Silpancho

Bolivian Cookbook’s silpancho layers potato, rice, a thin breaded beef patty and fried egg, with a diced vegetable salad and llajwa alongside. The recipe’s meat is flattened with breadcrumbs until it is about the thickness of a crepe.

White rice cooks in its own measured water. The whole Yukon Gold potatoes are boiled for about ten minutes, cooled enough to handle and sliced while still raw inside. Ground beef is seasoned with salt and pepper and divided into lime-sized balls.

Each meat portion rests on a pile of breadcrumbs and is covered with more crumbs and ground pepper. A rolling pin works both sides to spread the meat into a thin patty. The patties cook in a heated frying pan and are turned once they brown.

The eggs are fried and the potato slices are browned. Already-diced tomato, red onion and green pepper are mixed with vinegar, vegetable oil and salt for the salad.

For each plate, potato slices are topped with rice, the breaded beef and a fried egg, followed by salad. The recipe also calls for llajwa. Its listed herb choice is quillquiña or cilantro; this version selects cilantro.