Chumpe: An Authenticity Update

Hiya folks!

So I have a bunch of posts I'm working on, what we've been up to since coming back to Minnesota, lots of South African reminiscing pictures and posts, etc.

But before I post all those -- and in the holiday spirit -- I wanted to revisit one of my favorite recipes, Salvadoran Turkey, or Chumpe.  I originally posted this back in the day, and I mentioned in my post that this is how my family does Chumpe.  But just today I got a comment on the post where a lovely lady said she was going to make this for her Salvadoran husband.  Which got me thinking ...

See, most Salvadorans will add a special mix of spices & nuts to their chumpe.  For one reason or another, my mother never did.  Now, I LOVE the chumpe the way she makes it, but if someone makes this recipe and serves it to a Salvadoran person, they might say, "Hm.  Good, but not quite ..."

So I wanted to update this recipe to add the spice mixture that gives it a more traditional Salvadoran taste.  One isn't better than the other, I love the chumpe both ways.  But this way you have the option!

If you're making this for Christmas, let me know!  And FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

The updated ingredients and method are in bold below.

Here is the Pan con Chumpe, a saucy, drippy sandwich packed with Salvadoran turkey, veggies and delicious sauce.

Ingredients:

Turkey (I used about a 14 pounder)

Rolls

Romaine (Cos) lettuce

Slices of tomatoes

Slices of peeled cucumber

Thin slices of radishes

Watercress

Marinade:

1/4 cup of softened butter

1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup of yellow mustard

1 Tablespoon coarse salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt)

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh cracked ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons Adobo or other favorite savory spice blend, I used cajun this time

Sauce:

2 medium green peppers, whole

2 medium onions, quartered

2 large cans chopped tomatoes

1 small can tomato and onion mix

1 very big handful cilantro/coriander

1 very big handful flat leaf parsley

2 celery sticks, chopped

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 - 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Lots of olives, whatever style are your favorite.  I use Kalamata. 

* Spice mix: 

1/3 cup raw sesame seeds
1/4 cup raw peanuts
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds 

1 dried mild chile, destemmed and deseeded
2 teaspoons dried thyme

* Adapted from http://www.whats4eats.com/poultry/pavo-salvadoreno-recipe

Procedure:

Wash turkey well inside and out.  Pat dry.  Mix all marinade ingredients together into a liquidy paste.  Don't worry if it's not a perfectly smooth mixture (I often forget to leave the butter out to soften and end up with little lumps of cold butter in the marinade.  Not to worry.)  Bathe the turkey in the marinade, inside and out and between the skin of the breast and the meat.  (The skin really isn't a big deal with this recipe, so don't worry if it rips.)  Then take a very sharp, small knife and poke holes in the turkey, all over, front back, breast, thighs, etc.  Leave to marinade overnight in the fridge.

The next day:

Take turkey out and in a deep roaster, put it in a hot oven (400F/200C).  Let it brown, probably about 30-40 minutes, start to check it after 20 minutes.

Then turn it to brown the other side.  This can be a bit tricky.  As you can see, it took lots of weird kitchen utensils and three of us to do it:

Now, as the other side browns, you can make the sauce.

 Add the sesame seeds, peanuts and pumpkin seeds to a dry frying pan over moderate heat.  Toast them till fragrant and golden, constantly stirring and shaking the pan.  Don't walk away -- this only takes a few minutes and the nuts will burn easily.  When done, put them in a large bowl to cool as you prepare the rest of the sauce:

 

Put the quartered onions and green peppers in a dry pan over high heat.  Blister the heck out of them:

When good and charred, split the peppers in half and take out the seeds.  Peel them lazily (as in, rub off whatever falls off, leave the rest.) Add the peppers (in rough chunks) along with the onions into a big bowl (where you have the roasted nuts) with all the other sauce ingredients, except the bay leaves and the olives.  Also add the thyme and the dried chile.  Blend, blend, blend till smooth:

Then pour over the browned turkey:

Add olives and tuck in the bay leaves:

I usually wait till it's cooked a couple of hours before I add salt/pepper as the marinade will flavor the sauce.  I will also add a half to a full teaspoon of sugar if the tomatoes aren't very sweet and the sauce tastes a bit "acidy."

Lower the heat (350F/175C) and bake the turkey for approximately 3 hours or until it's basically falling off the bones.  If it starts to get too browned at the end, cover with foil.

You can have the chumpe with rice and salad, or as "Pan con Chumpe," which is my favorite way, like this:

Basically, you just stuff a lovely roll (Ciabatta, french, etc.) with lots of turkey meat, romaine (a.k.a cos) lettuce, slices of tomato, slices of cucumber, thin slices of radishes, watercress (if you like it).  Then top it with tons of sauce and ... curtido! (Here's the recipe.) It makes for a pretty huge sandwich.

ENJOY!

Notes:

Making the Day Before:  Since the chumpe is stewed, it's even better made the night before, which can make planning a big feast a heck of a lot easier.  If I do make it the night before, I leave it to cool all night in the oven, then in the morning take it apart, slice the breasts, and chunk off the dark meat.  Put the slices/pieces into baking dishes, cover with some of the sauce and put in fridge.  Then, when you're ready to eat, reheat them gently in the oven (covered with foil) and the leftover sauce can be quickly zapped in the microwave.

Making Pieces: While this is a recipe for the whole bird, you can easily adapt it to just make a turkey breast or a couple of thighs or drumsticks for a less fancy dinner.  A couple of thighs make a great Sunday dinner.