Week 2

(I'm posting this again because it didn't seem to show up after I made it the first time so sorry if there are two copies of this post)

This week, our theme was South and Central American food. We tried to balance out where we ate and what we cooked so that we didn't run up our budget (in terms of buying food and ingredients). On Monday, we ate at a restaurant in Beaverton called Cemitas Poblanas where I ordered an Enchilada Pierna Cemita. This was essentially a sandwich that had pork, enchilada sauce, cheese, onions, jalapeños, peppers, carrots, avocados and onions. Here is a photo:

I really enjoyed it, and we were considering trying to cook cemitas on Tuesday but we ended up going with chicken fajitas (which is what Cai F-P) ate on Monday. We also made strawberry flavored aguas frescas to drink. Here are some photos from that day:

On Wednesday, we ate at a Colombian Foodcart downtown (on SW 2nd Avenue) called El Pilon. I got beef empanadas, and they were by far my favorite thing that we have eaten so far. I have had empanadas before, but these were probably the best ones I've had. They also came with homemade salsa, which made them even better. Photo:

On Thursday, we decided to make chicken arepas, which is what a couple people got at El Pilon. Here are some photos of how they turned out:

In terms of a sort of funny but also frustrating moment, on Thursday when we made arepas we ended up going to three different grocery stores looking for a special type of flour specifically used for arepas. We never found it, so instead we found a recipe online that allowed us to use cornmeal instead of the arepa flour (which is very similar to regular cornmeal but not the same). I think we all learned a lesson about planning ahead before buying ingredients, especially if we need specialty ingredients that are hard to come by. 

Questions for anyone reading: have you cooked either of the two items that we made this week? If so, did you find it/them to be easier or harder to cook in comparison to the other things you normally make? Also, next week our theme will be Asian food so do you have any recommendations for restaurants?