Orange Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten by way of Smitten Kitchen, who provides a list of suggested variations on Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake. I decided on an orange/blueberry combination, using frozen berries. I was really afraid that these berries would sink since they were so wet after thawing - I let them sit in a sieve to thaw/drain for an hour then spread them out on paper towel for a while. I've changed the recipe to include only half of the amount of vegetable oil, since it really wasn't necessary and next time I might just leave it out and sub extra yogurt.

Orange Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

• 1 1/2 c. + 1 T. flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (a 500 g. container didn't quite have enough so I tossed in a spoonful of vanilla yogurt also)
• 3 eggs
• 2 t. grated orange zest (I went a little over this using 2 oranges)
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 c. blueberries
• 1/3 c. freshly squeezed orange juice

Glaze

• 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 T. freshly squeezed orange juice

Grease and flour a loaf plan, lining the bottom with parchment paper. Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, orange zest, and oil. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Toss the blueberries with the remaining 1 T flour (I used 1.5 T for my frozen, wet berries and mixed in a dry bowl instead of letting any flour touch wet paper towel). Gently, but quickly, fold berries into batter and pour immediately into prepared pan.

Bake for about 50 (+) minutes or until a cake tester placed in the center comes out clean. Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup orange juice and remaining 1 T. sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Allow loaf to cook in the pan for 10-15 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Place rack over a sheet pan. While loaf is still warm, use a toothpick to poke holes all around, then pour the orange-sugar mixture over the top and allow it to soak in.

Combine powdered sugar and orange juice to make the glaze (the amount I used is half of what Ina's recipe calls for, but it was plenty). Pour glaze over cooled loaf. My berries may have clustered a little but they didn't sink...success!

Gooey S'mores Brownies

Yes, I've been reading Joy the Baker's blog again. Back at it with the brownie thing. This time, I wanted to use up the rest of the s'mores supplies that my family brought down from the US. I haven't seen marshmallows or graham crackers anywhere in Argentina so you may have to do some importing for this recipe. After reading through the comments for S'mores Brownies, I decided to go with a more fudgy batter, but I thought the mallow placement and incorporation of graham crackers was genius. So I combined these elements with this batter. I really wanted them to be reminiscent of s'mores, so I used pieces of Hershey's chocolate for an authentic flavor. I also wanted a more gooey marshmallow so I didn't add them until 15 minutes into cooking time.

I'm so in love with these brownies. They're very similar to the taste of a s'more combined with everything you love about brownies. These are my favorite.

Gooey S'mores Brownies

• 1 1/3 c. flour (plus another 2 T. if using Argentine flour)
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 150 g. butter
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder
• 2 T. strong coffee
• 1 2/3 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 c. graham cracker, broken into pieces
• 1 Hershey's chocolate bar, broken into small pieces
• 12 marshmallows

Butter and flour a baking dish - the baking time for this recipe is based on using an 8x12 glass pan - if you use 9x13, you will want to decrease baking time by possibly 10 minutes. (Note that Joy's recipe is for 18-25 minutes.) Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt - set aside. Combine butter and cocoa powder in a double boiler, add coffee and stir to melt ingredients - set aside to cool slightly. Whisk together eggs and sugar, add vanilla. Slowly add chocolate mixture to sugar mixture. Add flour mixture and stir to combine. Fold in the graham crackers.

Pour batter into prepared pan and top with chocolate pieces. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and quickly place the marshmallows on top of the batter (don't worry if it seems not to stick - don't push them in too hard). Put brownies back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. (Adjust time if using a larger or metal pan).

Allow to cool for 20 minutes, cut into 12 squares, then I recommend eating immediately while still warm.

Rosario's Own Wee Britain! (kind of)

Once upon a time, the English came to Rosario to build and operate a railroad. And while they were at it, they built a tiny village within 2 oddly shaped blocks. Strangely, I didn't even notice it until recently - it's next to Shopping Alto and and Parque Scalabrini Ortiz. I'm not telling you this because I want you to go there, though - it's not a tourist attraction. It's referred to as Barrio Ingles - Batten Cottage (or what's left of it). It seems like an ironic cross between a Disney village and a ghetto.

La Capital did a short article on it 2 years ago, when it was around 120 years old. From what I can tell, Peron nationalized the railways in 1948 so the Brits have been gone for a while. It seems that it's now controlled (or not) by a federal agency - ONABE - which is something like a department of public assets, among other things. According to the article, some residents are paying 120 pesos a month to become eventual owners. Who knows how long that takes, or how someone gets in on that deal. But it's obvious that some residents sincerely care about the upkeep and preservation of their 'houses' and others are likely on government support. One neighbor admits that Batten Cottage lacks unity among residents and others complain about the lack of municipal support. Clearly, community block associations aren't a thing in Argentina. But the fact that it's under the auspices of the Argentine government pretty much explains what's going on here.

Here's a crappy part...

Yeah, that's a horse pulling a garbage cart - belonging to the people who dumpster dive.

And here's a lovely part...

So whether you're looking for a place to park your garbage horse or a picket fence, Wee Britain has it all!

Garden Vegetable Soup

It's been unseasonably warm lately (considering its the Northern Hemisphere's equivalent of December) and along with the unseasonable weather came some unseasonable veggies, perfect for making Alton Brown's Garden Vegetable Soup. I made roughly half of the following recipe:

• 4 T. olive oil
• 2 c. chopped leeks, white part only (from approximately 3 medium leeks)
• 2 T. finely minced garlic
• Kosher salt
• 2 c. carrots, peeled and chopped (approximately 2 medium)
• 2 c. diced potatoes
• 2 c. green beans, cut
• 2 quarts (8 c.) vegetable broth (which you can make with the green parts of the leeks)
• 4 c. peeled seeded and chopped tomatoes (approximately 6 medium tomatoes)
• 2 ears corn, kernels removed (about 1.5 cups)
• 1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
• *1 T. tomato paste
• 1/4 c. chopped parsley
• 1-2 t. lemon juice

Heat the olive oil in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the leeks, garlic, and a pinch of salt and sweat until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, and green beans and continue to cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the tomatoes, corn kernels, and pepper. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the vegetables are fork tender, approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add the parsley and lemon juice. Season, to taste, with kosher salt. Serve immediately.

*I added tomato paste for flavor since our winter tomatoes weren't exactly ripe and juicy.

I also didn't have any lemon to squeeze on top but added a little shredded parmesan.

Wedding Favors

Oh right, the wedding. I never got around to doing as many wedding re-caps as I'd thought about but, honestly, when it was over I was pretty burnt out and couldn't bring myself to talk about all of those carefully planned details. But it's been just over 6 months now (how long is one considered a newlywed?) and we were reminiscing the other night with some new friends, trying to explain the favors we gave out to our guests. So, dear friends, here are some photos of our personalized M&Ms, complete with our faces, names, and wedding date.

Of course they were totally cheesy and our faces were a little distorted (Guille's head is super huge in one of the pics) but that just made it even more fun and lighthearted. Plus, M&Ms are kind of gourmet here (being an import) so it was fun to add an American element to the wedding. We ordered them online (uploaded 2 photos) and had my family bring them down. We didn't have wedding colors so we just got silver, gold, and pearl. Oh, and they tasted great.

So, it's been over 6 months and I still don't have permanent residency. I had to go back to immigration and pay (at the bank) another 10 pesos to renew my temporary status AGAIN. There's an additional delay because an E was left off of my name on the Interpol records. And of course we had to fight about it because those immigration workers obviously don't want to be working. The last time I had to go in to provide something they lost, they said that everything was ok. So we were like, why didn't you tell us then?! And the dude helping us actually said, well there are a bunch of people working here it's not my problem. Really, dude? It seems like you all have on the same shirt. You all are suppose to be working together to finish things. Oh, but I forgot that I'm in Argentina and there is no final authority or anyone willing to take responsibility. Sit back, drink your mate, and get paid.

I wasn't the only pissed off immigrant that day. Another guy started yelling about how his worker was so mean and unconcerned, and made him feel so bad about himself. Why was that necessary? He yelled that someone should blow up the place. Did security detain him? HA! What security? The workers laughed.

Veggie Corn Chowder (and a national holiday)

Today's a big day for Argentina - not only are we celebrating the yearly revolution day but today is the country's bicentennial. To me, this equates to even more food and fireworks. Weeee! It's traditional to eat stew today, locro in particular. But Guille's mom is out of town and I'm not going to attempt a family dish (but Katie does a good job here). So I spent all day in the kitchen yesterday working on my soup repertoire.

Corn Chowder

• 2 T. butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 T. flour
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 carrot, shredded
• 1/2 t. thyme
• 1 can creamed corn
• 2 c. corn (I used frozen)
• 1-2 c. vegetable stock
• 1 c. milk
• 1/3 c. cream
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• black pepper and salt to taste

Saute onion and garlic in butter, when they start to soften whisk in flour, stirring constantly for a minute. Add in pepper and carrot (Add 1 T. EVOO if it's too stiff). It will be pasty but allow to cook for a few minutes. Season with thyme and a shake of salt. Add one cup veggie stock and simmer until veggies are soft. Add creamed corn, milk, and cream. Bring to a boil and add potato and corn - drop heat to a simmer, add salt and a good amount of black pepper to your taste and cook until potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes), adding stock if necessary to thin stew to your preference. You can re-heat this on the stove top with 1/4 c. milk or stock.

Throw in some empanadas! These are from Safyta (Dorrego, entre Mendoza y San Juan) and, yes, that's a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top of humita empanadas. Super delicious.

Here's the chowder and chili on a plate - yep, these are pretty thick. Happy 200!

Amelie Petit Cafe

Here's a glimpse into an adorable cafe in my favorite part of town...

Desayuno is AR 7.50

San Lorenzo 734 (the block where the street begins) across the street from Museo Estevez.