This month the Movies and Munchies group is watching Encanto, hosted by Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures. You can read her invitation here. And thought I finished this recipe early in the month, I forgot to post it before we went on vacation and here I am on the last day of the month. Ugh. Sorry, Amy.
On the Screen
Encanto takes place in the mountains of Columbia where the Madrigal family lives in an enchanted house. Each of the Madrigal children and grandchildren have been blessed with a special, magical gift...except Mirabel: Mirabel's mother, Julietta, heals with her cooking, especially her arepas con queso; Mirabel's sister Luisa can lift an astounding amount of weight (think donkeys!); and her other sister Isabela creates beautiful flowers everywhere she goes. Tia Pepa controls the weather with her emotions and cousin Dolores has super hearing.
While Abuela Alma doesn't have any magical powers herself, it was her miracle that saved her and her triplets - Julietta, Pepa, and (we don't talk about) Bruno. Abuela also rules the household like that iron-fisted matriarch that she is. She is rigid and unforgiving.
Then the magic starts to fail and Casita, the house, begins to show cracks.
As you can imagine, the characters transform through the course of the movie. Isabela abandons her "perfect" life and her perfect flowers and begins to create irregular, funky cacti and succulent. But she is truly happy. Luisa loses her strength, then eventually gains them back. Bruno returns to the family after hiding and living in the walls for a decade. And Mirabel, without any magical gifts, saves the family. That might look like a spoiler, but it's not really. It's a Disney movie...you knew it was all work out in the end, right?
Still, this is a delightful story and a masterpiece with its bright colors and catchy tunes. Everyone in my household enjoyed it. I can't wait to see where the other #MoviesandMunchies bloggers get their inspiration.
On the Plate
As for me, I decided to make the Muchines de Yuca that Julietta makes in the beginning of the movie. And I tracked down some single-origin coffee beans from Columbia to serve alongside them.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cassava flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 cup shredded or crumbled cheese (I used a cotija cheese)
- 1 Tablespoon organic granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons milk (I used whole milk)
- 3 cups oil, for frying (I used canola)
Procedure
In a large mixing bowl, add in cassava flour, cornstarch, cheese, sugar, salt, baking powder, butter and egg. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to form pea-sized pieces. Bring the dough together with milk.
In a medium pan, heat oil on low to medium or hold between 320 – 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Divide the dough in 32 equal pieces; I used a scoop. Roll the dough into balls.
Fry 3 to 4 balls at a time until they are golden brown and
crisped on the outside, approximately 5 minutes.
After they are done, remove them from the oil and place them on a paper towel. Serve immediately with Columbian coffee.
Well, that's a wrap on the July #MoviesandMunchies event. We'll be back next month when Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm hosts us watching one of my favorite movies: Big Night! Stay tuned.
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