Blog Posts by Lili's Latin Kitchen

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Scrambled eggs ready to eat!Breakfast really is one of the most important meals of the day; it raises your awareness, gets your metabolism going and gives you the energy to get started on your daily activities. Growing up, my all time favorite breakfast was my mom's huevos con mazorca (scrambled eggs with corn). It was the simplest recipe, and yet my mom never had to wake my sisters and I to get us to eat. As soon as we smelled the corn, we rushed to the kitchen to set up the table.

Pan fry the bacon in its own oil. Eventually, I learned how to make the dish and started experimenting by adding other ingredients in addition to the corn. Here's my take on my mom's classic dish, perfectly hearty and warm for the morning after New Year's with no stress after a night of cooking.

Easy-to-make natilla

(1 serving)
3 oz. smoked bacon, chopped
1Ž4 cup corn, defrosted
2 eggs
2 tbsp. whole milk
1 bread slice

Beat the eggs with milkDirections

Pan fry the bacon at medium heat until the fat is

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Buñuelos ready to enjoy!

Christmas in Latin America comes with an array of cultural festivities that can vary from country to country. In many families, the Novena de Aguinaldos (nine days of prayer preceding Christmas) has been a tradition for decades. During the Novena, we listen to parts of the Nativity story with songs and prayers alternating throughout the reading. Family members take turns hosting the Novena in their homes, and serve traditional holiday dishes after the reading.

In my family, we gather around the Nativity scene, and each one of my sisters takes turns reading a prayer; this has been our ritual since we kids learned to read. When Grandma was with us, we had to make an enormous effort to keep calm and read each sentence correctly, because the moment one of us mispronounced a word, the rest of the sisters would burst out laughing during what should be a solemn moment. Once we'd calm down, we'd find Abuela staring right into our eyes.

mixing the corn starch with the cheese Christmas

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Holiday Natilla

In Colombia, we celebrate the holidays with a variety of festivities that officially begin on December 8th, or Día de las velitas (Day of the candles). Family and friends gather around to light candles as a sign of peace and harmony, but of course the celebration doesn't stop there. There will be celebrations, music and food. Lots of food. And more specifically- desserts.

My family's choice dessert is natilla, a thick custard similar to flan or crème brûlée. I always thought it was a complicated dish to make, so I limited myself to eating instead of cooking it. A few weeks ago I found a natilla quick mix at the Latin supermarket, and gave it a try. It tasted just like the one we have back home, topped with a semi-sweet blackberry sauce just like abuela made. Now, I am ready for the holidays with a simple recipe that will bring great memories to the entire family.

Try this recipe with my leftover turkey croquettes

Holiday Natilla

Ingredients 

(4

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Colombian Eggnog

Mi nana was great in the kitchen and had some very unique recipes that the family requests on special occasions to this day. She was famous for her empanadas, bean soup and caspiroleta. Caspiroleta is a dairy based drink she made before bedtime; it was the perfect, warm treat before going to sleep.

As we grew older, her version of caspiroleta became a holiday tradition when she decided to make it more festive by adding rum. The texture and flavor is similar to eggnog but not as sweet, spiced with cinnamon, brown sugar and a dash of flour to help thicken the mixture. Gearing up for the holidays, I got the recipe from my nana to recreate it this season. Enjoy it while chatting up your loved ones. ¡Salud!

Nana's Caspiroleta

Try this recipe with my plantain soup

Ingredients 

(2 servings)
2 cups milk
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 egg
2 oz. dark rum

Directions

Nana's caspiroleta

Warm up the milk in a pot set at low heat. Gradually whisk in sugar to the milk.

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Pastelón or Torta de Plátano

My Venezuelan friends are constantly bragging about their traditional food and how it's better than that of my hometown.Venezuela and Colombia share a number of similar dishes but with different names. For instance, they call passion fruit juice jugo de parchita, and we call it jugo de maracuyá. A beef stew with the same ingredients is called asado negro in Venezuela, and in Colombia we call it carne en posta. But the ultimate name change is what happened to a recipe featuring baked plantain and ground beef: we call it torta de plátano, and they call it pastelón.

Pastelón or Torta de Plátano

While Venezuelans claim their plantain dish is better, I had to prove them wrong by making a Colombian version. Hey, nothing like a little sibling rivalry, right? Whether you decide to go the Venezuelan or Colombian route, it's a must try dish, especially during the holidays.

Espero que les guste...

Ingredients 

(4 servings)
8 tbsp. canola oil
½ onion, chopped
½

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Paella for all the primos

In Latin America, it is very common to have an extended family composed of close friends we like to call primos or cousins. In addition to biological cousins, primos are people we grew up with- neighbors, school mates, lifelong family friends. Growing up in Colombia, having four sisters in the family meant four times the number of cousins and friends to attend parties and family gathering. You can imagine my mom's difficulty when it came time to cook for everyone!

One year for one of my sister's birthdays, mom decided to make two big pans of paella the night before. Then, the day of the party, all she had to do was heat the paella in the oven, and serve it with crusty French bread. All the primos loved the dish and helped themselves to multiple seconds. My mom was ecstatic to have found a formula that helped her feed the entire family, and at the same time allow her to enjoy the party out of the kitchen.

Paella for all the primos

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Pastelitos

While Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays of the year in the United States, it's just another day in Latin America. My family didn't celebrate the holiday when we first moved to the US, but we couldn't help feeling left out. All the neighbors and friends spent days in the kitchen preparing for this all-American holiday.

A couple of years later, a guy from North Carolina- David- started dating my sister. When he met our family, he came upon a very joyful group where every evening was filled with dinner parties and wine-tasting nights. Since his family lived out of town, and we partied like no one else, he decided to come over on Thanksgiving expecting a big feast. You can imagine his shock when he arrived with a big, cooked turkey, and he found us in the kitchen making a simple ham and potato salad. We had no idea what a green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle or pecan pie was, let alone that these were traditional holiday

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Garbanzo Beans with Chorizo

Growing up, my parents traveled quite often to attend educational seminars around the world. One year they attended a meeting in Madrid, Spain; while the business part of it lasted only one week, my parents decided to extend their stay and tour Europe. After what seemed like an eternity without my parents, they finally arrived back in Colombia filled with amazing culinary experiences and brand new recipes. My dad, the cook, gathered the family to try one of the dishes he enjoyed the most while in Spain. It was a blend of garbanzo beans with chorizo, bathed in a creole sauce with a thick garlic paste- a perfect blend of flavors! Unfortunately, I never bothered to ask my Dad for the recipe.

While vacationing in Spain last Summer, I went to a small tapas restaurant and- surprise!- found the same garbanzos with chorizo on the menu. I ordered it without hesitation, and when I took the first bite, I was that little girl again, living in Colombia