Green Eggs & Ham

"I would not eat them here or there, I would not eat them anywhere!"

There is a very popular Chilean dish called "Pastel de Choclo", which is a sort of South American Shepard's Pie. Again trying to stay away from the ubiquitous empañada, I decided to prepare this for our evening in Chile.

The dish takes fairly common ingredients, but combines them in a unique way. Ground beef is sauteed until brown with onion and garlic. Cumin and paprika are also added. Then olives and raisins. You layer this mixture in a casserole, then add a layer of sliced grilled chicken and a layer of sliced hard boiled eggs. For the topping, you blend corn and whipping cream until almost smooth, then fry it in oil until it dries out a bit and turns a dark yellow shade. This is the final layer of the casserole. The whole thing goes into the oven until heated through, then is broiled until the crust gets brown and bubbly.

I described the above to Ted on Thursday evening, while the Pastel was baking away. The look on his face was a cross between disgust and disbelief - disbelief at the fact that I was going to make him eat this, no doubt. But being the good sport that he is, he insisted that I not take out the fixings for turkey melts, and serve the Pastel de Choclo as planned.

The casserole actually looked and smelled quite heavenly when I retrieved it from the broiler. I will post a photo below but unfortunately our camera and my photography skills just don't do these meals justice. I served Ted a plate of piping hot Pastel with a small green salad. He incorporated all of the layers in his first bite, and his expression said it all:

"Say! I like green eggs and ham. I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!"

I don't know if Ted or I are ready to eat Pastel de Choclo in a boat or with a goat, or in the rain or on a train. BUT, we did eat leftovers on Friday night and polished off the whole darn casserole! We scored our meal from Chile a 3.25.