The Menu: We Were Never Here
This Chilean-inspired spread celebrates Emily and Kristen’s last carefree summer trip before everything starts to unravel. The book does not spend much time on food, so I built the menu around dishes that bring a little taste of Chile to the table. Think flaky empanadas, punchy sauces and a comforting summer stew. Buen provecho!
Drinks
Raise a glass to friendship and adventure with Confetti and Bliss’ classic Chilean pisco sour. Made with pisco, fresh citrus, simple syrup and frothy egg white, it is smooth, tangy and refreshing. Pisco is a grape brandy with deep roots in both Chile and Peru, where each country claims the pisco sour as its national cocktail. Use Chilean or Peruvian pisco and whichever citrus you can find, from key limes to regular limes or lemons. Salud!
Appetizer
Start with Chilean Food and Garden’s beef empanadas, filled with ground beef, onions, olives, raisins and diced egg. I like to make the filling the night before and add extra garlic because it makes almost everything better. The dough needed 1 to 2 cups more flour than the recipe called for, so keep adding a little at a time until it feels soft and flexible, similar to pasta dough. You will also need extra flour for rolling and another egg for the egg wash. Serve the empanadas with pebre chileno, a fresh cilantro sauce, and chancho en piedra, a tomato sauce. I added a few extra garlic cloves to both, blended each in a food processor and seasoned them to taste. Save the leftovers because both sauces are also great with the salad and soup.
Salad
Keep things fresh with Bakers Beans’ ensalada chilena, a simple combination of ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced white onions, and fresh parsley. It is light and crisp alongside the empanadas and stew. Spoon a little leftover pebre or chancho en piedra over the top for extra flavor.
Soup
Next up is porotos granados, a Chilean summer stew made with beans, butternut squash, corn and fresh basil. It is filling without feeling too heavy, which makes it a good match for the empanadas and salad. I topped each bowl with sliced banana peppers and a spoonful of leftover pebre or chancho en piedra. Allrecipes’ version works well no matter what season it is in your hemisphere.
Dessert
Save room for leche asada, Chile’s version of flan that is also popular across Latin America. The name means “roasted milk,” and unlike Spanish flan, it has a slightly firmer texture and bakes directly in the oven without a water bath. I divided the custard into 8 to 10 ramekins before baking so everyone could have their own. Find the recipe at Sweety Saltado.
As you finish the last bites of this Chilean-inspired meal, raise your glass to girls’ trips, faraway places and friendships that have less drama than Emily and Kristen’s. Their vacation may have gone very wrong, but it still makes a good case for getting out into the world with people you trust. Here’s to planning the next adventure, trying something new, and coming home with stories you will actually want to tell.
