This new year it’s time to improve your cooking skills.  Your ability to cook will ALWAYS impress any date. Fortunately Iberia, the manufacturer of packaged foods specializing in Latin cuisine, has made life easier for you. The company offers a wide variety of food & beverage products – from your basics like olives, rice, bean to specialty ‘foodie’ items like aioli, blended oils, paella packets. It’s never been this easy to cook and capture the authentic tastes of your heritage. With Iberia, finding the right products  to recreate authentic Latin meals is a breeze!

Iberia sources authentic, fresh ingredients from the original climates in which they grow. For example, each olive is hand-picked from the trees of Spain and seasoned with peppers grown in South America.

So head to your local shop or Iberiafoods.com , order your products, head to the kitchen and learn to create magic in another room besides the bedroom.
Here are some recipes to get you started.

Steak with Olives Iberia casserole

4 servings

Ingredients:

2 pounds top sirloin ½ inch thick
1 medium white onion, cut in half
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
¼ cup diced ripe tomato
1 tablespoon Iberia tomato paste
½ cup Iberia red cooking wine
½ cup Iberia pitted olives (any variety )
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ cup Iberia Olive Oil
1 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cook onion, garlic and ripe tomato for five minutes over medium heat fry, then saute the meat for a few minutes.
Add oregano , olives, cumin, salt, pepper, wine and cup of water.
Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes.
Then add the tomato paste and cook for additional 10 minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes or rice of your choice.

Alioli Potatoes with Iberia Extra Virgin Oil

4 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds white potatoes
4 cloves of garlic
1 large egg
1 ½ cup of Iberia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ teaspoon salt to boil potatoes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cook potatoes in a liter of water with a tablespoon of salt, until the potatoes are tender tender. Peel and cut them into quarters size. Reserve.

For the sauce, place the garlic to roast in the oven for 15 minutes at 500 º F. in ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil Iberia .

In a bowl place the 4 roasted garlic , the remaining cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Iberia and egg. With a hand mixer or blender mix for a few minutes until consistency of mayonnaise is made, then stir in lemon juice .

Add the cream to the potatoes , salt and pepper.

Chicken with Iberia olives

4 servings

Ingredients

1 1/ 2 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil Iberia
1 ( 3 1/2-lbs ) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/ 2 cups Dry White Wine Iberia
3 cups chicken broth ( preferably low -sodium )
1 cup capers Iberia
½ cup almond stuffed olives Iberia
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Pour ½ of cup of oil in a pan and saute the chicken pieces previously passed through flour and spiced. Cook over medium -high heat until chicken takes a caramel color. Remove and reserve .

In the same pan add onion, garlic and cook over medium -high heat. Add wine, chicken broth, capers, bay leaves and thyme. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Allow the liquid to reduce for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken again. Add the cilantro and let reduce for 15 to 30 minutes. Check the sauce for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper.

Garnish with olives stuffed with almonds.