Pollo Al Disco

Food prepared “al disco” does not refer to a particular recipe but rather a cooking style. 

Traditionally farm workers would use the blade of their plough; flipped on its side, wiped clean and with a fire lit below - these days we use a huge iron plow disc heated over a wood fire, but you can recreate this in a heavy bottom pan. Discos provide a large surface area for cooking while remaining easily portable, they are particularly useful for preparing meals away from the kitchen. 

The following recipe for pollo al disco is using white wine, but this can be substituted with beer.

Serves 4  

3 x chicken breasts - either cooked whole or cut into chunks

2 onions

2 red peppers sliced

2 green peppers 

A handful of fresh herbs chopped

2 diced garlic cloves

Cream

Chilli flakes

Paprika 

2 bay leaf

White wine

Water

Olive oil

To prepare the chicken use breast meat or cut into chunks on the bone (if leaving pieces on the bone it will take longer to cook).  Once the disco is placed over the flames begin cooking immediately or it will burn and smoke. Add a splash of oil and sauté the chicken, stirring often until the chicken has colour all over. Once the chicken has begun cooking add the onions and garlic, allow to soften. Then add white wine, peppers, spices and herbs - flavor according to taste. Continue to add wine and water throughout cooking to ensure the meat doesn’t dry out. Stir often. Do not taste the sauce until the chicken is cooked. 

Once the chicken has been cooked, and you are ready to serve drizzle some cream over the chicken, as you plate it.  

The History of Dulce de Leche

Eaten with almost everything in Argentina, dulce de leche is spread on toast, used to fill facturas, decorate flans, or just eaten straight from the jar. 

As the local legend tells it, the birth of dulce de leche can be put down to a culinary accident that occurred in 1829. 

With the hope of ending a period of civil war in Argentina, the leaders of opposing political and military forces, Juan Manuel de Rosas and Juan Lavalle, decided to call a truce. Rosas invited Lavalle to sign the Cañuelas Pact at his headquarters on a large ranch called La Caledonia. Lavalle arrived at the ranch tired from the journey, and he decided to rest a bit before meeting with Rosas. He decided to take his siesta in the tent where Rosas normally slept.

Meanwhile, one of Rosas’ servants was busy preparing the ‘lechada’ - hot milk with sugar - that was drunk as an accompaniment to mate during that period. When the servant went to take some mate to Rosas, she found Lavalle in Rosas’ tent and panicked. Unaware of the planned meeting between the two leaders, she alerted the troops to the presence of the “enemy,” leaving the lechada unattended on the stove in the chaos. When she finally returned, she discovered that the contents of the pot had turned into a thick, gooey spread—what we know today as dulce de leche.

Alfajores Marplatenses

Not a cake, or a biscuit, it is more of a sandwich cookie, a traditional argentine sweet and the perfect base for dulce de leche. With Arabian origins they were brought to Argentina by the Spanish, and have slowly evolved overtime and like most food in Argentina, they have been reinvented across the country and changing in many provinces. Alfajores Marplatenses are from the Buenos Aires coast and are the standard assumption of Alfajores.  An alfajor can combine chocolate, dulce de leche, meringue, coconut, icing sugar, jam and even mousse. 

340g Self raising flour 

160g cornflour

60g cocoa powder 

150g butter

2 eggs

Splash of milk

50g honey

1tsp vanilla extract 

A jar of dulce de leche

Cream sugar, butter and vanilla extract.  

Add egg and mix well using a fork.

Then add the milk.

Add dry ingredients in 2 stages, if necessary add a little more flour until becomes like pastry. 

Chill the mixture for a minimum half an hour. 

Roll out and cut into circles. 

Cook in an oven of 180ºC/355°F for 10 minutes or until the biscuits are firm but soft when pressed.

Once baked cooked leave to cool and then sandwich two biscuits together with dulce de leche. To finish can be finished dipped in a chocolate ganache or sprinkled with icing sugar. 

Butternut Squash Sorrentinos with Blue Cheese Sauce

Argentines claim that there’s nothing in Italy quite like a sorrentino, making them an Argentine invention. Unlike their close relative the ravioli, which aims for a balance between dough and filling, sorrentino’s are plump and overstuffed. As with other stuffed pastas, both the sorrentino dough and the filling can be imaginatively flavoured to create an endless number of options. The choice of sauce also plays an important role in the dish. A favourite on the estancia is a butternut squash with a butter, sage and garlic sauce or for the more adventurous a blue cheese sauce.

Sage and Butter Filling - fresh sage, butter, garlic, dried herbs, salt and pepper

Blue Cheese - a strong blue cheese we like roquefort melted with a splash of double cream

Pasta Dough

To make the stuffing, cut the butternut squash in half down the middle and then roast in the oven, with garlic until it is soft and both will peel away from the skin. 

Mash the butternut squash, sprinkling in salt, pepper, finely chopped chives and a handful of chilli flakes.

Begin rolling out the pasta using a pasta machine or rolling pin. If using a pasta machine roll through until about 4mm.

Use this mixture to fill the raviolis, whilst the pasta is cooking make a simple sauce. 

For the sage and butter sauce, simply melt butter in a pan and throw in handfuls of fresh sage, dried herbs, chilli flakes and diced garlic.. 

If you want a blue cheese sauce, simply melt the blue cheese of your choice, with a piece of butter and a splash of cream. 

A Los Potreros Asado

No visit to Argentina is complete without an asado, and at Los Potreros no matter the occasion we try to enjoy weekly asado’s ranging from suckling pig, cuts of beef, potatoes to a whole host of vegetables.

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The Asado

The Argentine asado (or barbecue) is more than just a meal; it is an essential part of Argentine life. The default option for celebrating birthdays, special events, and holidays, or simply just an excuse to gather with family and friends. You cannot visit Argentina without enjoying an asado. They tend to be long, drawn-out meals stretching through the afternoon and into the evening. An asado is cooking in its purest most simple form. 

Argentines prepare the meat for an asado very simply; just with salt. They prefer not to use marinades. The asador will season the meat with coarse salt, but the true flavour of the asado comes from good grilling techniques and high quality beef. Most Argentines prefer their meat cooked medium well or well done and often like the fattier cuts of meat, as they typically have more flavour.

At a typical asado, at least three of the following items will be prepared. Sausages are served first, followed by other cuts of meat. The other cuts of meat could include;

• Chorizo (pork sausage seasoned with salt, black pepper, garlic)

• Morcilla (blood sausage)

• Salchicha Parrillera (thin sausage rolled  in a large spiral)

• Mollejas (sweetbreads)

• Tira de Asado (short ribs)

• Vacío (flank steak)

• Bife de chorizo (sirloin steak)

• Matambre (flank)

• Achuras (offal)

• Chinchulines (small intestines)

• Riñones (kidneys)

There may also be grilled chicken, pork or kid offered as well. At Los Potreros and across Argentina, a suckling pig is cooked on the parrilla on special occasions such as Christmas or New Year’s Eve. 

Argentine asado’s are all about the meat, but there’s usually at least one or two token vegetables or non-meat dishes on offer. Provoleta, a grilled, gooey slab of cheese seasoned with fresh herbs from the garden, makes the perfect start to the meal. Potatoes, sweetcorn or bell peppers roasted also feature regularly on the Los Potreros menu.  

Starting the fire with dry hard wood creates better coals. Light the fire around 11:00 for a 14:00 lunch or earlier depending on the number of coals needed for cooking and type of wood.

Keep adding wood and once you have good coals place them under the parrilla. 

Cook the meat on top - it takes a long time for well cooked meat so bare this in mind. Once you have coals under the parrilla you can test to see if it is hot enough for cooking if you can hold your hand above for more than 10 seconds it needs more coals. Another sign to listen for is if you can hear the meat sizzling when you put it on the grill.

Traditional Argentine Beef Empanadas (Empanadas de Carne)

Derived from the word “empanar” meaning to wrap or coat, we have the empanada - a stuffed or fried pastry traditionally filled with a combination of meat, vegetables or even dried fruits. Across the country they are a fast food staple and every region including Cordoba, prepares their own variation of a filling. Typical empanadas in Argentina are much smaller in size than those in Chile, normally fitting into the palm of your hand.

Empanada Pastry

2 cups plain flour

2/3 cups unsalted butter (cold)

2 tsp baking powder

To make the pastry, combine the flour, baking powder and 1 teaspoon of sea salt in a large bowl. 

Finely chop or coarsely grate the butter, then rub into the dry mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Mix in just enough cold water to bring it together, then wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for 1 hour.

Roll out the pastry using a rolling pin or pasta maker and cut into large circles. 

A Traditional Argentine Filling

Empanadas in the Cordoba province are famous for being dulce salada, which means ‘sweet and salty’. You can use this recipe and by adding a couple more handfuls of raisins and a few teaspoons of white sugar they will become empanadas cordobesas. 

4 cups of ground beef or meat finely cubed  

6 white onions finely diced  

4 hard boiled eggs

1 can of tinned tomatoes 

1tbs paprika

2 handfuls of green olives

2 handfuls of raisins

A bunch of spring onions

1tbs chilli flakes

Salt and pepper 

Finely cube meat, or use ground beef sauté until cooked. 

In a separate pan sauté the onions until soft and then combine with the cooked meat, add the tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper. 

Add the remaining ingredients except the egg and allow the mixture to simmer and reduce down so that it is not-too liquidly. 

Allow the mix to cool completely. 

Roughly chop the eggs up and add with the spring onions and sliced olives into the mixture , stirring throughly. 

Fold the empanadas using the accordion fold and cook.

Place the assembled empanadas on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 180ºC/355°F for approximately 20 minutes or until the dough turns golden brown.

For a demonstration on folding empanadas check out our video here.

For a downloadable version click here.