Ingredients

For the Beef Skewers

2 ½ pounds beef sirloin
Salt and pepper

For the Rocoto marinade/sauce

1-2 rocoto peppers
4 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp chili powder
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups olive oil
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper

Extra parsley and cilantro for garnish.

For the Papa la Huancaina

3 lbs. yukon gold potatoes
1 cup feta cheese
1 cup queso fresco
1 cup evaporated milk
2 cloves garlic, charred
2 hard boiled eggs yolks
Juice of 1 lime
5-10 water crackers
1 tsp tumeric
4 aji amarillo peppers
¾ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

Black olives for garnish

For the Pickled Onions

1 ½ lbs. Cippolinis, peeled
2 cups red verjus
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Salt
1 bay leaf
10 black peppercorns
¼ cup sugar

For the Green Beans

2 lbs Green beans
Large pot of salted boiling water.

Special Equipment

Food processor
2” hotel pan
6” or 8” metal skewers
Spider
Grill
Grill brush
Large stock pot

Instructions

For the Beef

Slice the sirloin into portions that are easily manageable when put onto skewers. They should all be equal in thickness. Season with salt and pepper and arrange on skewers and set in a 2” deep baking dish. To make the marinade, in a food processor, blend the rocoto peppers, cumin, red wine vinegar, chili powder, and minced garlic. With the processor still going, slowly add the olive oil to emulsify. Add some of the chopped parsley and cilantro. Season it with salt and pepper. Pour just enough of this marinade over the beef to coat it. With your fingers, rub it in and let rest for around 30 minutes. The rest of the marinade will be used for sauce when plating. You may also want to separate out a small portion to baste the skewers, while cooking. Just be sure you have enough sauce for serving. Grill the beef skewers until medium rare. Pour more sauce over them and let rest in a warm place for 5 minutes before serving.

For the Papa la Huancaina

Get a large pot of water going and bring to a boil. Use this to hard boil your eggs. When your eggs are cooked, peel and reserve the yolks only. Keep the water handy as you will use it to cook your potatoes later. In a very hot small saute pan, char your un-peeled garlic, then crush. In a food processor, blend until smooth: the cheese, evaporated milk, charred garlic, aji amarillo, cooked egg yolks, tumeric, lime juice, 5 water crackers and salt and pepper. Slowly incorporate in the olive oil. It should be the consistency of a thin hollandaise sauce. Adjust consistency with more water crackers or a few drops of water. Check for seasoning. Cook your potatoes in the boiling water until perfectly tender. Gently remove from the water and slice into ½ inch rounds. Season the rounds with salt and pepper. To serve, arrange your seasoned rounds of cooked potatoes on a platter and pour the Huancaina sauce over the top, completely covering them. Garnish the potatoes with black olives.

For the Pickled Onions

Peel your cippolini onions and with a small paring knife, score the root end with a deep “x”. In a small sauce pan, bring all pickling ingredients to a boil and add your onions. Bring back up to a boil then turn down the heat to a low simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest for as long as possible before service. To serve, remove the onions from the pickling liquid and either serve whole or ¼ them and arrange on the plate as an accompaniment to the rest of the dish.

For the Green Beans

Wash and trim your beans. In a large pot of salted boiling water (salty like the sea), add your beans and cook until al dente. Drain the beans, season and serve alongside the rest of the dish.