Cazuela

Hey there winter bunnies! We have had such positive responses from previous recipe posts we want to give you another. This is true Chilean comfort food..a version of piping hot chicken noodle soup without the noodles. Micah fell in love the first week we arrived and although it is summer here and folks think she is strange Micah cant stop eating it. The dish- cazuela. The recipe-(easy to alter to your liking) is de Tia Marcela.



Ingredients:

• chicken or roast beef (if you choose chicken use 1/2 a bird sliced in the middle or be sure to include the legs and skin for flavor)


• 1/2 potato per person


• 1/2 corn on the cob per person


• acorn squash- a decent chunk per person


• sweet potato- optional also 1/2 per person

(In cazuela, the ingredients are not chopped into bite size pieces, rather each bowl has a half a piece of corn, a half a potato, one piece of meat, etc.)

• rice- handful


• oregano


• cumin


• salt


• fresh cilantro- the more the better as far as I am concerned

Directions:

• Submerge chicken in water, add rice and vegetables. Be mindful of what veggies will take the longest and add accordingly.


• Sprinkle with oregano and salt


• Bring to boil.


• Reduce heat and check veggies. Take them out if they are done while the chicken and rice finish. Dont overcook the veggies!


• Salt to taste and add fresh cilantro.


• Gigi´s aunt says to let the soup sit for a few minutes covered after it is done to let the flavors set in. Leftovers on Day 2 also taste great.

Let us know how it turns out!

The Lakes Region with the folks

After we left Pucòn we breezed through the lakes region and got to see alot. Here`s a little collage of what we did starting with Pucòn. There`s tons of pictures in our photo album (see link to right) if you want more.

No matter where you are in the lakes region, there is usually a volcano a short distance away. This is Volcàn Osorno, who had erupted just a few days before we arrived.



The south of Chile is full of German influence, both from fleeing Nazi`s and from hippie ex-patriots (according to some Germans we met on the road). You can see the influence in the architecture, skin & hair color, food, uniforms, and random street decorations like in the photo (they`re little windmills?!).



For instance, cheese!



Also in Pucòn there is a LOT of wooden artesenia.



On our first night we went to some rustic hot springs.



There were around 7 pools of varying depths, size and heat to choose from. Everyone was drinking wine and settling into a late night of partying. We left at 11pm, just in time to catch a glimpse of the stars while submerged in the water.



Unfortunately, our car got broken into while we were in Pucòn. BUT, nothing was stolen so it was more of a nuisance than anything else.

After Pucòn we headed further south to the little island of Chiloè. We finally got some of the infamous wet weather we´ve heard so much about.

Chiloè was a place we really enjoyed. It`s got lots of history and, because of its isolation as an island, you can still experience alot of that historical culture. There are tons of legends of ghosts and creatures and a huge fishing culture. And, of course, some of the oldest standing churches around. The place made a huge impression on us also because everyone was incredibly nice. Like maybe the nicest-people-we`ve-ever-met kind of nice. Actually, we talked a little bit about how it reminded us of the southern hospitality we live in back home.

We decided to venture out of the city and visit the national park which was absolutely beautiful... rain and all.






So far Pucòn and Chiloe have made our ¨possible free week options¨ list.



After Chiloè we headed back into the lakes district working our way towards Bariloche, Argentina. Here is Volcàn Osorno, a big hunker of a volcano (but aren`t they all?). We rented a cabaña and decided to drive as far as we could up the volcano.



And we hit snow!




We all had ALL of our clothes on it was so cold... we couldn`t believe it! In the middle of the summer and it was snowing.

Here we are on a boat in the middle of Lago Todos Los Santos, my mom said it was considered to be one of the most pristine lakes in the region. The color of the lake was incredible.

Volcàn Osorno from the boat.



And then we visited Lago Ranco and ate lunch in an amazing restaurant in Llifèn (SE corner of lake) overlooking the lake. The food was incredible and we got silly off the white wine.







We eventually crossed the border and drove to Bariloche via Ruta 7 Lagos. We took a walk in the woods, visited one of the most famous hotels in the world and had a lunch we`ll never forget in Colonia Suiza.



Under this smoking mound of dirt is our lunch. It`s called a Curanto and this restuarant serves it up as a 7 course meal every Sunday and Wednesday.



Under the dirt is a layer of cloth and then wet leaves (see them covering the potatoes?). The whole place smelled of the leaves! Under the leaves is the food and below that are HOT rocks that slowly cook the food, which absorbs the flavor of the smoking leaves.

My mom finnagled our wa to a little table outside for our meal... turns out, unless yer related to Eliana, you need a reservation

Our amazing entertainment for the evening. By the end of the evening he had everyone clapping and singing along to old Argentine folk songs

See how hard they work me?

After lunch and all that hard work, we visited the beach of Colonia Suiza

Pucon

After celebrating a quiet New Year`s with Gigi`s parents and tia Marcela, we headed south in the rental car. Slowly we noticed the change in vegetation as we left the dry and brown landscape for more lush green sights. And finally we are surrounded by the famous Araucaria tree!

It`s amazing how we didn`t notice how dry of a climate we were in for the past 3 months. Obviously we did when we were North in the desert, but it didn`t occur to us when we were in Santiago and the coast. But now that we are here, surrounded by hills and mountains covered with a green canopy, we realize we`ve been saturated with brown and orange and dust.

We just arrived to Pucon on Thursday and have loved every minute of it! Gigi`s mom made reservations at a hostal called Ècole! and it`s totally charming with its ripe cherries falling into the courtyard, ready to be eaten.

Pucon is an adventure town with a big tourist industry. Not a place to go if you want the nitty gritty Chile but definetely worth a stop for its beauty and awesome adventures. No matter where you are in town you can see the smoke billowing out from volcan Villarica. And all year you see the sun reflecting off its thick white coat of snow. In fact, as i`m writing this entry on a tour agency`s computer, there is a group of tourists getting ready to snowboard the slopes of the volcanoe. And it`s the heart of the summer here in the southern hemisphere.

Last night we got to see a video someone filmed of a nearby volcanoe that erupted just 1 day before we headed on our trip. That would´ve been an amazing thing to actually witness!

Our first night here we soaked in some thermal baths and watched the stars emerge into the sky. We still haven`t figured out why we can see Northern Hemisphere stars here in the Southern Hemisphere... but anyways, they´re gorgeous... especially in a hot steaming thermal bath deep in the mountains. Check out our photo album later for pics (I forgot to bring the cord to download the photos, whoops!).

Then the next day we signed up to go on a whitewater rafting trip. My parents signed up for the class III trip, and Micah and I went on the class IV trip. It was such a rush of adrenaline! We had to concentrate on the rapids most of the time but whenever we could we picked our heads up to see where we were. A few of the rapids were class V and we were nervous we wouldn`t make it but we were completely successfull. Phew! Gigi was the only one in our boat to accidentally end up in the water but that´s because the guide pushed her in! At another point we had to get out of the boat and hike for a bit. And then, to get back into the water we had to jump off a rock 15ft. above the rapids into the water. That was definetely the scariest part for me. But we made it out alive and with all our senses awakened. It was a great adventure to start this leg of our trip.

We`ll download pictures of Pucon next time we get on the internet so remember to check em out on our picasso photo album.