy potatoes! And if you don’t eat steak or meat, try it with roasted vegetables, rice, eggs, or fish. The sauce tastes great with everything! I could go on and on.

Below is the recipe for my version of the Colombian Aji sauce. If you’d like to learn how to make the perfect pan-seared steak to pair with it, you can also check out my previous Pan-Seared Steak recipe.

Colombian Aji Sauce (about 3-4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 6 scallions, thinly sliced

• ½ cup of finely chopped cilantro

• ½ jalapeno, deseeded and finely diced (or more if you like spicy)

• 1 medium sized tomato, diced

• 1 clove of garlic, minced

• 1 lime, juiced

• 2 tsp white vinegar

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• ½ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp sugar

• ¼ cup of filtered water

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together and let it sit for about 15-30 minutes before serving. It may look too thick at first, but don’t worry. The herbs will soften and melt into the liquid as the ingredients settle and meld together. Taste and adjust as necessary with additional vinegar or jalapeno.

Braised White Wine & Soy Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms

In my early stages of learning how to cook, I made many meals from a cookbook that I think was called How to Cook Everything. It wasn’t mine. It belonged to my live-in boyfriend at the time and it was a huge book! Probably the size of a dictionary. From what I remember, it had some good recipes. It has been awhile, maybe 15 years since I’ve last seen that book but I remember making a chicken dish that I really liked that had white wine, soy sauce, and mushrooms. And that is really about all I remember from the recipe. This week, I wanted to try to recreate it. So I played around with some ingredients and came up with this recipe. I think it’s pretty good. It’s simple and easy to make and it only requires a few main ingredients.

BRAISED WHITE WINE & SOY CHICKEN THIGHS WITH MUSHROOMS (serves 2-4)

Ingredients:
• 1½ lbs chicken thighs (about 4 small, bone-in with skin)
• 10-16 oz of white button or crimini mushrooms, sliced (depending on how much you love mushrooms)
• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, diced
• 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• ½ cup of white wine
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ Tsp salt
• ½ Tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ cup of water
• parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Season chicken w salt and pepper. In a braising pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Pan-sear chicken for a few minutes with skin side down, until golden brown. Then set aside.

Lower heat down to medium. Add another tbsp of olive oil. Brown onions and garlic. Add mushrooms and cook until they have shrunken.

Pour in wine and soy sauce. Add salt, pepper, sugar, and thyme and gently stir. Return chicken to the pan, skin side up. Cover pan, with lid slightly ajar, and cook for about 30 minutes.

Remove chicken and set aside.

Taste the sauce in the pan. It should be very flavorful and maybe even a bit salty. Add about ½ cup of water or less to dilute. Increase heat if need and let the sauce reduce and thicken for about 5 minutes.

Serve chicken over rice and spoon over a generous portion of mushrooms and sauce on top. Sprinkle w parsley.

Cajun Blackened Shrimp

After dating someone of Cajun descent, I became much more interested in Cajun cuisine even though the relationship did not last. I started frequenting (aka ordering delivery because we’re in a pandemic) Stevie’s on Pico and their Cajun food is DELISH! I really love their gumbo. While I do want to try making gumbo myself, I find it to be a little intimidating with all of the ingredients and fresh seafood. Someday though, I will try! Whenever I order delivery, I try to make it worth it by ordering enough food to last a couple meals at least. In addition to their gumbo, I’d order fried chicken and blackened shrimp. I love shellfish so the blackened shrimp really left an impression on me.

After researching recipes for blackened shrimp and experimenting a few times, I think I have a recipe that works! This dish is definitely going to make it into my weekly rotations. Super easy to make and so good!

CAJUN BLACKENED SHRIMP (serves 1 as a main)

Ingredients
• about 10 raw shrimp—peeled, deveined, tail off. Make a shallow cut along side the back.
• ¼-½ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions:

In a bowl, combine all of the dried spices together (except for the fresh garlic) w ½ tbsp of olive oil. Add shrimp into the bowl and thoroughly coat with spice rub. Marinate for 30 minutes. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook one side for about 3 minutes. Flip over and cook for another minute. You may need to add more olive oil and lower heat. Then add sliced garlic to the skillet and continue to cook with the shrimp for about 1 more minute. Serve over rice with a wedge of lime. Sprinkle cilantro on top.

Alternative last step: After shrimp and garlic are cooked, remove from skillet and set aside. Keep pan on stove on medium low heat. Add a little olive oil or a ½-1 tbsp of water to deglaze all of the good bits left in the pan (that is if those bits aren’t too burnt). Cook for a couple minutes while scraping the bottom of the pan. Then add rice into the pan to scoop up all that goodness. Plate the rice. Add the shrimp and garlic on top. Sprinkle cilantro over the dish and serve with a wedge of lime.