Dear LPG readers,

No matter how hard I try to ensure every eventuality is covered when preparing these International Independence Day recipes, something nearly always goes ‘not quite right’. Even though I must admit to trying to find something that should not allow for any margin of error, my culinary visit to Chile was no different.

This recipe was foolproof, but outside forces presented one minor worry.  When preparing Chilean Chorrillana, I first looked at the chips and thought, ‘How difficult could this really be?’  The online recipe I chose gave obvious instructions, so I timed the dish's presentation to coincide with the return of my single taste tester and prepared the marinade, which, according to the recipe, I should leave the steaks bathing in for a minimum of 1 hour.   With chips ready to go and onions prepped, I went off to do something else for a bit, but the said taste tester arrived home some three hours later with a takeaway.  

It was then that I realised that there was a maximum steak-soaking window that started with a one-hour treatment but had a maximum of 48 hours, so I decided to postpone until the next day. When I returned to the fridge for the marinating steaks, I had reservations about their overnight stay in the bath because they looked well-pickled to me.  But when cooked, they tasted delicious.  I also need to tell you that the marinated chips, all in water, were not completely covered and did not pass my visual test before I thought about cooking them, so I put oven chips in the air fryer.  Neither of us was sure exactly how it was supposed to taste, but we agreed that it was a Mission accomplished this month, even though my end-result picture above proves that I can’t even fry an egg without breaking it!

October is an independent month because I had many choices when looking for a country to feature. I homed in on Fiji because of all the sun they will still be having while our days begin to get short and dark again. Their idyllic sunsets inspired me. 

I am planning to present a dish of Fijian Kokoda next month. I have looked at the video and checked out the recipe, and this might be one of the easiest recipes I have ever attempted. As for the results, only time will tell…

CB, Lewisham.
 

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…and videoed …

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